The Ueshi ninjas scattered the moment Ueshi Tokusho's furious roar split the air.
Raizen reappeared in front of a fleeing squad, chakra flaring. He flicked a toe against a droplet on the muddy ground — just a single, trembling bead of water.
His voice dropped, low and sharp.
"Ice Release: Thousand Fragrance Water Kill."
The droplet bloomed like a living curse. In an instant, it froze over and detonated outward, shredding into a blizzard of razor-sharp senbon.
Raizen vanished using Flying Thunder God, just as the icy storm erupted.
The screams came half a breath later.
When the mist cleared, more than twenty Ueshi guards and four trained shinobi lay motionless — their bodies riddled with holes, frozen mid-step.
"...That'll teach you not to bunch up," Raizen muttered.
Tokusho's roar shook the ground. "You brat!"
He was strong — monstrously so — but Raizen could see the man's frustration boiling over. Tokusho simply couldn't touch him.
And that, to a warrior's pride, was worse than defeat.
"Everyone, retreat!" Tokusho barked, eyes narrowing to cold slits.
His clan didn't hesitate. The survivors turned tail, fleeing toward the outer tunnels of the Tiannan mine. To them, that command was salvation.
Raizen made a move to pursue, but he quickly realized the truth — he couldn't stop them all. A few tried to resist; a few didn't live long enough to regret it.
Soon, only two figures remained in the broken clearing.
Raizen.
And Tokusho.
"No one will stop me from killing you now," Tokusho said, voice calm — too calm. His killing intent rose like a blade being unsheathed.
Raizen exhaled. "Heh. You talk like I'm gonna stand still for it."
"Die!" Tokusho's body blurred.
He moved like lightning given form — a silver streak that crossed the distance in a blink. The sword screamed as it cut downward, splitting the air with a hiss that burned Raizen's eardrums.
"—Fast!"
Raizen's body flickered away, Flying Thunder God activating on instinct. He reappeared twenty meters behind, feet already sliding into stance.
But Tokusho wasn't fooled. His chakra pulsed. "Found you!"
Another flash — another swing.
Raizen ducked away just in time, his teleport trigger glowing faintly. The next instant, he was gone again, the blade missing by an inch.
"Persistent old bastard," he muttered between breaths.
Tokusho suddenly shifted tactics, his voice a sharp growl:
"Earth Style: Yellow Springs Quagmire!"
The ground convulsed beneath Raizen's feet.
The solid earth liquefied, turning black and slick — a swamp that stretched across the entire mine like a living creature.
Raizen landed — and instantly sank ankle-deep. "What the—?!"
The entire Tiannan vein was melting into sludge. That wasn't a basic Earth jutsu; it was something between A-rank and S-rank, large-scale and terrifyingly efficient.
"Great. Now the ground wants me dead too."
Tokusho's boots didn't even sink. He glided across the mire like it was solid. "It's over, boy. The earth itself obeys me here."
Raizen's mind raced.
Flying Thunder God won't work right — no stable footing, no fixed markers…
He tried anyway — teleporting to another seal point.
But the instant he rematerialized, the swamp dragged him down to his thighs.
The mud was alive, hungry.
Then came the killing intent.
"Die!" Tokusho's blade sliced through the humid air. Raizen barely felt the cold metal graze his neck before disappearing again.
He reappeared deeper in the swamp — sinking faster this time. The mud was adapting, dragging him down like quicksand feeding on chakra.
"Dammit… this is bad."
Raizen clenched his fists, teeth gritted. The edges of panic buzzed in his mind. Then — like a switch flipping — his survival instinct kicked in.
"Fine. You want power? I'll give you power."
His voice dropped to a growl.
"Eight Inner Gates… Gate of Opening! Gate of Healing! Gate of Life — open!"
The air exploded with raw chakra. It roared around him like a typhoon, bright emerald and wild. The swamp hissed as his energy ripped through it.
Raizen kicked downward — the mud shattered under the shockwave.
He shot upward like a cannonball.
High above, his clay owl swooped in on cue, wings cutting through the smoke.
Raizen grabbed its back mid-flight, body trembling with exertion but eyes blazing.
"Still alive, bastard," he panted. "You'll have to try harder than that."
Below, the entire mine churned like a beast's stomach, Tokusho standing calmly at its center — waiting.
The real fight had only just begun.