Thirty seconds of running — and suddenly the leading chunin raised his hand, abruptly halting our movement.
The forest fell silent at once, only our heavy breaths hanging in the air.
The second ninja was already standing with palms pressed into a concentration seal, his gaze locked on the empty space ahead.
BUSH! BUSH!
From the ground around us, three massive stone walls shot up in jerks, forming a half-ring.
Rough, jagged, smelling of dampness, they blocked our view and created the illusion of cover.
The next thing we heard — BANG!
The right wall shuddered so hard that fragments and dust rained from it.
But the structure held.
From behind the trees, as if grown from the shadows, eight figures emerged.
"Five chunin, three prodigies," the commander said calmly, almost without emotion.
A thought flashed in my head: Is he… a sensor?
It all made sense — he had sensed their chakra in advance and managed to raise a defense before they struck.
"Escaping is pointless," the commander's voice was like steel. "Right now, we're at a disadvantage.
One of you will have to take on the chunin. Hold out as long as possible until we return."
He closed his eyes for a second, and I felt the chakra in the air thicken, as if breathing had suddenly become harder.
And then — KRAAASH!
The enemy's strike hit from several directions at once.
The stone walls cracked and collapsed, bursting outward like kicked-in doors.
A cloud of dust instantly swallowed the view.
Through the gray haze, without the slightest hesitation, enemy silhouettes rushed in.
Their movements were fast and coordinated — not a random assault, but a planned encirclement.
The commander wasted no words — his body blurred into a shadow, already tearing into the enemy formation, cutting off one of the chunin.
Two of his comrades followed without a second's pause, leaving the rest of us behind.
Six… — the thought flickered.
The next moment, amid the chaos of flickering shadows, someone new appeared — a boy in heavy gear from the Village of Stone.
He was so close to Gai, it seemed he had materialized out of thin air.
The blow was aimed at the head, but Gai, without even turning, raised his forearm and absorbed the strike's force, as if brushing aside a branch.
I hadn't taken a single step when, from the side, through the blur of movement, a hail of gleaming steel came down on me.
Kunai and shuriken flew in a dense wave.
I pushed back, sliding along the ground and dropping into a slope, but didn't notice the shadow on my right.
WHUMP!
The strike to my side was quick and solid, but without bone-breaking power.
Still, it knocked me from my position — my body flew a couple of meters and slammed into a tree trunk, making my head ring.
Hah… — I smirked inwardly, getting back to my feet. Unpleasant, but I'll live.
Chakra quickly steadied my breathing; the pain faded into the background.
In front of me now stood a boy of about fifteen, wearing the Stone Village uniform.
His face was serious, eyes tense — but they lacked that cold calm.
Genin? — crossed my mind.
I reversed my grip on the kunai and began slowly circling, closing the distance, watching every shift of his shoulders and hips — real attacks always start there, not in the hands.
He took the first step forward… and I already knew what would happen next.