“Space-time ninjutsu, huh…”
After stabilizing his injuries, Iruka didn’t immediately launch another attack.
Instead, he focused his attention on carefully observing every subtle movement the masked man made.
He had fought opponents with spatial abilities in his previous life, so he knew that one absolutely couldn’t afford to be reckless when dealing with such an enemy.
Otherwise, their bizarre abilities would seize upon even the smallest opening and turn it into defeat.
Their brief exchange earlier was a lesson in itself.
If he had been wary of the masked man’s every move from the beginning instead of rushing to attack, he wouldn’t be in such a sorry state now.
What’s more, he was facing a shinobi with spatial abilities.
Such powers were already unpredictable enough on their own.
Who knew how many terrifying applications a shinobi with masterful chakra control could derive from them?
“What?
Don’t dare attack me anymore?”
A low voice came from behind the mask.
The masked man gave a faint, mocking laugh and slowly raised his hand.
“Where did all that spirit from before go?
Is this all you’re capable of?”
Iruka frowned.
Psychological tactics weren’t going to work at a time like this, much less such a transparent attempt at provocation.
Just what was this guy planning?
As that thought crossed his mind, Iruka suddenly sensed an extremely irregular disturbance in the force field beneath his feet.
His expression changed dramatically.
Without hesitation, he kicked off the ground and simultaneously used his ability to alter the force and direction of his movement, sending himself rapidly backward.
BOOM!!!
The moment Iruka regained his footing, a violent explosion erupted exactly where he had been standing.
Iruka let out a quiet sigh of relief.
“Using such an obvious provocation to distract me while secretly placing explosive tags beneath my feet with your space-time ninjutsu?
Just as I thought—people with spatial abilities are all shameless.”
“There is no such word as ‘shameless’ in the shinobi world, young man.”
The masked man sighed before continuing.
“I originally intended to deal with you without attracting the attention of Konoha’s higher-ups.
I didn’t expect things to become this troublesome.
Although I hastily put up a barrier, that explosion probably caught the attention of the patrolling ANBU.”
“Well, who knows?
Maybe they’re all asleep.”
“Heh…
Interesting.
It seems I have no choice but to get a little serious.”
The masked man suddenly held both hands out in front of him.
His fingers moved at a speed almost impossible to follow as he rapidly formed more than a dozen hand seals.
Finally, he brought his hands together, and chakra instantly gathered.
“Fire Style: Firestorm Dance!”
The previously calm air suddenly erupted with an enormous torrent of flames.
The fire spiraled forward like a vortex, surging toward Iruka with enough force to seemingly annihilate everything in its path.
Even from a considerable distance away, Iruka could clearly feel the burning pain caused by its terrifying heat.
He didn’t dare let his guard down.
Iruka rapidly circulated his chakra before suddenly stomping his foot against the ground.
Chakra poured into the earth beneath him as he shouted,
“Antigravity Field!”
The ground suddenly trembled.
Countless massive chunks of rock were torn from the earth and rose into the air, piling atop one another in front of Iruka to form an enormous stone wall.
A moment later, the tremendous wave of heat from the Firestorm Dance crashed into it with a thunderous roar.
Flames shot into the sky, illuminating the entire area as brightly as day and seemingly driving away the darkness of night.
The stone wall shattered under the tremendous impact of the flames.
In an instant, it broke apart into countless burning fragments of rock that hurtled toward Iruka.
But a physical attack of this level posed no threat to him.
Iruka merely raised a hand and spoke softly.
“Vector Control.”
Following his gesture, the falling rocks came to an unnatural stop in midair.
Apparently, the masked man had never expected a B-rank ninjutsu to defeat Iruka.
As the aftermath of the collision between the two techniques finally subsided, his figure suddenly vanished.
“Did he retreat?” Iruka murmured, his expression seemingly relaxing.
But in the next instant, his eyes sharpened.
He quickly ducked down, and a fierce whistling sound sliced through the air directly above his head.
