"Who are you? How did you get in here?!"
The bearded Ueshi ninja didn't know that Ueshi Tokusei had already fallen to Amamiya Raizen. Seeing Raizen appear out of nowhere, he stepped forward, shouting fiercely.
"Who am I? I'm the one who killed you."
The words were barely out when Raizen surged forward. A kunai marked with Flying Thunder God flew ahead, and in the same instant, his body vanished and reappeared in front of the bearded ninja.
"Watch out! That kid… he killed Master Tokusei!"
The surrounding Ueshi ninjas shouted warnings, but it was already too late. Raizen's kunai sliced through the man's throat before he could react. Blood sprayed, and he crumpled to the ground with a wet thud.
"Everyone, gather and use ninjutsu to stop him!" a Jōnin barked. But the clan ninjas hesitated.
Raizen's presence was a living nightmare. The fog of chakra he'd summoned the night before still hung thick, obscuring vision. Even the most skilled Lightning Style ninja would have struggled; without it, they would have been blown apart by his unpredictable attacks.
"What are you waiting for?!" the Jōnin roared, desperation creeping into his voice.
"Have you forgotten what happened last night? Master Tokusei wasn't even enough to stop him. How can we hope to?" one panicked ninja spat before fleeing straight down the mine's passage.
The panic was contagious. Within moments, twenty or thirty Ueshi ninjas vanished into the shadows, including two Jōnin. Only the one who had spoken remained—along with the returning squad from the Songshan Mine, still unaware of yesterday's carnage.
"A bunch of cowards…" Raizen muttered, eyes narrowing, calm but lethal.
He drew a kunai, marked with Flying Thunder God, and threw it. His body flickered from point to point, appearing and disappearing like a phantom.
"Rasengan!"
A swirling blue ball of chakra materialized, slamming into the back of a nearby ninja. The impact crushed him before he could react. In a blur of speed and calculated strikes, Raizen's Rasengan and Flying Thunder God combo tore through the remaining Ueshi ninjas. Even the previously confident Jōnin swallowed hard, then roared in frustration before retreating into the forest outside Tiannan Mine.
Within minutes, the entire squad that had dared to stand against him lay beheaded or incapacitated. Raizen didn't pursue further—not because he lacked the skill, but because he had to conserve chakra for the Songshan Mine. Every jolt, every teleport, every Rasengan burned his reserves.
Still, the damage was decisive. The Ueshi clan had been crippled; their forces scattered and demoralized. Now, as long as the Amamiya ninjas in Songshan could be rescued, the clan still had a chance to reclaim their position.
Raizen disappeared in a flash of Flying Thunder God, reappearing in the depths of the Songshan vein. Darkness swallowed him, but he moved quickly, following the faintest sound—the distant crash echoing from deep inside the mine.
Slowly, cautiously, he pressed forward.
Something waited in the shadows.