Battle Against Iruka

Chapter 38: Battle Against Iruka

Ayato stayed in the classroom, watching his classmates get picked up one by one. After all, today marked the end of the first half of First Grade. Even parents who rarely came by made an exception to pick up their children from school.

Ayato could have left early, but he still had something to do, so he remained in the classroom. Naruto had wanted to stay when he saw that Ayato was not leaving, but Ayato had chased him off.

At that moment, a gaze locked onto Ayato, sending an involuntary chill up his spine. He looked up and spotted its owner.

The other party had no intention of hiding it and simply sized Ayato up. The cheerful Sasuke standing before him confirmed the man's identity—it was Itachi Uchiha.

To be honest, this was Ayato's first time seeing Itachi. He really did seem rather mature, and the difference between him and Sasuke was huge. This was far more than just a few years' difference...

Ayato glanced at him before withdrawing his gaze. Though he wanted to ask Itachi outright what he had been thinking when he wiped out his clan, that was obviously impossible given his current strength.

So this is Ayato, the one who defeated my little brother and took first place? Itachi withdrew his gaze as well. He knew his younger brother's personality. From Sasuke's tone, he could even hear a trace of admiration for Ayato, which surprised Itachi and made him study Ayato more carefully.

He had not expected Ayato to notice so quickly and look up to meet his eyes.

Based on that perception alone, Itachi gave him a very high evaluation. As expected of a child who could earn Sasuke's admiration. He truly was a genius.

However, after a brief sigh, Itachi did not think much more about it. He had no special thoughts about the village's geniuses. As long as they did not bully his little brother, that was enough. Before long, Itachi took Sasuke and left.

Sasuke looked quite happy too. Although he kept saying he did not need Itachi to pick him up, the joy he could not suppress told a completely different story. Even his disappointment over losing to Ayato in the exam had eased considerably.

Only after every classmate had left did Ayato rise from his seat and leave the classroom. He eventually arrived at the school's Training Ground and began waiting, adjusting his condition at the same time.

Before long, a figure arrived at the Training Ground.

"Sorry to keep you waiting, Ayato." Iruka scratched his head as he looked at Ayato.

"It is the last day of the term, so you must be busy. Thank you very much for agreeing to my request as well." Ayato did not mind having waited so long.

"Haha, but as expected, Ayato is still first in the class." After laughing a few times, Iruka's expression turned serious. "Are you sure you really want to challenge your teacher? I may not be strong in actual combat, but I am still a Chunin."

"I am sure. I also want to test what my current limits are." Ayato licked his lips, then looked at Iruka seriously. "Please make sure to take this battle seriously, Iruka Sensei!"

"Ah, I understand." That was what Iruka said, but how could he possibly strike hard?

Ayato looked at Iruka. He knew that too, but he believed Iruka would get serious later. He had improved quite a bit, and his Chakra reserves were enough for him to use the Wind Cutter Technique and Gale Palm during battle—two ninjutsu that consumed relatively less Chakra, though he still could not use them many times.

His physical abilities had also improved rapidly under the enhancement of Lightning Release, though he still could not beat that Rock Lee. For some reason, Rock Lee had begun training even harder since that day, and the amount of training had definitely become a burden on his body.

Ayato did not think such training was a good thing, but when he considered Rock Lee's talent for ninjutsu, he did not know whether he should stop him. In the end, he could only sigh. If this was Rock Lee's choice, then Ayato could not really say anything.

"I am coming, Iruka Sensei." Ayato gave a reminder. This battle was meant to test his frontal combat ability, not a ninja's overall ability, so there was no need for actual combat drills like sneak attacks.

"Alright, come on, Ayato. Let me see the strength of our class's top student." Iruka smiled, clearly not taking it too seriously.

The next instant, Ayato charged straight at him.

Iruka was startled by Ayato's speed. This speed... had he hidden his strength during the assessment? Before Iruka could think further, Ayato was already upon him, followed immediately by a punch thrown without hesitation.

After several exchanges, Iruka took a deep breath and evaluated Ayato's skills. He definitely had not trained alone; he had sparring partners. His methods of attack and response were not something he could have developed by himself.

Moreover, the force behind those blows made Iruka feel a slight ache. But only slight. Though he was surprised by Ayato's strength, it was nowhere near the level of an adult like him.

So if this was all he had, the battle would end very soon. As Iruka thought this, he took Ayato's kick head-on and reached out to grab him.

Then he saw Ayato instantly form three hand seals.

"Three hand seals?" Iruka was briefly confused. What kind of ninjutsu was that? The Clone Technique? But those definitely were not the seals for the Clone Technique! Iruka became wary.

The next moment, Ayato's body turned into a wooden post, which Iruka knocked to the ground.

"The Substitution Technique?!" Iruka's eyes narrowed in shock as he instinctively swept his gaze across the surroundings, searching for Ayato.

Iruka naturally knew that Chakra control was the most important part of using ninjutsu, but he had never imagined that Ayato could reduce the Substitution Technique to three hand seals. Even he could not do that, because as a teacher instructing students, Iruka naturally had to use the most standard five-seal version of the Substitution Technique.

Soon, Iruka spotted Ayato—but he had not found just one. There were... three!

The Clone Technique?

As Iruka thought, Ayato had undoubtedly seized the initiative by now. But that did not mean he should underestimate his teacher! Though he had not streamlined the seals, Iruka used the Substitution Technique with great proficiency and speed.

Ayato looked at the wooden post that appeared before him without any surprise. Defeating Iruka that easily had been nothing more than a fool's dream. His speed still was not fast enough. Iruka's Substitution Technique took over a second to perform, yet Ayato had not been able to stop him in time.

With that, the situation returned to the beginning. This time, Iruka would not let his guard down as he had at first—and that was exactly what Ayato wanted.

He had also gathered a great deal of information during those few exchanges, confirming what he had already suspected.

First was strength. There was no way to make up for the difference unless he used Gale Palm, but Gale Palm consumed Chakra and could not be used frequently. Then there was speed. Iruka was slower than Ayato had imagined. Though they were still roughly equal, that was already enough.

There was also ninjutsu. Ayato had seen Iruka's five hand seals clearly. As expected, the ninjutsu teachers used was always the most standard kind, but his speed was not fast. After a semester of training, Ayato could now form three seals in just over a second, so the Substitution Technique he had used earlier had taken less than a second!

In other words, his only advantages were his hand-seal speed and his own speed. This would indeed be difficult, but excitement appeared in Ayato's eyes. This was what made it interesting.

Iruka looked at Ayato as well and finally became completely serious. Ayato's speed, hand-seal speed, and streamlined seal method all made him realize that if he continued underestimating Ayato and treating him as merely a student, he might really lose!