After escorting the half-dead Naruto back to his apartment, Iruka memorized his address and left.
He had originally considered going inside for a while, but Naruto’s awkward expression—and the faint musty smell that was noticeable even from the doorway—quickly changed his mind.
Come to think of it, although Konoha had a well-established social welfare system, rules were rigid while people were not.
Even if orphaned children were provided with enough supplies to survive, there was no guarantee that they would grow up properly.
Human beings were social creatures.
During the day, they could gather together and find comfort in one another, easing the wounds left behind by war.
But in the dead of night, when they were alone, there was no escaping the overwhelming emptiness that came crashing down upon them.
Seen from that perspective, it was hardly surprising that Naruto possessed such an unyielding gaze.
He had lived alone for as long as he could remember.
Growing up in that kind of environment, a child could easily develop in one of two extreme directions.
One was to collapse under endless loneliness and ultimately destroy oneself.
The other was to temper an unbreakable will through constant endurance.
Clearly, Naruto was heading toward the latter.
Remembering the look in Naruto’s eyes when he declared that he would become Hokage, Iruka smiled faintly.
Sasuke undoubtedly possessed exceptional talent and had the potential to stand at the pinnacle of his generation.
However, having always been outstanding and surrounded by countless admiring gazes, he lacked one of the innate qualities necessary to become a truly peerless powerhouse: the unwavering determination to never lose heart in the face of failure.
Unless something happened to push him to grow, his achievements in life would never reach particularly great heights.
After all, talent alone did not determine how far a person could go.
Naruto, on the other hand, was Sasuke’s complete opposite.
His natural talent was undoubtedly among the lowest in the class, but perhaps precisely because of that, he wasn’t afraid of failure.
He was already the worst—how much worse could he possibly become?
With nothing to lose, he could charge forward without hesitation.
As long as he never gave up, there would eventually come a day when he grew strong enough for everyone to look up to him.
After spending only a single afternoon with them, Iruka had already identified Sasuke and Naruto as the two students in the class with the greatest potential.
As for the others, Sakura, Ino, and the rest of their group were acceptable.
Both their talent and willpower were fairly good.
But Iruka had no interest whatsoever in the students who had scored zero on the test.
Why had he conducted that test in the first place?
It was to identify students who were willing to take responsibility for their own lives.
If they didn’t even possess that much perseverance, what right did they have to face the brutal survival-of-the-fittest reality of the shinobi world?
And how could Iruka possibly be responsible for their futures?
Beneath the night sky, Konoha, which had bustled with activity throughout the day, had finally grown quiet.
Walking alone through the silent streets, Iruka could even hear his own heartbeat.
Although he had been continuously considering plans for his teaching, it didn’t interfere with his awareness of his surroundings.
Which was why—
“Hm…
They came pretty quickly.
Let’s see…
one, two, three…
fourteen, fifteen.
Tsk, tsk.
Fifteen ANBU in total.
The higher-ups certainly think highly of me.”
The moment his words fell, several figures flashed into view with a series of whooshes.
Fifteen shinobi wearing masks of various designs appeared around Iruka, forming a circle and completely surrounding him.
One of them, wearing a fox mask, spoke coldly.
“You’ll have to come with us.”
Surrounded by fifteen ANBU, Iruka’s expression didn’t change in the slightest.
He still looked completely relaxed, as though he didn’t take them seriously at all.
In reality, however, his body had remained tense ever since he discovered that someone was following him.
Strategically despise your enemy; tactically take your enemy seriously.
Iruka understood that principle well.
He calmly looked at the fox-masked ANBU and casually replied, “And if I refuse?”
“Then…”
The fox-masked ANBU slowly drew the short sword from his back and pointed it at Iruka.
“We’ll have to use our own methods to invite you to come with us.
Move!”
The instant he gave the order, everyone’s eyes sharpened behind their masks.
The ANBU in front of Iruka drew their short swords and charged forward, while those behind him swiftly hurled kunai from their hands.
Every one of them was a highly trained elite shinobi, exceptional both individually and in their coordination.
However, numbers meant absolutely nothing against Iruka’s Vector Control.
“Tenfold Gravity.”
A faint azure glow appeared around Iruka’s body, standing out sharply against the silent night.
But what was even stranger was the sight of the kunai flying toward him suddenly plummeting to the ground.
They fell even faster than they had been thrown, as though some bizarre force beneath them was pulling every single kunai downward.
