"Shadow Possession Jutsu!"
Nara Shiomizu rapidly formed the seals, and the shadow beneath his feet swiftly shot towards Kurozawa, merging with Kurozawa's shadow.
At the instant the shadows overlapped, Kurozawa sensed something strange about his body; he lost control over it.
Whoosh!
Nara Shiomizu controlled Kurozawa's body to fling a short blade towards Zabuza.
Not trusting his teammates to begin with, Zabuza immediately noticed Kurozawa's attack and swung his longsword to deflect the short blade.
"Insect Wind!"
Aburame Naoya used his chakra to command insects, forming a whirlwind that charged towards Kurozawa.
Controlling an enemy with Shadow Possession Jutsu tends to be rigid; continuously controlling an enemy for attack is not a good choice. Capturing one person and then focusing all attacks to eliminate that captured individual is the best option.
"Tsuga!"
Inuzuka Midori burst out with chakra, causing herself to spin rapidly, rushing towards Kurozawa.
"Damn it." Seeing the oncoming black insect tornado and the spinning whirlwind, Kurozawa's expression changed dramatically, not expecting this timid Konoha Squad to be not only strong but also decisive in action.
"Water Prison Jutsu!"
At this critical moment, Kisame stepped in, swirling a thick flow of water around Kurozawa, forming a water sphere without blind spots, blocking the first wave of attacks for Kurozawa.
Nara Shiomizu's face remained unchanged, controlling Kurozawa to walk forward, intending to suffocate him with the water from the sphere.
Though unimpressed by teammates, Zabuza had no desire to face three opponents alone. Seizing the chance while Inuzuka Midori and Aburame Naoya attacked Kurozawa, he used Instant Body Jutsu to slash towards Nara Shiomizu.
Nara Shiomizu had to abandon control over Kurozawa, quickly pulling out a kunai to block Zabuza's slash.
Clang!
Zabuza's longsword struck Nara Shiomizu's kunai, emitting a crisp sound of metal clashing.
Swish, swish!
Zabuza, like an emotionless killing machine, swung his longsword skillfully, aiming each strike at Nara Shiomizu's vital points, quickly overwhelming him.
With the corner of his eye, Nara Shiomizu glanced at his two teammates. Without pre-laid traps, his one-on-one combat skills were mediocre, requiring his teammates to break the deadlock.
However, his teammates weren't having it easy either; even with Inuzuka Midori and her ninja dog working together, they could barely hold Kisame at bay. Aburame Naoya struggled against the enraged Kurozawa.
Although it seemed they had no obvious disadvantage, Nara Shiomizu knew that they would eventually be defeated if this continued, as each of them was weaker than their corresponding opponent.
"As a ninja, I've been too reckless. I should stay away from such unnatural phenomena." Nara Shiomizu sighed inwardly, knowing that if they had detoured when they first saw the black smoke, this wouldn't have happened.
Bang!
A dull collision sound echoed as Inuzuka Midori's body was hurled back at high speed, smashing into a tree and breaking it.
Seeing this, Shiramaru abandoned the attack, quickly rushing to stand protectively in front of Inuzuka Midori.
"Is this guy a shark face? Did he cultivate some high-level Beast Mimicry Ninpo to become like this, with such immense strength?" Inuzuka Midori questioned reality.
Though a girl, due to cultivating Beast Mimicry Ninpo and lifelong training, she'd always been the strongest among her peers, yet her strength was utterly overpowered by Kisame during their Taijutsu confrontation.
This led Inuzuka Midori to suspect whether Kisame had mastered a shark-related Beast Mimicry Ninpo, reaching an extremely high realm, making him no longer appear human.
Nara Shiomizu and Aburame Naoya were both struggling with defense, though aware of Inuzuka Midori's dire situation, they couldn't spare the effort to assist her.
Kisame, ignoring Inuzuka Midori's words, continued advancing towards her fallen figure, long used to odd stares due to his slightly unusual appearance.
Facing Kisame's advancing steps, Shiramaru tensed its tail and glared angrily at Kisame, emitting low growls that seemed to threaten, "Come closer, and I'll bite you."
When Kisame approached within three meters of Inuzuka Midori, Shiramaru couldn't hold back any longer, launching itself to bite at Kisame.
Bang!
Kisame's fist, filled with immense force, struck Shiramaru, sending it crashing to the ground like a cannonball, its once-white fur stained grey by the dirt, with the area where Kisame hit turning a blood-red hue.
"Shiramaru!" Inuzuka Midori wanted to continue fighting alongside Shiramaru, but having suffered multiple fractures in the clash with Kisame, even standing was a struggle now.
This touching moment between human and pet didn't move Kisame. He drew the longsword from his back and aimed to pierce Inuzuka Midori's heart.
"Secret Technique: Insect Cocoon!"
With circumstances so dire, Aburame Naoya disregarded physical damage, expending all chakra to accelerate insect hatching, creating numerous parasitic worms to simultaneously restrain both Zabuza and Kurozawa.
"Shadow Possession Jutsu!"
Nara Shiomizu immediately used his shadow secret techniques, sending his shadow rushing towards Kisame.
Having learned his lesson from Kurozawa, Kisame was constantly wary of Nara Shiomizu's shadow secret technique, retreating promptly when the shadow approached.
Kisame moved quickly across the large trees, quickly realizing that once the distance from Nara Shiomizu increased, the shadow couldn't keep up.
