The chamber trembled from the sheer force of the battle. Ribbons of chakra laced with raw narrative energy cut through the void. Rasengans collided with edit-blades, chakra-infused kunai clashed against concepts themselves. This wasn't a shinobi war—it was a war over reality.
Naruto stood at the center, breath heavy, bruises forming over newly healed wounds, his eyes blazing like suns. Across from him, the Council of Canon circled like vultures—editors draped in cloaks woven from timelines, quills in one hand, swords of negation in the other.
Kai ducked under a formatting slash and swept the leg of the Silver Editor. "We're surrounded!" she shouted over the roar of collapsing universes.
"Doesn't matter!" Naruto said, forming a dozen Shadow Clones. Each one charged with more than chakra—fragments of stories he'd lived and rejected. "We write the ending!"
The Red Author stood still, the only one among the Council who had not yet drawn his pen-sword. His gaze followed Naruto with increasing fascination.
"None of this is supposed to be happening," he said quietly. "You were meant to fall back into alignment. Into compliance."
"Then maybe your system's broken," Naruto snapped, slamming two Rasengans into the Gold Editor's defensive script.
"You don't understand what's at stake," the Red Author replied. "This world… the shinobi world… isn't real. It's a beta version. A prototype universe built from archetypes and serialized evolution. You were never meant to be more than a test."
The floor beneath them cracked.
From below, a massive, glowing seal began to rise—an ancient marker made of binary, kanji, and DNA strands.
Kai froze. "That seal… that's not chakra-based."
"It's the original build," Sakura said grimly. "I read about it in one of Orochimaru's recovered tablets. Something older than ninjutsu. Older than Sage chakra."
Sasuke narrowed his eyes. "It's code."
The Red Author smiled faintly. "We called it the Forbidden Beta. The draft world that became yours. You weren't born—you were rendered. Your history? Compiled. Your bonds? Constructed to stimulate reader investment."
Naruto's fists tightened. "Then why do I feel every damn one of them?"
"Because you're not just the character anymore. You've started to glitch."
Lightning raced down the obsidian table. One of Naruto's clones screamed as it disintegrated—not from damage, but from deletion.
"No—!" he yelled.
The Green Editor raised their quill. "You've overstayed your arc."
Sakura surged forward. "Don't touch him!" Her fist, charged with chakra and anger, collided with the Green Editor, who spiraled into a collapsing plotline. It turned to petals—unwritten scenes never meant to be.
Behind them, Sasuke's Rinnegan flared.
"I'll suppress the seal. Buy you time."
Naruto looked around—at the war of editors, at the battlefield of rejected timelines, at the friends standing beside him despite every reboot. He knew the truth now: his world wasn't perfect. Maybe it wasn't even real.
But it was his.
"Then let's finish this," he growled, pointing at the Red Author. "You said I wasn't meant to be more than a test. Then test this."
He vanished in a flash of yellow—his old speed returning.
A Rasengan clashed with the Red Author's staff. The impact split the chamber in half. Timelines shattered. Text scrolled backward. The echo of every filler episode screamed in horror.
Then a bell rang.
And time froze.
A new presence entered the chamber.
They weren't part of the Editors. They weren't shinobi.
They wore a black hoodie and silver mask, the number 000 on their chest. One hand held a glitching laptop. The other held a single glowing scroll.
"Stop everything," they said, voice cold and mechanical. "I am the First Programmer. This iteration has gone too far."
Even the Council backed away.
The Red Author's expression turned grim. "Why are you here?"
"The Recode is active. The Beta is collapsing. And the Final Patch…" He lifted the scroll. "...must now be deployed."
Naruto stared at him. "Another editor?"
"No," the figure replied. "The one who edits the editors."
He dropped the scroll. It unrolled in midair, revealing names—hundreds of them. Characters long erased. Arcs lost to time. Alternate futures never written. But one name burned brightest.
Naruto Uzumaki.
Below it, written in red: TO BE ERASED.
Naruto stepped forward. "Not happening."
The First Programmer raised a hand. "Then prepare to be overwritten."
The sky split open.
A shadow descended.
A being made of corrupted chakra, jagged code, and editor symbols. It landed with a roar that echoed through every known version of reality.
Naruto barely whispered the name that formed in his mind:
"Omega Rewrite."
It surged toward them.
And just before impact—Sasuke, Sakura, and Kai leapt into the air beside Naruto.
Together.
"Time to end this beta," Naruto said.
They charged as one.
The final arc had begun.