04:45 a.m. Training Ground Seven lay drowned in grey-blue mist. Jack arrived on time to find Naruto dozing on the steps, clutching takoyaki, while Sasuke warmed up, lightning crackling between fingers. Kakashi leaned against a cedar, reading the newest Make-Out Paradise, dead-fish eye half-lidded."Clock-in." Kakashi flicked a metallic disc; Jack caught it—ice-cold, a chakra-sensitive timer reading "24:00:00" and already ticking."Rule recap," Kakashi drawled. "Stage One: tree-climbing. No tools. Ten breaths to the top; fall means fail. Stage Two: water-surface sprint. One hundred metres round-trip; wet shoe disqualifies. Stage Three: projectile dodge. Sasuke casts One-Thousand-Bird volley. One hit—out. Pass all, receive provisional genin tag and village access. Fail—deportation… or worse, ANBU.""Worse?" Jack arched an eyebrow.Kakashi's smile was vulpine: "ANBU has twenty-four memory-extraction methods. The gentlest is genjutsu confession—you'll spill secrets in a dream."System pane inserted: 「Main Quest ②: Pass Konoha Basic Survival Test
Rewards:
① Chakra Extraction (Full)
② Rift Affinity +10%
Failure: Partial memory wipe + forced repatriation」Jack gripped the timer; the golden thread split into three tendrils, wrapped the device's back, and flashed—display now read "30:00:00" — six extra hours.System: 「Rift Affinity·Passive: local parameters tampered, error margin increased.」"Timer broken?" Kakashi narrowed his eye.Jack shrugged, tossed it back. "Maybe battery leak."Sasuke snorted and strode to the woods. "Tree-climbing first. Watch." Hands in pockets, he chakra-burst up the trunk, reaching a twenty-metre branch within ten breaths, Sharingin glaring down."Simple physics," Jack muttered. Theory clear: chakra = adhesion + anti-gravity. Body lacked muscle memory."Your turn." Kakashi waved, eyes still on his book.Jack closed his eyes—heat surged as the filament sketched sole-chakra maps. He stepped; bark sucked like warm gum. Breath eight, he stood beside Sasuke, no sweat.Sasuke frowned: "Your foot-chakra control… not beginner-level.""Good balance, I guess." Jack lied, knowing the filament had driven.Stage Two: water-sprint.The lake mirrored sky and mist. Naruto gave a thumbs-up: "Fall in and I'll clone-save you!""Thanks, but I'd rather stay dry."Flags marked start and turn-around. Sasuke skimmed the surface, twenty-seven seconds, shoes dry.Jack inhaled; tendrils ran calf-to-sole, film forming pale-gold. He ran—elastic plops, shoes dry, thirty-one seconds. Timer green.Kakashi finally looked up: "Extraordinary. Sure today's your first chakra extraction?""Yoga background." Jack deflected, while the spiral brand on his collarbone stored surface data.Stage Three: One-Thousand-Bird volley.Stone courtyard, wooden targets perimeter. Sasuke at hundred metres, left hand blazing."Rule: one hundred lightning arrows, ninety seconds. One hit—fail." Kakashi raised a barrier dome."Begin."Arrows webbed the air. The filament painted AR trajectories; Jack side-stepped, slid, bent at inhuman angles, clothes singed but intact.At sixty seconds an arrow split into scatter-curve—blind spot! The filament yanked him left; sleeve scorched, skin burning.System alert: 「Tolerance 62%, recommend evac.」"Evac equals fail!" He relaxed, let the filament puppet him through back-flip after back-flip, golden after-images chaining.Ninety seconds. Lightning ceased. Barrier fell. Jack knelt, left shoulder smoking, no blood—micro-mesh under skin had shunted current.Timer pinged: 00:89:57 Green pass.Naruto tackle-hugged him: "Insane—but you made it!"Sasuke stared at his own sparkless hand. "Your trajectory… beyond human reflex."Kakashi closed his book, tossed a bronze tag: "Provisional genin badge." Front bore leaf symbol; back carried a pale-gold spiral—filament's private stamp on the mold."From today you're eligible for D-rank missions, library and armory access." His voice lowered: "Remember, ANBU watches. Don't give them reasons."Jack closed his fist; the filament crawled onto the badge, merging with the spiral, then vanished.He looked at the pre-dawn sky, mist an unwritten page.
—Passing was only the beginning; the filament grew, the rift waited.
And the next quest had already silently refreshed.