Bam!
Bam!
Bam!
Bam!
A series of heavy impacts echoed through the street.
Whether they had been charging toward Iruka or throwing kunai from behind, every ANBU was forced to their knees.
As their knees failed under the sudden increase in weight, they could only brace themselves against the ground with both hands and struggle to maintain their balance.
The ones who suffered the most were the shinobi who had leaped into the air.
Under normal gravity, they could have landed without difficulty.
But with gravity suddenly increasing tenfold, they had no time to react.
Accelerating downward under ten times normal gravity, they crashed violently into the ground, with parts of their bodies driven directly into the earth.
Whether they were alive or dead was impossible to tell.
“Arghhh!”
“What is this?!
What kind of jutsu is this?!”
“My body—it’s so heavy!”
“Damn it!
How is this possible?!
He didn’t even make any hand seals!”
One move.
Just one move had nearly wiped out the entire ANBU squad surrounding him.
And judging from the relaxed expression on his face, it seemed as though he had done nothing more strenuous than eating a meal or drinking water.
Of course, that wasn’t actually the case.
With his current chakra reserves, Iruka could only create a gravity field at ten times normal gravity, and its range was limited to a radius of ten meters.
Compared to the overwhelming power he had possessed in his previous life—the kind capable of destroying an entire city with ease—it was a far cry from his former strength.
Furthermore, maintaining the gravity field consumed a tremendous amount of chakra.
After only a few seconds, Iruka had already expended more than half his chakra.
The only reason he continued to appear relaxed was to deceive his enemies.
A careful observer could still tell from the unnatural rise and fall of his chest that he wasn’t nearly as comfortable as he appeared.
Thud!
As the last ANBU collapsed to the ground, Iruka stopped supplying chakra and deactivated his ability.
A wave of dizziness caused by exhaustion immediately washed over him, and even with his formidable endurance, he couldn’t help shaking his head.
That small movement exposed a momentary opening.
“Fire Style: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique!”
More than a dozen crimson projectiles suddenly appeared behind Iruka, shooting toward him from multiple directions at incredible speed.
I can’t dodge this!
Iruka assessed the situation in an instant.
His opponent seemed to have mastered projectile attacks to an extraordinary degree.
He had anticipated Iruka’s possible evasive movements in advance and sealed off every avenue of escape.
Iruka could only block the attack head-on.
Gritting his teeth, he mobilized what little chakra he had left and activated his ability once more.
“Localized Antigravity.”
Boom!
Boom!
Boom!
The stone paving around Iruka suddenly tore free from the ground and rose into the air, forming a protective barrier around him.
A series of sharp metallic impacts followed.
Clang!
Clang!
Clang!
Several cracks appeared in the stone slabs, demonstrating just how powerful the attack had been.
Fortunately, the improvised barrier managed to block every projectile.
Without hesitation, Iruka deactivated his ability.
The moment the antigravity effect disappeared, the stone slabs crashed back to the ground, sending dust billowing into the air.
When the dust finally settled, Iruka could no longer maintain his earlier relaxed appearance.
He stared at the fox-masked ANBU in the distance with an extremely grave expression.
He didn’t have much chakra left.
At most, he could activate the tenfold gravity field one more time, and it wouldn’t last longer than five seconds.
If he wasted it again, the consequences would be disastrous.
But if the fox-masked ANBU entered the gravity field’s range, Iruka was absolutely confident that he could kill him within a second.
The fox-masked ANBU seemed to have realized what Iruka was planning.
He neither attacked recklessly nor showed any intention of retreating.
Whenever Iruka took a step toward him, the ANBU cautiously took a step back, as though he already knew the effective range of the gravity field.
When the fox-masked shinobi used the Shadow Clone Technique in an attempt to lure Iruka into wasting his gravity field, Iruka didn’t fall for it.
His perception of force fields was extremely sensitive, and the clone’s mass was noticeably different from the original’s.
How could he possibly fail to distinguish a shadow clone from the real body?
Both sides waited.
They waited for the other to make the first move.
Only when one side revealed an opening would the other have a chance to seize victory in a single decisive strike.
For a time, the confrontation remained at a stalemate.
Until a somewhat stooped figure suddenly appeared between them, completely breaking the deadlock.
“As the Third Hokage, I order you to cease this operation.
I will explain everything to Danzō afterward.
Return for now.”
The Third Hokage looked at the ANBU captain and spoke in a grave voice.