"Do it!" Yamashita-san barked.
The mountain ninja charged at Raizen like a living battering ram, while the two teenagers erupted forward like predatory cheetahs, fast and silent.
"Cute," Raizen muttered, a crooked grin forming. He conjured a strange kunai in his hand and threw it straight at the white-haired boy.
The boy barely had time to blink—Dodge? Forget it. Before he could react, Raizen vanished in a shriek, the kunai streaking past him as if it had a mind of its own.
Okay… maybe that worked.
But the momentary shock passed, and a dark shadow pressed down from above. Before he could even look up, a massive force slammed into him from behind. Pain tore through his body as he hit the ground with a muffled crash.
"Tobirama!" the black-haired boy yelled, eyes blazing.
Instinctively, he extended his arms. Wood sprouted like steel, arms transforming into stakes that shot toward Raizen with terrifying speed.
Wood Style? Seriously? Raizen thought, recognizing the moves of the young boy who, in the future, would become the legendary Second Hokage. Only now, Tobirama was still raw, still inexperienced—but dangerous nonetheless.
No time to think. Flying Thunder God Technique. Raizen vanished from his spot and reappeared across the battlefield. The Wood Style stakes stabbed harmlessly into empty air.
"Tobirama, are you okay?" the black-haired boy shouted, rushing to his fallen comrade.
Coughing, Tobirama glared at Raizen with pure hatred, getting to his feet as Raizen's smirk widened.
"That boy named Tobirama," Raizen said, voice dripping sarcasm, "if I had just thrown a kunai instead of joking around, you'd be dead right now. And now, you're mad at me? Classic."
"You—" Tobirama growled, lunging, but the Wood Style boy held him back. "Not your fight, Tobirama!"
"Earth Style: Earth Flow Great River!"
Raizen barely had time to react. From the mountain's base, the soil under him surged like a rushing river, binding him in thick mud. Two giant hands of mud shot up, grabbing his ankles and yanking half his body under the ground.
Sneak attacks are rude, Raizen muttered coolly. He threw a Flying Thunder God tag into the sky and vanished from the quagmire, reappearing in midair, unconcerned.
Without hesitation, he launched toward the mountain again.
"A sneak attack has a price!" Raizen's quiet voice rolled like thunder through the battlefield.
The mountain tried to retreat, but a kunai whispered past his defenses, grazing his cheek. Hot blood streaked down, and for the first time, the mountain truly felt the threat of death.
"Earth Style: Earth Dragon Bullet!"
The mountain roared, sending a massive mud dragon crashing down like a living avalanche, aiming to crush Raizen from above.
"Useless!" Raizen's voice hissed like a specter of death.
The moment the earth dragon descended, he vanished with Flying Thunder God, appearing beside the mountain. A kunai pressed to the ninja's throat, sharp and unyielding. The mountain froze, realizing the game had already turned.