Naruto, Ace, and Kaza moved away from the fight, fully aware of what was happening. Shikamaru and Sakura were engaged in a hard battle, still unsure of what the outcome would be. Ace was annoyed with himself for leaving Sakura behind. It had been Shikamaru's idea, and while Ace respected the choice, he didn't like it at all. He knew they were going to be followed, and they needed to get back to Konoha with the barrel before things went too far sideways.

As they moved, Kaza came up with an idea. "Ace, Naruto, I think I have a plan to slow them down and cut them off," Kaza declared, his eyes glancing over at the others. "I think I can keep them off you long enough for you to get back to Konoha without anyone following. I can sense two ninja coming this way, and I think I have just enough time to set a hell of a trap to throw them off and force at least one of them into a one-on-one fight with me."

Was it risky? Of course, it was, but this wasn't the time to hold back. His support was needed, and he had to step up for Ace and Naruto. They were both great ninja, and he wanted to do his part in this mission. He hadn't done enough, in his own opinion.

Kaza didn't hesitate, placing traps in the area to blow a tree or two, ready for whatever this introduction to the fight would bring. "Now you two get to Konoha and do your best," he added, a confident smile on his face. "I shall see you two later."

Ace nodded, though he wasn't a fan of this plan. He knew it was a good move. Naruto was too focused on Sasuke and getting him back to think much about it at that moment. The two continued onward, leaving Kaza behind to handle this, trusting in his ability and hoping he would be okay. Ace felt a bit annoyed with himself again for leaving another member of his team behind, this time his own adopted brother.

Kaza took a deep breath, calming his racing heart. He knew this wasn't the ideal situation, but it was the one he was in, and he had to help. It was what his dad would do, what his teacher would do. He would fight, even if it meant facing both enemies for the sake of his friends. He took up a position, hidden in the underbrush, poised to strike whenever the opportunity arose.

As he looked upwards in the direction of the trees, he sensed them both moving quickly toward him. He could take on one or the other, striking first and figuring out what to do afterward. Once he knocked the target off course, it would be on, and he would be engaged in a battle against someone extremely capable and strong—or so he assumed. He would bring his A-game and go all out to have a chance against whoever he fought. If he had to battle both, he would do his best, but he wasn't so sure about those odds.

A moment later, the sound of trees blowing from the small explosions was heard. He jumped from his position, taking two steps and then bouncing off another tree, using it as a springboard to gain air. He hit his target in the side with a knee, the power of his attack quickly knocking the very strong, orange-haired member of the Sound Four off course and into the woods. The last member, who was following, didn't notice for a moment and had no clue where to look when he did.

Kaza looked at his orange-haired, large foe standing before him, ready to fight. Kaza smiled as he measured him up. The opponent was larger, stronger, and had powers Kaza didn't know about. That was not good. Yet, Kaza knew it wasn't game over. He had powers this guy didn't know about and abilities that were not in his wheelhouse either.

"Hey, big guy, I am going to be your foe here," Kaza declared. "Don't even think about running away," he added, speaking big words, even though he was nervous. He had to win; there were no ifs or buts about it. He had to defeat this sound ninja who happened to be Jirobo.

The orange-haired member of the Sound Four smirked and then laughed at him. "Run away? Are you kidding me?" he retorted with a smirk on his lips. "I think you're going to make for a fine meal, trash," he declared with a sneer, more than ready to fight the skinny kid in front of him.

"Let us find out," Kaza said as he took up his stance, pulling out two shuriken and throwing them at Jirobo—a test to see what he would do more than anything else.

Jirobo quickly moved to dodge them. He was a lot faster than he looked, but not fast enough to avoid one of the sharp weapons entirely. A small cut appeared on his right arm as he leaped back with a growl. He was annoyed that this trash had managed to land a hit on him, and he was going to make him pay for that single hit. He activated his Level One Curse Seal, not wanting to mess around—this day had already put him in a bad enough mood.

Kaza saw the effect of the attack and decided on a follow-up plan. He pulled out his other shuriken and threw them hard. "Shining Shuriken Jutsu," he said, throwing the shuriken quickly as they sent out a bright light right before impact to ideally throw off Jirobo's defense just a bit.

