Pain was the last thing he remembered.
A sharp, hammer-like blow struck the back of his neck, and Hiroki's consciousness instantly plunged into darkness.He felt his body collapse like a puppet with its strings cut.
When his mind finally regained clarity, Hiroki found himself floating in an endless, deep blue void.In front of him was a familiar sight — the loading screen that had haunted him for nine years. But this time, it looked completely different.
Instead of the usual progress bar, there was now a simple desktop.In the upper left corner were several crisp icons: [My Computer (Hiroki Sawada)], [Recycle Bin], and [Network].
So this is the true form of the golden finger that's trapped me for nine years?A computer... with a soul?
What kind of cheat was this supposed to be?
Before he could start complaining about the painfully outdated interface, a muffled voice echoed directly inside his consciousness — like someone playing sound straight into his brain.
"Hurry up! The Konoha ninjas could catch up any second!""What about the kid?""What do you think? Dump him near the border and make sure there's no trace left. He's just dead weight."
The Cloud Ninjas?!A chill ran through Hiroki's entire being.
They're going to silence me!
He struggled frantically to regain control of his body — like a desperate gamer shaking the mouse to unfreeze a crashed computer.But all that came up was a message floating before his eyes:
"Control Panel not responding. Do you want to wait for a response?"
What?! Control panel not responding? What's that supposed to mean?
Damn it! He forced himself to calm down. Right now, this strange "computer" was his only hope.Wait... does this golden finger think my body is a running computer?!
He mentally "clicked" on [My Computer]. A window popped open, showing two partitions:C Drive (System Drive) and D Drive (Memory Drive) — both empty.
Figures.Still, it confirmed his theory.
[D Drive (Memory Drive)] — That must be where my memories are stored.
So his golden finger wasn't just turning his body into a computer... it was treating him as one.
Now the only question was — how to use it to regain control of his body.
No time to waste. Hiroki's focus sharpened like a knife. He needed a system-level tool — something powerful enough to override everything.
He thought of the one command that had saved him countless times in his old life.
"Ctrl + Alt + Delete!"
He shouted the sacred key combination in his mind.
Bzzz—!
The blue desktop flickered, and a window appeared before him.
[Hiroki Sawada — Task Manager]
Under the Processes tab, data streamed down the screen.
|Process Name|CPU Usage|Memory Usage|Status|
|—|—|—|—|
|fear.exe | 75% | 2048MB | Running |
|severe_pain_back_neck.log | 15% | 512MB | Running |
|BodyControlPanel.exe | 5% | 1024MB | Not Responding |
|vertigo.dll | 3% | 258MB |Running|
|SurvivalInstinct.sys | 1% | 64MB |Running|
|conscious.bat | 1% | 32MB | Running |
|…|…|…|…|
Got it! His mind sharpened like never before.So his body was the hardware, and every emotion or reflex was just another running program.And that meant—he could force-stop them.
The problem was obvious.fear.exe was hogging nearly all CPU usage, freezing BodyControlPanel.exe in the process.Pain and dizziness were eating up his memory, slowing his thinking to a crawl.
He didn't hesitate.
He selected fear.exe and hit "End Process."
Are you sure you want to end 'fear.exe'? Ending this process may cause system instability.
"Do it!"
The moment he confirmed, a cold stream surged through his soul, washing away the panic and dread that had overwhelmed him.His heartbeat steadied. His body stopped trembling. His mind became eerily calm.
CPU usage dropped from 99% to under 20%.
Efficient.
He quickly moved on.
Select → vertigo.dll → End Process → OK.The spinning in his head stopped instantly.
Select → severe_pain_back_neck.log → End Process → OK.The stabbing pain dulled, like it had been unplugged from reality.
Finally—BodyControlPanel.exe.
He took a deep breath.[End Task]
The world around him instantly went dark. Every sense — touch, sound, motion — vanished.
For a moment, he existed in pure nothingness.Then a notification blinked faintly before him.
[Desktop Window Manager has stopped working and was closed.]
Perfect.If his guess was right, all he had to do was reboot the control panel.
[Starting BodyControlPanel.exe…]
Bit by bit, sensations returned — the feeling of being jostled on someone's shoulder, the sting of rough fabric against his cheek, the sound of wind and heavy footsteps.
"Did he just move?""Impossible. I hit him hard enough to knock him out till morning.""Probably just a twitch. But to be safe, we'll hit him again later."
Again?!Hiroki froze. If he moved now, he'd be finished.
He needed to play dead — literally.
He opened [Start] → [Settings] → [Power Options].
Three options appeared:
◎ Balanced Mode (recommended) — balances performance and energy○ High Performance Mode — faster but drains energy● Energy Saving Mode — lowers performance to conserve power
That's it! Low Performance Mode—hibernation!
[Switching to Low Performance Mode will limit system activity, reduce CPU frequency, and slow input/output rates to extend runtime. Continue?]
"Confirm!"
Instantly, his system slowed to a crawl.His heartbeat dropped to a faint rhythm. Breathing became shallow, nearly undetectable.Every muscle command was suppressed as "high-energy activity."
From the outside, he looked like a dying boy barely clinging to life.
"See? He's fine," one Cloud Ninja muttered. "Stop overthinking and keep moving! We need to cross the border before dawn!"
Crisis averted—for now.
Hiroki's mind lingered deep inside the system, calm and calculating.In this mode, he couldn't move—but he could still think.
Then suddenly—Ding!
A small pop-up appeared at the corner of his mental desktop.
[Another connectable computer "Sakuchi" detected. Temporary connection established via Chakra Communication Protocol.][Do you want to open and view files?]
Hiroki's heart skipped. Wait—what?!
Physical contact was being detected as a data connection?!
He mentally selected [Yes].
A new window opened:[Sakuchi (C1:) System Disk][Sakuchi (D1:) Memory Disk]
Dozens of folders and files appeared:
[Yunliu Sword Technique Notes][Lightning Release Ninjutsu Training][Assassination and Stealth Techniques][Chakra Nature Change (Lightning) Beginner to Mastery.zip][Lightning Release: Pseudo Darkness.exe][Perception Ninjutsu.dat]
Hiroki's breath quickened. This was everything that Cloud Ninja knew—his life's worth of ninjutsu!
Without hesitation, he selected Ctrl + A → Ctrl + C.Then opened his own D Drive (Memory), created a new folder named [Ninjutsu Backup], and hit Ctrl + V.
A progress bar appeared.
128,562 files, total size: 3.2 GB.Copy speed: 1.5 KB/s. Estimated time: 25 days.Warning: Low Performance Mode severely limits transfer speed. Estimated power failure in 23 hours. Proceed with caution.
Twenty-five days?!
He laughed bitterly in his mind. At this rate, he wouldn't survive twenty-five hours.