Time always passes very fast when you're busy.
In the blink of an eye, more than two months had passed.
As the breeze blew, sometimes you could see cherry blossoms drifting down with the wind.
The winter that was tied together with war, slaughter, conflict, and countless tragedies, finally left cleanly and completely.
Ryosuke sat on top of the rocket, with a can of iced green tea in his hand, feeling the spring wind brushing his hair, quietly gazing at the eastern horizon.
This was the rocket launch center seventy kilometers away from the research institute.
Originally, the development and design of the space battleship were all behind the research institute, but for the success of the moon-landing project, those "crazy scientists" stuffed too many dangerous things into the rocket.
Natural energy, ghost god energy, chakra, tailed-beast chakra…
The official explanation was that the radiation during rocket launch would affect the experimental equipment of other departments in the research institute.
However, everyone knew that people were afraid that if this thing accidentally exploded, it would blow everyone in the research institute up into the sky.
Ryosuke quietly drank his tea, enjoying a moment of peace.
For more than two months, he didn't rest at all, constantly using New Moon, cooperating with the researchers to simulate the effects of different gravities on equipment, and the zero-gravity environment in space.
The corresponding result was the big guy beneath his b*tt, Creation-Opening No. 1.
It was scheduled to conduct its first test flight in one hour.
The plan for this flight was to break through the atmosphere, hover above the planet, circle once, and then return.
If it succeeded, it would prove that they possessed the ability to break free from the earth's gravity and move in a small range within the universe.
After that, it would just be piling up the propulsion system to send the Creation-Opening spacecraft to the moon.
Ryosuke quietly waited, and just as the rising sunlight shot straight over from afar, Sasuke's voice came through the communicator by his ear, "Brother Ryosuke, everything is ready."
"Coming."
Ryosuke floated up from the top of the rocket, then slowly descended to the ground and walked into the main control center.
As soon as he entered, he saw many familiar faces.
Mei Terumi, Sasuke, Sakura… even Oda Ieyasu, who was far away in Kyoto, was holding his son, sitting in front of the video conference table, waiting for the rocket to lift off.
Everyone was anticipating this moment.
Now, this rocket that was about to soar into the sky was the crystallization of the technology of the entire ninja world, and the symbolic significance behind it was extremely important.
The main control center was full of activity.
Hundreds of researchers stood in front of various instruments, monitoring the final data feedback before launch.
"Launch countdown, sixty seconds!"
"Propulsion system, first-stage booster preheat complete, ignition circuit normal…"
"Starry-sky positioning system locked, orbit deviation value 0.02…"
Each parameter underwent the final round of inspection.
Mei Terumi, standing beside Ryosuke, subconsciously reached out and grabbed his arm.
Ryosuke asked, "What are you nervous about?"
Mei Terumi leaned toward Ryosuke's ear, "As soon as I hear 'countdown,' I inexplicably get nervous."
"It's like when in a dream you're desperately searching for the bathroom, and when you finally find it, you discover you can't undo your belt no matter what… can you understand that impatience?"
"Pro...bably?"
"And also."
Mei Terumi whispered, "I don't know why, but I just have this..."
She didn't finish.
Too ominous.
Ryosuke lightly tapped Mei Terumi's shoulder, signaling her not to overthink.
Because the flight would stay within the planet's orbit, the ground remote communication system could still control the rocket, so there was no pilot for this test flight.
Even if it failed, it would only be a loss of some materials. There would be no casualties.
With the current resource reserves of the research institute, they could start all over again anytime.
"Countdown ten seconds."
A big countdown number appeared on the giant screen. At the same time, everyone looked toward Ryosuke.
10...9...8...
Ryosuke strode to the main control console.
Click!
The glass cover on the right flipped open, revealing the red button underneath.
7...6...5...
Ryosuke took a deep breath and placed his thumb on it.
"3...2...1! Ignition!"
Ryosuke slammed the button down.
Even though he hadn't activated Time Stop, time seemed to freeze.
Ryosuke stared at the big screen, and in the next instant, the booster's exhaust flames roared, shattering the air.
The land quivered under the licking orange-red flames.
Creation-Opening No. 1 left the launch pad and shot straight upward.
Everyone present maintained the same silent posture, not even breathing, all eyes fixed on the rocket climbing higher and higher, until at a certain moment.
The rocket broke through the atmosphere and entered outer space.
"We did it!"
Cheers broke out. People hugged each other.
Ryosuke let out a long breath. Suddenly, he saw several people running toward him.
They opened their arms.
There was Mei Terumi, Konan, and also Samui.
He froze on the spot for a moment.
'This… wait, who was he supposed to celebrate and hug with?'
As that thought flashed...
BOOM!
The roar of an explosion cut off the sound in the control center like an invisible blade.
Right after leaving the atmosphere and heading toward space, Creation-Opening No. 1 exploded out of nowhere, becoming a mass of scorching fire. Countless fragments scattered.
The screen signal was lost.
'Why?'
The most difficult step of breaking through the atmosphere was done, why would it explode after entering space?
The control center fell into dead silence. Everyone's hearts sank into the abyss.
At this moment, Ryosuke clapped his hands.
"All of you are technical people. Failure, summary, adjustment, and trying again, this is our daily routine."
"It's just one failure, nothing a big deal."
Hearing Ryosuke's words, the researchers gradually came back to their senses. They took several deep breaths and returned to work again.
Ryosuke walked past them and waved Samui over. His face maintained a confident smile, and when she got close, he lowered his voice, "Investigate the core development team."
Samui's eyes turned cold, "You suspect… someone is sabotaging?"
"I hope it's not true, but..."
Ryosuke looked at the screen.
The explosion height was too precise.
A little higher, and Creation-Opening No. 1 would officially enter orbit, even if it exploded, they could still collect enough data.
A little lower, and the internal "black box" would be captured by gravity and fall back to the ninja world.
The height of the explosion now just happened to make it so accurate data could not be obtained.
And the black box recording the internal operating conditions would be blown into space, becoming space junk that could not be retrieved or examined.
The researchers of this world, because they were encountering aerospace projects for the first time, couldn't see it.
But Ryosuke grew up watching aerospace reports from many countries.
This kind of tiny detail, he saw the problem at a glance.
"I understand."
Samui nodded and hurried away.
———
At the same time, somewhere in the research institute, a researcher was on a call.
"Leader, the plan was a success. This should stop Ryosuke's moon-landing plan… before they find the loophole."
"You did very well."
"This is what I should do. Everything is for the 'Shell.'"
"And also for the peace of the world."
The deep voice on the other end said, "Humans shouldn't lay their hands on the starry sky. Things like this…"
"Is digging their own grave."