Chapter 68
Iruka glanced at his teammates as they cheered for him. After their excellent performance, it put even more pressure on him. His opponent was from Amegakure, and Iruka didn't know what he was capable of, so all he could do in the last month was prepare for everything.
It wasn't much time, especially when he was harassed by animals every time he tried to make new weapons or rest. Even now, he couldn't understand why some dogs stole his research book. But he had done everything he could, so if he fell now, it was because he never amounted to much to begin with.
"Begin."
One word, and Iruka could no longer take it easy and had to focus and leave other thoughts behind. His opponent rushed in fast, a kunai in one hand and a handful of shuriken thrown from the other. Iruka took it slow, deflecting the shuriken and blocking the kunai with his own.
But he immediately felt that something was wrong. His opponent's moves were wild, strong, and quite fast, but too wide as he swung his kunai around. Iruka feared using such an opening as he felt it could be a trap.
He continued to block and deflect the attacks coming at him with his kunai against his opponent's kunai, trying to read Ken's movements first. Ken from Amegakure didn't seem focused enough for Iruka's liking. The thought did come to Iruka that he might be looked down on.
Iruka used his opponent's sweeping kick to test his theory as he vaulted over Ken and, before he could react, kicked him in the head, sending him flying through the air and rolling on the ground as he crashed down. It was an attack that anyone would have been able to dodge. He would have never gotten Yamato or Shisui with it.
Iruka felt something was even more wrong as his opponent jumped back to his feet, mumbling something to himself before putting a gas mask on himself. Iruka quickly backed away, as he knew that such an action only indicated one thing.
And he was right, as the next moment, Ken threw bombs around the arena. Gas traveled with the wind, and Iruka held his breath. Poison, he should have known. But even if he did, there wasn't much he could have done. He didn't have an antidote since he didn't even know what was in the gas.
Catching a flying hand aimed at his face, Iruka twisted it and kicked the back of Ken's leg to get him on his knees. Fighting without breathing would only strain his muscles quickly, so he did the only thing he could: he took the gas mask from Ken before falling back and putting it on himself.
He had never used one before, but it wasn't hard to see how it worked. Finally able to breathe again, he observed what his opponent would do. Iruka expected him to take a spare gas mask or an antidote, but he did neither.
Ken breathed in the gas deeply. His eyes were unfocused before, but now they were completely white. Iruka didn't know what effects the poison had, but he didn't think he even wanted to know.
"This isn't real, is it?" Iruka heard Ken talking, only making it more confusing. "Nothing is real. Pain, fear, they don't exist."
Ken suddenly burst toward Iruka. He was fast, but he only thrust his kunai at Iruka's chest, an attack easy to evade by sidestepping. Yet as useless as that attack was, Iruka felt that he should finish it quickly. He could tell that something was wrong with his opponent.
Hitting his elbow into Ken's throat, Iruka then flipped Ken over to the ground and stomped on his chest with all his strength. As disturbing as the sound of a breaking ribcage was to his ears, Iruka didn't hold back. He didn't have the luxury to do so.
And yet even as the ground under Ken cracked, and Iruka could only imagine what damage was done to his body as he spat blood, Ken still grabbed Iruka's ankles. It was too late to do anything as Ken stabbed Iruka's ankle with his other hand.
That much pain he could ignore, so Iruka didn't panic and punched Ken's face. But he wouldn't let go of Iruka's ankle and continued to stab it as Iruka continued to punch Ken's face. It was brutal and painful, something that even Shisui wouldn't have been able to endure without being knocked down.
Yet bloodied, with a broken nose and jaw, Ken didn't let Iruka go. Iruka got scared and, rather than let the lunatic take his foot, Iruka grabbed Ken's hand and pried it open from his ankle before jumping away from him.
There was no doubt of the damage Iruka inflicted on Ken as he slowly stood up, blood spilling from his face in an alarming amount. He continued to mumble something, not even wiping his face as he stared at Iruka. A shiver ran down Iruka's spine, and if not for the pain in his ankle, he would have rushed to finish Ken at that moment.
Calming himself down with deep breaths, Iruka kept his distance as he threw shuriken at his opponent. Iruka no longer dared to get closer to him as he planned his next move once Ken dodged the thrown weapons.
That didn't happen. The shuriken hit him, stabbing him in his arm as he used it to block them. Then he just ripped them from his arm, letting out even more blood fall around him. At this point, Ken should be weakened from blood loss alone.
"Shit."
But it didn't seem to have done anything to Ken at all as his eyes snapped to Iruka. Now they were bloodshot and focused. Iruka could only gulp down his nerves and prepare for whatever was going to come at him.
Yet it would be hard, as one of his ankles was mangled up pretty badly, and it was painful to even stand. He didn't think he could put much weight on it, so being defensive wasn't an option.
Before Ken rushed at Iruka, Iruka rushed at Ken. Using all the strength he had in his one good leg, Iruka leaped at Ken. This time, he was thrusting his kunai at Ken's chest. No matter what kind of freak he was, he was still human, and he had limits. Or at least that's what Iruka hoped for.
