Not long ago, Iruka had announced the start of class, yet the classroom was now completely silent—so silent that even the teacher’s voice couldn’t be heard!
The students sat below, bored out of their minds, while Iruka, their teacher, appeared to be reading with intense concentration at the front of the room.
On the large blackboard behind him, however, were several conspicuous words:
SELF-STUDY PERIOD
It wasn’t that Iruka didn’t want to teach.
The problem was that, despite barely inheriting the previous Iruka’s knowledge of ninjutsu, he was still at the level where he could mess up even the hand seals for a simple technique.
What was he supposed to teach anyone?
The serious-looking Iruka hadn’t noticed that he had made a rather basic mistake—
He was holding his book upside down.
Fortunately, there were no shinobi inspectors making the rounds, and the little brats were too intimidated by Iruka’s sadistic personality to pay close attention to him.
Otherwise, he would have been utterly humiliated.
Clearly, Iruka’s attention wasn’t on the book at all.
He had been thinking about one question the entire time—
Why was his ability gradually weakening?
Vector Control.
Theoretically, as long as it was supplied with a supernatural source of power permitted by the laws of the world, this S-rank esper ability allowed him to control any observable force within a certain area.
It had been the greatest asset that had allowed him to stand at the pinnacle of his previous world.
And yet, that asset seemed to be slowly disappearing, rapidly weakening in a way Iruka couldn’t understand.
He hadn’t noticed anything unusual while fighting that ANBU captain last night, but when he used his ability that morning, he had sensed that something was wrong.
With his current chakra reserves, Vector Control had an effective range of ten meters.
Ayame had definitely been less than ten meters away, yet when he activated his ability, he could vaguely sense that her position was near the very limit of his range.
Judging based on a vague feeling alone would be far too careless, so he hadn’t thought much of it at the time.
But just now, when he used his ability to teach Naruto a lesson, he had clearly felt a greater resistance than he had yesterday.
That was when he became certain that something was wrong with his Vector Control.
In his previous world—a world rich in advanced technology and martial arts—the source of an esper’s abilities was an unstable component deep within the soul, capable of connecting with the outside world.
Its manifestation was known as the Spirit Domain.
If the Spirit Domain manifested as heat, successful ability development could grant a person the power to breathe fire.
If it manifested as electricity, an esper could gain the ability to generate electrical currents.
After an esper successfully awakened their ability through ability development, however, they needed to use the psychic force generated by the Mental Force Field deep within their brain in order to fully utilize that ability.
This psychic force was the supernatural power system of his previous world and, in some ways, served a role similar to chakra in the shinobi world.
Once someone underwent ability development, the structure of their soul became somewhat different from that of an ordinary person.
That was why Iruka had retained Vector Control even after being reborn as Iruka.
Even under the restrictions imposed by this world’s laws, all that had happened was that the psychic force he once relied upon had been replaced with chakra.
So the question was: what exactly was causing his ability to weaken?
There were two crucial components to an esper ability: the Spirit Domain deep within the soul and the supernatural power supplied by the Mental Force Field deep within the brain.
If there was a problem with his ability, the root cause had to lie in one of those two areas.
But which one?
As he pondered the question, Iruka habitually raised a hand to rub his chin and gradually sank into deep thought.
He didn’t even notice when the upside-down book slipped from his hands and fell to the floor.
Perhaps the structure of his soul had undergone some unknown mutation under the influence of this world’s laws.
Or perhaps the Spirit Domain was rejecting chakra.
As for psychic force, that was absolutely impossible.
The humans of this world simply didn’t possess Mental Force Fields within their brains.
Iruka thought about it for a long time without reaching any conclusion.
Just then, the surroundings suddenly became noisy.
Snapping out of his thoughts and looking up, he found that the classroom had once again turned into a marketplace, while shinobi instructors were walking through the hallway outside.
Looks like class is over.
Iruka glanced at the clock behind him.
After confirming that the period had ended, he stood and knocked on the blackboard.
The entire classroom immediately fell silent.
The intimidating authority of the violent teacher was on full display.
“The next period will be outdoor training.
Everyone, gather at the training field afterward.
Understood?”
“Yes…”
Iruka couldn’t be bothered to complain about the weak, scattered response that sounded as though the little brats hadn’t eaten breakfast.
He simply nodded, picked up his lesson plans, and walked out of the classroom.
The moment Iruka left, the classroom became noisy again.
Sitting near the front, Kiba turned around and casually addressed the others who had also performed well in yesterday’s test.
“Hey, did you guys put on those training rings when you got home yesterday?
Just so you know, I had a pretty rough time after my body suddenly got heavier.”
“Huh?
You wore yours too?
After I put mine on, even walking normally became difficult.
When I got home, I stepped right through the floor at the entrance and got scolded by my mom for ages.”
“I wore mine too, but aside from feeling slower, I didn’t notice anything particularly inconvenient.
If you’re wondering why, it’s because I don’t move around much in the first place, so the extra weight doesn’t affect me much.”
“Damn it, is this what they call the wisdom of laziness?”
“Not being active doesn’t necessarily mean you’re lazy.”
“So the ring doesn’t affect you much either, Shikamaru?”
“More or less.”
The boys continued chatting among themselves.
As usual, Sasuke remained aloof, while Sakura and Ino immediately flocked to his side as soon as class ended, eagerly competing for his attention.
Hinata, meanwhile, quietly stared at Naruto’s empty seat.
She neither joined the conversation nor sought Sasuke’s attention like Ino and Sakura.
Without realizing it, the nine students Iruka had taken an interest in had formed a distinct little group.
Meanwhile, the students who had chosen to give up during yesterday’s test had formed another.
A subtle sense of opposition was already beginning to develop between the two groups.
The fact that both sides deliberately kept their distance from each other during breaks made that clear.
As they grew older and their individual outlooks and values took shape, that divide would only become more pronounced.
Iruka had no intention of interfering with the little brats’ schemes.
As far as he was concerned, it was actually a good thing.
Competition drove improvement, and having grown through countless competitions himself, he understood that better than most.
Still preoccupied with the problem surrounding his esper ability, Iruka had not yet returned to the teachers’ office when someone suddenly called out to him.
“Iruka-sensei.”
Iruka turned around and discovered that the person calling him was the chubby man from yesterday—the one with the distinctive little tuft of beard on his chin.
“Uh, hello.
Is something the matter?”
Having absolutely no memory of the man’s name, Iruka scratched his head awkwardly.
The man didn’t notice his embarrassment and instead asked in a somewhat reproachful tone, “Iruka-sensei, I heard you’re quite close to Naruto?”
Iruka was immediately puzzled.
The Third Hokage had brought Naruto up for no apparent reason last night, and now someone else was mentioning him again.
What was so special about Naruto that everyone seemed to pay such close attention to him?
“Um…
I suppose you could say that.
Why?
Is there a problem?”
“Iruka-sensei, do you really not know what it means to get involved with Naruto?”
Before Iruka could answer, the man continued.
“He’s a disaster.
Anyone who gets involved with him is bound to come to a bad end.
Iruka-sensei, you only need to go through the motions with Naruto.
As long as you don’t get too involved with him, he’s just a child.
He’ll naturally keep his distance from you.”
Hearing those words, Iruka fell silent.
Seeing that Iruka seemed to be wavering, the man immediately pressed his advantage.
“Iruka-sensei, take my advice.
It’s best to play things safe.
There’s no need to go looking for trouble.”
“Is that so?
I see…”
Iruka slowly raised his head and looked at the chubby man expressionlessly.
“So that’s how you see Naruto…”