The air was filled with the sharp, metallic whistle of shuriken slicing through the air, their deadly flight aimed at the massive swarm of insects that resembled oversized hornets. Each impact produced a sickening thud, but for every creature struck down, it seemed that two more emerged to take its place.

Kenji's heart pounded in his chest as he and his teammates found themselves being pushed back, slowly but surely becoming overwhelmed by the relentless swarm. With each step, the tension and suspense grew as the insects grew closer, their buzzing wings filling the air like a sinister symphony.

"Tomoe, we need a firewall now!" Kenji yelled, desperately trying to buy them some time. "Nawaki, ready to move right!"

Nawaki grumbled, sweat beading on his brow as he fended off the insects. "We wouldn't be in this mess if you'd listened to me!"

Tomoe smirked as she formed hand signs, her eyes narrowed with determination. "A Senju shouldn't be so reckless, Nawaki. Just watch and learn."

With a surge of flames, Tomoe created a barrier of fire that scorched the swarm, momentarily halting their advance. But the reprieve was short-lived, as the insects quickly regrouped and resumed their assault.

"Now, move right!" Kenji commanded, launching three shuriken with tags attached in different directions. As they moved, the tags detonated, and a giant cloud of smoke engulfed the area, obscuring their escape.

The team weaved through the trees, adrenaline pumping as they evaded the relentless pursuit of the swarm. Their breaths came in ragged gasps, each of them acutely aware of the constant threat nipping at their heels. The concern grew over Kenji with every passing second, leaving them to wonder if they would ever find respite from the onslaught.

As they finally gained enough distance to catch their breath, Kenji let out a sigh of relief and asked, "Is everyone alright?"

"I'm fine," Nawaki snapped, still annoyed. "Just because Tomoe got lucky doesn't mean she's better."

Tomoe scoffed, "Luck? Please. That was pure skill."

Kenji stared at the two for a second, frustrated with their constant bickering, but he had no time to reprimand them as they team sensed an ominous presence. A powerful gust of wind hurtled towards them, and they immediately employed their respective techniques to evade the sudden attack.

However, their troubles were far from over. As they regained their footing, a pack of tigers emerged from the shadows, surrounding them.

Tomoe's eyes gleamed with excitement, "Finally, a real challenge!"

Nawaki cracked his knuckles, "Just don't slow us down, princess."

The leader of the pack, a large grey tiger with piercing yellow eyes, let out a deafening roar, signaling the attack. Kenji, Tomoe, and Nawaki were caught off guard, but they quickly sprang into action. "Dragon formation, now!" Kenji shouted, taking the lead as the Dragon's Head. Tomoe took the right side as the Dragon's Right Claw, and Nawaki took the left side as the Dragon's Left Claw. This way, they could cover all angles and protect each other.

The tigers charged at the young ninjas, snarling, clawing and snapping their jaws. Kenji, Tomoe, and Nawaki maintained their formation, ready for the assault. As the first wave of tigers lunged toward them, they leaped into action.

Kenji, focused and calm, shouted, "We've faced worse than this! Stay in formation and don't over extend." As he deftly struck at the pack leader's legs with his kunai, attempting to immobilize it.

Tomoe, spoke back with gleam in her eyes, "These mangy beasts won't stand a chance against us!" She unleashed her fire ninjutsu, creating a barrier of flames to injure any tiger that dared approach her.

Nawaki, boasted as he charged forward, "Watch this, you two!" He swiped his leg with immense force, knocking one of the tigers out cold with a single blow. He then used his ninjutsu to manipulate the earth, forming a barrier on the left flank of the formation.

The pack leader, however, was not to be underestimated. It let out a roar and countered with a powerful gust of wind, blowing away Tomoe's barrier of fire and catching her off guard. She was thrown back hard against a tree behind her, falling unconscious as she landed with her head taking most of the impact.

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Kenji, with concern in his voice, called out, "Tomoe's down! Nawaki, cover her! I'll draw there attention, prepare for retreat."

Nawaki, gritting his teeth, replied, "Got it!" He quickly performed hand seals and another earthen wall rose from the ground covering Tomoe.

Kenji continued to strike at the pack leader, trying to immobilize it. The battle raged on, with the Nawaki defending off the relentless attacks of the tigers. They dodged, weaved, and struck back with every ounce of their strength.

In the chaos, Kenji prepared a trap for the beast. As the pack leader lunged to bite Kenji's head off, he replaced himself with a piece of wood with an explosive tag attached. The resulting explosion killing the pack leader and some of the tigers. Kenji then deployed a smoke bomb, disorienting the remaining pack, allowing the team to escape.

"Hurry, we have to get out of here!" Kenji urged, his voice strained.

