Early the next morning, at the Mission Assignment Hall Jack pinned his new "provisional genin" protector to his waist instead of his forehead—the metal felt cosplay-level awkward, and he disliked the chill against skin.Naruto slung an arm around him. "D-rank is basically babysitting, moving and cat-finding. Don't expect epic battles!"
"I've got enough battles," Jack muttered. "What I need are Dimension Points."System pane:
「Current DP: 120
Recommended: ① Chakra Volume Up (100 DP) ② Rift Sense Lv.1 (80 DP)」"Save." He answered inwardly. Rift Sense sounded tasty, but he wanted to see how the golden thread reacted to sealing scrolls—last night the spiral brand had shown him a dream-vision of a "blank scroll".I Briefing: Escort the Sealing SquadChūnin squad leader Tekuno pushed forward a long box: "Rank D, but special. Three apprentices need to copy an old barrier at a derelict shrine south of the village. Your team hauls gear and keeps wild animals off. On return the box must stay horizontal, tilt <15°.""What's inside?" Jack asked.
"Old sealing scroll, code 'Null-07'," Tekuno lowered his voice. "Don't ask contents, don't break wax."The filament vibrated, as if scanning frequency.Team layout:Uzumaki Naruto (vanguard)Uchiha Sasuke (rearguard)Jack (hauler & recorder)3 researchers (non-combat)Fog thicker than yesterday cloaked the gate. Kakashi leaned on the parapet, eyes on the long box: "Don't play hero. Fire signal if anything stinks."
"Copy." Jack nodded—yet the collar mark warmed, responding to the word "anything".II Abandoned Shrine: Barrier RemnantsThe torii half-collapsed; stone steps etched with black runes like dried blood. Researchers began rubbings; Naruto kicked pebbles; Sasuke dozed against a tree; Jack logged coordinates.Suddenly the box clicked—same frequency as the forest rift.
System flashed:
「Rift energy leak (micro) detected
Advice: retreat >30 m」"Retreat and I fail." He gritted teeth, set the box down, let the filament probe the lock.The squad leader turned: "Keep recording!"
Next second wax peeled itself; the scroll auto-unfurled. Paper was blank but projected a 3-D grid—a golden rift tore open two metres high, edge crackling.Researchers blown back; Naruto's clones shielded them; Sasuke flickered to Jack's flank: "You opened it?"
"It opened itself!"
"Seal failure?"
"No—activation!"III Rift Gate: Unknown SummonsInside the darkness, chain-dragging echoed. A "specter-beast" squeezed out—faceless, body stitched from moving golden cracks, a mirror-wolf.System alert:
「Target: Rift Derivative Beast (peak D)
Traits: 50% physical null, 100% energy absorption
Weakness: unknown」"Physical half-null? Like punching smoke!" Sasuke's Chidori found no target.Jack noticed: each time the beast moved its cracks synced with shrine runes, a two-way resonance."Break the sync!" he shouted, jamming the long box upright like a lever into the ground fracture. "Naruto, wind to disrupt rune lines! Sasuke, lightning the box—I'll overload it!""Sure?"
"Science is trial and error!"Clones whipped up wind, dust obscuring black rune-lines; Sasuke Chidori electrified the iron case—current rode the golden thread into soil—like defibrillating the rift.BOOM!
The beast lost rhythm, collapsed to black fog, sucked back. The gate centre still mouthed inaudible words, yet translated inside Jack's brain:"Return… the shard…"His collar mark seared. The Dimension Shard (micro) was dragged toward the gate.
"No way!" Golden thread flared, spiralled, snatched the shard back. One-second tug-of-war—shard reclaimed, gate sealed, shrine silent.IV Aftershock: Cracks & DealResearchers dirt-smudged but ecstatic: "We witnessed an auto-triggered spatial gate!"
Jack closed the scroll; wax resealed as if nothing happened—save the stone fracture now twice as wide.At the gate Kakashi waited, eye on the rubbing: "You opened the case?"
"It opened itself," Jack repeated.
Kakashi exhaled: "Report's mine. Scroll goes to ANBU. Jack, 18:00 tomorrow, basement archive, Hokage Tower—private 'sealing theory' makeup."
"Makeup?"
"Or… conversation."V Growth of the ThreadNight, dorm.
Jack peeled off his jacket—the collar spiral had spread to sternum, shape mirroring the shrine gate grid. System auto-popped:
「Rift Affinity +15% (total 35%)
Active skill gained: Rift Weave (CD 24 h) — briefly replicate 'seal gate' structure, radius 1 m, 5-sec duration
Side effect: mark coverage +5% per use; outcome at 100% unknown」"Unknown?" He chuckled. "Classic progress-bar doom."Outside, the new moon hooked the sky.
He lifted a hand; golden thread spun a mini spiral gate at fingertip—an eye ready to open.
—D-rank complete; real trouble just begun.