??? – Unknown RealmThere was no time here.
No wind. No gravity.
Just drifting memories.
The nameless teen's body spun weightlessly through the black spiral between timelines—Thread 000 had collapsed, and he was its casualty. Or maybe its survivor. The difference felt thin in this place.
[System Status: OFFLINE]
[Warning: Core Protocols Damaged – Identity Fragmented]
The interface had vanished. The blade on his back was gone. Even his ANBU mask had cracked apart and dissolved into the dark.
All that remained… was him.
Whatever he really was.
"Where—am I?" he whispered. The sound barely echoed.
But something answered.
A flicker of light. A ripple of chakra.
And then—voices.
One by one. Some loud, some faint. All… familiar.
"You were our ghost. Our secret. Our executioner."
"Don't think. Just erase."
"Even shadows cast shadows. You were the deepest one."
Suddenly, the blackness fractured.
Not shattered—fractured. Like a mirror splitting to reveal a dozen reflections. Each one a version of him.
Some wore Root masks.
Some were cloaked in red clouds.
One stood alone on a battlefield of corpses, blood on his hands and the Hokage's cloak on his back.
And one—just one—was a child, crying in front of a burning village.
Each fragment turned toward him.
Each remembered him.
[Memory Cluster Detected – BOND SEQUENCES UNLOCKED]
THREAD 47: Sasuke Uchiha
THREAD 12: Kakashi Hatake
THREAD 90: Naruto Uzumaki
THREAD 13: Danzo Shimura
THREAD 0: ????
One by one, the names lit up.
And then one snapped.
THREAD 90 – Naruto Uzumaki.
Broken.
Back in Konoha – Academy Grounds, Present TimelineNaruto sat in Iruka's office, fists clenched.
He'd seen it—he knew it.
The masked teen. The Root agents. The chakra rift that swallowed him whole.
But no one believed him.
"He's gone, Naruto," Iruka said gently. "No student matching your description has ever enrolled. The Academy records were tampered with. Root must have erased his presence."
Naruto's jaw tightened.
"He saved my life."
Iruka nodded. "I know. But not everyone in this world is meant to stay."
Silence.
But in Naruto's clenched hand was a small, burnt tag—the only thing left behind after the rift.
A seal fragment.
Etched with one word: PHANTOM.
Elsewhere – Fractured Nexus of MemoriesThe phantom wandered through the shards of himself.
Each step he took, a memory played.
Kakashi giving him his first ANBU blade.
Danzo whispering the final mission: "End the Jinchūriki before he breaks the cycle."
Sasuke—half-burned, yelling across a collapsing roof: "You're not just a tool! You chose to stay that day!"
And Naruto… offering him ramen.
A memory so small, it shouldn't have mattered.
But it did.
[System Core: Rebooting...]
Status: 37% – THREAD STABILITY RESTORED
Skill Unlocked: Fractured Bond – Echo Recall
The shadows began to re-form around him.
Not weapons. Not skills.
People.
Pieces of people.
Each memory had been a bond. And now, they were his path back.
But one bond was breaking faster than the others.
Naruto's.
He had been erased from the boy's memory. Root was moving fast.
And if Naruto forgot him entirely…
[Final Thread Sync Required to Restore Anchor: THREAD 90]
[Do you wish to reconnect with Host? Y/N]
The phantom didn't hesitate.
"Yes."
And just like that—
The spiral reopened.
Present – Hidden Root FacilityDanzo stood before a containment tube.
Inside floated a clone—a backup Phantom—still in stasis, untouched, unaware.
The insurance policy.
"If he returns, we replace him. If he doesn't, we control the memory."
Beside him, Sai watched with narrowed eyes. "You don't trust the original."
"I trust fate," Danzo replied. "And I trust what must be done to bend it."
Back in Konoha – Hidden DistrictNaruto stood on the rooftop at sunset.
He came here every evening now. Hoping. Waiting.
For the masked teen who'd saved him.
Even if no one believed him.
Even if they thought he was chasing shadows.
"I won't forget you," he whispered into the wind.
And then—
A tremor.
Reality shuddered for just a breath.
A crack split open beside him.
And the masked teen stepped out.
Scorched. Scarred. But whole.
"Yo," the teen said, voice hoarse. "Sorry I left without saying anything."
Naruto turned slowly.
Eyes wide.
"You're—"
The teen nodded.
And behind his mask, his eyes glowed again with that strange phantom light.
But before Naruto could move—
A Root kunai whistled through the air.
Straight for his throat.
The phantom vanished—
And reappeared with the blade caught between his fingers.
He didn't even blink.
"I'm not your assassin anymore," he said softly.
But from the rooftop shadows…
Danzo was watching.
And his clone was waking up.