131. Return

"...When you throw a ninja tool, it is simultaneously acted upon by the initial velocity you impart and gravity, resulting in a parabolic trajectory... Therefore, everyone must understand that the key to hitting your target lies in the combination of angle and initial velocity when you release the tool... Sometimes, 'calculation' is more important than 'technique,' which is why you must all keep this [Third Hokage Angle Formula] firmly in your hearts..."

"...And so, the curriculum at the Ninja Academy concludes here. The graduation exam is the day after tomorrow. I hope you all pass and become glorious ninjas of Konoha!"

"Class dismissed!"

As Iruka finished speaking from the podium, the students below erupted into a frenzy. Most of the girls crowded around Iruka, expressing how much they would miss him, while the boys gathered in small groups, speculating on what subjects would appear in the graduation exam.

Amidst the lively crowd, only one blonde boy sat alone in the back row, looking completely out of place. His expression was vacant, his eyes hollow, lost in his own thoughts.

A black-haired boy passed behind him, glancing at his back as if by accident. He paused for a moment, but ultimately said nothing and left the classroom alone.

The clamor faded with time, and the setting sun quietly crept onto the empty desks. With only the blonde boy left in the classroom, he finally snapped back to reality. He looked at the familiar yet strange scenery outside the window, his face twitching slightly as a single tear slid from his right eye.

"This isn't a dream."

"Did I really... come back?"

The sky, the sunset, the breeze, people... how long had it been since he last saw these things?

Naruto couldn't help but recall a scene from a long time ago—or at least, what felt like an extremely distant past to him.

Back then, he had been sleeping in class as usual, only to wake up and find himself inexplicably inside a movie theater.

The theater was vast, dim, and completely sealed. No matter how Naruto tried, he couldn't find a way out. Even stranger, he couldn't feel the chakra within his body, and no matter how much time passed, he never felt hunger or thirst, as if time had frozen. The only things that changed, besides Naruto himself, were the videos playing randomly on the screen.

It seemed the only thing Naruto could do here was watch these videos.

The content of the videos was bizarre and varied; sometimes they were concert footage of unknown singers, other times explanations of scientific technology, but without exception, they were things Naruto had never heard of. Before this, he had never imagined that pieces of steel joined together could soar through the sky, nor did he know that the ninja world he lived in was just one of the stars in the night sky.

Furthermore, whenever a video played, many comments would drift across the top, as if a group of people he couldn't see were watching the same videos and chatting with each other—in fact, there were many concepts Naruto only understood after reading those comments.

To Naruto's own surprise, he adapted to this space very quickly.

Although he was lonely, he had always been lonely in Konoha; he was used to it.

Moreover, here he didn't have to endure cold stares or discrimination, and there were so many interesting videos to watch. The unknown "companions" posting those comments were all talented and spoke so well that, eventually, he even started to like this place.

The only regret Naruto had was that he couldn't post comments himself, unable to join in the conversation. Especially when he saw a viewpoint he particularly agreed with, the inability to reply made him beat his chest and stomp his feet in frustration, a suffocating feeling like a mute unable to use sign language.

Years passed, he knew not how many.

Just when Naruto thought such days would never change, a video suddenly appeared that made his eyes widen.

The title of the video was:

"[Power Comparison] Power Comparison Between Xiong Er and Naruto"

?

Naruto couldn't hold it together.

What the hell?

Why would his name appear?

And brother, what even is this bear?

Before Naruto could clear his thoughts, the content of the video left him even more dumbfounded.

Wait, the blonde boy at the beginning of this video really looks like me.

So, are these [Sage Mode], [Nine-Tails Full Form], and [Baryon Mode] the future me? Am I this cool?

As expected of me.

But what the hell is Heavenly God Bear Emperor (God-level) [Space Manipulation]??

What kind of bear is this?

Why am I appearing in the video?

Naruto's mind was in chaos until more videos related to him kept appearing, and he gradually sorted out these questions.

It turned out there was a manga called Naruto, which told his story.

But in that story, that Naruto never came to this movie theater.

And... he was very stupid.

Yes, Naruto began to look down on the version of himself in that story, and he finally realized how foolish he had been before his mind was enlightened by so many videos.

However, as more related videos appeared and Naruto began to deepen his understanding of the Naruto plot, his mood grew increasingly heavy. His worldview kept shattering and reforming after learning various shocking facts.

So there was a demon fox in my stomach that had attacked Konoha... no wonder the villagers...

So my father was the Fourth Hokage, my parents died to protect me, I am the son of a hero, and I became a jinchuriki to protect the village.

But why did the Third Hokage hide this information from everyone, letting me suffer discrimination all this time?

So there was someone named Kakashi who was my father's student... but why have I never seen him?

Neji... the comments mocked it well; the Hokage's son is the Hokage, and the scapegoat's son is the scapegoat... Such a world is truly... infuriating.

Obito Uchiha... this student of my father, who ate the food my mother cooked—food I never even got to taste—killed my parents?

"...Are you kidding me?!"

In the empty movie theater, watching the "himself" on the screen say "Obito Uchiha is the coolest," Naruto felt his eyes split with rage. An indescribable fury assaulted his sanity, and he roared:

"How could you say something like that?!"

"How could I say something like that?!"

"Bastard! Bastard! You piece of trash!"

"You should have killed him with your own hands!!"

As anger licked at his nerves, Naruto slammed his fists against the floor. The values of this "version of himself in the film," so starkly different from his own, were impossible to accept. How could he so easily forgive the enemy who killed his parents?

Are you trying to be some kind of saint, for fuck's sake?! To hell with forgiveness!

It was from that moment on that he began to search anew for any exit from the movie theater.

The reason he had given up on leaving so easily before was that Naruto had felt the outside world held no attachments for him.

But now he knew that attachments did exist—his parents loved him deeply, they had died for him, and his mother's chakra still resided within his body...

That's right, Mom and Dad loved him deeply.

Just knowing this was enough to leave Naruto bathed in tears.

He had to get out, to feel chakra once again, so that he could see his mother one last time.

And he swore an oath.

He would definitely kill Obito Uchiha.

A long, long time passed. Naruto scoured every corner of the movie theater, yet he still found no exit. But he did not give up, nor did he waver in the slightest; hatred and longing were the firm pillars supporting his constant attempts.

Through the shaping of countless videos and the tempering of time, the Naruto Uzumaki who once loved to make a scene and couldn't control his emotions had long since vanished. Hatred, anger, sorrow, and being moved were all hidden deep within his heart. By now, Naruto possessed stable values and a firm ideology—a power greater than any ninjutsu.

Then, as if it were a mere child's game, just after a mundane blink of his eyes, Naruto suddenly found himself back in Konoha, a place he had been away from for so long, back in the classroom where he had been sleeping.

He had woken up.

Such a return was far too jarring and absurd, leaving Naruto unable to make any sense of it, which was why he had been stunned for so long just now.

"Truly... ridiculous."

Naruto, his thoughts returning to the present, couldn't help but let out a dry laugh. He then let out a long sigh, his expression returning to calm.

"If I can't figure it out, I won't think about it for now."

Naruto stood up, feeling the long-lost sunlight; even the sunset made his whole body feel warm.

"Since things have come to this, I'll go have a bowl of Ichiraku Ramen first."

"It's been so many years since I've eaten anything."