Chapter 1 — The Summoning
The world Naruto Uzumaki had known was already gone. There was no village waiting for him. No familiar voices. No old teammates.
No Hokage Tower. No war. No enemies. No one.
For the first time in his life, Naruto stood completely alone. He stood upon a vast stone platform floating in a darkness that had no sky, no earth, and seemingly no end. Above him hung thousands of tiny lights. At first they looked like stars.
Then Naruto realized they were not stars. They were worlds. Each light represented a different possibility—a different history, a different universe, a different fate. Naruto stared upward.
“So this is what lies beyond the world?” Kurama’s voice echoed inside him. Not exactly. Naruto smiled faintly. “You always have to make everything complicated.” You’re the one standing outside reality.
Naruto chuckled. After everything he had experienced, that statement somehow didn’t surprise him anymore. He had reached a point where ordinary measures of power had stopped making sense. His chakra had evolved beyond anything a normal shinobi could comprehend.
The power of the Sage of Six Paths flowed naturally through him. Kurama’s chakra was completely synchronized with his own. His Sage Mode had evolved. His perception stretched across dimensions.
Even the boundaries between space, time, and chakra had become things he could perceive. Yet something was missing. Naruto looked at the enormous circle engraved into the stone floor. It was neither a shinobi seal nor ordinary magecraft.
It was something he had created himself. He had spent years studying the strange remnants of a power system that had somehow reached his world. Magecraft. Mystic Codes.
Servants. Noble Phantasms. The Throne of Heroes. And the Holy Grail.
Naruto had initially believed those concepts were merely another form of energy. He had been wrong. The more he studied them, the more he realized that the Fate system operated on an entirely different principle. Heroes weren’t simply summoned.
They were recorded. Legends became concepts. Concepts became existence. And existence could be called into the present.
Naruto placed his hand against the center of the ritual. “I wonder if this will actually work.” Kurama laughed. You’ve survived things that should have killed you a thousand times. What’s one more experiment?
“That’s supposed to make me feel better?” No. Naruto sighed. Then he activated the ritual. Chakra flooded through the circle.
But it wasn’t ordinary chakra. Six Paths chakra. Natural energy. Kurama’s power.
The strange energy Naruto had learned to draw from the space between dimensions. And something else. Something he had discovered only recently. A power that behaved almost like a Noble Phantasm.
The circle illuminated. The darkness shook. Thousands of worlds seemed to turn toward Naruto simultaneously. Naruto’s eyes widened.
“Whoa.” The ritual suddenly exploded with light. A voice echoed through the void. “Answer me.” Naruto’s expression became serious. “I am Naruto Uzumaki.” The circle began spinning.
“State your desire.” Naruto looked upward. “I don’t want a weapon.” The light intensified. “I don’t want someone who simply follows orders.” The platform trembled. “I want someone who can stand beside me.” The ritual erupted.
“And if they’re going to fight alongside me...” Naruto smiled. “...they better be someone amazing.” The light swallowed everything. For several seconds, there was absolute silence. Then— Footsteps.
Naruto looked forward. A woman emerged from the fading light. She wore silver armor over a blue dress. A blue cloak rested upon her shoulders.
Her golden hair was tied neatly behind her head. She carried herself with an unmistakable dignity. The woman stopped several meters away. Her green eyes immediately focused on Naruto.
“Are you my Master?” Naruto blinked. Then smiled. “Yeah.” The woman studied him. “You summoned me?” “Apparently.” “Then state your name.” “Naruto Uzumaki.” Her expression remained calm.
“Very well.” She placed a hand over her chest. “I am Artoria Pendragon.” Naruto’s smile widened. “The King of Knights.” Artoria’s eyes narrowed slightly. “You know of me?” “Not personally.” Naruto glanced at the ritual.
“But I’ve read about you.” “Then you understand what you have summoned.” “Pretty much.” Artoria looked around. “This is not the Fuyuki ritual.” “No.” “Nor does it resemble any Holy Grail system I have encountered.” “That’s because I built it.” Artoria paused. “You... built this?” Naruto nodded.
“Kind of.” Her expression became more suspicious. “Who are you?” Naruto’s smile became slightly awkward. “That’s a long story.” Artoria studied him. Then she noticed his eyes.
They were different. Not human. Not entirely. There was a strange pattern inside them, an almost otherworldly combination of power and calm.
She could feel his magical energy. Except it wasn’t magical energy. It was something much greater. Artoria’s instincts warned her immediately.
This man was dangerous. Not malicious. Not threatening. But dangerous.
Naruto noticed her staring. “What?” “You are not an ordinary Master.” “Never claimed to be.” “Your energy...” Artoria paused. “How much do you possess?” Naruto thought about it. “I don’t really know.” That answer somehow concerned her more.
Artoria took a step closer. “Your command seals?” Naruto raised his right hand. Three glowing marks appeared. Artoria stared.
Then her expression changed. Those were not normal Command Spells. They were far more complex. Naruto looked at them.
“I modified them.” “You modified Command Spells?” “Yeah.” Artoria stared at him for several seconds. Then she sighed. “I suspect this will be a very unusual war.” Naruto laughed. “Probably.” Suddenly, the entire platform shook.
The presence of Naruto, Artoria, Kurama, Throne made the situation more than a simple contest of strength. Each carried history into the moment, and that history shaped what could happen next. The past could inform their choices, but it did not have to dictate them.
Artoria immediately summoned her invisible blade. Naruto’s expression became serious. “What was that?” A crack appeared in the darkness. Something was looking through it.
Artoria moved beside Naruto. “Master.” “I see it.” The crack widened. A voice emerged from beyond it. “The summoning has succeeded.” Naruto’s eyes narrowed.
“Who’s there?” The voice laughed. “The King has returned.” Artoria raised her sword. Naruto’s chakra surged. For the first time since the ritual began, the two stood together.
The king of knights. And the shinobi who had surpassed the limits of his own world. Neither knew it yet. But their summoning had not started a Holy Grail War.
It had started something far greater.
