"An answer that belongs only to me…?"
Naruto murmured the words under his breath.
Orochimaru gave his shoulder another firm pat.
"I don't know how you see me," he said calmly, "but at this very moment, I only wish to become the wind that stirs the shinobi world. After so many cycles… have you truly understood it?"
Naruto shook his head.
"In the Land of Waves, you once killed Zabuza and Haku. In other cycles, you let them live and wander the world. But did you ever try to help them? Help them return to the Land of Water and reform Kirigakure?"
Naruto shook his head again.
"You understand the tragic fate of the Hyūga clan. You've saved Neji before. But even then, he still lived beneath the curse of the Caged Bird Seal. Did you ever attempt to use your endless lifespan to research a way to break it?"
Naruto shook his head once more.
He had never considered those possibilities.
And yet—
A strange sensation stirred within him.
Impossible to describe.
It felt as though he was standing right beside the truth…
Yet could never quite grasp it.
"Then enter another cycle," Orochimaru said softly as he stepped behind Naruto. "Stop thinking about how to escape it. Instead, quietly experience everything around you. Change everything."
"You've been so focused on searching for a way out that you've forgotten to look at the details beneath your feet."
At that moment, Orochimaru seemed less like a scientist and more like a philosopher.
"Humans are always chasing what they desire, yet forget to look back at the scenery worth noticing. They run endlessly along life's path, never stopping to observe what they pass by."
"Can you truly find the truth while obsessively pursuing a solution? Or… have you already overlooked it?"
He gave Naruto's back a light push.
"I'm not telling you to indulge in meaningless things. I'm telling you to notice what has truly been ignored."
Naruto did not respond immediately. He stood still, carefully turning Orochimaru's words over in his mind.
Perhaps… this time, he could try understanding what he had never paid attention to before.
A faint smile touched his lips.
He chose to enter another new cycle.
Not because he held great hope.
More because he had nothing left to lose.
Orochimaru was much the same.
He could not logically calculate a breakthrough.
So he could only suggest an emotional shift in perspective.
---
Year 63 of Konoha.
Konohagakure – Ninja Academy.
The classroom was quiet.
Uzumaki Naruto stood below the lectern.
At first, his eyes held indifference.
Then, as if something clicked into place, his expression shifted—Ah. So it's this again.
In front of him, Iruka Umino's temple veins bulged visibly.
"Uzumaki Naruto!" Iruka snapped, barely suppressing his anger. "Tomorrow is the graduation exam you've already failed twice!"
"And at a time like this, you skip class and vandalize the Hokage Monument?! What were you thinking?!"
Naruto lowered his head slightly—not out of guilt, but to hide the emotions in his eyes.
He had long since grown immune to Iruka-sensei's anger.
All he felt now was a heavy sense of inertia.
So… what should he do this time?
Orochimaru's words echoed in his mind:
Quietly experience. Change everything. What's been overlooked.
Easy to say.
What could possibly be overlooked in this overly familiar classroom and lecture?
Was he supposed to achieve enlightenment from Iruka's flying spit?
Despite his inner sarcasm, Naruto was standing here again.
Then… best to follow the least exhausting path for now.
He subconsciously glanced out the window.
Hmm… maybe later, when Mizuki-sensei talks about the Scroll of Seals, he could try asking a different question?
Would that count as "experiencing"?
Iruka saw Naruto's indifferent demeanor and sensed that familiar "here we go again" attitude. His frustration grew.
He swept a sharp glare across the rest of the class, who had been watching the drama unfold.
"Everyone! Pay attention!"
"We're reviewing one of the graduation exam topics—Transformation Jutsu! Transform into me! Line up immediately!"
"Ahhh?!"
A wave of despair swept through the classroom.
Moments ago they had been enjoying the spectacle. Now their faces fell.
Reviewing Transformation Jutsu before the exam?
That was torture.
Naruto finally lifted his head slightly.
Right. This part.
If he didn't apologize properly now, Iruka would, as in countless previous cycles, vent his anger by punishing the entire class.
Well… it wasn't a big deal.
As he had done in so many loops before, Naruto stepped forward and walked to the very front of the line.
The classroom instantly fell silent.
Behind him, Uchiha Sasuke's usually indifferent face twisted with annoyance.
What's this dead last doing now?
Was causing trouble not enough? Now he wanted to stand first and make things worse?
Inuzuka Kiba, standing behind Sasuke with Akamaru perched on his head, felt irritation surge upward.
"Hey—"
He hadn't even finished forming the complaint in his mind—
When Naruto casually waved a hand backward, voice lazily drawling as if he'd just woken up.
"Yeah, yeah. Sorry, Kiba. It won't happen again. Probably the last time."
"…?!"
Kiba froze.
The words he was about to say—Hey, what are you planning this time? Haven't you caused enough trouble?—stuck in his throat.
Akamaru whimpered in confusion.
Naruto… just said my name?
And that tone…
It was like he'd already heard what I was about to say and brushed it off.
But I haven't even said it yet!
Iruka was the most bewildered of all.
When Naruto spoke, his gaze toward Kiba wasn't mischievous.
It was—
Almost like a weary adult offering a perfunctory apology to a child.
That expression did not belong on the face of a prank-loving kid.
What's going on with this boy today?
Iruka's anger was suppressed by something else.
Suspicion.
Naruto ignored the questioning looks.
He faced Iruka directly and raised his hands to form seals with practiced accuracy.
"Transformation."
Puff.
A small cloud of white smoke erupted, briefly obscuring him.
The smoke dissipated almost instantly.
Standing in Naruto's place—
Was another identical Iruka Umino.
The same clothes.
The same build.
The same facial features.
Even the faint scar across the bridge of his nose was replicated perfectly.
"…."
Silence fell over the classroom once more.
So quiet one could hear a pin drop.
Sasuke stared forward in disbelief.
The Transformation Jutsu was an E-rank jutsu. Achieving this level of flawless replication wasn't impossible—
But he refused to believe the dead last could manage it.
Nara Shikamaru leaned lazily against his desk, yawning. A flicker of surprise passed through his eyes before settling back into his usual bored expression.
"How troublesome…"
Akimichi Chōji's steady crunching of chips became the only sound in the room.
He didn't seem particularly shocked. Naruto had always been good at Transformation Jutsu, hadn't he? Something about a "Sexy Jutsu" or whatever.
Still, snacks were more important.
Kiba tilted his head. Akamaru tilted his head.
His worldview felt shaken again.
Wasn't Naruto terrible at both Clone Jutsu and Transformation Jutsu?
He distinctly remembered Naruto once transforming into a hilariously awful Third Hokage.
But now…
This was flawless.
When did he get this good?
Hinata Hyūga, standing near the back, had already turned crimson.
She snuck a glance at the perfectly transformed "Iruka," then quickly lowered her head like a startled rabbit, fingers nervously pressing together.
'Naruto-kun… you've gotten stronger.'
Naruto hadn't intended to show off.
He simply had no desire to pretend incompetence.
Nor did he care about drawing attention.
He had experienced all of that countless times before.
This was just an ordinary Transformation Jutsu.
And yet—
Because of his long-established reputation as the class dead last—
It caused a small sensation.