Kurosawa noticed Kakashi's approach and quickly sprang up, pushing Rin back a few steps in an attempt to evade Kakashi's attack.
But with Kakashi exerting all his strength, his speed was incredibly fast. Under the surprise assault, it was impossible for Kurosawa to evade. The sharp blade sliced across Kurosawa's left arm, leaving a narrow bloodstain.
"Damn, defeated so quickly. He's really useless," Kurosawa cursed, holding his arm.
Originally, the situation here was looking good for him, but now with his arm injured, even if Kakashi left immediately, he might not be able to defeat Rin.
"Rather than relying on yourself, you prefer to curse your teammates? Being your teammate is truly a sad affair," Kakashi said, frowning upon hearing Kurosawa's words.
"Are you kidding me? After making me get injured, do you expect me to say something nice about him?" Kurosawa sneered, trying to buy time with words while he wrapped his wound with a bandage.
But Kakashi wasn't fooled. He continued attacking without pause, immediately charging forward again.
Whoosh!
Kakashi, using Thunder Breathing to its full extent, moved much faster than Kurosawa. When Kurosawa thrust his short blade at Kakashi, he found that Kakashi had vanished from sight.
Bang!
Kakashi appeared at Kurosawa's side and delivered a spinning kick, sending Kurosawa flying backward, and the short blade in his right hand fell to the ground.
Boom!
The tree Kurosawa collided with shook violently, swaying back and forth, and the leaves fluttered continuously.
"Instead of defaming others, you should improve yourself. Those who only blame their teammates will never gain reliable allies," Kakashi said coldly.
Although it was their first meeting, the Hidden Mist had left a very bad impression on Kakashi. This was the first time he wanted to specifically destroy his opponent's beliefs.
"Haha, I admit that your strength is greater than mine, and your team is stronger than ours. You are all genius ninjas, but that's all there is to it. What defeated me wasn't your naive ideals, but your actual strength," Kurosawa replied with a mocking smile as he struggled to stand.
Kurosawa was truly unwilling to accept being defeated by a younger Ninja who spoke so naively, so he countered everything Kakashi said. Since he had lost in terms of strength, he tried to undermine Kakashi verbally as much as possible.
Kakashi approached Kurosawa with a calm demeanor. After that experience, his beliefs would not waver easily. Although he had no intention of killing, Kakashi planned to incapacitate his opponent, leaving it up to them to survive in the insect and beast-infested Forest of Death.
"Looks like I arrived at the wrong time," a strange female voice suddenly said.
Kakashi immediately stopped and cautiously scanned his surroundings, noticing a girl with red hair approaching from the east, followed by two boys with their faces wrapped in bandages.
Kakashi sighed slightly to himself. The worst thing he had feared had happened: another Ninja team had arrived. He had been careful to use minimal energy to defeat Zabuza, precisely because he was concerned about this kind of situation. The smoke rising into the sky and the commotion from their Ninjutsu and Taijutsu clashes made it only natural for another team to be attracted here.
When Kakashi saw the Mist Village headband on Terumi Mei, his heart sank further; he could only hope the opponent's strength wouldn't be too overwhelming.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Kakashi immediately threw two Kunai, piercing through Kurosawa's thighs and causing the already unsteady Kurosawa to fall to the ground.
As Terumi Mei approached the battlefield and surveyed the scene, she saw the remaining water stains on the ground, the seriously injured Nara Ensui resting by a tree, Zabuza and Kurosawa lying on the ground, and Obito and Kisame locked in fierce combat.
It was clear that a major battle had erupted here, involving three teams.
Terumi Mei observed that their Mist Village team was outnumbered two to one and was on the verge of losing.
"To think they teamed up against us Mist Village—how despicable," Mei's teammates had similar thoughts.
"Mei, what should we do?" one teammate asked, looking at Mei.
Although their relationship was usually only average, Mei was the strongest among them, making her the Squad Captain in the absence of their guiding Jonin.
Mei did not speak and had a contemplative expression on her face.
"The battle is over the scrolls. Whatever scroll you are missing, whether it's the Heaven Scroll or the Earth Scroll, we can provide it to you to help you pass the exam," Kakashi said calmly after a moment of thought.
He wanted to avoid this fight. They were already close to deciding the outcome with Kisame's team, but with the addition of a new Hidden Mist team, Kakashi couldn't guarantee the outcome of the battle.
Based on Zabuza and Kurosawa's performance, Kakashi guessed that the Hidden Mist ninjas, due to the overall atmosphere, had weak team cohesion and were more driven by personal gain, which led them to come up with such a plan.
Although they only had the Heaven Scroll, Kakashi remembered that Kisame's team had the Earth Scroll, so they roughly had an Earth Scroll as well.
"That sounds like a good idea. What we're missing is the Earth Scroll," Mei said, resting her right hand on her chin, appearing somewhat tempted.
