The air around Naruto felt heavier as he stepped through the swirling portal into the Void of Time. The ground beneath him was unstable, not quite solid, not quite liquid, shifting in a way that made his footing feel off balance. It was disorienting, like walking through a dream where nothing was quite real.
Naruto glanced behind him just as the portal closed, sealing off his connection to the familiar world. His heart pounded in his chest, a mix of excitement and nervousness filling him as he turned back to face the vast, chaotic expanse before him.
Anon stood beside him, his posture calm and composed, his dark eyes scanning the horizon with a practiced indifference. Anon, the master of the void, had already made this realm his own, but for Naruto, it was an entirely new experience.
The Void of Time wasn't like anything Naruto had ever seen. It was a place where the laws of reality seemed to bend and shift at will. Dark, swirling clouds loomed overhead, casting shadows that rippled across the ground. Floating islands, broken fragments of existence, drifted aimlessly through the sky. Time here was fragmented, and space was a fluid concept—both of which made it impossible to tell how long they had been there or how far they had traveled.
Naruto swallowed hard, trying to calm his racing thoughts. "So… this is the Void of Time?" he asked, his voice quieter than usual. There was an unsettling weight to the air, as if even speaking too loudly could disrupt the delicate balance of this place.
Anon nodded, his gaze still fixed ahead. "Yes. The Void doesn't follow the same rules as the realm you're used to. Time here is… chaotic, unpredictable. It can move too fast or too slow, or sometimes it doesn't move at all." He turned to look at Naruto, his expression serious. "If you're not careful, you could lose yourself in this place."
Naruto's eyes widened slightly, his usual confidence wavering for a moment. He had faced countless enemies, fought in the most dangerous battles, but this was different. This wasn't something he could punch or blast with a Rasengan. The Void was something more abstract, something that required a different kind of strength.
"Alright then," Naruto said, trying to steady his voice, his fists clenched at his sides. "What do we do first? How do we even start training in a place like this?"
Anon gave a small, almost imperceptible smile. "The Void isn't about strength. At least, not the kind you're used to. Here, you need to forget everything you've learned about chakra. The Void has its own energy, and it's not something you can just grab hold of. It flows… differently."
He gestured toward a distant island, floating in the horizon, its edges crumbling into nothingness before reforming seconds later. "Our training begins there. First, you'll learn to sense the Void, then control it."
Naruto followed Anon's gaze, squinting at the island in the distance. The place felt so far removed from anything he understood. He had trained under so many masters—Kakashi, Jiraiya—but none of that prepared him for what lay ahead. His hands tightened into fists as his resolve kicked in. He wasn't going to let the unknown shake him. Not now.
"Sense it? Control it?" Naruto echoed, cracking his knuckles and forcing a grin. "Alright, sounds like a challenge! Let's get started!"
Anon's expression remained calm, though Naruto could see the faintest glimmer of approval in his eyes. "Follow me."
With a single motion, Anon stepped forward and vanished, his body disappearing into the swirling void. Naruto blinked in surprise, then quickly realized that Anon had shifted through space, moving without the constraints of time. A grin spread across his face. "Guess I better learn to do that too."
Taking a deep breath, Naruto focused on his chakra, the familiar warmth of his energy flowing through his body. But as he tried to push forward, the usual sensation of movement felt wrong—like he was pushing against an invisible barrier. The Void resisted him, twisting his energy in ways that made it hard to focus.
"C'mon, Naruto, you've got this," he muttered to himself, clenching his fists tighter. He could feel the Nine-Tails stir within him, but even that energy felt distant in this place. He couldn't rely on the power of the beast alone.
He tried again, this time focusing on the strange energy of the Void itself—the swirling, chaotic power that seemed to pulse around him. Slowly, he reached out with his senses, trying to grasp the flow of the realm. It wasn't like chakra. It was darker, wilder, like trying to hold onto smoke.
"Focus," Anon's voice echoed through the space, though Naruto couldn't see him. "Feel the Void around you. Don't try to control it like chakra—let it guide you."
Naruto gritted his teeth. "Let it guide me…?" he repeated, furrowing his brow in concentration. He let go of his usual method of control, allowing himself to fall into the flow of the Void. At first, it felt like he was falling, like he had no control at all, but then, slowly, he began to feel the energy wrap around him, not pushing him back, but pulling him forward.
His body flickered, and before he realized it, he was standing on the same island as Anon. He had shifted through the Void, just as Anon had.
Naruto let out a surprised laugh, his eyes wide with excitement. "Whoa! I did it!"
Anon's face remained stoic, though there was a glint of approval in his gaze. "Not bad. But that was just the beginning. Moving through the Void is one thing—controlling it is another."
Naruto's grin faded slightly as he realized how much more there was to learn. But that only fueled his determination. "Alright then," he said, standing taller. "What's next?"
Anon stepped closer, his voice steady. "Now, we move onto the Void energy itself. You'll need to infuse it into your chakra, but not in the way you're used to. Void energy is volatile—it doesn't follow the same rules as chakra. You'll have to balance it, control its chaos, or it'll consume you."
Naruto's eyes narrowed, his mind already racing. "Balance chaos, huh? Sounds like a challenge."
Anon smirked slightly, turning away and gesturing to the swirling energy around them. "Let's see if you can handle it."
The training began in earnest from that point on. Hours turned into days, days blurred into weeks, and weeks became months. Naruto trained under Anon's watchful eye, learning to harness the chaotic energy of the Void. His usual techniques—Rasengan, Shadow Clones, and even the Nine-Tails' power—had to be adapted to work within the chaotic flow of the Void.
He struggled at first, his usual brute force approach failing him in this strange, unyielding realm. But over time, he began to understand the nature of the Void. It wasn't about overpowering the energy—it was about guiding it, letting it move with him. He learned to fuse his Rasengan with Void energy, creating devastating new techniques that tore through space itself.
But the Void wasn't just a place of power. It was a place of isolation, of reflection. Naruto found himself facing more than just the chaotic energy—he faced the parts of himself he had long kept hidden. The loneliness, the pain of losing people he loved, the weight of being a jinchuriki. Here, in the Void, there was no hiding from those feelings.
Anon knew this, but he never offered words of comfort. He simply pushed Naruto harder, knowing that mastering the Void required more than just physical strength—it required Naruto to face his own inner chaos and find balance.
And so, Naruto grew. Stronger. Wiser. But the cost of that growth wasn't something he had expected.
As the years passed in the Void, Naruto's connection to the outside world felt distant. He missed his friends—Sasuke, Sakura, Ryusei—but he knew that when the time came to return, he would be ready.
He had to be.
Three years in the Void of Time had changed Naruto in ways he couldn't have imagined. He had become one with the chaos, learning to bend it to his will. But the true test was still ahead.
And soon, it would be time to face it.