The rooftop bled red beneath him.
Not blood.
Not sunset.
But the eerie light of the newly unlocked interface—Thread 999. It hovered in the air like a cracked mirror, veins of digital memory pulsing erratically, alive with information that shouldn't exist.
[Hidden Thread Unlocked: OBSERVER PROTOCOL – OMEGA CLASS]
Memory Cluster: Suppressed ANBU Network Logs
Directive: Interception of Time-Reversal Phenomena
WARNING: YOU WERE NOT MEANT TO SEE THIS
He blinked, and the world didn't look the same anymore.
Every chakra thread. Every surveillance seal. Every hidden watcher in Konoha—it was like he could see them. A web strung over a sleeping beast. He was inside the code now. The system was no longer guiding him.
It was trying to contain him.
But the backdoor had changed everything.
Elsewhere – Hidden Root Subterranean BunkerDanzo stood silently as the console blared red.
THREAD 999 BREACH DETECTED
SYSTEM BACKDOOR ACCESS: ACTIVE
SUBJECT: PHANTOM - STATUS: UNBOUND
"He's accessing the Observer Layer," the tech muttered in disbelief. "That level of clearance… it was sealed after the Reboot Event."
Danzo turned slowly.
"You fools trained a ghost to obey—without asking what he was made to forget."
His one remaining eye narrowed.
"Deploy contingency units. If he won't fade quietly…"
He didn't need to finish.
The phantom had declared war on fate itself.
Present – Abandoned Clock Tower DistrictThe teen's body moved on instinct.
Shadowstep. Glide. React.
But the real battle was internal. His memories—those stolen, fragmented pieces—were returning in jagged bursts. Faces he didn't recognize. Missions coded in blood. Words whispered from a man with no eyes.
"You are the safeguard of balance. The blade that cannot be traced. The ghost that erases ghosts."
[Protocol: Phantom Enlistment - Fully Reactivated]
Passive: Memory Sync Initiated
Skill Tree Repaired: Assassin-Class/Temporal Variant Active
The world sharpened.
And so did his purpose.
But the moment of clarity shattered as chakra signatures closed in—fast. Too fast.
Root was here.
Four Operatives. One Exit. No Negotiation.They surrounded him like shadows. No names. No words.
Just death in motion.
The first struck from above—a flurry of senbon coated in paralysis venom.
He flipped back, sliding under the second's blade, tossing a smoke seal that immediately crackled with genjutsu pulses. But these weren't ordinary Root. They'd been upgraded.
They're expecting my counters.
He didn't just dodge. He learned.
By the time the third agent moved, the teen was already behind him.
A sharp elbow to the neck.
Silence.
Two down.
The remaining pair came together—mirror formation. A perfect ANBU pincer technique designed for coordinated takedown.
But the masked teen smiled beneath his half-cover.
[Skill Activated: Protocol Divergence - Mirage Split]
He vanished.
Both Root agents struck air—only for their own weapons to twist back at them from behind.
Blood sprayed the wall. Their bodies hit the concrete in sync.
And yet...
He knew this wasn't the end.
System Alert: Fate Thread TriggeredTHREAD 000 – PRIMARY TIMELINE GUARDIAN APPROACHING
ALERT: TARGET - NARUTO UZUMAKI
STATUS: INBOUND COLLISION COURSE
His breath caught.
He turned.
And there—just down the alley—stood Naruto.
Panting. Clutching a scroll Iruka had given him after class. Eyes wide, confused.
"You…" Naruto took a step closer. "Why are you fighting ANBU?"
The teen froze.
His shadow stretched toward Naruto like a curse.
[System Conflict: Assassination Protocol - Dormant But Reactive]
Status: Vitals Spiking… Threat Perception Active…
His blade wanted to move.
Some buried instinct.
The mission from the other timeline—the one that never ended.
He could feel it pressing into his spine.
[Protocol Suppression: 64% Integrity]
WARNING: MISSION CONFLICT IMMINENT
"Stop," he whispered—whether to Naruto or himself, he didn't know.
But Naruto kept coming.
"You saved Iruka-sensei from that fire last week, didn't you? That was you, right? Why hide who you really are?"
There was no answer.
Only silence.
And then—
[THREAD 000: NARRATIVE INTERVENTION ACTIVE]
A pulse tore through the space.
Reality warped.
And standing between them now—unseen by Naruto—was a figure in red robes, face half-covered by ceremonial wrappings.
The Timeline Warden.
"You were never supposed to connect with him," the Warden said quietly. "This fragment of fate—this boy—is the keystone."
The teen's fingers trembled.
His blade pulsed.
His system screamed.
"You'll erase everything by staying close to him."
The phantom took a shaky breath. "And if I refuse?"
The Warden didn't answer.
Instead, he stepped forward—and reached into the boy's chest.
System Disruption DetectedUSER IDENTITY ENCRYPTION IN JEOPARDY
WARNING: TIME-WARDEN INTERVENTION BREAKING MEMORY SEALS
The world cracked again.
Suddenly, the teen saw everything.
Every timeline. Every assassination.
Naruto's fate—dying in countless iterations.
His own hand delivering the fatal blow.
He had been created to ensure that fate.
[Protocol Rejection Detected]
Initiating Override…
But something inside him broke free.
He didn't run.
He lunged—straight at the Warden.
Blade out.
Eyes glowing.
Screaming.
Not for vengeance.
For freedom.
The blade struck true.
But the Warden wasn't flesh.
He was code.
He was story.
And the impact triggered a cascade failure—
[Thread Collapse – THREAD 000 DESTABILIZED]
RIFT DETECTED
TEMPORAL BREACH OPENING…
A hole tore open in the sky above them.
A black spiral like a reversed Sharingan.
Time cracked.
And Naruto screamed his name.
But the teen was already gone—
Pulled into the breach.
Elsewhere – Outside the TimelineHe floated in nothingness.
Above stories. Above fate.
But something reached for him—
Another thread.
Another watcher.
And in the void, a voice whispered:
"You were never meant to be a tool."
"You were meant to be the glitch that breaks the system."