POV: Hashirama Senju
The rustle of leaves and snap of a twig.
Hashirama ducked lower into the underbrush, biting his lip, heart pounding. Beside him, Madara crouched silently, eyes locked on the figure by the river.
"There he is," Hashirama whispered, barely daring to breathe. "The River Phantom."
Seven days. For seven days they had watched him.
The same silent young man who had appeared like a ghost. Face unreadable, deadpan, carved from stone. His heartbeat loud enough to echo through the clearing on quiet mornings.
Ba-dump.
It was unnatural. Powerful. Terrifying.
Hashirama remembered the first time they had seen him diving into the water, head submerged for minutes at a time. He remembered thinking, "He's not breathing. He's not breathing--is he alive or dead?!"
Every time the man, Rayn, noticed them watching, he would freeze, stare at them with those abyssal, soul-ripping eyes, and they'd both instinctively run. No hesitation. Just pure, childish terror.
And that heartbeat... like a war drum. Like a funeral march.
Hashirama clutched a small leaf in his fingers. "We're shinobi. We are not supposed to be scared of anything. But this guy... he's on a different level. Maybe even above a Kage."
POV: Madara Uchiha
"...We're being toyed with."
Madara's whisper was bitter.
He'd never felt so humiliated. So... prey-like. For seven days, he had watched the man from a distance. Every move Rayn made was deliberate, emotionless, alien. His training was unorthodox, powerful, elegant yet brutal.
No chakra control. No hand signs. Just terrifying stillness, followed by physical training routines that made Madara's spine hurt just watching.
Running while dragging trees.
Jumping into the river with stones tied to his waist.
Wrestling with... himself? Shadows?
"What is he even doing..."
Madara clenched his fists. "What kind of technique was that yesterday, when he did those weird... pushups with his fingers? That's not ninjutsu. That's... that's torture."
But what frightened Madara most wasn't the training. It was the silence. The stone-cold expression. The way Rayn never reacted to them. He just watched, unblinking, until they panicked and ran.
Ba-dump.
That damn heartbeat sound again. It wasn't just in his head. It shook the ground sometimes.
"He's a monster. Or a ghost. Maybe both."
But still...
Madara looked at the callouses on Rayn's hands. The wear and tear of his robe. The silence he kept. There was a story behind it. There was pain.
He wasn't just scared anymore.
He was curious.
POV: Rayn
He felt it again.
The rustling. The faint chakra signatures that failed to hide behind foliage.
Rayn paused mid-pushup, sweat glistening off his brow, breath controlled. His heartbeat, as always, was loud in his ears. Like a signal. A drum. A monster thumping inside his chest.
He tilted his head.
They were there. Again.
"Why are these two weird children stalking me for a week straight? I've done nothing but mind my business."
He stood, expression blank. His eyes met the bushes where he knew they were. Slowly. Deliberately.
Stillness.
The result?
Screams.
Again.
rustle rustle rustle snap— gone.
Rayn blinked.
"...Is this a prank? Is this world testing my patience? Did I accidentally build my house on sacred Uchiha burial grounds?"
He sighed and walked back to his riverside hut. His bare feet made no sound.
"I just want peace. That's it. Is that too much to ask?"
Flashback: Day 5 (Hashirama's Memory)
It had rained. A soft, slow drizzle that turned the forest into a humid fogland. Hashirama sat in silence next to Madara under a tree root, watching Rayn as he climbed a tree upside down—with no chakra.
Just pure physical strength and freakish endurance.
Rayn had then dropped to the ground, stood still for five whole minutes, and began doing bizarre martial poses in the water, striking slowly like he was punching air.
Hashirama had whispered:
"I think he's practicing for a battle with ghosts."
Madara replied:
"I think he's the ghost."
Flashback: Day 6 (Madara's Memory)
Madara had gotten bold. He tried to sneak closer.
He made it to within ten meters.
Rayn was meditating, his body motionless, breath nonexistent.
Madara took one step forward—
And Rayn's eyes opened.
Black. Cold. Empty.
Their eyes met.
Madara froze. He couldn't breathe. He couldn't think. That stare bypassed every defense in his brain. It was like his soul was being grabbed.
He screamed. Loudly. Dropped his kunai.
And ran so fast, he left Hashirama behind.
Day 8 – Morning
The two boys stood by the riverside clearing.
This time, they had prepared speeches. Kneeling speeches.
Hashirama looked nervous. "We can't mess this up again."
Madara nodded. "We will face the river ghost. If we fail, we die with honor."
Rayn was in the river again, washing his face, breathing rhythmically, eyes closed.
Hashirama took a step forward, heart racing.
Rayn opened his eyes.
Heartbeat.
Ba-dump.
They screamed.
And ran.
Again.
Day 10 – Night Campfire Talk
Madara stared into the fire. "This isn't coincidence anymore."
Hashirama's face was serious. "He's testing us."
"He's testing our willpower. Our courage. He's waiting to see if we'll break."
"I think we passed the first trial. Next time... we stay. No matter how scary his eyes are."
Madara clenched his fists. "We'll beg if we have to. I want to learn that stillness. That terrifying aura. That god-like composure."
They made a vow under the stars.
Tomorrow, they would face the Phantom.
And ask him to be their master.
---
End of Chapter 3.