Nara Shiomizu's expression remained unchanged, and he immediately controlled the shadow to turn and charge towards Zabuza, who was resisting a swarm of parasitic worms.
The Shadow Possession Jutsu couldn't extend its shadow, so its reach was limited; if too far, it couldn't connect.
"Water Release: Hidden Mist Jutsu!"
Zabuza endured the biting of the worms, expelled a large volume of dense mist, causing Nara Shiomizu to lose his sight of him.
The Hidden Mist ninjas were specially trained; the thick mist wouldn't affect their combat, but it was difficult for Nara Shiomizu and Aburame Naoya.
If there were enough bugs, the dense fog wouldn't be much of a problem for Aburame Naoya, but he had no chakra left to accelerate the bugs' hatching.
When the thick fog dispersed, Nara Shiomizu had become extremely disheveled, with sword marks on his arms and legs, clothes soaked in blood, lying on the ground completely losing combat capabilities. Aburame Naoya was sweating profusely, kneeling on one knee, his body at its limit.
Kisame swung his sword, ready to finish off the most dangerous Nara Shiomizu, but a flaming kunai flying towards him forced him to halt his attack and dodge.
"Hey, you guys are too cruel; they've already lost the ability to fight. Just take the scroll, why kill them?" Obito couldn't help but say, seeing the tragic state of the three men and a dog.
He felt there was no need for this; it wasn't a battlefield, just an exam.
"I think you don't understand at all. Before the exam started, the consent form was already signed. Killing is part of the exam rules. If you don't kill the defeated enemy, are you waiting for them to recover and cause trouble?" Kurozawa laughed, looking at Obito as if he were an idiot.
"A complete greenhouse flower," Zabuza evaluated.
"You're really getting on my nerves; with that superior attitude, do you think all ninjas in this world are like you?" Obito started to get a bit angry.
Nohara Rin ignored the ridicule from Zabuza's trio and used Mystical Palm Jutsu to heal the nearest Inuzuka Midori.
"Are you okay? This is the first time I'm treating someone so severely injured," Nohara Rin asked with concern.
"Of course not. Midori has multiple fractures," Inuzuka Midori replied honestly.
"But your treatment is excellent; Midori feels like she's recovering."
Seeing Nohara Rin's hand glowing green on Inuzuka Midori, Kisame said, "Let's finish them off quickly; someone in this squad knows medical ninjutsu."
"That shark-faced guy is strong; be careful," Inuzuka Midori loudly relayed information about Kisame.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!!
Kakashi silently noted down this information and quickly retrieved shuriken from the ninja pouch, aiming them at Zabuza and Kisame near Nara Shiomizu.
If it were a fight between ninjas of the same village, it could be let go. Seeing ninjas from other villages tormenting his Konoha comrades, Kakashi couldn't just sit by.
"Breath of Flame, Full Concentration Breathing!"
Kakashi's shuriken was the signal for Obito to charge; he immediately elevated his breathing to the limit to strengthen his body and rushed towards Kurozawa.
"Let me show you what a true ninja should be like," Kurozawa grinned viciously, welcoming the challenge.
"Then give it a try!" As he approached Kurozawa, Obito instantly released the chakra he had prepared, so fast that Kurozawa only felt a swoosh as Obito vanished.
Without even looking, Kurozawa turned, swinging his arm to strike behind him.
But he didn't know that under Full Concentration Breathing, Obito could increase his strength significantly. Obito's right hand firmly blocked Kurozawa's arm, then punched Kurozawa, sending him flying several meters.
Immediately after, Obito grabbed the kneeling Aburame Naoya and retreated swiftly.
This time, his attack's purpose wasn't to defeat Kurozawa, but to rescue.
"Thank you," Aburame Naoya weakly thanked Obito.
"No problem, just accept the treatment and watch how I take down these bastards," Obito said as he placed Aburame Naoya next to Inuzuka Midori.
Seeing Obito and his team seemingly wanting to save someone, Kisame immediately launched a Water Release attack towards the fallen Nara Shiomizu.
"Earth Release: Earth Flow Wall!"
Kakashi quickly formed seals, gathering chakra to raise a solid earth wall in front of Nara Shiomizu, perfectly neutralizing the incoming Water Release.
Then Kakashi fully unleashed Breath of Thunder, demonstrating Divine Speed to bring Nara Shiomizu next to Nohara Rin.
Nara Shiomizu was severely injured; initially, he intended for Kakashi and the others to retreat quickly, but he was too hurt to even speak.
"You'd better treat Shiomizu first; he looks awful," Inuzuka Midori said up close, seeing Nara Shiomizu's miserable state.
Nohara Rin nodded with a serious expression and began to focus on treating Nara Shiomizu. It was a challenge for her; she had only treated minor injuries for Obito and the others since learning medical ninjutsu.
"Such hopeless and foolish kindness, do you plan on fighting two against three?" Zabuza looked at Kakashi and Obito with a derisive expression.
Based on their performance, Kakashi and Obito were indeed competent, but expecting to take on three opponents with two would be too much.
"Calling those who do good foolish... I guess you are surrounded by selfish people, including yourself, which is why you say that," Kakashi calmly retorted.
"What do you know? The brutality of the Blood Mist is something you greenhouse flowers can't comprehend," Zabuza gripped his sword handle tightly, eyes showing killing intent.
"No matter what mist you come from, I won't let you harm ninjas from our village. And you still have the Earth Scroll, don't you?" Obito said, full of battle spirit.