A New Cycle

"An answer that belongs only to me?"

Naruto murmured.

Orochimaru once again gave Naruto's shoulder a firm pat. "I don't know how you see me, but right now, I only want to become the wind that sweeps through the Shinobi World. Have you ever thought about that during all your cycles?"

Naruto shook his head.

"In the Land of Waves, you killed Zabuza and Haku, and you also let them live and continue wandering the world together. But have you ever considered helping them? Helping them return to the Land of Water and reform Kirigakure?"

Naruto shook his head.

"You know the Hyuga Clan's tragic fate, and you've saved Neji before. But even so, Neji continued living with the Caged Bird. Have you ever tried using your endless life to find a way to break it?"

Naruto shook his head again. He had never thought about any of those things.

Yet, strangely, it stirred a peculiar feeling in him.

One he couldn't put into words.

He was so close to the truth, yet somehow, he couldn't grasp it!

"Then enter the cycle one more time!"

Orochimaru came up behind Naruto and said calmly in his hoarse voice, "Stop thinking about how to escape the cycle. Quietly experience everything around you. Change everything."

"You're always searching for a way to break the cycle, yet you've forgotten that there are plenty of details right under your feet that you've never noticed."

At that moment, Orochimaru seemed to have transformed from a scientist into a philosopher. He spoke earnestly. "Human beings are always chasing after what they want, forgetting to look back at the scenery worth noticing. They keep running along the road of life, forgetting to stop and admire the sights they pass."

"Can you really find the truth while pursuing a way to break the cycle? Or have you already missed it?"

With that, Orochimaru gave Naruto a gentle push on the back. "Of course, I'm not telling you to focus on things that don't matter. I mean the things you've truly overlooked!"

Naruto didn't answer right away. He stood there, stunned, turning Orochimaru's philosophical words over and over in his mind.

Perhaps, if he started over again, he could try to learn about the things he'd never noticed?

At the thought, Naruto smiled faintly and chose to enter another new cycle.

Even Naruto himself didn't expect much.

It was more an act of desperation, grasping at straws.

Orochimaru felt the same.

He couldn't figure out how to break the cycle through reason alone, so he could only consider it from an emotional perspective.

Year 63 of Konoha.

Konoha, Ninja Academy.

The classroom was very quiet.

Naruto Uzumaki stood beneath the platform. At first, he looked indifferent.

Then, as if he'd become a different person, his expression suddenly shifted to one of understanding.

In front of Naruto, a vein throbbed at Umino Iruka's temple.

Seeing Naruto's attitude, Iruka kept his anger in check and said in a low voice, "Naruto Uzumaki! Tomorrow is the graduation exam you've failed twice already!"

"How dare you skip class at a time like this, go to Kage Rock, and scribble all over it? What on earth are you thinking? Huh?!"

Naruto lowered his head slightly, not out of remorse, but because he didn't want Iruka to see the emotions in his eyes too clearly.

He was used to Iruka's anger by now. All he felt was a heavy, familiar inertia.

What should he do this time?

Orochimaru's words echoed in his mind: "Quietly experience everything," "Change everything," "The things you've overlooked"...

Easier said than done.

What could he possibly have overlooked in this classroom and this familiar scolding?

Was he supposed to find enlightenment in the spittle flying from Iruka-sensei's mouth?

Though he mocked himself like that, Naruto had ended up standing here once again.

Well... he might as well follow the easiest routine for now.

Naruto glanced out the window without thinking.

Hmm... Maybe, when Mizuki-sensei gave him the Scroll of Seals later, he could try asking a few different questions?

Would that count as "experiencing" something?

Seeing Naruto's utterly unresponsive expression—and the faint hint of resignation that said, "This again?"—only made Iruka's frustration build.

He swept a sharp gaze over the other students, who were watching the spectacle, then abruptly raised his voice. With a threat that seemed to put the whole class on the hook, he barked, "Now, everyone, pay attention!"

"We're reviewing one of the exam subjects: the Transformation Jutsu! Everyone, transform into me! Get in line, now!"

"Huh?!"

The classroom erupted in a chorus of despairing groans.

The students who had just been glad to watch the show immediately looked crestfallen.

A review of the Transformation Jutsu before the graduation exam?

It was torture!

