SS001

Floating high in the sky over a battleground that had reshaped the very landscape, a pale man with long, white, mane-like hair, black and white clothes, a flat, curved horn wrapping around his forehead, and distinctive purple eyes with concentric rings in them stared up at a blood red moon.

"This world shall finally know peace..." muttered the man, Uchiha Madara, his voice as deep as a chasm, threatening to swallow anyone who heard it. 

Reaching up to the horn framing his forehead, Madara tore it away with his left hand, exposing a third eye. Like his other two eyes, it also had a series of three concentric circles. But instead of being purple, it was dark red and had a total of nine comma-like tomoe, equally spaced with three on each ring.

"Shine upon the world..." muttered Madara, striking a triumphant pose as the moon reflected his third eye, unleashing his ultimate Genjutsu, Infinite Tsukuyomi...

...

..

.

Opening his eyes to their limits, a young boy with somewhat spiky black hair and striking blue eyes rose to a seated position with a start, his thin but athletic body covered in sweat.

"I'm alive...?" muttered the boy, his expression and tone one of disbelief as he gave himself a quick pat down. The last thing he remembered was darkness encroaching on his vision as he attempted to endure the event known as the Fourth Ninja World War by hiding in a cave he had prepared in advance. How? Because he knew it would take place nearly ten years in advance.

"Wait...this isn't my body..." muttered the youth. At a glance, his physique belonged to an eight to ten-year-old boy, yet, in his most recent memory, he had been seventeen, going on eighteen.

"Did I loop...?" the youth asked himself, excitement swelling up from the very depths of his soul.

Eager to confirm his suspicions, the youth removed the blankets covering his body and leaped from his bed. He recognized the largely empty room he was in as the apartment he had been given after successfully enlisting in Konoha's Ninja Academy, so he made a beeline for the bathroom to see his reflection in the mirror.

"It's real..." muttered the youth, unable to prevent a smile from spreading across his face as he touched his cheek, causing the relatively handsome youth in the mirror to do the same.

Finished checking his face, the youth pulled the elastic band of his black trousers and white boxers, peeking at their contents. 

Feeling relieved, the youth sighed and let the band snap against his skin, muttering, "Let's review what we know...I don't remember dying a second time, so this can't be another isekai..."

Though he looked like any other inhabitant of the world he lived in, the youth, known as Seikun, was someone who had been reincarnated into the world of his favorite anime, Naruto, upon dying in his first incarnation. Unfortunately, he didn't encounter a God or Goddess beforehand, so his only cheat was his foreknowledge related to events within the anime. As a result, even though he had given it his all to become stronger, he failed to secure a position on an official team and was instead enlisted in the Genin Reserve Forces, limited to conducting missions within the village.

Recalling how much he had suffered due to his lack of a bloodline and limited Chakra reserves, Seikun exhaled a weary sigh and muttered, "Even if this is a loop, it doesn't change the fact that I'm not suited to become a Ninja. Do I really want to bust my ass all over again...?"

Though he could doubtlessly do things better the second time around, especially with a decade of experience over his competition, Seiken knew it was only a matter of time until those who made a name for themselves in canon, specifically the main characters, surpassed him. Even becoming friends with Rock Lee and busting his ass nearly every day for the entirety of his Academy life hadn't made a meaningful difference, so what was the point if he was fated to remain weak?

Feeling despondent, Seikun returned to his room, sat on the edge of his bed, and slumped in deep thought. A quick look at his wall calendar and clock revealed that his first day at the Academy was scheduled to begin in less than an hour, but after what happened in his previous loop, it was hard to muster the motivation to leave his apartment. His looks had made him fairly popular early on, but as he was gradually surpassed by all but a few civilian-born students, the girls who initially fangirled over him slowly distanced themselves before outright ignoring him. The only exception...

"Hinata..." muttered Seikun, feeling equal parts nostalgic and melancholic. He had taken the initiative to sit next to Hinata and befriend her in his last loop, but since he didn't have a thing for little girls, he mainly endeavored to build her confidence. This improved her results tremendously and even allowed her to make friends, but since her father didn't want a commoner interacting with his daughter, he was eventually warned to keep away. He didn't take the warning seriously when it was issued, and since there were no immediate consequences, he was completely blindsided when it came time to move to the next grade and he was held back despite being in the middle of the class in terms of grades and performance...

"With my knowledge and experience as a Genin, I could probably stay at the front of the pack this time around..." muttered Seikun, his vibrant blue eyes sharpening as he caressed his chin. "Then, even if I piss Lord Hiashi off, he shouldn't have as easy a time getting me held back..."

Though it was petty and more than a little shameless, Seikun's biggest regret in his previous loop was choosing to wait until he and the girls he was interested in grew up before making a move on them. As such, now that he had been given a second chance, he had an almost overwhelming desire to say fuck it and take full advantage of his situation.

As such thoughts filled his head, Seikun felt a surge of power along with his rising emotions. In his previous loop, it had taken him and many other civilian students nearly two years to grasp the basics of Chakra. Now, he not only felt it flowing through his limbs and body clearly, but it was much more reactive than normal.

