The night in Konoha felt like stretched film stock, streetlamps warm-yellow grains of noise. Jack let Naruto haul him past two blocks until Ichiraku's noren flap beckoned, lantern characters reading "Under-Heaven Grade-One," strokes oddly gentle."Teuchi-ojisan, extra-large miso chāshū, double bamboo shoots!" Naruto bounced onto a stool, grinning back at Jack. "Sit next to me, you're the guest."The curtain fell, muffling the distant sirens into a dull drum. Jack's shoulders loosened, only then realizing his palms were slick. He sneaked a glance—the gold filament had crept to his elbow, fluorescing under neon like liquid amber, beating in time with his heart."First time?" Teuchi asked through the steam. His bamboo strainer carved a perfect arc; noodles bobbed like white comets."Yeah." Jack answered in Japanese while the System murmured: 「Emotion-buffer mode: reducing host adrenaline.」He exhaled, tasting the air—miso, pork-bone, seaweed, and something only shinobi tongues could parse: chakra spice. Minute blue grains dusted the soup's surface.A bowl slid before him, broth pale-gold, two soft-boiled eggs whose yolks were—impossibly—spiralled. Reminded him of Naruto's signature jutsu.Jack lifted chopsticks. Heat fogged his glasses. This was his first real meal since traversal. Taste-buds rebooted: pork-depth first, then miso-granules tap-dancing, finishing with a ghost-sweet note—popcorn? Exactly the buttered sugar he'd scattered in the forest."Good enough to cry?" Naruto teased, scallion on his lip."Almost." Jack eyed the broth. Why popcorn? Coincidence, or had the rift brewed reality's molecules into the soup?The surface trembled; golden ripples expanded from center like invisible chopsticks stirred. A System pane only he could see popped: 「Taste-sync detected: popcorn molecules → rift residue → dissolved → non-toxic」"Non-toxic? You call this non-toxic?" he yelled inwardly. The System ignored him.Across the counter Naruto was on his third bowl, elbowing him. "So, foreigner, how'd you do that daytime trick—poof, rift gone?"Jack chuckled. Can't exactly say "I have a golden thread that eats space-time." Instead he offered, "Resonance, I guess. Find the rift's frequency, jam it with chakra.""Whoa, science!" Naruto's eyes sparkled. "You gotta teach the sealing corps, they still use scrolls and talismans, so old-school."Hearing "science" from a ninja should feel wrong, yet it fit this System-retconned world. Jack caught the implication: if Konoha bought the "scientific resonance" theory he could study the rifts openly, maybe back-trace the filament.Plan half-formed, the curtain rustled again. Sasuke entered, one hand in pocket, gaze flicking to Jack's elbow—sleeve covered, but the filament had reached biceps height."Kakashi wants you at Training Ground 7, 0500," he said coolly. "Pass basic survival or your 'temporary' status expires.""Five A.M.?" Jack arched an eyebrow. "Nightlife?""Shinobi don't do nightlife," Sasuke shot back, "especially suspicious foreigners."Naruto stuck his tongue out at the retreating back. "Ignore the stick-in-the-mud. I'll tag along tomorrow, or Sasuke'll murder you."Jack shrugged, slurped the last of the broth. The spiral yolk had congealed into a tiny galaxy. He tapped it with a spoon—
click.
The egg split, excreting a microscopic blue polyhedral crystal. System blazed: 「Acquired: Dimension Shard (micro) ×1
Uses: ① strengthen Rift Affinity ② exchange for 100 DP
Warning: Do not let native NPCs witness.」Teuchi was washing dishes; Naruto slurped. No one saw. Jack thumb-pressed the shard; blue light shot along the filament to his heart. For 0.3 second he visioned a dark void laced with golden veins, himself floating center, strings attached.Frame gone.
He re-focused; outside night had deepened, yet streetlamps burned gold—chakra-conductive lights newly installed, but brighter than spec."Let's crash," Naruto yawned, patting his stomach. "I'll escort you to ground seven."Jack nodded. As he rose, far away came the faintest "click"—the same elevator gibberish from Chapter One.
Sky was clear, no rifts.
But the filament had curled to his collarbone, branding a pale-gold spiral beneath cloth—mirror image of the galaxy egg at the bowl's bottom.