Naruto finally lifted his head a little.

Oh, right. There was that, too.

If he didn't apologize properly now, Iruka-sensei would get angry and punish the whole class, just like in countless previous cycles.

Oh well. It wasn't a big deal.

Out of habit, Naruto started walking. Just as he had in countless previous cycles, he went straight to the front of the line and stopped.

The classroom's groaning abruptly ceased.

Uchiha Sasuke, standing right behind Naruto, immediately looked displeased.

What was this dead-last loser up to?

Wasn't causing a huge mess enough? Now he had to cut to the front and make trouble, too?

Did he think they hadn't been punished enough because of him?

Farther back in line, Inuzuka Kiba, with Akamaru perched on his head, felt a surge of anger and was just about to speak. "Hey..."

Kiba hadn't even gotten his complaint out.

Up front, Naruto seemed to have known exactly what Kiba was going to say.

He casually waved a hand behind him and spoke in a languid voice, as if he'd just woken up. "Ah, sorry about that, Kiba. It won't happen again. This should be the last time."

"?!"

Inuzuka Kiba froze.

He swallowed the words, "Hey, what're you messing around for now? Haven't you caused us enough trouble this time?"

Akamaru, nestled in Kiba's arms, let out a confused whine.

Naruto had just... called him by name?

And that tone... Why did it sound like...

Like he'd already heard what Kiba was about to say and was giving him a perfunctory answer?

But Kiba hadn't said a word yet!

The most bewildered of all was Iruka.

He clearly saw Naruto glance at Kiba as he spoke. That wasn't the look of someone playing a prank or guessing what the other person was about to say.

It was more like... the perfunctory apology of an adult to a child.

There was no way a mischievous kid like Naruto would look like that.

"What's gotten into this kid today?"

The doubts flooding Iruka's mind instantly smothered his anger.

From the moment class had started, Naruto Uzumaki had carried an indescribably mature air about him.

Naruto paid no attention to the confused gazes around the classroom.

Facing Iruka, he swiftly raised both hands in front of his chest and formed the Hand Seals with practiced ease.

"Transformation!"

As Naruto slowly uttered the words,

Poof!

A cloud of pale smoke billowed up, briefly obscuring Naruto.

The smoke cleared quickly, in the blink of an eye.

When it vanished, standing there was an exact copy of "Umino Iruka"!

The same clothes, build, and face—even the faint scar across the bridge of his nose was identical in every detail.

"..."

The classroom fell silent once more.

You could hear a pin drop.

Sasuke stared at the transformed Naruto and couldn't believe his eyes.

The Transformation Jutsu was an E-rank technique, and a perfect copy like this wasn't impossible.

He just didn't want to believe a dead-last loser could pull it off.

Shikamaru Nara leaned lazily against a desk and yawned. A flicker of surprise crossed his eyes, then he returned to his usual languid expression that said, "What a drag."

The crunch of Choji Akimichi chewing chips became the only background noise in the classroom.

His chubby face showed no particular expression. He just thought Naruto seemed to have been good at the Transformation Jutsu all along. Wasn't it called the Sexy Jutsu or something?

But the snacks in his hands were clearly more important.

Inuzuka Kiba tilted his head and blinked. Akamaru, in his arms, tilted his little doggy head too and let out a puzzled "Awoo~"

Kiba felt his worldview take another hit.

He remembered Naruto being at the bottom of the class in both the Clone Jutsu and the Transformation Jutsu.

Especially that time Naruto used the Transformation Jutsu to turn into a terribly clumsy Third Hokage.

It had made Kiba burst out laughing.

But now Naruto had used it so skillfully. When had he learned how?

He'd occasionally heard Shikamaru and the others say Naruto had been practicing some kind of jutsu.

Hinata Hyuga was tucked away behind the crowd, her fair little face already bright red.

She stole a quick glance at the identical "Iruka," then immediately lowered her head like a startled rabbit, nervously tapping her index fingers together.

She thought to herself, Naruto-kun... you've finally gotten stronger.

Naruto wasn't showing off on purpose. He simply had no intention of holding back.

Nor did he mean to draw attention to himself, since he'd already experienced all this before.

He'd merely performed an ordinary Transformation Jutsu on a whim.

But because of his reputation as the class dead-last, it caused a small commotion.