Naruto didn't think.
He moved.
The fake Sasuke's palm slammed into the ground where Naruto had stood a breath before, sending cracks spiderwebbing through the ruined street. Energy pulsed through the stone like a living thing, rippling outward in a shockwave that Naruto barely vaulted over.
Pain exploded in his side as one of the other figures clipped him midair. Naruto tumbled, rolled, scrambled back to his feet.
The world blurred with speed and violence.
A kunai zipped toward his throat — he ducked instinctively. Another came for his ribs — he twisted, felt it tear his sleeve. His heart hammered so loud he could barely hear himself think.
No chakra.
No techniques.
Nothing except raw instinct and the System whispering coldly in his mind.
[Emergency Skill Adaptation Triggered.]
[Skill Fragment Detected: Momentum Break.]
[Absorb? Y/N]
"Yes!" Naruto gasped.
The world seemed to slow for a fraction of a second.
A strange sensation flooded his limbs — a new kind of balance. When the next enemy lunged, Naruto ducked low, twisted, and used the attacker's momentum against them, flipping them over his shoulder in a blur of motion.
The figure crashed into a rusted-out lamp post with a heavy thud.
Naruto didn't wait to admire his work. He turned and sprinted down a side alley, heart hammering against his ribs.
Footsteps pounded behind him. Fast. Coordinated.
These weren't random thugs. They were hunters.
And they were hunting him.
He tore through the alleys, lungs burning. Every glance revealed more of the nightmare the Leaf had become — twisted, lifeless, enforced by an iron will he couldn't yet understand.
Sasuke's voice floated after him, calm and inevitable.
"You can't run from what you are, Naruto."
Naruto gritted his teeth.
He didn't know what the hell this version of Sasuke was talking about, but he sure as hell wasn't going to stick around and find out the hard way.
The ruined streets ended in a chasm where the village center had collapsed into a massive sinkhole. The broken Hokage Monument loomed in the distance, faces cracked and weeping black tar down into the pit.
Cornered.
Naruto spun around, fists clenched, breath coming in ragged gasps.
The three figures closed in.
The corrupted Sasuke moved with casual confidence, violet eyes glinting with sick amusement.
"You don't even realize it yet, do you?" Sasuke said, stepping forward. "You're the last mistake the old world made. The Null Code. The Glitch."
Naruto's fists tightened until his knuckles turned white.
"I don't care what you call me," he snarled. "I'm still Naruto Uzumaki. Believe it!"
The corrupted Sasuke smiled thinly.
"Good," he murmured. "Then die with your illusions intact."
They attacked at once.
Naruto's body reacted before his mind caught up. He triggered Phantom Shift again, flickering into a false form at the last second — confusing the first attacker into striking empty air.
The second figure wasn't fooled.
Naruto ducked under a sweeping kick, planted his foot, and countered with a clumsy punch. It barely connected, but it was enough to stagger the attacker for a heartbeat.
[Skill Opportunity Detected: Enemy Technique - Crushing Palm.]
[Absorb Fragment?]
"YES!" Naruto screamed in his head.
Another pulse of power ripped through his veins. His muscles screamed in protest, his joints burned, but he forced his body to move.
He wasn't strong enough to win.
But maybe — just maybe — he was slippery enough to survive.
He weaved between the attacks, taking glancing blows when he had no choice. Every second he stayed alive, the System whispered new data into his mind — technique fragments, tactical patterns, enemy weaknesses.
Learning.
Adapting.
The third figure lunged — a blur of steel and darkness.
Naruto saw the opening — saw it in a flash of pure, desperate instinct — and slammed his palm into the figure's chest with all his strength.
A shockwave burst outward.
The figure crumpled backward, rolling across the cracked stone.
Crushing Palm, Level 1.
Not pretty. Not perfect. But it worked.
Naruto stumbled, gasping for breath, sweat burning his eyes.
Sasuke's corrupted double simply watched, almost bored.
"You won't last long like this," Sasuke said softly.
Naruto wiped blood from his lip and smirked.
"Funny," he said, voice hoarse but steady. "People have been telling me that my whole life."
Sasuke's eyes narrowed.
For the first time, a flicker of genuine annoyance crossed his face.
Good.
Naruto wasn't strong enough to win. But he could piss him off. And pissed-off enemies made mistakes.
Sasuke raised a hand.
Dark energy coalesced around his palm — something dense and sickly, a spiraling mass of broken chakra signatures and code fractures.
Naruto didn't know what it was.
He knew he couldn't take it head-on.
He looked back at the chasm behind him.
A stupid idea formed in his mind.
The best kind of idea.
He turned and sprinted straight for the edge.
Sasuke shouted something, but Naruto didn't hear it. He flung himself into the open air, the ruined village falling away beneath him.
For a moment, there was only freefall.
Only silence.
Then the System blared in his mind.
[Emergency Option Available: Data Glitch Maneuver.]
[Risk Level: Critical.]
[Trigger? Y/N]
Naruto didn't hesitate.
"YES!"
Reality twisted.
For a fraction of a second, he wasn't falling — he was somewhere else. A blurred corridor of light and shattered memories. He saw flashes — Sakura's smile, Kakashi's silent approval, Jiraiya's laughing grin — and then it was gone.
He crashed onto a jagged outcropping halfway down the chasm, rolling painfully but alive.
Above, Sasuke's corrupted figure peered down into the abyss, his violet rinnegan eyes unreadable.
Naruto didn't wait for him to decide whether to pursue.
He scrambled into the tunnels that branched out from the chasm's side, disappearing into the darkness.
Breathing hard. Bleeding. Alive.
Barely.
[New Quest Unlocked: Find Shelter. Regroup. Acquire Resources.]
[Failure Condition: Death.]
Naruto wiped the blood from his mouth and grinned despite himself.
Broken world. Broken body. Broken future.
Fine.
He'd just have to break everything back.
One step at a time.
(To be continued…)