The gates of Konoha stood tall in the distance, framed by dense trees and swirling mist.
Ardyn knelt in the brush, his breathing steady despite the trail of blood behind him. The rogue ninja bodies were long gone, devoured by the void itself after he issued the command: erase evidence.
His mind buzzed with data.
[SYSTEM LOG: VOID THREADS usage recorded. Chakra signature detected by nearby sensory unit. Adjust stealth parameters?]
"Not yet," he whispered.
He needed them to notice. Just a little.
Just enough.
Ardyn pulled his hood lower over his eyes. His body ached—partially from the transfer into this world, partially from the limited state his "host" body had spawned in. A child. Weak, frail, lacking chakra control. But temporary.
He would grow. Quickly. More than they could imagine.
As he approached the outer checkpoint of the Hidden Leaf Village, his eyes scanned for weaknesses.
Guards. Two Chūnin. Both distracted. Paperwork, minor arguments.
Illusion? No. Better to make a statement.
He stumbled forward, visibly injured.
They noticed.
"Hey—! Kid!"
One guard rushed to him, catching him just before he collapsed.
"He's covered in blood—"
"Get Tsunade-sama. Or at least a med-nin. Now!"
Ardyn smiled as the shadows swallowed him whole.
Konoha – Medical Ward, South Wing
Light stung his eyes.
Voices echoed through the white-tiled room. People moving, chakra pulses scanning his body.
"He's lucky to be alive."
"No records. No clan ID. Could be from one of the border villages. Maybe even a survivor from the Grass Village raid?"
"Look at his chakra pathways—this isn't normal. There's something… wrong with him."
He almost laughed.
Of course there was.
He was not normal.
Hours passed.
Eventually, he was left alone, eyes half-lidded, ears tuned for every whisper outside his door. Through the window, the Hokage Monument loomed in the distance.
Then—
The door opened.
She walked in.
Blonde. Confident. Wearing the green robe of authority and strength. Her presence filled the room like a thunderclap before a storm.
Tsunade Senju.
She eyed him like a hawk, arms crossed.
"You're awake," she said bluntly.
Ardyn didn't respond.
"You're not from here. No chakra ID. No family records. And the guards say you stumbled out of the forest, bleeding but alive. And you're… what, eight? Nine?"
Still, he said nothing.
Her fingers flexed, subtle chakra crackling in her hands.
"I can rip the truth out of you if I need to."
He met her gaze.
And smiled.
Tsunade's eyes narrowed. "You're not afraid."
"No."
"Why?"
"Because you need me."
She paused.
Just a moment. But he saw it. The flicker of doubt. The calculation. He'd already read her files—well, fragments intercepted from Konoha's low-tier surveillance grid. Thanks to his system, even minor chakra pulses carried intel if you knew how to listen.
Her mind was sharp. A gambler. But one that hated risk without leverage.
He was a variable.
A wild card.
Exactly the kind of piece she couldn't ignore.
[SYSTEM UPDATE: VOID APTITUDE DETECTED IN HOST BODY. RATE OF INTEGRATION ACCELERATED. UNLOCKING NEW ABILITY.]
[NEW ABILITY: VOID VEIL – Passive cloaking aura. Confuses sensory-type shinobi unless target desires detection.]
Good.
Now came phase one: infiltration.
Over the next three days, Ardyn remained silent, allowing rumors to spread. A mysterious orphan rescued outside the village. Injured. Silent. Unreadable chakra signature.
People watched.
He knew their names. Their faces. Their timelines.
In this version of the world—Dimension 748-AX1—Naruto had just returned from his three-year training journey with Jiraiya. Sasuke was still with Orochimaru. Akatsuki's movements had begun in secret.
And Konoha... was weak.
He could feel it in the walls.
This world was ripe for corruption.
He was given temporary lodging in the orphan sector near the east district. A shared room with peeling wallpaper, cracked tiles, and creaky floors.
Perfect.
Night fell.
He opened the system interface in his mind. A grid of commands hovered before him in pure thought-form. Stats. Abilities. Timelines. Future events. Alternate routes. Death points.
And… targets.
A flash of red.
[DIMENSIONAL THREAD LOCATED: NARUTO UZUMAKI – 842 Meters West]
[CONNECTION: FUTURE ANTAGONIST – POTENTIAL ALLY OR RIVAL]
Ardyn rose silently and exited the building.
The village slept under a half-moon sky, its shadows long and soft. His new ability, Void Veil, cloaked his steps like whispers in the dark.
He moved like water through the alleys.
Until he saw it—
The boy.
Naruto.
Sitting alone on the rooftop of Ichiraku Ramen, looking at the moon, his usual bright energy dimmed. His blond hair shifted in the wind. His expression? Unreadable.
Ardyn observed.
Then, deliberately, he let his veil flicker.
Naruto turned sharply.
"Who's there?!"
Ardyn stepped into the moonlight.
Naruto's eyes narrowed. "You're that new kid. The quiet one."
Silence stretched between them.
"Why're you following me?"
Ardyn said one word.
"Curious."
Naruto frowned. "That's it?"
"No."
A pause.
Naruto stood. "You're weird."
Ardyn smirked. "And you're loud."
Naruto scratched the back of his head, but didn't leave.
And then—
[ALERT: ANBU UNIT EN ROUTE – TARGET: YOU]
[REASON: Chakra anomaly detected in orphanage sector. High-risk classification triggered.]
Ardyn's eyes lit up with threads of black lightning.
Behind them, three masked figures landed on the rooftop in a flash of wind and metal.
"By order of the Hokage," one said, "you're coming with us."
Naruto stepped between them. "Wait! He didn't do anything—!"
"Stand down, Naruto!"
Ardyn raised his hand.
He could run.
He could kill.
He could erase their memory.
But instead…
He said softly, "Let them take me."
Naruto's mouth opened, confused. "Huh?"
Ardyn turned to him with a faint smile.
"I want to see what your village hides beneath its mask."
And then, without resistance, he walked into the shadows.
The ANBU vanished with him.