Outdoor Class

Iruka himself was the most confused and astonished of all.

He stared blankly at the exact copy of himself standing below the podium.

Though top students like Sasuke and Sakura could pull off something like that,

Naruto was different. He hadn't used to be so well-behaved.

After his brief shock, Iruka decided Naruto had simply become a little more normal.

After all, Naruto had always been good at the Transformation Jutsu, especially his own Sexy Jutsu...

Before long, Naruto dispelled the Transformation Jutsu. Without waiting for Iruka to say anything else, he turned and headed straight back to his seat.

He ignored the astonished and confused looks from everyone around him.

Naruto sighed inwardly. A reaction like that really was only interesting the first time he experienced it...

"Now that's interesting!"

Iruka had watched Naruto grow up from the time he was little.

He noticed Naruto's change more than anyone, but quickly recovered. He cleared his throat. "Uh... right, good job, Naruto. You've improved a lot. Next, Uchiha Sasuke!"

Sasuke walked up with a frown. As he stopped in front of Iruka, he glanced back at Naruto, sizing him up.

Naruto acted as if he hadn't seen a thing. He kept his chin propped on one hand and gazed out the window.

It was as if the dazzling display that had stunned the class had nothing to do with him.

"Hey, Shikamaru, don't you think Naruto's acting different today?" Kiba asked, glancing back at the lazy-looking boy behind him.

"Yeah, he is. For once, he didn't use Sexy Jutsu in front of the whole class," Shikamaru replied casually.

"No, I mean just now! Before I even said anything, Naruto acted like he already knew what I was going to ask, then answered my question!"

Kiba's mouth twitched.

Still, to be fair, Naruto's Sexy Jutsu was pretty impressive!

"I could guess what you were about to say. Maybe Naruto just got lucky," Shikamaru said with a shrug, making it clear he didn't want to talk about it anymore.

He'd noticed Naruto acting strangely too, but what did it have to do with him?

Was it going to stop him from dozing off in class later?

So why waste brainpower figuring out what had changed about Naruto?

Choji felt much the same way.

He kept sneaking chips into his mouth. He'd need to be full to have the energy to perform the Transformation Jutsu!

Under Iruka's supervision, the rest of the class took turns performing the Transformation Jutsu.

If they copied him perfectly, Iruka praised them.

If they made a mistake, Iruka came down hard on them, scolding, "What have you been learning all these years? You can't even remember what I look like? What are you going to do once you graduate from the Ninja Academy?"

Once the class had finished practicing the Transformation Jutsu, Iruka moved on to the next lesson.

Throughout it, Naruto stayed in a peculiar state.

He didn't sleep or play pranks. He simply sat there quietly.

Now and then, he looked at the familiar Iruka at the podium, then at his classmates, some paying attention and others daydreaming.

Every so often, he met the eyes of a short-haired girl. Each time, she ended up blushing and shyly looking away.

"Ding, ding, ding..."

Not long after, the bell rang.

The next class was an outdoor practical combat lesson, so most of the students rushed out of the classroom in a crowd.

Naruto wasn't in a hurry. He planned to leave leisurely, last of all.

He didn't come up with a new prank like he had in his first life.

Instead, Naruto strolled to the training field and found a grassy patch where the sun was just right and it wasn't too noisy. He put his hands behind his head and lay down on his back.

The sky was as blue as ever, with a few white clouds drifting lazily across it.

In the distance, he heard the shouts of another class practicing Taijutsu, along with the faint sound of a teacher lecturing in the neighboring building.

He'd heard those sounds thousands of times.

At the start of each new loop, when Naruto was angry, agitated, or desperate as he tried to find a way to break free, those sounds had always grated on him. They were noise that kept him from thinking.

But this time, after listening to Orochimaru's nonsense about "stopping to appreciate the scenery," he tried... not to think about anything at all.

He didn't think about how to break the loop or what he had to do.

He simply listened and watched.

It was strange. The exhaustion that had been building up for so long seemed to ease, however slightly, as he finally let himself relax.

Naruto didn't discover some "truth he'd been overlooking."

But his body really had relaxed.

He lay there quietly until the bell rang for the last class of the afternoon.

On the training field,

the other students had already lined up. Naruto hurried over to join them. At least his mood had improved a little.

And he'd already chosen his next target: Mizuki, after the graduation exam.

"Today we're reviewing Shuriken Throwing! The target is the bull's-eye on a dummy twenty meters away. Line up and take turns!"

Iruka announced the lesson, though his gaze kept drifting toward the blond boy who had arrived late at the end of the line.

Naruto still wore that indifferent expression, leaning against the wooden post behind him with his gaze unfocused, as if lost in thought.

The others stepped up one after another.

As expected, Sasuke hit the bull's-eye every time, his movements precise and fluid. A few girls let out muffled gasps of admiration.

He strode back coolly, but his eyes turned to Naruto again.

Why hasn't he challenged me today?

Shikamaru yawned and muttered, "What a drag."

But he still threw with proper form and technique, earning a good score.

When it was Hinata's turn, she noticed Naruto watching her and grew so nervous that her hands trembled slightly. To everyone's surprise, she still managed a decent score.

But as soon as she finished, she blushed and shrank back behind the others, sneaking glances at Naruto.

At last, it was Naruto's turn.

Iruka took a deep breath. He wanted to see what the boy was up to. If he'd suddenly become this quiet, he had to be planning something big.

Every eye in the class was fixed on Naruto.

Naruto strolled to the front.

He didn't even take the standard throwing stance the others had used.

Naruto held the training shuriken in his hand and calmly recalled the many loops he'd been through.

"As long as the loop starts, no matter how impressive I am, if I fail the graduation exam..."

"Then I won't graduate, and Mizuki will come looking for me to steal the Scroll of Seals. So there's no need to deliberately perform as poorly as I did in my first life..."

Of course, there was no need to show off like he had in a few other loops, either—hitting the bull's-eyes and even the targets behind them, or deliberately throwing with his non-dominant hand to draw everyone's attention.

All he had to do was perform normally.

With that in mind, Naruto tossed the shuriken casually.

"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!"

Several shuriken flew from Naruto's hand almost at once.

They traced five clean, swift arcs through the air, and then...

"Thud, thud, thud!"

The shuriken struck their targets almost simultaneously.

They hit the exact centers of five different targets twenty meters away, without a single miss.

He made no unnecessary showy moves. His face remained expressionless, and he didn't even look at the targets after throwing.

It was as if he'd done something as natural as breathing.

The entire class fell silent again.

This time, even Sasuke's pupils contracted slightly.

Casually throwing shuriken and hitting the centers of five different targets went beyond mere skill.

There was something... almost terrifying about his command of Shuriken Throwing.

Was this guy really Naruto?

Inuzuka Kiba gaped at him, utterly incredulous.

You have to be someone else in disguise!

Tell me, where did you hide the real Naruto?

Give Naruto back to me!