Kazeki had originally been preparing to provide support from afar, as Moriyue had instructed, but the shuriken and kunai she threw could not hurt Kakuzu at all. He merely manipulated the tentacles inside his body to deflect her attacks.
Ando was not faring any better. The gap in strength was simply too great. Since the battle began, he had only done one thing.
Ando charged forward!
Ando used Lightning Blade!
He was knocked back by the tentacles!
Ando was wounded by the tentacles.
After all, the opponent possessed genuine Kage-level strength. Naruto had only defeated Kakuzu with Kakashi's help back then, and that was after Kakuzu had been separated from Hidan, with Naruto and the others ganging up on Kakuzu alone.
Looking at it this way, their only chance of survival seemed to be waiting for the ninjas supporting Gaara to return.
Kazeki had seen earlier that the battle there was nearing its end. If they stalled, they might just be able to hold out until then, but...
"Tch, Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
Moriyue put on a show by forming several hand seals with both hands, summoning a shadow clone. He no longer needed hand seals to perform ninjutsu, but he still did it to make things look more believable.
As the smoke dispersed, a clone identical to Moriyue appeared some distance away. Lightning crackled around both of them as they bent their arms and charged Kakuzu from front and rear.
"Hmph, what a waste of time."
It was not that Kakuzu looked down on Moriyue and the others. He simply knew too well how the hierarchy of strength worked among shinobi. These ninjas taking the Chunin Exams had barely mastered any ninjutsu and possessed limited strength, while his side had two Kage-level powerhouses. How could they possibly lose? He could