I Promotion & Secret DepartureThree days after exams, Hokage Tower issued S-rank orders:Cover: escort merchant caravan to Suna borderReal: investigate "Subject 03" rift signalPersonnel: Spl. Jōnin Jack (solo), ANBU "Cat" squad (overwatch)Window: 5 days Failure: silent disappearanceHe packed the new chūnin vest, pocket-watch on top: 「6 years 354 days 14 h」—ticking as he left.II Enter Suna: Pulse beneath Yellow SandTea Country → Wind Country desert, sensor disk readings climbing. Day 4 dusk, Suna north-canyon disk flared scarlet: 「Target depth: 180 m Energy: A-class peak Sync wave: 03」A derelict "rock-salt mine" half-buried; dune couldn't hide the golden glow. System tag: 「Secondary Gate · A-class (stable) Owner: Harmonizer β Function: living lab」III Mine Labyrinth: β's LaboratoryIllusion-veiled entrance. Inside:Walls studded with rift-steel nails, pinning space like a giant staplerEvery 50 m: transparent tanks—humans, beasts, missing Suna-nin, skin glowing with crack-patterns, pupils rotating "♾️"Central floor: a standard rift gate, pipes feeding— a mobile surgical table where a silver-haired teen lay split, a mini compression-chamber grafted above his right ventricle—same model as Jack's, smaller.System: 「Found 'Subject 03' candidate: Suna·Kam (14)
Sync rate: 71% Status: implant in progress Countdown: 07 days」The boy whispered: "Gate… must… open…"IV β Encounter: Lab ProprietorBehind the table, β in white coat over black robe, chest "♾️" sigil gleaming. "Welcome, Warden 02. Like my production line?" He spread hands; tanks lit, rift energy streams flowing into his palm.Jack's eyes narrowed: "Raising gates with humans?" "Selecting seeds," β smiled. "Only saplings >70% sync deserve to be mobile prisons. Your seven years approaches—I need the next warden."All tanks shattered; seven "rift revenants" leapt out, bodies laced with crack steel.System alert: 「High-risk melee Advice: avoid encirclement Objective: rescue 03 + destroy core」V Melee: Threads vs Crack-SteelRevenants feel no pain; severed limbs re-knit. Threads slice, crack-steel regenerates; wind jutsu tears, rift stitches instantly.Forced to first-use "Blood-Rite Reflux":Bit thumb, blood drawn into "♻️" seal array, instantly drained field rift energy, revenants turned to ash.Side-effect triggered: countdown -1 year! Watch spun crazily: 「5 years 354 days 14 h」β applauded: "Magnificent, but costly. How many uses left?"VI Offer & Refusal: β's Dealβ raised hand, all rift-steel nails aimed at Kam: "Option 1: take him, implant fails, dies in 07 days, you lose 03. Option 2: stay, I finish surgery, you take the product, 01 year later transplant to you, life extended. Option 3: kill me—you can't."Threads trembling, Jack smiled: "There's option four."He raised the rift scalpel, slashed Kam's feed catheter, pressed his "compression-chamber pendant" into the boy's chest— The pendant auto-contracted, devoured & replaced β's semi-product, synced threads.System: 「Subject 03 transfer successful Current host: Kam Sync: 100% (thread correction)
Side: you lose 'pendant', countdown pauses (00:00:00) — coverage +10%」β lost his smile: "You… gave the prison away?"VII Core Destruction: A-Gate CollapseJack lifted the boy; threads flooded the table core— "Rift Weave · Hundred-Needle Cage!" A hundred threads pierced the A-gate rim, reversed runes; the gate glass-crackled.β roared, nails forming a giant scythe— At the last second ANBU "Cat" team crashed through the roof, joint seal: "Four-Purple-Flame Array · Modified!" Violet fire & gold threads forced β back.The A-class gate imploded, rift energy sucked into threads — infused into— Jack's pocket-watch. Hands spun wildly, finally stopping: 「00 years 00 days 00 hours」 —countdown literally zero.But coverage spiked to: 65%VIII Exit & Epilogue: Pause ≠ EndAs the mine collapsed, Jack leapt to the sandstone summit with Kam, ANBU behind. A dark-gold pillar shot skyward—like a torn lighthouse.β's voice rose from rubble, echoing: "The countdown stopped, Sync 02, but when 'coverage' hits full, you become — the eternal gate."Jack looked down — the watch no longer ticked, but displayed: 「Coverage: 65/100 Status: Gate-ing in progress」He held the boy tighter, gazing at the desert sunrise— The countdown had paused,
yet the real countdown
had perhaps only just begun.