Realizing the incoming Kakashi, Kurozawa quickly jumped up to push Nohara Rin back several steps, trying to evade Kakashi's attack.
But Kakashi, using all his power, was very fast. With the sudden assault, Kurozawa, in his panic, could hardly dodge in time.
The sharp blade grazed Kurozawa's left arm, leaving a narrow blood scar.
"Damn it, to get defeated so quickly, what a failure." Kurozawa cursed while clutching his arm.
Originally, the situation was in his favor, but now with an injured arm, even if Kakashi left immediately, he might not be able to defeat Nohara Rin.
"Compared to yourself, you prefer to demand from teammates? It's truly sad to have you as a teammate." Kakashi frowned upon hearing Kurozawa's words.
"Are you kidding me? I'm injured because of him, should I be speaking nicely?" Kurozawa sneered, trying to use words to buy time to bandage his wound.
But Kakashi was not fooled. If he was going to attack verbally, he'd continue with physical blows too, immediately charging again.
Swish!
Using the Breath of Thunder with full force, Kakashi's speed greatly surpassed Kurozawa. Kurozawa stabbed with a short blade towards Kakashi, only to find Kakashi's figure disappearing from the front.
Bang!
Reappearing on the side, Kakashi unleashed a whirlwind kick, sending Kurozawa flying backward, even losing grip of the short blade in his right hand.
Boom!
Kurozawa, sent flying, crashed into a large tree, causing it to shake vigorously, with leaves continuously fluttering.
"Instead of condemning others, why not improve yourself? Those who only blame their teammates will never be able to have reliable comrades." Kakashi said coldly.
Although it was their first meeting, the Hidden Mist left a very bad impression on Kakashi, making him want to destroy their resolve for the first time.
"Haha, I admit your strength is greater than mine, and your squad is stronger than ours, you are all genius ninjas, but that's all it is, you didn't defeat me with your naive thoughts, but with your strength." Kurozawa struggled to his feet, pulling a mocking smile in response.
Being defeated by a younger ninja full of naive words left Kurozawa very unwilling, so no matter what Kakashi said, he would retort.
Since he had already lost in strength, he would fiercely belittle with words.
Kakashi approached Kurozawa with a calm expression, resolute in his belief that wouldn't be easily shaken after that experience.
He didn't plan to kill, but Kakashi would disable his opponent, and how to survive in this Forest of Death filled with venomous creatures wasn't his concern.
"Looks like I came at a bad time." A strange female voice suddenly said.
Kakashi immediately halted and carefully observed his surroundings, spotting a girl with long red hair approaching from the east, followed by two boys with bandaged faces.
Kakashi sighed slightly inwardly, the thing he feared most happened; a new ninja squad had arrived.
While fighting Zabuza, he had taken a cautious approach to defeat him with minimal stamina, fearing such occurrences.
The towering black smoke was too evident, coupled with the sounds of Ninjutsu clashes and Taijutsu fights, it was normal for squads to be drawn in.
When Kakashi saw the Hidden Mist Headband on Terumi Mei's head, his heart sank further, hoping the opponent's strength wasn't too overwhelming.
Whiz whiz!!
Kakashi quickly threw two kunai that pierced Kurozawa's thighs, causing the already shaky Kurozawa to fall to the ground.
As Terumi Mei approached the battlefield and surveyed it, she noticed the remnants of water on the ground, saw the severely injured Nara Shiomizu resting by a tree, and also saw Zabuza and Kurozawa lying on the ground, along with the intense battle between Obito and Kisame.
Undoubtedly, a great battle had erupted here, involving three participating squads.
It seemed that their Hidden Mist Squad was fighting two squads alone, and they were already about to lose.
"Teaming up against our Hidden Mist, how despicable." Terumi Mei's teammate had a thought similar to hers.
"Terumi Mei, what should we do?" The teammate looked towards Terumi Mei.
Though they generally had an average relationship, Terumi Mei was the strongest, so in the absence of the Guiding Jonin, Terumi Mei was the captain.
Terumi Mei did not speak, instead showing a pensive expression.
"The battle is to seize scrolls, what scroll do you lack? Whether it's the Heaven Scroll or the Earth Scroll, we can provide it to let you pass the exam." Kakashi thought for a moment and spoke calmly.
He wanted to avoid this battle; they were almost at the point of deciding the fight with the Kisame Squad, but with a new Hidden Mist Squad, Kakashi couldn't be sure of the battle's direction.
Because of Zabuza and Kurozawa's performance, Kakashi speculated that due to the overall Hidden Mist atmosphere, camaraderie among ninja was weak, with most prioritizing benefits, so he came up with this plan.
Although they only had the Heaven Scroll, he remembered the Kisame Squad had the Earth Scroll, meaning effectively, they had the Earth Scroll too.
"Sounds like a good idea, what we lack is the Earth Scroll." Terumi Mei held her chin with her right hand, looking somewhat interested.
