Combat

Hikari did not say anything, and just took her position in front of Malaria as previously discussed. She used to think Malaria would be a hindrance on the battlefield, but after getting saved, she changed her opinion.

Perceptive ninja is a very rare type among typical shinobi. With immense spiritual power, they could sense danger and handle any crisis in advance. They were the best sort of teammate in a group battle, and it also explained how Malaria could control such massive swarms of insects.

With Malaria in their team, Hikari and Yamana could avoid many dangers in the future. Particularly shinobi that are good at hiding their traps. Byakugan sees the world in black and white, near-360º field of vision around themselves. It's hard to spot anything without chakra.

"Can you tell where that kunai-thrower is hiding?" Hikari asked in a low voice. She could see the guy, but if she disengaged from these two in front, both Yamana and Malaria would be killed. Frowning, Malaria looked at the forest and nodded.

"I'll go and take him down as fast as I can. You stop these two but be careful. Their weapons are heavier than you think." Hikari nodded and shot forward towards the talking Iwa ninja to start a fight in melee. Nothing could beat the gentle fist at close distances.

Yamana chose to use her recently learned Mind Derangement Technique on the other scar-faced sword wielder. As Hikari arrived next to her opponent, the Scarface ninja swung his blade from behind to decapitate his ally. Gritting his teeth, he's barely able to deviate the blow Yamana forced him to do on his ally.

Malaria patted his chest, and a massive swarm of mosquitoes came out of his sleeves. Using them as a makeshift cover to block his targets vision, he did his best to feel out where he felt the presence among the trees.

"You still dare to resist?" The chatty iwa-ninja scorned and blocked Hikari's blows with his sword. Expecting a different result from Malaria, he felt disappointed.

Scarface shook his head with regret. A perceiver-ninja was hard to come by and it would truly be a shame to kill him instead of using him during this warring period. However, he didn't hesitate to raise his sword against Yamana that almost made him harm his own teammate.

Malaria hid within his swarming mosquitoes, dashing towards the forest as quickly as possible. Although he's fast for a Genin and covered by a black cloud, Malaria still felt like he was stared at by a viper.

"Damn it! The guy in the forest is also a peak Chunin level ninja, most likely a top talent when it comes to shuriken-jutsu." Malaria couldn't help but complain. "I should stay in the back, not rushing out into a melee – but here I bloody am!"

'Hiu! Hiu!'

Suddenly, three incredibly fast kunai reached for him, aiming at three different vitals. Staring at the three kunai, Malaria grabbed one of the Fūma Shuriken on his waist to parry.

'Clang… Clang… Clang…'

Sparks flew as Malaria waved the Fūma Shuriken in its unfolded state, catching the kunai one after the other. The force of the kunai made his arm numb. They were clearly covered in Earth Release: Added-Weight Rock Technique!

Cracks even started appearing on the Fūma Shuriken's edge. It seemed liable to fall apart at any moment. Looking at his almost broken special-equipment, Malaria got angered. "What sort of cheap shit gear was Dobito using?"

Suddenly, a shadow charged out from the dim forest. "Damn it! Just because I'm a Genin you have no respect for me at all!?" Malaria grabbed at his grenade belt with infinite coldness rising in his eyes. Holding a bottle of repellent, he unscrewed the top and readied to throw it out.

The person who was coming at him was shocked that Malaria was about to use one of his poisonous bottles so soon. He had read the reports, this brat was a major pervert that invented a new formula for aphrodisiacs at the age of 6!

But it was too late. The guy got his face drenched in what he thought would turn him horny like a bull. Instead, his face scrunched up, his nose spraying mucus and eyes were forced closed as tears kept flowing like a waterfall. He could barely breathe!

"You think a lowly Genin is nothing worth mentioning? How did you dare show up in front of me just like that?" Malaria forced the incapacitated iwa-ninjas mouth open and poured another bottle of repellent down his gullet. The man squirmed, coughed, and wheezed for water - clearly wanting to surrender.

'BOOM!'

An explosion echoed from the beach, dust and flames rose to the sky. Malaria was shocked. These two girls are a little too strong, weren't they? They were using explosive tags like they didn't cost a single ryo. It also proved that Scarface and his companion were hard to deal with.

Malaria took off the ninja pouch from the choking ninja on the ground, looked through its contents and was pleasantly surprised to find several stacks of exploding tags, scrolls filled with kunai, scrolls filled with shuriken – and even one scroll that had a Chakra Sword!

"You were lucky that you had so much good stuff on you. I'll trade this premium Fūma Shuriken for everything in your pouch. I hear no rejection – thanks for the trade." Throwing his useless Dobito Shuriken on the guy, he tied the Chakra Sword in its place.

By the time Malaria returned to the river beach, the girls had become completely suppressed. Hikari's arms were trembling badly. She had obviously been blocked by that massive sword too many times in a row. The chatty guy, her opponent, wasn't any better. Blood was flowing out of his lips from a few successful palm-strikes.

Yamana, on the other hand, was constantly being pushed back by every strike Scarface threw at her. She could barely hold her Chakra Sword at this point. Malaria took a deep breath to calm himself down. Then, he commanded his mosquitoes to swarm towards Chatty who was already injured.

Scarface was slightly stunned when he heard the noise the cloud of mosquitoes produced as they swarmed towards his companion. Looking over, he saw Malaria rushing towards himself, armed with his own companions Chakra Sword.