But Iruka's attack this time didn't land, and he instead received a powerful punch to his stomach, lifting him into the air before he was brought back down to the ground by a kick to his face. For a second, he only saw white before snapping back to reality and rolling away as Ken tried to stomp on his head.
A small crater was left where Iruka's head once was. Iruka didn't imagine taking that and coming out with his head in one piece. By this time, the poisonous gas was gone, so Iruka pulled away the gas mask and spat out the bile rising in his throat from the punch to his stomach.
Something was wrong with his opponent. He certainly wasn't normal, as that punch alone was far stronger and came out far faster than anything Ken had done yet. Was it something that he breathed in?
Either way, Iruka threw away any notion of holding back. The damage he received was already more than he planned for. Even though he hoped to keep as many cards hidden up his sleeves as possible, he had no choice but to use some of them now.
Swinging his body wildly and unpredictably, Ken approached Iruka, still mumbling something about nothing being real. Iruka used the time he had to pull out three seals from his pocket. Putting one in his mouth, he threw the other at Ken and kept the last one in his other hand.
The moment the seal flew past Ken as he dodged it, Iruka activated it, creating an explosion that sent Ken flying wildly. At this point, Iruka didn't trust that to take him out, so he jumped behind Ken's flying body, ignoring the pain in his ankle, and put the seal in his hand on Ken's back before ducking under Ken's flying fist.
Getting in front of Ken, Iruka caught Ken's leg as he tried to kick him and then blocked another punch with his other hand before spitting the last seal at Ken's face. Then Iruka activated it, stopping Ken completely as he glared at Iruka.
"Surrender," Iruka instructed before backing away. "Or I will activate the explosive tag on your face. You have no hope of surviving."
Iruka was prepared to do so, as he had a hard time controlling the seal on Ken's back that made him immobile. Iruka hoped that there was still some sanity in his opponent and that he would take his loss. But he didn't listen to Iruka and struggled to break off Iruka's control.
"Don't do this!" Iruka didn't want to kill his peer, not this way. It was just a test, and there was no need to go any further.
"In the world where nothing is real, I am the only reality," Ken said as he freed himself before lunging at Iruka.
"Fine!" Iruka activated the seal, and an explosion rang through his ears as he felt the heat wash over him.
He was barely able to compose himself to look up to see what he thought would only be body parts scattered around him. But he almost collapsed from relief as he saw the proctor holding Ken in his arms as he checked on his condition.
"Victor, Iruka Umino. Take both of them to the medical team on standby," the proctor instructed a few shinobi who jumped to check on both of them. "Iruka, check your wounds and rest until your next match. Remember, you can give up on your next match at any time."
"Yes, sir," Iruka bowed in thanks and, with help from another shinobi, left the arena.
It was his first real fight. A fight he had never experienced before, when he fought Genno in his first mission, he still had his sensei and teammates to back him up. But here, he was alone, and he was scared. Scared for himself and scared for his opponent.
Maybe in the end, he wasn't suited to be a shinobi. To have such feelings in the midst of a fight was a death wish. Iruka felt like he had disappointed his sensei and the Third Hokage, who put so much faith in him. But it was so damn scary.
"It's pretty bad," a medic-nin told him as he checked on Iruka's ankle. "For now, I will stop the bleeding, but it is impossible to mend the damage in such a short time. I suggest giving up on your next match, as your leg will only get worse with any more strain put on it."
It was a suggestion that Iruka should listen to, but he couldn't. He had to endure this pain and conquer his fear. Now he realized that even if Iruka didn't rely on his teammates to protect him, he still relied on them being with him.
But he couldn't do this anymore. In the real world he was trying to enter, he would be alone. There were plenty of opponents he would have to face, like Ken. So, he had to get stronger and get better. He knew he would regret it if he couldn't push himself further.
"Call Lady Tsunade, quickly!" Iruka snapped from his thoughts as he looked at his opponent, who was being taken care of by a group of doctors. "We need to get rid of the poison; it is eating his nerves. And his condition is critical. One of his ribs has pierced his lungs."
"Inform his sensei and ask for an antidote from him," another doctor said. "We will also need a blood transfusion. Find his type before it is too late, and bring him to the emergency room."
Iruka glanced at his injured ankle and scoffed at it. If someone with a rib piercing his lungs and suffering from poison could fight Iruka at such a level, Iruka had no right to even complain about the pain he felt. As crazy as Ken was, Iruka now respected him for being able to endure it so well to the very last moment.
A shinobi was someone who endured. From now on, that would be his way. No matter what, he would endure the pain, the fear, and the uncertainty he had. To stand by his teammates, that was what he had to do.
A.N. As always. Thanks for reading and supporting me. If you want 7 more chapters of this story and 42 chapters in total with all my current stories, please consider supporting me on pa treon ironworlf852. Thanks in advance.