"What the hell...?" Seikun asked him, turning over and staring down at the palm of his right hand. It took tremendous effort for him to shape Chakra in his previous loop, but now it seemed to react intuitively, exactly how he wanted it to.

Reinforcing this sentiment, Seikun condensed a tiny, marble-sized sphere of bluish-white energy above his palm, the Chakra comprising it pulsating like a ball of plasma. Then, with a simple thought, he compelled it to begin spinning, creating an imperfect sphere that bulged out at the sides before becoming a disc as he revved it to hundreds and, soon after, thousands of revolutions per minute.

"This is way too good to be true..." muttered Seikun, slowing the spinning of the disc before performing a feat even more outrageous, absorbing the Chakra back into his body.

Since he couldn't even imagine having such control over his Charka in his previous loop, Seikun was forced to once again reflect on the reality of his situation. He hadn't died, and the last thing he remembered was a feeling of muddleheadedness similar to being placed under a Genjutsu before he lost consciousness.

"Infinite Tsukuyomi..." muttered Seikun, his expression hardening. The effects of said Genjutsu were to trap its victims in a dream where their every desire was fulfilled. Ordinarily, those affected were unaware that they were trapped in a Genjutsu, but since Seikun had knowledge of its existence beforehand, it wasn't difficult to correlate the strangeness of his current situation with the fact he was in a dream. A dream made just for him...

Curious and wanting to confirm his suspicions, Seikun imagined himself as he looked prior to losing consciousness. He expected this to change how he looked almost instantly, so after several minutes of silence and nothing happening, he tilted his head in confusion.

"Does this mean there are limitations within the dreamscape?" wondered Seikun, manifesting and shaping his Chakra into numerous shapes as he speculated, "Or is it that I appeared at this time and in this form because my innermost desire was to do redo things from scratch..."

Regardless of which was true, Seikun decided to would be a waste not to take advantage of the situation. Playing nice and busting his ass had just led to him being miserable, so even if everything he was experiencing was ultimately a dream, the fact he could perceive and interact with the world around him as if it were real was all that mattered. Thus, until he awoke to find himself back in the cave, his current reality was all that mattered...

"I'm going to enjoy this..." muttered Seikun, his expression determined as he reabsorbed his manifested Chakra and formed his hand into a slightly trembling fist...

...

..

.

Though Seikun had decided to do his best, years of depression and being a loner wasn't something that could be overcome overnight. The thought of being trapped in a classroom for half the day for four years also wasn't pleasant, so after the Third Hokage's long-winded speech concerning the Will of Fire, he ignored the curious looks he was receiving from the girls in his class, commandeered seat number 17 in the second row, third column of the class, and put his head down.

Shortly after Seikun claimed his seat, a timid, bell-like voice interrupted his thoughts to ask, "Umm...if it's not too much trouble, may I sit here...?"

Raising his head, Seikun was unsurprised to find a nervous-looking girl with pale amethyst eyes reminiscent of opals. Her black, purple-hued hair was styled in a distinctive hime cut that framed her face, and since it was their first day at the Academy, she was wearing casual clothes consisting of a short-sleeved white turtleneck under a sleeveless, light purple hoodie, dark-blue pants that cut off halfway down her calves, and dark-blue, toeless sandals that were standard issue for all Konoha Ninja.

As it was the entire reason he had chosen seat number seventeen, Seikun didn't hesitate to answer, "Sure..." before putting his head back down. The previous time around, he had been much friendlier. This time, as he didn't want to attract the pettiness of Hinata's father prematurely, he decided to take things slow and prove his capabilities first.

Seeing Seikun put his head down, Hinata's expression became somewhat downcast. She was rarely permitted outside the Hyuga Clan Compound, so she had been looking forward to attending the Academy and hopefully making at least one friend before graduation...

Looking around for other available seats, Hinata felt somewhat helpless as the majority had been taken or had people standing near them. There were a few spots in the first row that were open, but since she didn't want to be a focal point for the teacher during lessons, she eventually gave up and occupied the seat next to Seikun.

"..."

"What's your name...?" asked Seikun, startling Hinata as she didn't expect him to speak.

"H-Hinata..." responded Hinata, tentatively adding, "Hyuga Hinata..." in a much lower voice.

"Mine is Takahashi Seikun..." said Seikun, turning his head slightly to meet Hinata's gaze as he explained, "I didn't get much sleep last night, so I'm a little tired. Don't think I'm ignoring you..."

"Oh...okay..." responded Hinata, looking slightly less anxious but notably more confused. Seikun noted this and found it simultaneously curious and a little concerning. From what he could tell, Hinata was having an internal monolog with herself and appeared to be carefully considering her words and actions. If he were truly in a dream created by the Infinite Tsukuyomi, wouldn't it make more sense for her to behave how he expected or, more accurately, how he desired her to act? Or were her present behaviors the result of those very expectations? As far as Seikun could discern, she and all the other people he had encountered since awakening were as real as those who had spurned him in his previous loop...