The Byakugan had been activated. Hinata could see them clearly: two girls and a boy approaching at incredible speed. Toru stood up and drew his daggers. Ino let go of Hinata and moved closer to Toru. Hinata did the same.
Together, back to back, Hinata said, "They're surrounding us."
The enemy's shadows appeared between the bushes, running around the base like predators.
"This doesn't look good!"
Ino held her kunai up, trying to anticipate the attack. Toru moved a little closer to his teammates so he could protect them better.
"Stay close," he said, but it wasn't enough.
"Toru-kun!" Hinata shouted as she spotted the attack.
Toru understood and lunged forward. Sparks from the clash of their weapons flashed for a moment.
"Incredible," said the enemy.
He was a boy with black hair, bright blue eyes, and a large scar covering his right cheek.
"Let me guess," Toru said. "You're after the scroll."
"Well, duh, man," the boy replied.
Apparently, they were from Konohagakure as well, since they wore the village's forehead protectors. Meanwhile, Hinata and Ino waited for the attack from the two girls hiding nearby.
"Ino, behind you!"
Hinata turned to warn Ino, but she was interrupted by a powerful punch that forced her back a few inches.
"Don't get distracted, cutie."
Hinata looked at the girl standing in front of her. She was beautiful, with blood-red eyes and brown hair, dressed like a shinobi soldier.
"I won't," Hinata said. She raised her palms and assumed her fighting stance.
At the same time, Ino found herself alone on the battlefield. Hinata had warned her about someone's surprise attack, but that person hadn't appeared yet.
"Here I am!"
A cute teenage girl jumped out from the bushes. She had messy pink hair and purple eyes. Ino blocked the pink-haired girl's kick. Strangely enough, the girl wore a bright, relaxed smile, as if she were having the most exciting day of her life.
"Wow, you're pretty strong for someone with such a cute face. That's surprising."
The pink-haired girl took a little distance and crossed her arms.
"I'm Ashio Kinana, and for the sake of my future as a kunoichi, I'm going to defeat you."
Kinana pointed at Ino with her index finger while smiling. Ino didn't know what to do; that girl's kick had hurt a lot.
"Aren't you going to introduce yourself?" Kinana said. She tilted her head slightly with a confused expression. She was waiting for Ino to tell her name, but doing something like that in the middle of a fight was ridiculous.
"I'm... Yamanaka Ino, and I'm going to kick your ass," she said, gripping her kunai tightly. She was nervous, but she smiled to fool herself.
"If you give me the scroll, I'll make sure my teammates don't hurt your friends," the boy said.
"That's impossible," Toru replied.
He stepped back, adjusted his scarf, and made sure his earring was securely attached to his ear.
"You're pretty determined, man. I'll give you an eight out of ten." He relaxed for a second. "Well, my name's Koenji. Since we're from the same village, don't even think about holding back."
Koenji crouched slightly and punched the ground with his fist.
"Are you ready, Asahi Toru?"
Koenji looked directly at Toru as he said his name, catching him slightly off guard.
'Since when does everyone suddenly know who I am?' Toru wondered, but he shook his head. There was no time to waste. Seeing that his enemy was unarmed, he decided to do the same.
"Here I come!" Koenji said, disappearing from sight. A second later, he appeared behind Toru.
However, both Koenji and Toru looked away when a loud crash echoed through the area. Hinata and her opponent were fighting fiercely, using only their hands. Both of them looked surprised, but they quickly resumed their fight.
'It's not enough!' Hinata thought. She increased the power in her eyes and saw everything with greater precision.
"You're impressive, girl. My name is Nyu, and you can call me anytime you want to go on a date."
Nyu stepped back slightly after realizing that Hinata was going to take this fight seriously.
'I still don't know what tricks she has up her sleeve, but I hope I can do something if things start going against me,' Hinata thought. She felt a little intimidated, since Nyu was fighting using only Taijutsu. In fact, it seemed like the entire opposing team relied on Taijutsu.
"Jūkenpō!"
"Incredible! You're from the Hyuga Clan!"
Nyu became excited when she saw Hinata's power. Her excitement was so great that she couldn't help but rush in to attack.
Meanwhile, Koenji and Toru were fighting at their own pace.
"I won't get distracted again."
A challenging smile formed on Koenji's lips. A second later, he disappeared once more.
'I thought he'd be faster...' Toru thought.
When Koenji appeared behind Toru, Toru turned around and looked him in the eyes.
"Ugh!"
Koenji crashed into a tree after receiving a punch to the face.
'Is he dead?' Toru thought, seeing that Koenji wasn't moving anymore. Well, he changed his mind when he noticed that Koenji was still breathing.
And the same thing was happening on Hinata's side. At first, their opponents had seemed strong and confident, but as the seconds passed, that began to change.
"I did it..."
Hinata sighed in relief when she saw that Nyu was unconscious.
'I thought I was going to die.'
Everything seemed to be going well, until...
'I don't know what to do...'
Ino found herself cornered once again. Kinana was stronger than her, or at least that's how it seemed.
"My friends have been defeated... There's no way out."
Kinana's smile showed a hint of fear mixed with desperation. However, she had already decided to incapacitate Ino and force Team 11 to withdraw. If her team was going to lose, why not take an enemy down with her?
"Got you."
Taking advantage of Ino's discomfort, Kinana launched herself forward. Using only her legs, as if she were performing some strange dance, Kinana tried to strike Ino.
Ino raised her arms to shield her face, but Kinana took advantage of that to sweep Ino's legs out from under her, bringing her to the ground with a quick movement. Then Kinana jumped into the air and pulled her arm back for a punch.
"Shintenshin no Jutsu!"
Ino's mind entered Kinana's body, causing her to fall face-first onto the ground. Ino quickly returned to her own body and rubbed her face as if it hurt.
'She did it...' Toru thought.
These guys were a joke compared to Orochimaru, but at least they didn't seem like bad people.
"I... won?"
Ino looked at the pink-haired girl lying on the ground.
"I won..."
A smile formed on her face.
"I won!"
Getting up from the ground, Ino looked at Toru and Hinata.
"See that, Toru? What do you think of my overwhelming victory?" Ino said with a laugh.
Toru was about to tell her it wasn't that impressive, but when he saw her smiling so happily, he stopped himself. In fact, he just stood there silently, staring at Ino, as if something inside him wouldn't let him say anything more.