Chapter 5.

As soon as shifts changed, an attack was launched. Hono-sensei managed to sense those shinobi just a minute before they appeared in his field of vision.

"Oku, wake up the rest. Attack." - He didn't say much. One of the things he spent his time teaching to his students was brevity. In an instant, Oku's face lost its cheerfulness and sleepiness. He saluted his teacher and dashed in the direction of their tent.

"Get up! Attack!" - He shouted and run to wake up Nara.

"Dan, wake up Hana. Let her sit in the tent. As a med-ninja, she should be at the back." - Sakumo was on his feet instantly and ordered his friend. In the team, he was considered second in authority to Sensei.

"Hai!"

Soon everyone was on their feet. Dan, Sakumo and Oku appeared in the different directions of their small camp since the enemy was encircling them. The air was fresh, chill and... abnormally still. Not even a small breeze passed by their hair.

*Ding!*

Shurikens and kunais flew at a crazy speed from the bushes but were met with an undesirable obstacle in the face of Sakumos's tanto and kunais of his teammates. Six people jumped out of their lair and charged at the three genins before them with solemn expressions.

'They are experienced.' - a thought crossed everybody's mind and they engaged in the battle.

'Iwagakure' - after seeing the head protector all of them knew who they are dealing with and were more on alert.

Even before they became genins, they were taught about different ways each hidden village was training their shinobi (Guess how did Konoha find that out...), and Iwagakure was rumoured to have the highest degree of harshness in their ways. Those teens of their age, most probably, are coldhearted battle machines. They were given orders. They will execute them with their lives o the line without batting an eye.

All of them engaged in life-and-death battles with having to deal with two opponents at the same time. If one would look away, he would see that the other three were engaged with Shinuma and Akai.

Kunais were flying around like muddled bees searching for their swift prays. Tantos and katanas were giving off sparks of fire when they collided.

{Water style: water shield!} - Oku was forced to use his ninjutsu, saving himself from the fire technique of one of his opponents. A heavy burn from the paper bomb was covering his body and the breathing was haggard. He sidestepped to avoid another strike from enemy's katana and finally got a hit. His enemy stared at the kunai in his chest and fell dead. - {Wood Release: Underground Roots Technique!} - Roots fired at the faster Iwa shinobi by the command of their manipulator.

The attacker cursed under his breath and quickly made an escape, yet, the roots were flying in his direction. Just a millisecond and the shinobi would be dead, but he noticed assaulting Oku just before his kunai slit his throat.

He jumped away and happened to notice a mocking smile in the eyes of Konoha's genin.

An explosion ranged out and parts of the blown-up Iwagakure's shinobi were thrown in the air.

In the meantime, Sakumo was slashing at his enemies with his tanto. Unlike Oku, who was from a strong clan with high vitality and big reserves of chakra, he didn't have that privilege and had to calculate the right timing for the killing move.

*Slash* - a fatal attack from the right was avoided by a small margin leaving a deep wound on his forearm, cousins young genin to bit his lip in pain. He couldn't take chances anymore. Dodging a horizontal sword assault from his enemy, Sakumo leapt away and made a quick succession of hand signs. - {Lightning style: Electromagnetic Murder!} - A web of lightning whips rushed out and crashed on the bodies of his opponents. The smell of roasted flesh slowly spread through the air.

Dan ducked, avoiding a high-kick, but was caught off-guard by a strong punch in the chest. The tree, that he crushed on, produced a cracking sound, yet, he couldn't rest. He jumped out of the way of a huge boulder and rolled away from the wind razor.

He ran up the tree and hid his chakra, earning a much-needed break. Calming his mind and abstracting from the burning pain from his wound on the back, he started to search for an opening to deliver a finishing move.

'I'll try it here.' - He made up his mind and started to concentrate. He was already bleeding from his shoulder and there was only enough chakra for his final move. This was the technique that he started to develop a few months ago. Even though he wasn't from any clan and just finished the Academy, there was something that was directing him in creating that technique. - 'Let's hope it works!' - He crossed his fingers in his mind and released all of the build-up chakra.

{Spirit Transformation Technique!} - His spirit left the body, that got secured in the brunches, and entered into the body of one of the shinobi.

*Slash!*

The other enemy managed to dodge a sudden vertical slash from his teammate, but before he could do a thing another one came at him followed by some kunais with paper bombs attached.

Another explosion took place dismantling Iwa's shinobi to shreds.

"I'm exhausted..." - Dan returned to his body and dropped down powerless only to be caught by Hana, who was watching the all of the fights and was ready to come out and give treatment at any given moment. They landed next to the other two genins.

*Thub*

A loud, heavy sound of falling, rotting body fell on the ground, signifying their victory over their first real enemy. Hana laid them on the cloth and started to treat their wounds.

A huge amount of adrenalin was pumping the hearts of genins during the battle, making them unfazed by their first-ever murders, but now...

Sakumo looked at his shaking, uninjured hand. Sure, it was shaking from chakra-exhaustion; however, the realisation that they just finished off six lives in the span of short 5-10 minutes made him sick.

Hana was doing her work mechanically. Although she didn't participate, she saw everything. She felt helpless since she couldn't be out. She wasn't stupid enough to believe that the only reason she was left behind was her occupation as a med-nin. Byakugan. This was most probably the aim of the attackers. How and why did they know about her presence? She couldn't think about it.

All of them were feeling dizzy from today's events and a sombre atmosphere was covering up their excitement of actually surviving this hell.

"Hey, Dan, what was that technique you used at the end?" - Senju tried to lighten up the mood with small talk while also destructing his friends. If he was assigned a role in the team, apart from fighting, he was moral support and a pillar of this group.

"A technique I was developing for the past three months..." - Dan answered weakly and shivered. - "It isn't done yet."

"Wow... what does it do?"

"I possess the body of my opponent and get control over it. After I leave, the body rots from within, causing the person to die."

"Maaa..." - Sakumo was at a loss of words. - "Strong."

"Un..." - Dan nodded and stared at the clear sky above them. If he had a choice, he wouldn't use that move until it was completed. The feeling of your flesh decaying was the most painful experience he had so far. - "I only need to complete it... I have to finish it..."

"Good job all of you!" - A prussian-haired girl appeared before them. with a smile on her bright face.

"Malika....-san?" - Hana and the co were still a little bit confused about the proper way to address this girl before her. She seemed to be their peer, but she was the leader even though there were few adults.

"Yes. I'm sorry about not informing you of the attack beforehand, but this mission was your training as well. I or anyone else would save you the moment you were in grave danger, but you managed to pull through by yourselves. Look at your teacher. He is oozing with pride!" - The mentioned party turned away in embarrassment. He was confident that he didn't show emotions just now, but that girl always knew his real feelings.

"Hana, Dan, Sakumo and Oku. I am proud to be your teacher."

"I didn't do a thing..." - Hana said dejectedly. She just finished curing Dan's injuries. The last one to be patched up.

"Not true, Hyuga-chan. Just now you saved your teammates from a lot of trouble and pain by your Iryō-jutsu. Besides, I could see that you were always ready to substitute or save your friends. This much is good for now." - Malika ruffled dark hair of the genin and smiled. Hana lifted her head and saw... blood.

"Are you injured?!" - Malika's clothes were covered in blood.

"No! Of course not! This is not my blood. There were a few strong jounins in the bushes, so, together with Uchiha, we eliminated them. You did well in handling their teams."

The rest of the night Nara, Kuro, Denki and Malika spent at surveying the surroundings and as soon as the sun rose, the group moved on.