The sunset draped Hokage Tower's shadow like a red carpet over stone. Jack stepped across it, every footfall reminding him: this wasn't 3-D projection, this was alive.
Two chūnin at the entrance wore electronic paper—literally Kindle-style screens embedded in their forehead protectors—scrolling "Visitor: Non-citizen / Level-One Review." Someone had patched the tech tree."Name?"
"Jack Harper."
"Nationality?"
"…USA?"
The clerk's pupils flashed cerulean—obvious lie-detection jutsu. Jack's spine iced, but the System whispered:
「Support Mode·Passive: heart-rate adjustment complete.」The blue light died; no deception flagged. The clerk stamped Jack's photo with a red seal: "Temporary Stay / 24 hours."When fingerprinting came, the crystal plate froze. Jack pressed his left digits; a circle of golden fissure spider-webbed beneath them—identical to the forest slit, only miniature."G-Glitch?" the clerk muttered, slapping the machine.
The cracks vanished; the surface regained mirror smoothness. The System stayed mute, as if embarrassed.Jack opened his palm. A hair-thin gold filament now lay under his skin, tracing a vein toward his wrist.
「Hidden Side-Quest triggered: Rift Affinity (unknown grade)」
Finally a prompt—frustratingly terse.Outside, Naruto stretched. "Done! Ramen—"
An alarm cut him off.
"Emergency! Team Seven, sector B-3, spatial tremor—possible rift expansion!"
Kakashi blinked into existence, single eye pinning Jack. "You're coming. Don't lag."Jack's heart hammered—so the 24-hour survival timer was a stopwatch, not a countdown! Dragged to the front line straight after check-in; classic unpaid overtime.On a rooftop en-route he saw the night sky torn open: an arc of black void edged by golden lightning, like a broken monitor. Civilians fled; ninja formed arrays, none daring close.System window:
「Live Quest: Assist sealing the rift (optional)
Success: Chakra Extraction + Rift Affinity EXP.
Failure: rift expands, host survival probability drops to 37%.」
Optional? The System had a comedian's sense of humor."Sealing squad needs three seconds!" Kakashi shouted.
"I'll buy 'em!" Naruto crossed fingers; twenty orange clones dashed into the street, shoving a stalled carriage.Jack's brain outran his mouth: rift = glass? Could resonance collapse it?
He snatched a snapped bamboo pole, focused chakra into his palm—he hadn't even learned extraction, yet the golden filaments craved kin, surging down his arm and igniting the cane."Hey, don't be stupid!" Sasuke warned.
Jack ignored him, rammed the pole into the ground beneath the rift and funneled the gold outward.BOOM—
The tear lost its skeleton, curtains falling shut. Night sky re-ordered; silence boomed.Everyone froze. The sealing squad arrived, scrolls half-raised, target gone.Kakashi eyed the scorched bamboo, then Jack: "That wasn't ninjutsu."
Jack shrugged; the gold line had secretly reached his elbow. The System still offered no commentary."Temporary visitor," Kakashi drawled, "you'd better compile every secret inside you into a report for the Hokage before sunrise—otherwise ANBU will invite you to tea."Naruto draped an arm around him, grin brighter than street-lamps: "Ignore Copy-Ninja's scare tactics! Come on, ramen! My treat—celebrating your hero thing!"Jack was dragged toward Ichiraku, but behind him Sasuke murmured, "That sealing method… it welded space-time."And the welding torch was the invisible gold thread now living inside Jack.