Terumi Mei's squad was having average luck, as this was the first time they'd encountered another ninja squad since the exam began, so they came straight over when they saw the black smoke.
"We have the Earth Scroll too, as long as you help us defeat these guys, we'll give you any scrolls you want." Kurozawa immediately said when he saw Terumi Mei's readiness to act. With new forces added, the situation could be reversed.
"We're all Hidden Mist Ninja, you should know which side is more trustworthy."
Terumi Mei glanced at the Hidden Mist ninjas, and then at those Konoha ninjas.
In her mind, she was naturally more inclined towards her fellow village ninja Kurozawa, but his words were a bit irksome, as if he was ordering her around.
Upon seeing Obito's appearance clearly, the once hesitant Terumi Mei immediately made a decision; she wanted revenge for her strawberry ice cream.
"Take down all those Konoha ninja." Terumi Mei ordered her two teammates, then charged towards Obito.
"Please go fight with the others; I want to defeat this guy by myself!" After reaching near the two, Terumi Mei didn't make a move; instead, she wanted Kisame to leave.
Kisame exploded with great strength, pushing Obito back, and looked at Terumi Mei with some confusion.
In all fairness, he'd been a ninja for a while, and it was the first time he saw someone actively creating a one-on-one environment.
"If you don't leave, I won't make a move." Terumi Mei said, arms crossed.
She only wanted to use her strength to take revenge for the strawberry ice cream.
Although he found it a bit odd, Kisame didn't want to give up this hard-won ally.
"Hope your strength matches your confidence, this guy isn't weak." Leaving those words, Kisame charged towards Kakashi.
"You're the Hidden Mist from that day buying desserts." Obito recognized Terumi Mei's waist-length red hair, recalling their chance encounter that day.
"What do you mean buying desserts, I was gathering intel." Terumi Mei corrected, pointing out that she hadn't immediately made a purchase; she only bought ice cream after the intelligence gathering was done.
"What kind of intel would a dessert shop have? Do they have desserts that the Hidden Mist doesn't?" Obito was puzzled.
"Of course..." Terumi Mei was about to list some desserts unavailable in the Hidden Mist, but quickly realized this wasn't the time for idle chatter, "Anyway, I was gathering intel that day. Though I don't really want to bully someone who seems silly like you, I must avenge the strawberry ice cream."
"Nonsensical, you're the silly one." Obito found this red-haired Hidden Mist to be a bit neurotic.
With that, the two of them attacked simultaneously, engaging in Taijutsu combat.
Although Terumi Mei wasn't weak in Taijutsu, she was up against Obito, who possessed the Breathing Technique and Sharingan. His superior insight allowed him to easily see through Terumi Mei's attacks, and his greater strength and speed enabled him to counterattack powerfully while neutralizing her offense.
In less than half a minute, Terumi Mei found herself at a disadvantage, getting hit in the abdomen by Obito and staggered back five or six steps.
"This guy's Taijutsu is strong, is that eye the legendary Sharingan?" Terumi Mei quickly retreated, preparing to use her most proficient Ninjutsu against the enemy.
Swoosh swoosh!!
Obito shot out four shuriken to lock down Terumi Mei's position, then immediately chased after her.
Since Terumi Mei's Taijutsu was inferior, Obito planned to continuously attack her with it.
"Boil Release: Skilled Mist Jutsu!"
A white, dense mist spewed incessantly from Terumi Mei's mouth, surging toward the pursuing Obito.
Having seen the Hidden Mist perform the Hidden Mist Jutsu before, Obito wasn't too concerned with the white mist Terumi Mei expelled. However, when he saw his shuriken entering the mist get corroded and damaged, Obito realized something was wrong and immediately used Soru to distance himself.
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Jutsu!"
While retreating, Obito also gathered chakra to perform a ninjutsu, amassing chakra in his throat to launch a massive fireball at the dense mist.
But unexpectedly, his Great Fireball was engulfed by the mist; although some of Terumi Mei's white mist dissipated, it was undoubtedly stronger than the outright vanished Great Fireball.
"This guy's ninjutsu is strong," Obito assessed in his mind.
This was certainly not good news for Obito. If Terumi Mei's ninjutsu and Taijutsu were on the same level, he was confident in defeating Terumi Mei within two minutes, but now it was difficult.
It wasn't that Obito's current chakra and stamina could only last for two minutes, but Kakashi and Nohara Rin on the other side were in trouble.
The peripheral vision of Obito's Sharingan clearly showed Kakashi getting beaten up.
One Hidden Mist was dragging Nohara Rin, and another was teaming up with Kisame to attack Kakashi.
"I have no choice but to go all out." Obito took a deep breath, gathering a large amount of chakra, then exerted the characteristics of the Breath of Flame to the extreme.
He was preparing to use his currently strongest Fire Release: Fire Dragon Flame Bomb.