Scene: The Nexus of Continuity – A Floating Battlefield of Broken Timelines
Reality stretches and bends around them.
Each swing of Ryunosuke's Pen-Sword of Absolute Continuity reshapes the battlefield:
Mountains morph into Hokage statues.
The sky flickers between the Fourth War and the Chūnin Exams.
The ground swaps between the Valley of the End and Konoha's destruction.
Ben levitates across from him, cloaked in shimmering Void energy, Narrative Core gripped in one hand, Meta-Quill in the other.
Ryunosuke: "You wield chaos. I wield clarity."
Ben: "No, you wield conformity—a fantasy so clean it erases everyone else's journey."
Round One – Clash of Concepts
Ryunosuke slashes:
"Rewrite: Ideal Childhood!"
Suddenly, Naruto's entire childhood flickers into a warm, loving home. No loneliness. No scorn. No ramen nights.
Ben counters:
"Restore: Canon Pain."
Tears return to the boy's eyes. He's in the park again—alone, hungry, stared at by villagers.
Ben whispers:
"Without the pain… the smile meant nothing."
Round Two – Fanservice vs. Authenticity
Ryunosuke swings again:
"Rewrite: Perfect Power Progression!"
He gains Rinnegan, Sage of Six Paths cloak, and all five chakra natures by age twelve.
Ben calls out:
"But where's the journey?!"
He hurls a Fanon Collapse Wave—a spell that breaks any power-up lacking narrative justification. Ryunosuke staggers, his cloak flickering.
Ben presses:
"A story isn't about how strong you are.
It's about what it costs you to become strong."
Round Three – Love Rewrite
Ryunosuke activates a Shipping Matrix:
Married to Hinata.
Best friends with Sakura.
Tsunade calls him grandson.
Kakashi gives him the Hokage title.
Minato and Kushina… alive.
Ben breathes deeply.
"You're everything fans think they want.
But if everyone loves you… who are you without love?"
He raises the Meta-Quill.
"Rewrite: Isolation Arc."
The Shipping Matrix shatters. Ryunosuke falls to his knees, for the first time… unloved.
Ryunosuke Cracks – But Doesn't Fall
He looks up, tears in his eyes.
"They wanted me…
They created me…"
Ben nods, stepping closer.
"Yes. But they didn't create you to replace Naruto.
They created you because they were hurting."
Ben kneels.
"Even perfect stories have pain.
Even fanfics need truth."
Final Phase – The Reader's Choice
Suddenly, the battlefield freezes.
A massive audience of shadows appears around them—the Readers.
Thousands, millions—every reader who ever imagined a better story.
They're watching. Judging.
A Voice echoes:
"Only one story can continue.
Let the audience decide.
Void Prince…
or Fan-Perfect Savior?"
Cliffhanger – Ryunosuke's Final Gambit
Ryunosuke stands up, eyes glowing again—not from desire to win, but from fear.
"I don't want to disappear."
Ben offers his hand.
"Then don't.
But stop trying to be the only voice."
Ryunosuke reaches…
But a new crack splits open behind him.
A figure steps through, cloaked in authorial chains and rejection scars.
"You're both wrong," it rasps.
"Only the original script deserves to survive."
The Author Wraith—a monstrous being formed from discarded canon purists—enters the fight.
[CHAPTER END | NEXT: Chapter 59 – The Author Wraith: Erase All Rewrites]