Naruto Uzumaki and Iruka's duel drew the attention of parents arriving to pick up their children. Seeing the two standing in the middle of the playground, people stopped to watch, and before long, a crowd had packed the place.
"Much better!"
At the center of the field, Naruto looked at the crowd around him. The feeling of being the center of attention made him a little giddy. He loved it.
"Iruka-sensei, shall we begin?"
Naruto's blood was pumping. He clenched his fists and shouted eagerly at Iruka.
"Then let's begin!"
"Get ready, Naruto!"
Iruka nodded. Naruto took his stance, while Iruka leisurely reached into his ninja tool pouch, pulled out a few shuriken, and casually tossed them at him.
Iruka didn't throw the shuriken very quickly. Even Naruto could clearly follow their trajectories and dodge them with ease.
But shuriken weren't Iruka's only attack. After throwing them, he kept his hands moving and swiftly formed Hand Seals. His hand signs were incredibly fast. After just five simple seals, a Water Bullet formed in front of him and shot toward Naruto.
"As expected of Iruka-sensei! His hand signs are so fast!"
"But the Water Bullet is too slow!"
As Naruto dodged the shuriken, the Water Bullet shot toward him. Its speed wasn't great, though, so Naruto planted his feet and judged its trajectory. Then he rapidly formed Hand Seals, and a Shadow Clone appeared beside him.
The newly formed Shadow Clone immediately grabbed Naruto's arm and hurled him into the air. Naruto's real body soared above Iruka.
The next instant, the Shadow Clone was hit by the Water Bullet. But thanks to the clone's help, Naruto had found an opening in Iruka's defense.
"Shadow Clone Technique!" Naruto joined his hands in midair and formed the seal for the Shadow Clone Technique