Jirobo was ready to take on this kid, but his eyes widened as he saw the shuriken flying toward him. He tried to dodge them, moving quickly to the right. However, the quickness of their speed and that nearly blinding light right before impact had done their job, throwing off his read of them and making it hard to gauge their trajectory. One of the shuriken struck his arm, causing a small cut to appear. The second one narrowly missed his face, barely grazing his cheek. Jirobo growled in annoyance as he realized he had underestimated his opponent.

Not wanting to waste any time, Jirobo went to activate his Curse Seal. He quickly found Kaza face-to-face with him, having performed some quick hand seals. Jirobo quickly went to grab him and start to absorb his chakra. "Idiot, you just walked up and gave me a free meal," Jirobo declared as he attempted to grab hold of Kaza, intending to quickly drain this troublesome kid of his full chakra.

As he reached out, Kaza reached his hands out as well. "Light Release: Light Explosion Jutsu," he said, channeling his chakra into his hands and letting it burst all at once forward, engulfing Jirobo point-blank. The explosion lit up the whole forest for a moment before fading away.

The aftermath of Kaza's jutsu was something to behold. Jirobo had been engulfed in a bright light, and when it faded, he was nowhere to be seen. Jirobo, the Curse Seal activated, had transformed into a monstrous beast. In his new form, he began to roar in anger as he looked around for Kaza. His long, spiky mane fluttered in the wind while his newfound strength radiated from his body.

Kaza saw that he had damaged him, but this Curse Seal had activated, giving Jirobo a demonic ogre-like appearance. How to handle this? He watched as the monstrous ninja reached down and ripped up a chunk of the earth, holding it in his hands. Kaza knew it wasn't time to back down; in fact, it was time to do the opposite.

"Light Release: Light Illusions," Kaza called out quickly as he surrounded Jirobo with various illusions of himself, moving constantly. It would be impossible for someone like Jirobo to determine which of the illusions was the real one as Kaza moved between them seamlessly, thinking up his plan and further confusing the bulky orange-haired ninja.

Jirobo roared as he looked at the illusions, swiping at them and attacking them directly out of rage. He was not happy—this annoying flea had caused way too many problems already.

As he attacked, Kaza was still getting ready, figuring out a way to end this fight as fast as he could. He knew this enemy was dangerous, but he already felt he could handle him. The question was how to get through his defenses completely and fell this foe. Kaza had not been able to win with his most powerful ninjutsu—it had not been enough—so he had to get personal with this one. He had an idea. This guy used rock jutsu, so he would likely go with a rock attack and most likely a large area-of-effect attack to break up the illusions. It made sense and would be what Kaza would do in his spot.

"Hey, fatass," Kaza said, insulting his foe, which was rare for him to do, "your next words are: 'Trash, you aren't worth my time. Now eat this, and become my meal, Rock...'" Kaza said, trailing off for a reason.

Jirobo knew he had to respond. He went to slam the ground. His plan was simple: cause it to shake so much that it would throw Kaza off and trip him up. Then, he would follow up with a quick grab, and he figured the game would be over, and he would have a lovely meal of chakra, draining this little light completely. "Trash!" he roared. "You aren't worth my time. Now eat this and become my next meal, Rock—"

It was at that moment, right before his foot would slam into the earth itself, that Kaza struck. "Lightning Slash," Kaza said, using one, his Light Release, to move nearly instantly before Jirobo, and then, a moment later, performing a quick draw of his sword that cut the orange-haired ninja's head from his shoulders, cleanly ending the fight.

Kaza put his sword away as he started to search for the chakra of the other one. He had to take them both down, and while tired from that fight, he wasn't nearly done with his work for the day. He was happy with his victory; it wasn't as hard as he thought. He must of ran into the weaker member of the group. However, he had to work more, he took a deep breath and sensed everything around him as best as he could.

Soon, he found the other ninja and sensed someone else had found him. He then sensed another battle back where Shikamaru and Sakura were. He sensed six chakra signatures, and his friends felt like they were in trouble.

Whoever the stranger was who was handling the fight with the last Sound Four member had his thanks, as it gave him the chance to head off to this bigger fight with this threat and support his teammates and his friends. Now it was his time to get into a fighter who was going to be most likely stronger than he was.