I No-Man's-Land · West: Names ErasedThree months after fleeing Konoha, Jack & Kam reached "No-Man's-Land · West" —
a high-plains basin blank on every map,
wind-scoured canyons circling a silent salt lake, water mirror-like, reflecting no sky.System nav ceased: 「Signal lost Rift energy: natural overflow Coverage: 78%」Watch hands no longer pointed direction, but speed —
faster meant Gate-ing nearer completion.Kam whispered: "Must we end everything here?" Jack gazed at the lake, threads crawling toward water: "No — we begin."II Lake Centre: Natural Rift WellA "salt-crystal isle" at centre,
hexagonal cracks matching the watch-back.System popped rarely: 「Found 'natural rift well' — A-class Function: amplify coverage Side: accelerate Gate-ing」Jack smiled: "Amplify? Perfect." He raised hand; threads became drills, piercing crystal —
lake surface flashed dark-gold, a giant "reflecting mirror" emerged, folding sky and earth inside.III Acceleration: 100% CountdownDay 15, coverage broke 90%,
Jack's skin began salt-crystallising, touch like frosted glass,
no pain, only whispers growing clear:"One step more, you become the Eternal Gate." "One step more, you lose 'self'."He wrote in the notebook: "If 'I' must vanish,
let 'I' become the Gate's — direction."IV Kam's Choice: Successor or Accomplice?Night 95% coverage, Kam sneaked onto the isle with the "rift dagger",
trying to sever threads, stop Gate-ing.Threads auto-bound him mid-air. Jack approached, calm: "You want to live, right?" Kam gritted: "I don't want to watch you turn to stone!" Jack tucked the notebook into the boy's arms: "Then live, remember the direction —
Gates can wander, never be imprisoned."He lifted the dagger, aimed at his own chest: "If someone must bear the end,
let it be me."V Final Ritual: Self-Gate-ingCoverage 99% —
isle centre, threads wove a "spiral throne",
Jack sat, embedded the watch into his chest,
dial and crystal ground resonating, "tick-tick-tick".System popped last: 「Coverage即将满格 Choose final form: ① Eternal Gate (fixed·indestructible) ② Wandering Gate (mobile·unpredictable) ③ Annihilation Gate (self-destruct·B-class disaster)」Jack smiled, chose ②. Threads instantly folded him into the mirror —
like tearing a page, stuffing it between book leaves.VI Birth: The Wandering GateLake centre, a "human-shaped gate" ten metres high,
facial contours matching Jack, yet of dark-gold mirror,
inside rotating countless world reflections: Konoha, Suna, Snow, New York —
and an endless desert highway.Top edge engraved: 「I am not here,
nor there,
I am at the end you seek.」VII Epilogue: The Wanderer's MapKam stood before the gate, clutching the notebook,
whispers familiar, no longer frightening: "Take me, don't look back."He reached; the gate became a dark-gold ray,
slipping into the boy's chest —
beating with his heart, yet no longer increasing coverage,
for "coverage" itself had become "direction".System interface refreshed last time: 「Wanderer·Jack
Status: Gate-ing complete Form: Mobile·Unpredictable
Navigation: Endless
Note: When you wish to find him,
simply look toward —
the end of the rift.」VIII Postscript: At the End, Someone SingsSand-wind rises, cannot drown the song: "Gate am I, I am Gate,
I wander, I return."Kam walks, back silhouetted by sunset,
a dark-gold glimmer on his chest, a lamp never extinguished.—Countdown has stopped,
yet the wanderer's map
has only just begun.