Orochimaru's men sprinted towards the three Leaf ninjas. They each selected their target and were looking forward to their victory against them.

Genma tensed his muscles but had a calm expression. "Here they come. Be careful and don't waste time. They would most likely have backup."

Despite the tense situation Anko had a playful smile. "Don't worry. I'll be fine." Her eyes drifted to Daichi and seeing the Genin's lack of fear, her hidden worries disappeared. 'Let's see what you can really do.'

The three Leaf ninjas didn't wait any longer and met the enemy halfway.

In seconds the clash of weapons could be heard through the forest as sparks flew in the air between the two groups of fighters. They separated from their companions and kept some distance so as to not interfere with the other fights.

Daichi was fighting against Tanjero. The prisoner with high level taijutsu skills and man with four arms.

Genma faced off against Ryotoba. A bloodthirsty fighter and a human fish hybrid.

Anko's opponent was Yuma who could easily use air bullet attacks from his fingers.

Orochimaru's men focused on their enemy in front of them. The 3 remembered the order Guren gave them.

'Our target is Daichi Hekima. The Genin in their group. I want him alive and in one piece. But I also want to see just how strong he is. The other two… You can kill them if you can.'

Yuma looked at Anko and had an evil grin. 'With my power she won't beat me.'

Anko Mitarashi Vs Yuma.

Yuma quickly took two kunai and sent them flying at Anko's head. The Special Jonin from the Leaf tilted her body slightly and easily dodged the weapons without taking her eyes off the enemy. Before Yuma could make the next move he collided with his foe.

Anko ducked under the wild punch sent by Yuma and quickly took him off balance with a leg sweep. Yuma, who was startled and falling to the ground, quickly raised his hands in Anko's direction.

"Air bullets!"

Several small air bullets were fired from his fingertips. Yuma grinned as he looked at the woman. 'At this close range I won't miss.'

The wind style attacks hit Anko's body and she fell to the ground. Seeing his enemy defeated so easily he was happy. But that joy didn't last for more than a second or two. The next instant he heard the whistle of several objects coming towards him. Before he could get up and dodge, multiple shuriken hit his body.

"Argh!"

"If you think it's going to be that easy to take us Leaf ninjas down, then you have underestimated us a lot." Anko's voice came from all around him.

Yuma's smile had long vanished and was replaced with an expression of seriousness. He looked around and all he could see was the greenery. His attention turned back to the body infront of him and his eyes widened at what he saw.

The fallen Anko turned into several snakes and rushed towards him. Bearing the pain from the Shuriken wounds Yuma quickly got to his feet and jumped to a tree branch.

He immediately took the weapons that were pierced into his flesh. 'I was careless. Damn it. Thankfully this is just a flesh wound… But something isn't right…'

Yuma looked at the snakes below and a memory came to him. This was not the first time he saw this jutsu.

'This is the Snake clone technique. I've only seen Lord Orochimaru use it. So how can this woman use this jutsu?'

"Peek-a-boo!"

As Yuma pondered on this question Anko suddenly appeared behind him with a smile and kicked him in the back sending him flying forward.

"Argh!" Yuma, despite being attacked, quickly twisted his body in mid air and faced Anko.

"You bitch. Take this! Air Bullet wave!"

Small pressurized air bullets quickly began firing from Yuma fingertips. Anko jumped to the side and kept moving to avoid the attacks. Even though it looked as if she was on the defensive, it was not the case.

'He has above average speed and strength but Taijutsu skill and techniques are abysmal. Then there are the air bullets coming from his fingertips. After he shoots an attack from a finger he can't send another air bullet attack from that finger for at least 5 seconds. It must be because of some physical limitations, recoil or something else.'

Anko was carefully observing and analyzing her opponent and figured out the strength and weaknesses of his tricks.

'Damn it. I can't waste too much chakra.' Seeing his attacks fail to hit the target Yuma stopped his wind jutsu assault.

He took a step forward but the next second fell to one knee. His vision slightly blurred for a moment. 'What the?'

"Looks like they're kicking in."

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Hearing Anko's voice, Yuma looked at her. He quickly figured out what happened.

"Th-those shuriken earlier. You laced them with poison?"

Anko grinned as she came near him. "Yeah. It's something that'll put you to sleep till I get you some better accommodations. I have a feeling my friends back home would love to have a chat with you."

"You…" Before he could finish the sentence Yuma fell to the group and closed his eyes.

Anko looked at the unconscious body for a few seconds and got closer. "Alright. Now I just need to make sure you don't go anywhere."

Just as Anko was about to touch Yuma's body, his right hand quickly moved and was in front of her face.

"Air bullets."

Despite the extreme close range, Anko successfully moved her body and dodged the attack. But her trench coat was not so lucky. It had several holes torn through it and the female Jonin was displeased.

"You just destroyed my favorite coat. Alright. Congratulations. You've pissed me off."

Yuma quickly jumped to his feet and Anko created a short distance between them. Yuma had an arrogant smirk as he looked at Anko. "Do I look like I care?"

"You look pretty lively for a guy who was about to take a long nap." Anko couldn't help but quip.

"Hmph. I was slightly affected at first but my body quickly fought off the effects. Poison of that level won't be effective on me. Lord Orochimaru saw to that. He made several modifications to my body and poison resistance was one of them."

Anko growled as she listened to the man. 'Of course it is. That bastard Orochimaru loves poison techniques. He knows just how dangerous they are. So it would make sense for him to develop some subordinates that could withstand most toxins. I'll need to be careful.'