Mei's team had average luck; they had only just encountered another ninja team for the first time since the exam began. So, when they saw the black smoke, they came directly over.
"We also have the Earth Scroll. As long as you help us defeat these guys, we'll give you whatever scroll you want," Kurosawa said as soon as he saw Mei's determined expression. Adding new forces would change the situation.
"We're all Hidden Mist ninjas; you should know which side is more trustworthy."
Mei glanced at the Hidden Mist ninjas and then at the Konoha ninjas. While she naturally leaned towards her fellow Hidden Mist ninja, Kurosawa's words were somewhat irritating, as if he was giving her orders.
After clearly seeing Obito's appearance, Mei, who had been somewhat hesitant, immediately made her decision. She wanted to avenge her strawberry ice cream.
"Defeat all these Konoha ninjas," Mei ordered her two teammates and then charged at Obito.
"Please go fight the others. I'll take this guy down myself!" Mei said to Kisame as she approached, making him step away.
Kisame, who had used his immense strength to push Obito back, looked at Mei with a puzzled expression.
To be honest, he had been a ninja for a while, but this was the first time he had seen someone actively create a one-on-one environment.
"If you don't step aside, I won't make a move," Mei said, crossing her arms.
She wanted to take revenge for her strawberry ice cream using her own strength.
Although it seemed a bit strange, Kisame didn't want to give up on this hard-earned ally.
"I hope your strength matches your confidence. This guy's strength isn't weak," Kisame said, leaving those words as he charged at Kakashi.
"You're the Hidden Mist ninja who bought desserts that day," Obito said, recognizing Mei by her red hair that reached her waist and recalling their previous encounter.
"Buying desserts? I was gathering intelligence," Mei corrected him. She hadn't bought it immediately; she got the ice cream only after finishing her intelligence gathering.
"What kind of intelligence can you gather at a dessert shop? Is it that they have desserts that Hidden Mist doesn't?" Obito asked, puzzled.
"Of course…" Mei instinctively started to mention some desserts Hidden Mist didn't have, but she quickly realized this wasn't the time for small talk. "Anyway, I was gathering intelligence that day. Although I don't really want to bully someone who looks as silly as you, I must avenge the strawberry ice cream."
"This is absurd; you're the one who's silly," Obito thought the red-haired Hidden Mist ninja was a bit crazy.
With that, both of them moved simultaneously, engaging in a Taijutsu battle.
Mei's Taijutsu was strong, but she was up against Obito, who had both Breathing Technique and Sharingan. Obito's superior perception easily allowed him to see through Mei's attacks, and his greater strength and speed enabled him to counter her attacks while delivering powerful counterattacks.
In less than half a minute, Mei was at a disadvantage. Obito seized the opportunity and landed a punch to her abdomen, causing her to stagger back five or six steps.
"This guy's Taijutsu is so strong. Is those eyes really the legendary Sharingan?" Mei thought as she quickly retreated and began forming hand seals, preparing to use her most skilled Ninjutsu against her opponent.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Obito threw four Shuriken to block Mei's position and then immediately pursued her.
Since Mei's Taijutsu was inferior to his, he would use Taijutsu to chase her down.
"Boil Release: Skilled Mist Jutsu!"
Thick white mist continuously poured out of Mei's mouth, attacking Obito as he pursued her.
Having seen the Hidden Mist use Hiding in Mist Jutsu before, Obito didn't initially pay much attention to the white mist Mei emitted. However, when he noticed that the Shuriken he had thrown were being corroded and damaged by the mist, he realized something was wrong and immediately used Soru to create distance.
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Jutsu!"
As Obito retreated, he also gathered Chakra to use Ninjutsu. He concentrated Chakra in his throat and released a massive fireball, hurling it towards the thick mist.
However, to Obito's surprise, his Great Fireball was completely swallowed by the mist. Although Mei's white mist thinned out a bit, it was still clearly stronger than the fireball that had vanished entirely.
"This girl's Ninjutsu is very strong," Obito assessed internally.
This was definitely bad news for Obito. If Mei's Ninjutsu and Taijutsu were on the same level, he was confident he could defeat her within two minutes, but now it was becoming difficult.
It wasn't that Obito's Chakra and stamina could only support him for two more minutes, but Kakashi and Rin were in trouble.
Obito's Sharingan allowed him to clearly see that Kakashi was being beaten. One Hidden Mist ninja was dragging Rin, while another Hidden Mist ninja and Kisame were surrounding Kakashi.
"I guess I have to go all out," Obito took a deep breath, gathering a large amount of Chakra, and then maximized the Flame Breathing technique.
He planned to use his strongest Fire Release technique, the Fire Dragon Flame Bullet.
---
Don't forget to check out my patreon where you can read up to 50 advanced chapters https://www.patreon.com/CrazyNinja