"Water Style: Flowing Current!"
Just as Amamiya Tian shouted, his hands moved in precise seals, launching a jet of water from his mouth. The stream was small, but it hit with lethal force, shredding through the trees and forcing the enemy to scatter.
"Spread!"
Before the water could hit, a black shadow flickered, accompanied by a deep, menacing shout. Six enemy ninjas dispersed across the clearing, one hurtling straight toward Raizen.
"Kill!"
Amamiya Tian barked orders and dashed forward, brandishing his sharp kunai. Other Amamiya ninjas immediately engaged their targets.
In front of Raizen, a ten-year-old boy — a Genin from the Ueshi Clan — lunged, kunai glinting in the morning sun. His clan symbol was unmistakable.
Alright, rookie. Time to see if you're worth the trouble.
Raizen's eyes narrowed. He dodged instinctively, flipping a shuriken toward the boy. But the Ueshi Genin's reflexes were sharp; he avoided the projectile and bounced off a tree toward Raizen.
Yeah… running won't cut it. Time to fight.
He drew a kunai from his belt and charged. Their weapons clashed with a metallic ding!, and Raizen felt a shockwave surge through his arm. Age and experience favored the enemy, so he twisted midstrike, pivoting on his foot to redirect the force and leap aside.
The Ueshi ninja lunged, attempting to grab Raizen's leg. Quick as lightning, Raizen adjusted his weight, leapt, and drew three shuriken in his left hand, launching them with precise timing.
Ding!
The enemy narrowly blocked, shuriken clashing with a metallic ring. Raizen dove behind a massive tree, heart pounding.
Older, stronger, more experienced… don't meet head-on, or you're toast.
From his ninja bag, Raizen pulled out a thin, nearly invisible silk thread. He wrapped it around a shuriken and hurled it into the shadows. The enemy didn't notice it; the thread tethered the projectile to Raizen's control.
First kill… let's see if this works.
The Ueshi ninja charged, and Raizen yanked the thread, pulling the shuriken to strike his target. With a swift leap, he drew a kunai and thrust it into the enemy's back. A single, precise motion — lethal.
"Ahem."
The ninja gasped, disbelief on his face, before collapsing. Raizen panted, adrenaline coursing through him. Something had changed within. Hesitation melted away, replaced with a cold focus.
Ding!
A notification appeared: First Kill Achieved. A golden treasure chest shimmered into view and opened. Inside: a strange little mouth and a lump of clay.
"Congratulations, Host. You've obtained Clay Explosion Style. Accept?"
Raizen's eyes lit up. Clay Explosion… Deidara's ability?
"Receive!" he shouted. The clay and the mouth disappeared, replaced by a bizarre, animated mass forming in his palms. Within moments, it transformed into small, spider-like clay constructs, each brimming with chakra and awaiting his command.
"Go, Clay Spiders!"
He released the constructs. They crawled swiftly toward a Ueshi ninja battling the left-wing Chūnin Amamiya. The ninja leapt away instinctively… only to find four white clay spiders at his feet.
"Art is an explosion!" Raizen shouted. The clay erupted violently, engulfing the Ueshi ninja in a massive, chakra-charged blast.
Not bad for a first kill. Let's see how far this system can take me…