"What relationship do you have with Lord Orochimaru?" Yuma suddenly asked.

"Relationship?" Anko raised an eyebrow.

"That snake clone technique. I've only seen Lord Orochimaru use it. And the way you used it earlier was almost the same. I doubt that's a coincidence…"

Anko's eyes narrowed as she looked at Yuma. "Yes. You're right. I do have a relationship with Orochimaru."

'I knew it. Is she one of Lord Orochimaru's spy?' Yuma silently looked at the woman with hidden excitement. But Anko's words poured cold water on that feeling.

"I want to kill that bastard someday. That's my relationship."

Yuma was angry when he heard that. He had seen Orochimaru's strength and knew the Leaf ninja in front of him could never accomplish such a task in her life. "Don't be so arrogant."

With those words Yuma rushed forward and their fight resumed.

Genma Vs Ryotoba.

Genma leaned back to avoid a fast kunai swipe and quickly counterattacked at the extended arm. He thrust his kunai into the elbow of his enemy, but just as the weapon was near Ryotoba's body, his arm moved faster and dodged Genma's attack.

Orochimaru's minion took a step forward and sent his hand to Genma's face. They were in the shape of a claw as Ryotoba's aim was to literally rip Genma's face.

Seeing the deadly sharp hand coming, the Special Jonin didn't panic. He looked at his enemy and spit the senbon in his mouth directly towards Ryotoba's eyes.

The human fish hybrid was taken back for a second and swiftly moved his head to evade the flying needle. But this momentary lapse in concentration allowed Genma to escape and create some distance between them.

Genma was calm as he looked at the enemy who had rage written all over his face.

'This guy. Kakashi and Guy… They fought someone like this guy in the Land of Sea. He had extremely good physical strength and speed. And based on this one's appearance, he must have a similar skill set. If he has an advantage with water style jutsu then it's a good thing I'm not near any large bodies of water.'

"You can't escape from me, little rat." Ryotoba roared and rushed towards Genma. The special Jonin didn't back down and ran forward with his kunai.

Ryotoba raised his forearm and easily blocked a kunai strike without injuring himself. Genma noted the hardness of the scales on the man's body.

'It seems those black scales can block kunai and shuriken. They're hard to break. But can they withstand chakra slash? I also need to be careful about his water style jutsu.'

Ryotoba and Genma fought with Taijutsu for several seconds before Ryotoba suddenly jumped back, making several hand seals.

"Water style - Tearing Current!"

A powerful water wave was blasted in Genma's direction, the speed of the jutsu would have made it difficult for ordinary Chunins or even some low Jonins to escape unharmed.

But Genma was neither. He increased his speed and quickly escaped the jutsu range. Ryotoba was surprised to see that. 'I thought I had an understanding of his speed. But it looks like this bastard was holding back on me.'

"You're a fast little prey aren't you? Don't think this little bit of speed will help you." The ninja from the Land of Sound asked with a condescending tone.

Genma wasn't someone who would be easily provoked. He smiled and replied in a calm tone. "I was once the guard of the fourth Hokage. The man who was regarded as the fastest. It would shame him if I couldn't at least keep some pace with him. Compared to that this is nothing."

Ryotoba got angry as he looked at Genma's taunting smile. "You bastard." He rushed forward with increased speed and tried to rip Genma's flesh with his bare hands.

The Leaf Jonin showed a jovial and cool face but was very careful and was paying attention to the other party's every move. 'It's really easy to antagonize him. He doesn't seem to have a sense of strategy. He's relying on his speed and force to kill me.'

Genma parried several strikes and carefully redirected a few others while making sure the scales didn't harm him. The man could feel the killing intent emanating from Ryotoba and frowned. 'A blood thirsty person with no problems in killing. I really don't like people like you.'

Genma suddenly got closer and let out several fierce slashes with his kunai at the area's of Ryotoba's body not protected by the black armor like scales.

"Aaahh…" Ryotoba screamed in pain as blood splashed from body.

Genma kicked the man hard in the stomach, sending him colliding with a nearby tree. Ryotoba slid down to the ground with his back to the tree trunk.

"This isn't a fight you can win. Surrender."

"Surrender?" Ryotoba looked at Genma with anger and pain.

The Leaf Jonin nodded. "Tell us everything you know about Orochimaru and the Leaf village will show you leniency."

Hearing that proposal, Ryotoba went silent for a few moments. He then looked down on the wounds on his body. His left hand went to the wounds and soon his palm was covered in the crimson liquid.

Ryotoba looked back at Genma and a mad grin formed on his face. He brought his left palm to his face and quickly licked the palm clean of blood.

"Delicious!" Ryotoba exclaimed as if he was in ecstasy.

Genma was surprised and slightly taken back at the deranged scene the enemy just showed him.

"You pathetic Leaf ninjas…" Killing intent and chakra quickly began to flow from Ryotoba's body. The hair on Genma's body stood and he became in guard.

"I'm not someone who'll surrender so easily." As he spoke those words, several marks began to appear on his body. Genma looked closer and saw that they were originating from his neck. He immediately knew what was happening.

'Don't tell me… This guy… he's activating his curse seal.'

"RHAAAA!" Ryotoba screamed as he looked at Genma. As the marks spread, his body began to transform.

Genma was about to attack Ryotoba but the transformation was quickly completed.

The Leaf Jonin tried to sense the situation of Anko and Daichi but was unsuccessful.

'Anko, Daichi. Be careful. I have a feeling things may not go our way so easily.'

The battle had entered the second, more dangerous stage.