The next day Dazen arrived at the training field and seeing that Kenji hadn't arrived yet he began to warm up while he waited, after a few minutes Kenji arrived and greeted Dazen.

"It looks like you're already warmed up Dazen, well we can start soon, but first I want to talk to you."

Dazen nodded and waited for Kenji to continue, "Your training is going very well, of the three you are probably the one who has improved the most, I think you are now well enough to start the next phase of training."

Dazen was very excited hearing Kenji's words for a long time he wanted to learn Kenji's jutsus, but until now Kenji didn't consider him ready to learn, it seemed that Dazen had finally met Kenji's standards.

Kenji noticed Dazen's excitement and laughed: "If I were you, I wouldn't be so happy, after all, the difficulty of your training will increase by a few levels."

Dazen understood this point, but his excitement didn't decrease in the slightest.

Kenji was satisfied with Dazen's determination, so the training began, for the next few days Dazen's routine continued the same with the only difference being the increased difficulty of the training and the constant fights with Ayume and Hideki.

......

3 weeks later.

Dazen and his team were returning to the village after another successful mission and as always, the three children were talking excitedly, Kenji smiled seeing this, but soon his smile disappeared and a serious expression took over his face.

Kenji noticed the existence of several powerful chakras coming quickly in the direction his team was in, Kenji then quickly spoke to the three: "Quickly, increase your speed and get out of here, there are several ninjas approaching."

Kenji's words and his expression scared the team and they quickly realized the gravity of the situation, at the moment Konoha was at war with other ninja villages, having several ninjas approaching at high speed couldn't be a good thing.

Dazen quickly asked, "What about you, Kenji-sensei?"

Kenji then replied: "I'm going to stay here and buy time for you to escape, so leave quickly."

Hideki then said: "Wouldn't it be better for us all to run away."

Kenji shook his head: "They already felt our presence and with their speed they would soon catch up to us, don't waste any more time with meaningless questions and go quickly."

Dazen looked at Kenji and soon understood, Kenji was fast enough to escape, but that was only if he abandoned them while he ran away alone and of course Kenji wouldn't do that.

Having understood the decision, Dazen turned and said to the other two: "Let's go quickly, if we stay here, we will only disturb the sensei, we have to get out of here quickly."

Ayume and Hideki also understood what was going on so they quickly turned around and followed Dazen at top speed.

Kenji watched them leave and began preparing for battle. 'This is the worst possible situation,' he thought. 'I have to hold off these ninjas until the safety of the three of them is guaranteed. I hope there isn't anyone too strong with them.'

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He focused his chakra, feeling the flow of energy course through his body. Kenji was an experienced ninja and knew that any carelessness could be fatal. He was at a disadvantage and the situation demanded the utmost of his skill and cunning. He began to observe his surroundings for anything he could use to his advantage.

The chakras were approaching quickly, Kenji took a deep breath and prepared himself for the inevitable confrontation. He knew he needed to buy time, not win. 'My students are fast, they can escape if I can delay these enemies long enough,' he thought.

Meanwhile, Dazen, Ayume and Hideki ran through the forest, the tension was palpable, "We need to get out of reach of those ninjas as quickly as possible, so Kenji-sensei won't have anything to worry about," said Dazen, his firm voice, despite the concern.

Ayume agreed, "Yes, but we need to make sure we are not being followed."

Hideki, who had a sensory ability, closed his eyes for a moment as he ran, feeling the environment around him. "I don't sense any hostile chakras near us."

Dazen nodded and said, "We have to hurry."

Back to where Kenji was, Kenji didn't have to wait long, soon the chakras were about to arrive at the location, so Kenji positioned himself and waited to see who the enemy was, but the appearance of the ninjas surprised him, as they were ninjas from Konoha.

Kenji was surprised and thought: 'Konoha ninjas, from their expressions, look like they're being followed.'

Kenji then spoke towards the ninjas: "Stop right there, identify yourself before approaching."

Although they were dressed as Konoha ninjas this could easily be a trap, so Kenji didn't plan on letting them approach without identifying themselves.

The three Konoha ninja stopped immediately and one of them, who seemed to be the leader, recognized Kenji and said: "You are Hatake Kenji, aren't you? Looks like we've finally had some luck, we're one of the village's infiltration teams, we're returning from an infiltration mission. My name is Aiko, this is Taro and that is Riku," said the leader, pointing to his companions.

Kenji nodded, but kept his guard up in case of any suspicious movement from the other side.

"Why are you here? And why do I feel like they are being followed?" Kenji asked, his eyes alert for any suspicious movement.

Aiko took a deep breath before responding. "During our mission, we obtained important information, but were discovered by a group of enemy ninjas from Kumogakure. They chased us and we are trying to lose them, but there are many of them and they are very skilled."

"During the chase, several ninjas from our team were killed by them, their leader is very powerful, we had no chance, that's when I felt some presences and I thought it could be another ninja team that could help us."

Kenji had a serious expression when he said: "You were reckless, my team is genin and I'm a jounin-sensei, what you did was put my students in danger."

Aiko quickly replied: "I had to risk the information I have is very important, we can't lose it."

Kenji sighed, recognizing the urgency in Aiko's voice, despite Aiko's recklessness, he knew that the information obtained could be crucial to Konoha, still, the safety of his students was his priority, Kenji sensed that the Kumo ninja were about to arrive.

"We don't have time for arguments," Kenji said firmly. "Aiko, how many ninja are following you and what is your overall strength, we have to prepare for battle."

Aiko looked at Kenji seriously, aware of the gravity of the situation. "There are at least 12 ninjas, all of jounin level, they are fast and well trained, with different skills that gave us a lot of work."

Kenji frowned, quickly evaluating his options. He knew that facing such a large and skilled group would be extremely difficult, especially outnumbered, however, he needed to buy time to ensure everyone's safety.

Kenji then looked at the ninjas and said: "Get into formation, we are surrounded, it is useless to try to escape, I placed some traps in place so we have some advantage."

Aiko then nodded and said: "Okay, we will follow your orders Kenji."

Aiko had not met Kenji personally, but she had heard of his achievements and knew that he was one of the most powerful jounis in Konoha so she quickly made the decision to hand over command to Kenji.

Taro and Riku looked at each other, realizing the seriousness of the situation. They quickly obeyed Kenji's orders, positioning themselves strategically as they prepared for the imminent confrontation, Kenji observed their surroundings carefully.

The minutes dragged by as the tension increased. The enemies' chakras were approaching quickly, indicating that the confrontation would not take long. Kenji took a deep breath, his chakra flowing vigorously as he prepared himself mentally and physically for the clash.