A few strands of hair brushed against his cheek as the unseen attack narrowly missed him.
Having evaded the attack, Iruka immediately sent every suspended rock crashing toward the space behind him.
Without even looking to see the results, he kicked off the ground and used his ability to retreat once again.
BOOM!
BOOM!
BOOM!
BOOM!
The burning rocks rained down at tremendous speed, quickly forming a massive pile of rubble that radiated terrifying heat and buried everything beneath it.
He had deliberately pretended to let his guard down, dodged the fatal attack, and then used his ability to counterattack in the briefest possible instant before immediately retreating to guard against any surprises.
The entire plan had flowed smoothly from beginning to end, allowing him to recover some ground after his disadvantage in their first exchange.
Iruka was certain that the masked man was beneath the rubble.
Even with a spatial ability, activating it had to require some amount of preparation.
In such a short span of time, there was no way the masked man could have escaped using his space-time ninjutsu.
Even so, Iruka continued to watch the rubble pile vigilantly.
Until an enemy’s death was confirmed, one could never let down one’s guard.
Battles were often reversed in the very instant someone relaxed.
He had no intention of becoming the fool who served as someone else’s stepping stone.
Besides, his instincts told him that the masked man couldn’t possibly be defeated so easily.
Sure enough, a streak of black light suddenly shot out from the pile of rubble, flying straight toward Iruka’s face.
Prepared for it, Iruka merely tilted his body slightly and easily avoided the attack.
“So it failed.”
The masked man’s voice emerged from beneath the rubble, carrying a trace of regret.
Then, his figure slowly walked out of the pile as though he were nothing more than an image projected onto the world, completely ignoring the terrifying heat radiating from the rocks.
Iruka’s pupils contracted sharply.
Completely unharmed!
Not even the corner of his clothes was scorched?!
Iruka suddenly remembered the exact same thing happening when the masked man had been pierced by the earthen spikes.
Don’t tell me…
he can ignore all physical attacks?
Iruka’s expression immediately darkened.
If he couldn’t figure out the principle behind the masked man’s technique, his abilities would be completely ineffective.
Until he found a way to counter it, the masked man would remain virtually invincible.
An ability that could nullify every physical attack was simply too unfair.
A series of hurried footsteps suddenly sounded in the distance.
The continuous commotion had finally alerted the patrolling ANBU and shinobi nearby.
Hearing the approaching footsteps, Iruka quietly breathed a sigh of relief.
No matter who the masked man was working for, he couldn’t possibly continue attacking now.
On the surface, Iruka was a legitimate Academy teacher with an official identity in Konoha.
Without the Hokage’s authorization, no one could openly attack him.
Otherwise, it would be a crime.
“It looks like this is where we stop.”
After their exchange, the masked man knew that Iruka was far from an insignificant opponent who could be dealt with easily.
He undoubtedly still had many cards up his sleeve, but was the strength Iruka had displayed truly the full extent of his abilities?
Until he knew the answer, everything remained uncertain.
And now, there was no longer any time for him to continue probing Iruka’s hidden cards.
Because he had badly misjudged his opponent’s strength, this operation could be considered a complete failure.
Still, it hadn’t been entirely without gains.
The masked man gave Iruka a long, penetrating look before his body slowly disappeared amid a spiraling distortion.
This time, he had truly retreated.
Not a trace of him remained.
Only then did Iruka finally let out a long breath.
As the tension in his body faded, an overwhelming wave of exhaustion suddenly washed over him.
He was genuinely tired.
He had never expected to experience two life-and-death battles less than a week after arriving in this world.
He couldn’t tell whether he was simply unlucky or whether this world was naturally this dangerous.
All he wanted was to peacefully become a responsible, good teacher.
So why did trouble keep coming to find him?
And even that would have been fine.
What Iruka found hardest to accept was why every single person who came looking for trouble had to be such a ridiculously difficult opponent.
Couldn’t a complete pushover show up once in a while and let me beat them up for a change?!