Standing on a tree trunk, Mizuki seemed to have heard a massive joke. His brazen ughter, the swiftly appearing shuriken in his hand, and his words filled with murderous i, along with his increasingly insane and twisted smile, made Mizuki's plete ck of cealment of his murderous i evident.

  The etallic gleam.

  The chilling atmosphere that spread.

  All added a sense of bloodlust to this moonlit night.

  Mizuki didn't hide his iions in the slightest. His dired naked io kill was met with crimson eyes.

  In the eyes of Mizuki, there was no hint of hidden meaning. He directly dispyed his murderous i. Meeting his gaze, they locked onto each other.

  This also reassured Iruka to some extent. It seemed that Naruto had been deceived by Mizuki, not willingly helping him. He definitely wasn't siding with Mizuki due to rese or other reasons and choosing to betray the vilge.

  This had been Iruka's initial guess.

  Now, he received i firmation from Mizuki. However, looking at the current situation, Naruto hadn't met with Mizuki yet, and things hadn't reached their worst.

  So, Iruka believed that if he could deal with Mizuki here, find Naruto, retrieve the Forbidden Scroll, and expihing to the Hokage, they could resolve this issue perfectly.

  That was Iruka's pn.

  However, what Iruka couldn't possibly know was that everything happening here was within the expectations of the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi. More importantly, the renowned Jiraiya was rapidly approag, or perhaps he was already nearby, ready to act.

  Of course, Mizuki, who sidered himself a genius but was actually a fool, had no way of knowing that his every move was uhe trol of Konoha, specifically uhe Third Hokage's supervisiht now, he was happily fantasizing about defeating Iruka, finding Naruto, and taking the Forbidden Scroll.

  "Iruka! Go to hell!"

  "Boom!"

  A powerful momentum erupted. A swift figure dashed forward.

  "Swoosh!"

  With lightning speed, Mizuki's figure, along with the rapidly appearing shuriken in his hand, moved towards Iruka, who was under assault from all sides. The shuriken aimed for Iruka's vital points.

  "g!"

  The fshing cold light.

  Iruka's pupils tracted as he swiftly tracked the shuriken's trajectory. He executed a quick turn, dodging several shuriken, and rapidly wielded his kunai to block the remaining projectiles.

  The moment, before Iruka could catch his breath, Mizuki was already upon him. Seeing Iruka's disheveled appearance, Mizuki grinned with a savage expression. His pupils were now filled with a horrifying red light.

  With a swift body movement, Mizuki used the strength of his legs to sweep Iruka from the side. Simultaneously, his shuriken were drawn toward Iruka's chest.

  "g!"

  A diresught.

  Iruka barely reacted in time. Although he mao block Mizuki's shuriken, he couldn't stop the sideways attack. Mizuki's left leg hit Iruka's abdomen with immense force.

  In an instant, the overwhelming force was felt.

  Iruka winced in pain.

  Before he could react, he was sent flying backward.

  "Boom!"

  Iruka collided heavily with a tree behind him, the sound of the impact reverberating through the night. The intense pain from his back, bined with the fiery sensation in his abdomen, made Iruka's figure look even more disheveled.

  "Haha! Do you feel the differen our strength now, Iruka? A in? You're a joke! With your strength, you're not even on the level of a Genin, are you?"

  Seeing Iruka's pitiful state, Mizuki's mog expression became even more intense. He pyed with Iruka like a cat toying with a mouse. Mizuki wasn't in a hurry at all. His peripheral vision g the shuriken in his hand, aiced a slight dent. Furrowing his brow, he swiftly threw the shuriken away and drew a new one, which appeared in his palm.

  "Iruka-sensei!"

  Amidst this lightning-fast battle, within a matter of seds, Naruto had already approached a retively close positioweewo batants. He had initially po wait for an opportunity, but seeing Iruka being pletely suppressed by Mizuki and in such a miserable state, Naruto couldn't help but feel anxious.

  However, even in this moment, Naruto forced himself to stay calm and not act impulsively. He cautiously drew closer, waiting for the right moment.

  Because the way of a ninja was to operate on the edge of life ah, to ceal their preseo reduce their existence, and to strike with a sihal blow in the darkness. This was the true nature of a ninja.

  (End of this chapter)

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