Amidst the void, a green meteor constantly advanced, piercing through numerous worlds, eventually vanishing.
Looking down through the hole it tore open, four familiar figures appeared in the scene, led by—Hatake Kakashi.
Behind him were, naturally, Naruto's three-person squad. Their mission in the Land of Waves had just concluded, and they had not yet returned to Konoha.
"Ugh, it's already midday, shouldn't we take a break? I'm starving," Naruto complained, rubbing his stomach. They had been traveling for a long time.
"Yes, we should rest. Sasuke is still recovering," Sakura uncharacteristically agreed with Naruto, naturally because of Sasuke.
Their recent battle against Momochi Zabuza and Haku had left them all with numerous injuries, with Sasuke being the most severely wounded.
"Then let's rest here," Kakashi, as the squad leader, did not refuse the suggestion.
Then, the moment Sakura turned to retrieve food, a dark rift flashed by, moving so fast that even Kakashi couldn't react in time.
Whether by coincidence or some other reason, the area it passed through was precisely where Kakashi and the other two were standing.
Without any resistance, the three vanished with the rift, leaving only Sakura behind.
"I even brought lots of delicious food from the old man in the Land of Waves..."
Sakura, holding her bento, happened to turn back, then her words caught in her throat as the three who had been beside her all vanished.
"Kakashi...sensei?"
As if in shock, Sakura pulled out a kunai, cautiously observing her surroundings.
The three left no trace, not even a sound; they all disappeared as if they had never existed...
Meanwhile, Uchiha Itachi covered his eyes, as if sensing something, and a vision appeared in his mind.
Sasuke, swallowed by the dark rift, appeared in a strange, unseen place with various skyscrapers and metal vehicles speeding on wide roads.
Whether guided by destiny or some other force, he reached out, and the passing rift flashed and swallowed him.
Inside the Akatsuki organization, the masked 'Tobi' also covered his eyes; he saw the scene of Kakashi being taken away.
His Mangekyo Sharingan activated instantly, confirming that this was not a genjutsu, but something genuinely happening.
As if possessed, he reached out and grabbed the passing rift.
Thus, several individuals temporarily departed from this world.
...
"Near-modern technological standards, highly developed internet, but no sci-fi elements detected."
"There are too many worlds like this, difficult to distinguish for now. We'll need to wait until we discover some more representative characters, or supernatural powers, before drawing conclusions."
On a park bench by the road, Schwarzer held a taiyaki, eating it in small bites.
She had changed into a hooded dress resembling pajamas, adorned with two rabbit-ear-like decorations.
This was an outfit she specifically sought out; she now looked almost identical to Schwi from the anime—except her hair color was much lighter.
She was very satisfied with her current appearance. Familiar things provide a sense of security, especially in an unfamiliar world.
The Machine Ex Machina's database lacked information on human networks, but as a modern person, she had some concept of network signals and things like binary.
With her Machine Ex Machina abilities, it didn't take long for her to become the world's strongest hacker, but even so, she still hadn't found any representative entities.
"[Analysis] The only current difference from Earth is that Japan in this world has an excessively high accident rate, with a mortality rate far exceeding Earth's."
"[Judgment] Supernatural factors are causing an impact."
Schwarzer, while taking small bites of her dessert, analyzed various data from across the entire network.
In this world, which was almost identical to modern Earth, only Japan's accidental death rate was terrifyingly high; this was the greatest abnormality.
There must be some hidden supernatural power at play in the background. The accidents are merely a smokescreen, like the gas explosions in Fuyuki City.
Many people passed by the park, and none had any particular reaction to seeing Schwarzer, only wondering why she was there alone.
This was Tokyo, Japan, and the place she believed most likely to encounter key characters.
Schwarzer had been in this world for almost a day and could roughly confirm that it should be a world from some Japanese work, given the anomalous Tokyo.
"There aren't many leads for now. All deployable satellites are already above Japan, combined with surveillance, hopefully we can find something."
The System stated that even the cleverest housewife can't cook without rice; it was powerless before finding a main character.
Schwarzer didn't reply. A countdown appeared in her vision: 7540 minutes, approximately a little over five days.
The core data obtained from vanquishing the Vanishing Dragon was depleted; she was now using Einzig's gift.
Each time she used core data, the excessive energy would put her into an "energy overflow" state, temporarily making her soul "complete."
In this state, her soul was barely complete, and she naturally possessed a portion of emotions, which was the "feeling of being alive" that she sought.
That string of numbers represented the rate of core data depletion. Unless she found soul fragments to repair the gaps in her soul, the loss of core data would be inevitable.
This was the difference between "best before" and "expiration date," but for Schwarzer, losing emotions was worse than death.
"[Question] How much longer until the next world traversal?"
"Approximately ten-plus days until it recovers enough to traverse worlds," the System quickly responded.
That wouldn't be enough. Schwarzer still had one "Final Resolve" card she could use, which should add another ten-plus days.
If she couldn't find the main characters in the new world either, she'd be finished; she had to leave enough leeway.
A sense of urgency rose in Schwarzer, and she then considered the worst-case scenario.
If she couldn't find the main characters for these ten-plus days... in such a modern world, her current strength was completely unrivaled; even nuclear bombs posed no threat to her.
If she couldn't find the main characters... she wasn't without other options. After all, she would be leaving in ten-plus days.
Another way to acquire core data—"major world-altering events"—didn't explicitly forbid her from proactively instigating them.
Schwarzer contemplated how to take on the whole world alone, for example, by using AI and robots to control various countries, and then quickly entering a "human nurturing dungeon" scenario?
That would certainly count as a major world-altering event; she just didn't know if it would yield core data.
Just as she began calculating possibilities, the satellites finally detected a clue.
At the top of the Tokyo Skytree, a white-haired man wearing an eye patch suddenly appeared. His highly distinctive black uniform immediately allowed Schwarzer to confirm his identity.
Special Grade Sorcerer—Gojo Satoru.
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