[center][b]Hayate Hyūzu
Konoha - Team 2[/b][/center]

The pain from the unexpected bite nearly caused Hayate to collapse. Barely containing a scream of pain, he waited for the Ninken to release its grip. Dropping to one knee, Hayate began covering himself in his metal armour. As the metal spread across his body, it covered the wound on his leg, preventing it from bleeding more. At least for the moment. Cursing, Hayate stood, a little shakily at first. As he rose to his feet, he saw the man with the sickle attack both Shisen and Arashi. The genin were all injured now, and the bandits saw their opportunity to attack. Several of them began surrounding the three students, and Hayate saw two bandits head towards Arashi, attempting to put the dog down for good. Gritting his teeth from the pain, Hayate attempted to regain his focus.

The two men who had headed toward the injured Ninken were about to attack. One of the bandits raised a spear before suddenly disappearing into the earth with only his head above the surface. One of Hayate's shadow clones now stood in his place and, before the other bandit could react, the clone had drawn a kunai and slit the man's throat wide open. As the man fell dead to the ground, Hayate's shadow clone stayed by the side of the wounded Ninken. Careful to keep just enough distance so that the animal wouldn't be able to attack him as easily, but close enough so that he could protect it.

Glancing to his right, Hayate noticed another three bandits approaching Ezuri. The bandit in the rear was suddenly pulled underneath the earth as Hayate's second clone rose to the surface. The shadow clone moved to protect Ezuri, engaging the two bandits in melee, and giving his wounded teammate an opportunity to attack while they were distracted. The real Hayate turned his attention back to Shisen and the man with the sickle. She looked like she was in trouble, her injury causing her to lose ground. Hayate leapt forward as fast as his injured leg would take him. Whipping his staff around, he managed to block an attack from the sickle. Quickly turning the staff, Hayate managed to wrench the sickle out of the man's hands, leaving him open for Shisen to finish off.

Hayate moved once again so that he was almost back to back with the Inuzuka girl. There were four more bandits coming towards them at once. Cursing again, Hayate realized that they were in for quite a fight. Pulling out several shuriken, Hayate used his clan's ability and overcharged the weapons, throwing them towards the advancing enemies. The shuriken would explode on contact, and Hayate only hoped that his aim had been true.