Konoha Year 63.
Otogakure.
"So you're saying you've gone through countless cycles of reincarnation without finding a way to break out, so you've decided to ask for my help?"
Orochimaru stood before the laboratory table, his golden eyes sweeping over the boy in front of him with keen interest. The boy claimed to be from Konoha.
And, on top of that, to be the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki.
Naruto Uzumaki.
Although Naruto claimed to be the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki,
he hadn't used a single Ninjutsu.
He hadn't drawn on the Nine-Tails' Chakra.
He hadn't even molded any Chakra.
Yet he'd easily made his way into the deepest laboratory in Otogakure and found Orochimaru.
As soon as they met, Naruto had bluntly predicted how Orochimaru might react.
He'd even named the jutsu Orochimaru might use.
His "foresight" had been right.
That was why Orochimaru had fallen silent and listened to Naruto's story.
According to the boy standing before him, who claimed to be the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, no matter what he did between Konoha Year 63 and Konoha Year 68,
everything ended on October 11, Konoha Year 68.
Then he woke up on some day in Konoha Year 63.
If that was true, then the latest cycle must have begun the day before yesterday.
Naruto nodded, fatigue evident in his voice as he spoke slowly. "Yes. I've tried countless things, but in the end, I can never escape the cycle."
"Oh? Can you tell me exactly what happened?"
At that, Orochimaru paused in his work. His golden Serpent Eyes narrowed, and his interest was fully piqued.
"Coming to you was a last resort, but I really don't have any other options..."
Naruto sighed and began to explain. "I've been through many cycles. How many?"
"Either way, I stopped counting after the tenth..."
"Everything that happened in my first life, before the cycles began, is crystal clear."
"Though it's all a little hazy now, of course."
Orochimaru abruptly interrupted him to offer his own theory. "What did you do in that first life, before the cycle began? What happened? That might be the key!"
Naruto paused at that. He rubbed his chin and began recounting everything that had happened to him from childhood onward.
Skipping class and pulling pranks, the graduation exam, stealing the scroll after Mizuki tricked him.
Then Team 7, the Land of Waves, the Chunin Ninja Exams, searching for Sasuke, fighting members of Akatsuki, the Fourth Shinobi World War, and sealing Kaguya.
It continued until he and Sasuke faced off for the second time at the Valley of the End, and they each lost an arm.
After hearing the whole story, a strange light flickered in Orochimaru's eyes. It was truly incredible.
The events might have sounded bizarre, but they were absolutely real!
Whether it was Impure World Reincarnation or the Sage of Six Paths.
Still, even Orochimaru hadn't expected Kabuto to turn out that way in the end.
But for now, the most important thing was the matter at hand.
"What happened next? What did you try in the later cycles? And why did you come to me?"
Orochimaru asked.
Naruto leaned against the cold laboratory wall and answered wearily:
"During the first cycle, I hadn't realized how serious the situation was..."
"That time, I used what I'd learned in my first life to pass the graduation exam with Shadow Clones. I also quietly told the Third Hokage about Mizuki's suspicious behavior, and Anbu took him away."
"Then came the mission to the Land of Waves. I defeated Zabuza and Haku by myself. Of course... I was arrogant then. Haku and Zabuza survived, but Teacher Kakashi and I disagreed about a few things, and in the end, I took it upon myself to let them go..."
"After that... I saved the Third Hokage during the Konoha Crush Plan. Later, I saved Chiyo and the Pervy Sage, captured Obito, and stopped the Fourth Shinobi World War, but..."
"When October 11, Konoha Year 68 arrived, when I was seventeen, I went back to Konoha Year 63..."
"Then came the second cycle. I was getting frustrated..."
"I tried different 'approaches.' I confronted Mizuki and exposed his plot, then beat him up. I even brought Zabuza and the others back to Konoha."
At this point, Naruto suddenly stopped. His voice sank even lower.
"Of course, you didn't ask, but I think it's important to stress this: Genjutsu, or some kind of powerful mind control..."
"Neither of those is possible!"
Orochimaru raised an eyebrow, intrigued. "Oh? Why are you so sure?"
"I've tried every method of breaking Genjutsu. I even had experts from the Yamanaka Clan examine my brain, and had the Nine-Tails inside me help dispel it. More importantly..."
Naruto met Orochimaru's eyes. "If I'm under Genjutsu or something similar, then what do you think you are? A 'person' I made up, living inside my Genjutsu?"
Orochimaru's golden Serpent Eyes narrowed slightly. Then a playful smile crossed his face. "An interesting logical loop. Go on—tell me about your experiments with the cycles."
Naruto took a deep breath and continued. "Whether I brought Obito back to Konoha or killed him... or tried something even more reckless, like extracting the Nine-Tails—though I died that time—the cycle just started over."
"I tried extracting the Nine-Tails again and surviving through Grandma Chiyo's Life Reincarnation. I didn't die that time, but I still immediately fell into another cycle..."
"I tried doing nothing, or... deliberately making the wrong choices. I even brought my parents back with Impure World Reincarnation and revived them with Life Reincarnation. But everything still reset at midnight on October 11, Konoha Year 68..."
"I can't change anything!"
At the end, Naruto's voice dropped abruptly, filled with boundless despair. Then he slammed his fist into the stone wall beside him.
Rubble and dust rained down as Naruto spoke in a low voice:
"Once the time comes, or I'm killed, or... I kill myself, I still go back to Konoha Year 63."
"It's like turning off some damned light, then... opening my eyes and finding myself back before the graduation exam!"
"Back in that classroom I've seen hundreds, thousands of times!"
"I've had enough!"
"I've tried everything, Orochimaru... more power, better plans, different choices..."
Naruto's voice grew quieter and quieter, as if all his strength had been drained away. "I even tried the Dragon Vein... I tried changing history, but the moment I do anything, the cycle starts over."
"Even when I went to the Three Great Sage Lands to find the Sages, or tried to make that hidden Sage of Six Paths appear, no one could give me an answer!"
"This damned cycle... It's like a cage that can never be broken!"
"I'm trapped inside it. Forever!"
Naruto nearly growled out the last word. His voice echoed through the empty laboratory, carrying an endless sorrow.
Orochimaru watched Naruto silently for a long time, the fervor in his eyes gradually fading.
It gave way to a deeper, almost philosophical contemplation.
At last, Orochimaru slowly spoke. "Naruto-kun, what you've been through is truly... astonishing!"
"This goes beyond immortality. It touches the cycle of time itself, something far outside the scope of my current research."
"My field is life, genetics, Forbidden Jutsu—the physical laws of this shinobi world."
"But what you've experienced... seems to touch the domain of some kind of 'god'!"
"Or perhaps it's an 'error' in the world's underlying rules, or a 'curse.'"
"Things on this level of space and time aren't my specialty."
Orochimaru frankly admitted that he had no way to help Naruto with his current predicament.
At that, the last glimmer of hope in Naruto's eyes seemed to die out, leaving only an even deeper darkness.
"But..."
Orochimaru changed tack, his golden eyes gleaming with insight. "Perhaps we can go through all the cycles, including the events that might have caused them to start over, and then try to work out a way to break free!"
Before you continue