Kakashi hesitated.
In the end, he didn't replace his eye with Shisui's Mangekyō.
Instead, he swapped out Obito's.
In this world, eye transplants were almost absurdly simple. Quick. Clean. Reversible. He could always switch it back after the job was done.
No point overcomplicating things.
Noah Vale stood in front of Tate, just as he had many times before.
Tate looked up at him, a tired smile tugging at his lips.
"So," he said, voice dry, "more questions? Or is this where you decide to clean up loose ends?"
"No," Noah replied lightly. "Actually, I'm here to let you go."
Tate blinked.
"…That's unexpected."
"There's just one condition."
Tate straightened slightly. "Name it. If I can do it, I will."
Noah smiled.
"When you go back," he said, "you bring me with you."
The air shifted.
Tate froze for a fraction of a second.
"…Sir," he said carefully, "with your strength… the cost of bringing you in would be—"
He didn't finish.
He didn't need to.
He could see it.
Noah's stats hovered in his vision, impossible to ignore.
Strength. Speed. Defense. Mind. Recovery. All sitting firmly at mid-tier fifth level.
Energy just behind that.
And the rest—
Unknown.
Tate swallowed.
He was barely scraping third level himself.
Dragging someone like this into the system?
That wasn't a task.
That was a suicide request.
"No problem," Noah said.
He produced a vial filled with crimson liquid and held it up.
"Use this."
Tate's gaze locked onto it.
A system prompt flickered—
[Detected: Mid-Tier Tier-12 Item — Pym Particles]
His mind blanked.
That wasn't just rare.
That was absurd.
An item that shouldn't even exist at his level.
"Sell it," Noah said casually. "You'll have everything you need."
He tossed it forward.
Tate, missing limbs and all, lunged forward and caught it with his teeth like a starving man grabbing food.
Greed flared in his eyes.
"Don't worry…" he muttered around the vial. "I'll bring you in."
"I know you will," Noah said.
Then stepped aside.
Behind him—
Kakashi.
His left eye burned red.
They locked eyes.
In that instant, something invisible slammed into Tate's mind.
A command.
Absolute.
Unshakable.
Bring him in.
Blood slipped from Kakashi's eye as the technique took hold, embedding itself deep into Tate's consciousness.
Noah turned away.
"Install his prosthetics," he said. "And the others…"
He didn't need to finish.
Kakashi understood.
"…Understood."
After Noah left, Kakashi followed instructions.
Tate guided him through reattaching the mechanical limbs. Functional. Stable.
Then Kakashi moved on.
One cell at a time.
No hesitation.
No survivors.
Thirty minutes later—
A beam of light descended.
Tate was gone.
Returned to where he belonged.
But Noah knew—
He'd be back.
A day passed.
Noah lingered in the Hidden Leaf, unbothered, waiting.
At noon on the second day—
Light fell from the sky again.
Tate returned.
This time, he looked… different.
Healthier. Sharper. His expression carried a trace of confidence that hadn't been there before.
He'd profited.
A lot.
Noah didn't care.
As long as the job was done.
"My lord," Tate said, bowing slightly. "It's ready."
Noah's mind shifted.
A prompt appeared.
[Reincarnator #63628 invites you to join the system.]
Accept?
Noah didn't hesitate.
Yes.
Information flooded in.
A system.
A structure.
A machine designed to harvest strength across countless worlds.
Selected individuals—taken from entire planets—forced into cycles of missions, conflict, survival.
Growth through violence.
Evolution through pressure.
More prompts followed.
[Assignment complete. Generating designation.]
[Rank determined: Mid-Tier Level 5.]
[Assigned ID: #13. Ranking updates daily.]
[Report to Main Space within 72 hours or face termination.]
Noah frowned slightly.
"Thirteen?"
He looked at Tate.
"You're telling me there are only twelve people stronger than me?"
Tate shook his head quickly. "No, sir. It's not like that. My world is… newly integrated. Weak overall. We haven't had much interaction with stronger planets yet."
That explained it.
Entire planets were grouped together as units.
Each one producing its own pool of reincarnators.
Some strong.
Some barely functional.
Tate's world?
New.
Unrefined.
Their strongest hadn't even broken into higher tiers yet.
Noah nodded slowly.
"That makes more sense."
At that moment, something shifted inside Tate.
The implanted command faded.
Clarity returned.
His eyes widened slightly.
"…What did I just—"
He stopped.
Because Noah was looking at him.
Not hostile.
Not angry.
Just… aware.
Tate swallowed.
And said nothing.
Noah turned his attention inward.
Three interfaces hovered in his vision.
His own status panel.
The Interdimensional Chatroom.
And now—
The reincarnator system.
All stacked together like overlapping windows on a cluttered screen.
He tapped one.
The world changed.
A vast plaza stretched out before him.
Crowded.
Loud.
Alive.
People from every imaginable background filled the space. Different clothes. Different languages. Different worlds.
They moved in clusters, trading information, negotiating, arguing.
Above them all, a golden barrier shimmered in the distance, casting long reflections across the ground.
Some stared at it in silence.
Others avoided it entirely.
Noah stood at the center of it all.
New.
Unfamiliar.
And already—
One of the strongest.
...
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