Chapter 26: Paradox Protocol – Naruto’s Final Mission

Scene: The Edge of Time – Fissure Nexus

The sky bleeds static.

Fragments of collapsed timelines drift like icebergs through a sea of broken stars.

Naruto stands at the precipice—cloaked in silence, watching as the multiverse begins to crack. Behind him, Team Voidstorm arrives one by one.

Sasuke's eyes flicker with residual timelines.

Sakura is holding a stabilizer core—the last piece keeping their reality from collapsing.

Ignara burns blue with tension.

"Ben's energy signature is in flux," Sasuke says. "He's stabilizing, but the timelines around him are not."

Naruto closes his eyes.

He sees it—Ben, hovering in the Nexus Core, surrounded by waves of shattered time, holding the child-form of his soul close like a protective brother.

"He doesn't know he's the bomb," Naruto mutters.

Ignara tenses.

"Then we tell him."

Naruto turns away.

"What if he won't listen?"

Sasuke says quietly, "Then you'll have to do what only you can."

Naruto grips Kokugen, its hilt humming.

"No… not yet. I'll talk to him first."

Scene: Nexus Core – Ben's Throne of Paradox

Ben sits on a throne shaped from fused realities—broken versions of his own lives stacked atop each other. The girl—his soul fragment—sleeps in his lap, her presence stabilizing him, but tearing time apart around them.

He watches as collapsing realities flicker through the veil:

In one, he's a hero.

In another, a tyrant.

In most… he dies before reclaiming himself.

He grips his head.

"They were all… me. Every path I took, someone else paid for it."

Suddenly—a pulse.

Naruto appears through a golden breach in time, stepping into the room with no hostility. No mask.

Just pain.

Ben stands, wary.

"You found me."

Naruto nods. "Had to."

The Talk – Old Friends, Broken Futures

Ben looks away.

"You remember now?"

Naruto nods.

"Everything. From the ramen shop to the Riftborn assault. Every laugh. Every betrayal. Every second I fought to keep you from disappearing."

Ben's voice cracks.

"You did save me. But I lost too much."

He looks down at the girl.

"She's me… but she's also the key, isn't she?"

Naruto lowers his gaze.

"Yes. The moment you reclaimed her, you became the Convergence Core. Every timeline is folding into you. You're the gravity well now, Ben. If you exist like this for too long… you'll pull it all under."

Ben steps back.

"So what? You came to kill me?"

Naruto looks up, pain in his eyes.

"I came to ask you to trust me. One last time."

Naruto's Proposal – The Paradox Protocol

Naruto places a scroll on the ground.

"It's an ancient sealing technique. Forbidden, even by my standards. It will sever your soul's convergence point and split it across infinite timelines again—but you'll survive."

Ben looks horrified.

"You mean… I'll be fragmented again."

"Yes," Naruto says. "But the multiverse lives."

Ben's hands clench.

"And what about her?" He looks at the girl.

Naruto lowers his voice.

"She'll go too. She'll become something like a… guardian shard. A beacon that never lets you forget who you are."

"It's not death, Ben. It's sacrifice."

Ben's eyes burn with fury—and sorrow.

"Why is it always me?! Why do I always have to lose something just to exist?!"

Naruto takes a step forward.

"Because you're strong enough to carry it. That's what makes you… you."

Ben's Decision – Almost

Ben kneels by the girl.

He cups her face.

She stirs and whispers:

"You'll protect me… right?"

Ben trembles.

Then…

He looks up, eyes brimming with resolve.

"Alright. Do it."

But before Naruto can react—

A black tendril of Rift energy pierces the ground beneath them.

Scene Shifts – Obsidian Invades

Obsidian steps through the fractured veil, clapping slowly.

"Touching. Truly. But unfortunately… I need him whole."

The Heir follows, mask cracking.

Obsidian sneers.

"The Convergence is almost complete. And when it is, Ben won't just collapse reality… he'll replace it."

Naruto shields Ben and the girl.

"I won't let you take him!"

Obsidian smiles.

"You don't have to. He'll come willingly when he sees what I've made."

He lifts his hand.

And suddenly—a portal opens showing millions of alternate worlds where Ben ruled. Some peaceful. Others tyrannical. But all… victorious.

Obsidian's voice booms:

"You see it now, Ben? This isn't destruction. It's ascension."

Ben's breath hitches.

The Rift Crown glows again on his head.

He steps forward—

Naruto shouts:

"Ben! Don't listen! That's not you anymore!"

Cliffhanger – The Choice Returns

Ben turns toward Naruto…

Then toward Obsidian…

Then toward the sleeping child-himself.

And says—

"Then who am I?"

The Rift pulses.

The timelines flicker.

Everything hangs in balance.

[CHAPTER END | NEXT: Broken Gods – The War for One Soul]