The room was silent.
For the first time in hours, no alarms blared. No dimensional cracks split the sky. No chakra storms threatened to collapse buildings.
Just heavy breathing.
And blood on the floor.
Ardyn sat at the center of the council chamber, leaning back in a chair hastily reinforced with sealing scrolls. His coat was scorched. His Void Blade was gone—only a hilt remained. His skin glowed faintly, traces of the Possibility Edge still leaking through his body like leftover code.
But he was alive.
Tsunade stared at him from across the table, arms crossed. "You've got thirty seconds before I stop pretending this isn't a threat to the whole damn world."
Ardyn smiled faintly. "You should be thanking me. I just saved your timeline from imploding."
"By almost collapsing it," Shikamaru muttered from the shadows.
Lyra stood at Ardyn's side, arms folded, her Omnitrix blinking rapidly. "He didn't cause it. That other version—Obsidian Ardyn—did. He's not the problem. He's the test subject."
Tsunade raised an eyebrow. "You want me to bet the survival of this village on a science experiment?"
Ardyn leaned forward, void-light flickering in his eyes.
"No," he said. "You're going to bet it on me."
Minutes Later – Hokage Tower, War Room
The table was now full.
On one side: Tsunade, Shikamaru, Kakashi, and a silent Hinata, her Byakugan still active.
On the other: Ardyn, Lyra, and two newcomers.
One wore a red cloak with an hourglass insignia.
The other carried a staff that pulsed with shifting stars.
Eon, the Time Walker.
And Uatu, the Watcher.
Everyone stared at them.
Because they weren't from this world.
They weren't from any world.
They came from the Multiversal Core, where timelines were born and judged.
And they were not smiling.
Eon spoke first.
"The balance has been broken. Six timelines have already collapsed. The Void Fracture is spreading. If we do nothing, the Prime Earths will be consumed within weeks."
He looked directly at Ardyn.
"You were never meant to exist."
Ardyn raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, I keep hearing that."
"But now," Uatu added, voice echoing through the minds of everyone present, "you may be the only anomaly capable of opposing the one who broke the laws first: Obsidian Ardyn."
Tsunade folded her hands.
"So, let me get this straight," she said. "There's a multiversal war coming, and our only line of defense is a guy with no memory, a busted weapon, and a god complex?"
Lyra muttered, "Well, when you put it that way…"
Eon placed a small crystal sphere on the table.
It projected a map—not of Earth, but of the Multiverse Nexus. Dozens of dots blinked—most red. Collapsing. Imploding. Dead.
Only seven blinked green.
"Seven safe Earths remain," Eon said. "We're forming a coalition. Pulling heroes, anomalies, and catalysts from every surviving timeline."
He turned to Ardyn.
"And you've been chosen as the Void Anchor."
"Void Anchor?" Kakashi asked.
Lyra explained, "He's the only entity with a stable enough link to the Central Void that can't be overwritten by paradox. That means if reality is collapsing… he survives it. And maybe—stops it."
Tsunade rubbed her temples.
"This is above my paygrade."
Later That Night – Hokage Tower Rooftop
Ardyn stood at the edge, looking up at the moon. It was whole again. But the scar in the sky—the faint void fissure Obsidian left—still shimmered above the horizon like a bruise on the stars.
Lyra joined him.
"You did good," she said.
He exhaled. "I lost."
"You survived."
He turned to her. "Why didn't you tell them about what we saw? About the other versions of Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura?"
She looked away. "Because that wasn't their story. That world's gone. This one's still breathing."
He nodded.
"I'm going to fight him again."
"I know."
"And this time," Ardyn said, "I'll kill him."
Back in the War Room
Eon reviewed files on the other multiversal recruits.
• A Ben Tennyson from Timeline 12-B, wielding an unstable fusion of the Omnitrix and Chronosapien tech.
• A Sasuke from a world where Itachi never died… but he joined him in a rebellion.
• A version of Gwen Tennyson bonded with the Anodite Queen's power.
And one more anomaly…
Subject: Rejected Prince
Status: Locked
Designation: VOIDBRINGER
Eon frowned.
"We'll need him soon," he whispered.
Even Uatu flinched.
"Let's hope it doesn't come to that."
Elsewhere – Outside the Multiverse
Obsidian Ardyn stood on a platform of shattered Earths, staring into the void.
Next to him: a chained being, skin stitched with timelines, face hidden by a cracked mask.
"You feel that?" Obsidian murmured. "He's changing."
The prisoner didn't speak.
Obsidian smiled.
"Good. Let him grow."
He turned away.
"We'll break him eventually. All princes die. Only kings remain."
[CHAPTER END | NEXT: The Recruitment Arc Begins – Enter Ben Tennyson: Broken Hero of Timeline 12-B]