Dazen, Ayume and Hideki ran through the forest as fast as they could, however, Hideki, with his sensory abilities, soon realized that something was wrong.

"We're being followed," Hideki said, his voice serious.

Dazen looked at him, his eyes narrowing, "How many are there? How close are they?"

"There are two, not far away. They are catching up to us quickly. We should be reached in a few minutes," Hideki replied.

Ayume nodded, and said: "I think we have no choice but to fight, if there were only two maybe we have a chance to fight."

Dazen's expression was serious as he once again asked Hideki, "How long do you think they will catch up to us?"

Hideki then replied, "At this rate they reached us in 10 minutes."

Dazen thought for a moment and said, "Okay, then let's use this time to our advantage and set a trap and deal as much damage as possible to these ninjas and try to gain the upper hand."

The other two agreed and then stopped running away and quickly started setting a trap.

The three worked in sync and quickly set several traps, Hideki was focused, his eyes closed as he felt the vibrations in the ground, hearing every sound in the forest around him. "They are approximately 500 meters away and moving fast. We have few time."

Dazen and Ayume quickly climbed the trees, taking strategic positions. Dazen set up several explosive tags at key points in the ground and tree trunks, cleverly hiding them with leaves and branches. Ayume, in turn, prepared kunais with incendiary stripes, ready to be launched.

Hideki remained on the ground, his senses always alert. When the Kumo ninjas were 100 meters away, he signaled with a wave of his hand. Everyone braced themselves, their breathing calming, muscles tense ready for action.

Soon, two ninjas could be seen, they moved with precision and care.

"They're around here," said one of them, a woman with short hair and a penetrating gaze. Her companion, a tall man with a scar on his face, nodded.

The tall man then spoke: "Be careful, they must have set a trap for us."

The two had already realized that the three had stopped running away, so they quickly came to the conclusion that their opponents noticed them and realizing that they would be caught, they decided to fight and with the advantage of a few minutes they must have set some type of trap.

The Kumo ninjas continued to advance cautiously, their eyes scanning every corner of the forest. They were aware that their adversaries had prepared traps, but the need to complete their mission outweighed any hesitation.

At this moment, Ayume made her move. From the shadows of the trees, she launched a series of kunai with incendiary stripes. The kunais flew quickly, leaving trails of fire in their path. The two Kumo ninjas reacted instinctively, dodging the projectiles with agility.

"There!" shouted the woman, pointing to the direction the kunais came from. But before they could counterattack, Dazen took action. With a quick movement, he launched the 'Lightning Style: Lightning Snake' jutsu that ripped through the air towards his enemies. Lightning danced around the trees, forcing the Kumo ninjas to retreat further.

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"Screw it!" shouted Raiden, quickly forming hand seals. The two then moved with impressive speed, avoiding Dazen's electrical attacks. They split up, trying to outflank their opponents.

Hideki, observing everything from his hidden position, felt the change in the dynamics of the battle. "They're trying to surround us," he whispered to himself, sending a signal to Dazen and Ayume with a simple gesture.

Ayume quickly descended from her position, throwing more incendiary kunai to keep the Kumo ninja busy. The explosions lit up the forest, creating a chaotic dance of shadows and lights. Dazen, in turn, focused on the guy with the scar, shooting lightning towards him.

With Dazene and Ayume's attacks, the two Kumo ninjas were finally able to see their opponents' appearances.

The scarred guy then laughed contemptuously and said: "They're just kids, so that Konoha ninja was telling the truth, but that doesn't matter we still have to check if they have the information or not, Hikari let's get this over with our opponents are just brats."

The woman named Hikari was surprised by her opponents' appearance, but soon recovered: "Okay, I don't like this, but we have no other option, the mission is our priority."

The Kumo ninjas, feeling confident seeing that their opponents were young, abandoned caution and began attacking with all their might. The scarred man quickly formed hand seals, creating a wave of lightning that rushed like a deadly tide towards Dazen. Hikari, in turn, channeled chakra into her blades, making them glow with cutting energy.

"Get ready," shouted Dazen, his voice firm but thick with tension. He knew their only advantage was the trap they had set.

Ayume and Dazen were already expecting the attacks from the Kumo ninjas. With an agile leap, Dazen avoided the oncoming wave of lightning, his legs propelling him into a nearby tree. Ayume did the same, deftly dodging Hikari's glowing blades.

Seeing this, Dazen gestured to Ayume and the girl understood and quickly began to make hand seals.

'Fire style: Phoenix flower.'

Soon several fireballs were launched towards the two ninjas forcing them to separate as they dodged, Hikari continued to dodge Ayume's attacks, but soon felt an attack coming from her back so she quickly reacted and disappeared from the spot, soon a strong attack from wind reached the place where she was causing great destruction in the place.

Seeing the power of the attack, Hikari thought, 'The wind style jutsu: great destruction, so the third one is finally willing to appear.'

Hikari then launched several kunais towards the place where Hideki was forcing him to come out of hiding.

Seeing that Hideki was in danger, Dazen quickly approached Hikari, drawing his sword and attacking her, the two entered into fierce combat, both using kenjutsu and lightning-style jutsus.

Ayume, on the other hand, continued to distract the scarred man by throwing fireballs incessantly. The scarred man was skilled, but the precision and intensity of Ayume's attacks kept him under constant pressure.

'Damn what an annoying girl, she keeps this barrage of incessant attacks and every time I try to get to her, she retreats using several explosive kunais to slow me down.'

Dazen and Hikari faced each other in an even battle. Both were fast and skilled, but Hikari's experience and strength began to stand out. She took advantage of every opening, forcing Dazen to slowly back away.

"You're good, kid, but you're at a disadvantage," Hikari said, a cruel smile on her lips.

Dazen panted, his strength beginning to wane. Every movement became difficult, his muscles burning with effort. Seeing the situation deteriorate, Hideki joined the fight, using his speed and precision to try and even the odds.

Hideki's presence gave Dazen brief relief, but Hikari, shrewd and experienced, sensed a fatal opening. Quickly forming hand seals, she prepared a powerful lightning style jutsu. "Lightning Style: Big Impact!" she shouted, launching a massive blast of electrical energy towards the two.

Dazen and Hideki were hit squarely by the attack, their bodies seeming to consume themselves in a blinding glow of lightning. Hikari smiled triumphantly, believing she had won. But in the blink of an eye, they both disappeared, revealing that she had been tricked.

"Genjutsu...!" Hikari muttered, her eyes widening in surprise.