"Shoot, what a blithering idiot!" Scarface was appalled that his teammate somehow got himself incapacitated by a mere brat and lost his gear. The situation was turning more and more chaotic – at any moment now these brats could receive reinforcements.

'BAM, BAM, BAM, BAM'

Suddenly, a chain of explosions rang out from the cloud of mosquitoes that had covered his teammate. Looking over, Yamana saw groups of 10 mosquitoes each carrying an explosive tag, ramming themselves into Chatty. Convulsing in the fire and flames, he soon fell to the ground unconscious.

"You dare to be distracted in battle against me?" Scarface snorted and wielded his sword to strike. Using one hand printing hand seals, he added a monstrous amount of weight to his descending blade.

'Cling…'

Sparks flew in the air as the blades met, and Yamana's sword was flung out of her hand. "You can't even hold your weapon now. Surrender and follow us back and you can keep your life." For some reason these rock-ninja kept trying to capture rather than kill them.

Yamana coldly printed several hand seals in a flash. In a moment, the Mind Body Change Technique was thrown out as she fell to the ground unconscious. Scarface blanked out for a moment, before Yamana used his body to remove all weaponry and possessions as quickly as possible.

Occupying an enemy, especially an equal or stronger opponent is a major drain on her spiritual reserves. Malaria quickly understood what was going on, rushing over to Scarface preparing to cut off his tendons to prevent any movement.

Suddenly without warning, Scarface turned around, "A mere Genin defeated a peak Chunin in frontal combat. You aren't simple." He said, completely red in the face after Yamana was thrown out and he resumed control.

"Of course, I'm not simple. I can finish this battle anytime I want." Malaria hefted the slightly too large Chakra Sword over his shoulder and reached Yamana's slumped body. "You go reinforce Hikari, I'll handle this guy. Chatty over there is just playing dead (like you are)."

Yamana couldn't help but snort, having her cover blown, "This Scarface isn't easy, he's borderline special-Jonin level. Are you sure you want to duel him?" Glancing over at the supposedly 'burned and unsconscious' Chatty next to the panting Hikari, she could already see some movement.

"Even if Rōshi was here, I would still crush him under my boot!" Malaria pointed at his enemy provocatively. "Rōshi? Who's that?" Yamana couldn't help but ask in confusion.

Scarface on the other hand turned visibly enraged by the statement. Rōshi was their iwagakure's most mature Jinchuriki, someone who was respected by all. How dares a little devil compare himself to Master Rōshi!?

Holding his oversized Chakra Sword, Malaria charged out as swiftly as he could and said, "Just a scruffy monkey good-for-nothing, idling his time away because the Tsuchikage is stubborn like a donkey!"

Yamana thought for a moment but couldn't draw any parallels between a monkey and the Tsuchikage. Ignoring the confusing statement, she rushed over to help Hikari take out whatever's left of Chatty on the ground. Looks like he's preparing hand seals for some sort of technique.

"Interesting…" Scarface was fuming in anger right now, picking up his sword from the ground. He knew exactly what that brat was talking about – but how could the brat possibly know such matters? Thinking back on the reports, this brat might already be in Danzo's camp, right? No wonder he's so informed.

'Clang!'

An enormous noise rang out to the sky. Malaria was forced back in an instant by the enemy's incredibly weighty sword. Malaria's arm slightly shivered. Having never really fought with a bladed weapon before, the most he could do was swing it in the right direction.

"You are truly unpredictable. Your strength and speed are pathetic, but your perception truly is scary." If Malaria had swung his blade in any other way, Scarface's sword would've forced Malaria to the ground, squashed under its weight.

"Hu… Hu…"

Malaria breathed heavily while holding the oversized sword. His arms were numb, and he felt like he was choking from Scarface's killing intent. After a few collisions, Malaria couldn't hold on anymore. Dropping the sword and kneeling on the ground, he was about to collapse.

"You are truly a weirdo." Scarface looked at Malaria in shock. It was as if this brat was from the Uchiha clan with a Sharingan activated, perfectly reacting to any moves he's about to do. The most unacceptable thing was that his opponent is just a puny little Genin!

"You are a weirdo! Your whole family is full of weirdos!" Malaria glared at Scarface and used his hidden hand to pluck off a potion at random. Taking a deep breath, Malaria charged at Scarface 'barehanded', knuckles gripped for a punch.

"What, still not giving up?" Scarface sneered, preparing to use the blunt side of his sword to knock the brat out for an easy capture. As Malaria punched at the flat side of the incoming blade, an orange cloud exploded from his closed fist.

Coughing and wheezing, both combatants got thrown to the ground finding it hard to breathe. At this moment, Yamana and Hikari defeated the 'blown up' Chatty together. Looking over at Malaria's results, they felt awful and couldn't help but wonder who was supposed to be the Seniors in this squad?

Suzuki Yamaha, who had been battling at the frontline of the encampment finally returned in time, finding two rock-ninjas snivelling and coughing on the ground, and a third one disabled by the Hyuuga's gentle fist.

Not much later, Yamaha found Malaria writhing on the ground in the orange cloud together with the Scarfaced fellow from Iwagakure. The brat had chosen to take his enemy down with himself, detonating his gas in close proximity.

Yamaha shivered as he watched the results of Malaria's performance. Clearly, a Genin already took out one peak Chunin and then went down together with a second one – and survived.

What a prodigy!