Opening – A World at Peace, Barely
The Hidden Leaf repairs quickly.
Streets that burned hours ago now echo with hammers and voices. The villagers whisper of gods, demons, and a boy who glowed like the stars.
Naruto walks through them in silence.
Kids wave at him.
Shopkeepers smile.
But he can feel it.
Their fear.
Not hatred. Not disgust.
Just awe.
Like looking at something that isn't supposed to be human.
Mount Hokage – The Departure
At sunrise, Ardyn waits with Ben and Lyra near the edge of the village. A new portal hums behind them—stable, but bound to a realm that few can survive.
Naruto arrives wearing a modified cloak—his Hokage colors altered by void-thread stitching. His eyes no longer match.
One eye gold.
One obsidian.
"You sure about this?" Ben asks, stepping beside him.
Naruto breathes deep.
"I can't protect them like this. Not unless I understand what I've become."
Ardyn nods.
"Then it's time to meet the only ones who can teach you.
The Echoes."
Transition – Enter the Timeless Arena
The portal unfolds—not just in space, but across possibility.
They arrive in the Timeless Arena, a realm beyond chronology where beings erased from history come to train.
Mountains float in the sky.
Rivers run backwards.
Time is not linear here—it's a forge.
Waiting for them is an elder being wrapped in temporal flame.
He bows.
"Welcome, Hollowborn.
Welcome, Void Prince.
The Council of Echoes awaits."
The Echoes Revealed
The group is led to a circular chamber, where six figures sit upon shifting thrones.
Each is an alternate version of a major figure across the multiverse:
The Nameless Uchiha – A version of Sasuke who merged with the Sage of Six Paths.
Queen Kurama – A feminine version of the Nine-Tails, who fused with Naruto in a matriarchal world.
Chrono Kenshin – A samurai who survived ten thousand timelines by mastering time slashes.
Luminous Gwen – A Gwen Tennyson who rejected all magic to master pure energy manipulation.
Reborn Zeno – The childlike god of destruction, now aware of consequences.
The Architect – A version of Ardyn who never took the void.
Naruto steps forward, unsure.
"You're all… me? Or them?"
Queen Kurama smiles. "We're what could've been. And what still might be."
The First Trial – Facing the Inner Split
Naruto is taken to the Echo Chamber, where he must confront a manifestation of his dual self.
The Hollowborn form stands before him, wrapped in void, wearing his face—but crueler, colder.
"You're afraid of me," it says.
Naruto squares up. "I'm afraid of losing who I am."
The Hollowborn smiles. "Then stop hiding behind him."
Suddenly, Ardyn's face appears on the Hollowborn.
"You followed the Void Prince because part of you knows what he is. A future you can't deny."
Naruto falters.
But then—he hears another voice.
Ben's.
"Don't forget the ramen-loving idiot who saved a world once just by believing hard enough."
Naruto grins.
And with that thought—he punches his darker self straight in the jaw.
Meanwhile – Obsidian's Countermove
Back in the Cradle, Obsidian Ardyn watches the training through a psychic shard. Tree-Sakura stands nearby, knitting together fragments of time.
"He's adapting faster than expected," she observes.
Obsidian doesn't blink.
"Then we force him to evolve further."
He waves his hand—and somewhere in the multiverse, another Naruto screams as reality crushes him.
Another fragment sacrificed.
Another seed planted.
"Every victory brings the Hollowborn closer to rebirth.
And when he blooms… I'll devour him."
Final Scene – The Whispering Mountain
Ardyn meditates alone near the edge of the Timeless Arena.
Suddenly, a whisper brushes his ear.
"He's not the only one waking up."
He opens his eyes—and sees a shimmer. A ghost of himself. Not Obsidian. Not past.
But… future.
Wearing a crown.
Eyes black as death.
And smiling.
"You don't win this war, Ardyn.
You become it."
[CHAPTER END | NEXT: Cradle War – Son of the Void vs Heir of Hope]