16: The Ghost of Konoha

The streets of Konoha bustled with life, but Naruto walked through them like a phantom.

No one acknowledged him.

Not Ichiraku's ramen stand, where Teuchi served steaming bowls of miso ramen—his usual order—but never looked his way.

Not the Academy, where children trained under Iruka, a man who had once called Naruto his greatest student but now passed him without a second glance.

Not even his own comrade.

As he stood outside the general hospital, his heart clenched. Sakura, Lee, Hinata, Kiba sat in the hospital garden, humming softly as they chat.

But none of them see him.

Naruto stepped forward, gripping the wooden gate. "Guys..?" His voice barely left his lips.

She didn't react.

He called louder. "HEY!"

Nothing.

The realization hit him like a kunai to the chest.

The world had erased him this time.

"This is your fault, bastard."

Naruto clenched his fists.

"Tch. Worth it." That's what he had said. But now? He wasn't so sure.

His Village. His friends. His teacher.

All of them had forgotten him.

And the only person who could see him… was Sasuke.

"We need to fix this." Naruto turned to his only ally.

Sasuke nodded, arms crossed. "Obviously."

The Uchiha had been silent since Naruto first realized the truth. It had been Naruto's name that was wiped from history. Naruto's face erased from Hokage Rock.

And yet—Sasuke remembered.

That night, they gathered at the old Uchiha District—one of the few places still untouched by time's meddling.

Naruto sat on the worn steps of a ruined home. "So let me get this straight… I was Hokage, but now, to everyone else, I never existed?"

Sasuke leaned against a broken pillar. "Exactly."

"That's bullshit."

"Agreed."

Naruto sighed, running a hand through his hair. "So what do we do?"

Sasuke's Rinnegan gleamed in the dim moonlight. "We find Kurotensei. Again."

Naruto scowled. "Yeah, because that went so well the first time."

"We forced time to break once," Sasuke said. "We can do it again. But this time, we need to make sure it doesn't take anything from us."

Naruto exhaled. "And how do we do that?"

Sasuke didn't answer right away. He looked up at the sky, deep in thought. Then, his expression darkened.

"There's one place we haven't looked yet."

Naruto frowned. "Where?"

Sasuke met his gaze.

"The Shadow Realm."

Legends spoke of a place that existed beyond life and death—a rift where erased souls wandered. A realm of shadows, where the remnants of forgotten existences still lingered.

If Naruto's history had been erased, his soul might still be trapped there—the last thread binding him to reality.

And if they could reach it, they might be able to undo what Kurotensei had taken.

But there was a catch.

"No one has ever entered the Shadow Realm and returned," Sasuke said, his voice grave. "If we do this, there's no guarantee we'll come back."

Naruto smirked. "Since when have we ever cared about that?"

Sasuke sighed. "Idiot."

Naruto stretched. "Alright then. Let's go bring me back."

They needed a key to enter the Shadow Realm.

And only one person might have it.

Far beyond Konoha, hidden in the depths of the Land of Twilight, there was an ancient figure who had once served the Otsutsuki—an immortal seer known as Jishin, the Sage of the Rift.

Naruto and Sasuke traveled for days, cutting through forests, mountains, and abandoned battlefields, until they finally reached the Seer's domain—a shrine covered in ivy, resting on the edge of a vast chasm.

Inside, a single figure awaited them.

Jishin was ancient—his body a shifting mass of chakra, neither fully human nor spirit. His eyes, hollow and endless, studied them with eerie amusement.

"Uzumaki Naruto. Uchiha Sasuke. The two who defied time."

Naruto crossed his arms. "Yeah, yeah. We need to get into the Shadow Realm. You got the key?"

Jishin chuckled, his voice like rustling leaves. "So impatient. But tell me, Hokage-who-no-longer-exists… why should I help you?"

Sasuke stepped forward. "Because if time is left broken, the world will unravel."

Jishin tilted his head. "Ah… but perhaps that is what was meant to be."

Naruto scowled. "Like hell it is."

Jishin regarded them for a long moment. Then, slowly, he raised his hand. A black scroll materialized in the air.

"Very well. I shall grant you passage… but be warned: the Shadow Realm is not simply a place. It is alive. And it will not let you leave without a price."

Naruto smirked. "Yeah, yeah. Let's just get this over with."

Jishin's hollow eyes gleamed.

"Then step forward, children of fate."

The air shattered around them.

And the world faded to black.

When Naruto opened his eyes, he was somewhere… else.

A realm of swirling darkness. A place where the stars flickered and died.

And in the distance, standing at the edge of nothingness—

A figure.

Naruto's breath hitched.

It was him.

Another Naruto.

Except… this version's eyes were empty. His body flickered, unstable, like a memory that was never meant to exist.

And when it spoke, its voice was hollow.

"You don't belong here."

Sasuke tensed beside him. "Naruto… that's not just a version of you."

Naruto's stomach twisted.

Sasuke's next words made his blood run cold.

"That's the part of you that time erased."

The erased Naruto stepped forward, its voice distant.

"You came to fix what was broken… but you don't understand."

The shadows around them shifted, twisting into monstrous shapes.

"I don't want to be saved."

And then—

The battle began.