Nawaki nodded, scooping up Tomoe's unconscious body. "Just lead the way, Kenji."

As they retreated from the battlefield, Kenji and Nawaki exchanged a quick glance, acknowledging their victory. They made their way deeper into the forest knew that they couldn't afford to be distracted – they had to find a safe place to tend to Tomoe's injuries.

Kenji led the way while Nawaki carefully carried Tomoe through the dense forest. Her body was limp on his back. Kenji searched around and finally found a small clearing that seemed safe enough to rest and tend to her injuries. He instructed Nawaki to lay her down on the ground and keep guard of their perimeter while he checked her over.

Placing his hand on her body, Kenji closed his eyes to focus on his chakra. He activated a medical jutsu that allowed him to scan the patients condition that he learned from Chiyo. As he performed the jutsu, he mumbled to himself, describing the extent of her injuries.

"She has a mild traumatic brain injury, likely resulting in her loss of consciousness. There's also a hairline fracture on one of her ribs, and signs of contusions and muscle strain in her shoulder and back. Hmm, she must of reinforced her body before she hit tree but not enough."

Kenji opened his pack and began to treat Tomoe with expert precision. He applied a topical analgesic to her shoulder and back, which he explained would help alleviate pain and reduce inflammation. He then skillfully wrapped a compression bandage around her torso to provide support for her fractured rib, ensuring it was snug but not too tight to hinder breathing.

As Kenji worked, Nawaki couldn't help but ask questions. "How did you learn to heal like this, Kenji? Do you want to be a healer in the future?"

Kenji responded without looking up from his task, "It's just a skill I picked up along the way, I learned it from my mum. It's useful to know, especially for situation like this. Maybe when my control is better I'll start attempting harder techniques."

Nawaki curiosity piqued, "Your a weird one Kenji, how did you get so strong without being from a clan? And you act like the older members of my clan all the time, why is that?"

Kenji paused for a moment before answering, "Hmmm... I guess I train harder than most, I don't want to be a weakling, at the mercy of others. You know, I've had to grow up fast, especially from my accident when I was three. That really changed me, so I started learning as much as I could to get strong. And, I just want to be able to protect those I care about you know."

Clapping his together, "Alright, let's get Tomoe up." Kenji then grabbed some sniffing salts and waved it under Tomoe's nose, bringing her back to consciousness. Her eyes snapped open, and she grimaced in pain, frustration evident on her face.

"What happened?" Tomoe growled, clenching her fists and her body being tense.

Nawaki couldn't resist the opportunity to jab at her. "You got your ass handed to you, that's what," he retorted smugly.

Kenji shot Nawaki a stern glare. "Not now, Nawaki. Go cover our position. I'll take care of Tomoe."

Rolling his eyes, Nawaki leaped and moved to a different position covering them as Kenji tended to Tomoe. "You're fine, only minor injury to your chest, shoulder and back. I did what I could and you only need to see a med-nin to get it fixed up."

Tomoe's face contorted in anger and frustration. "I failed," she muttered. Kenji placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, "Nah, your still breathing, so your still good. Just remember Tomoe, we all make mistakes, the important thing is that we learn from them and come out stronger."

She stared at him for a moment and nodded thinking over what Kenji just said. He then looked up at where Nawaki was positioned, who had been standing guard. "Oi Nawaki, we're going to stay low and give Tomoe some time to recover."

"I don't need to rest. I can keep going." Tomoe spoke with frustration, and attempted to protest.

Nawaki chimed in, "Yeah, we can't just sit around here, Kenji. We have a mission to complete."

Kenji shook his head, his expression firm. "Listen, both of you. The medicine needs time to work, we risk running around the forest with an injured member. Let's stay low for a bit, we still have a few days before we're needed at the tower."

Nawaki rolled his eyes, "Alright, But only for a few hours."

Tomoe scowled, but eventually, she sighed. "Fine, Kenji. We'll rest."

The team then started two set up an alarm perimeter, Nawaki and Tomoe started to bicker, their rivalry started to flare up. "Stupid twig, the village wouldn't last without the Uchiha clan," Tomoe claimed.

Nawaki scoffed, "As if Princess! The Senju clan is far superior in every way! Even our sweets are better than the Uchiha's."

Tomoe raised an eyebrow, "Are you serious? Uchiha clan's dango's are legendary. Everyone in the village knows it."

"Oh, please!" Nawaki countered, "Senju clan's taiyaki is what everyone talks about. You can't beat that!"

Kenji was glad to see that they were starting to calm down, and he couldn't help but believe that his luck was changing even if the two idiots were bickering.

'Hopefully the rest of the journey to the tower is a non-event.'