Is he...

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[The market.]

Miyako leaned in slightly, her gaze fixed on Toru as he appraises an item. "So, you're really from a different world?" Her voice was curious, though her demeanor remained composed.

Toru nodded. "Yes, I chose to work here when I got the chance." His voice was flat, almost mechanical, as if discussing something mundane rather than extraordinary. He held the pendant up, watching it sway gently. "You mentioned you needed something that can purify or remove anything that binds you. This amulet should do exactly that."

Miyako nodded, her eyes narrowing as she studied the pendant. "Yes, that's precisely what I need."

Toru didn't waste any time. He tapped a few buttons on his device, triggering a faint glow that expanded into a circle on the floor, large enough to accommodate several people.

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+Toru POV+

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As the circle hummed to life, Toru's thoughts drifted for a moment. 'I wonder if the others know about this feature. Someone must have unlocked it after completing task,' he mused, glancing briefly at Miyako to ensure she was within the circle's boundaries

With a final tap, the world around them blurred, the transition smooth and almost instantaneous. When their vision cleared, they were back at the counters, where the previous visitors were still deep in conversation. Satisfied with the new teleportation feature, Toru led Miyako to the counter, gesturing for her to stand on the opposite side.

"I'm sure you're familiar with how our pricing system works," Toru said as he placed the pendant on the purchase side of the counter.

Miyako nodded, her eyes still fixed on the pendant. "I am. This isn't my first time at one of these gateways. The value system here is similar to what it was at the bar I used to visit."

Toru absorbed this information, his mind racing. Despite hearing about other nexus points from her earlier, the idea still felt abstract and difficult to grasp. 'Other places like this existed before? What happened to them? Could the incident at the park have something to do with it?' His thoughts were interrupted as the scanner beeped, bringing up the item's details.

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Xxxx

Item: The pendant of liberation. (Original)

Description: This pendant is specifically designed to break the power of a contract formed at birth or nullify any bindings instilled on the wearer. When worn, it shields the bearer from the binding effects, preventing any consequences that would occur if one breaks the rules they were bound by.

Quantity: x1

Total: 1,858,407.08 SC

Xxxx

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Toru turned the screen toward Miyako, his usual stoic demeanor masking the whirlwind of thoughts brewing beneath the surface. "Will you be paying in currency or trading an item?

Miyako's gentle smile held a trace of finality as she reached into her belongings and retrieved a black notebook. "I'll trade this. If it means to be free, then I'll let this go."

Toru's eyes narrowed slightly as he examined the notebook. It appeared ordinary, unassuming even, but something about it felt off. He gestured for her to place it on the selling side of the counter. As she did, he caught a glimpse of the title embossed on the cover: Death Note.

The words echoed in his mind like a distant, ominous bell. Death Note? He considered the implications—if this item truly did what its name suggested...

His train of thought was derailed by the familiar beep of the scanner, indicating the item had been processed. He turned the screen back toward himself, eyes scanning the details that appeared. As he read, his usually calm exterior cracked, his fingers twitching slightly, and his mouth parting in disbelief.

'This, can such even exist in such worlds. It's... it's absurd.' Toru's heart pounded as he absorbed the absurdity of what he was reading. An object with the power to kill by simply writing a name? It seemed too outlandish to exist, yet here it was, listed and valued within the market's system.

"Um, is everything alright?" Miyako's voice pulled him back to the present, concern flickering in her gaze.

"R-right," Toru stammered, quickly regaining some semblance of composure. He checked the price, barely suppressing another wave of shock. "You're good to go. As a matter of fact, the item you traded has given you enough credits to ensure that your descendants, fifteen generations down, could live as royalty. I recommend getting a market card to manage your balance. You can ask those around; they'll assist you." He rubbed his forehead, feeling the onset of a headache, the weight of the Death Note's existence pressing on him.

Miyako bowed slightly, gratitude and relief mingling in her expression. "Thank you," she said softly before making her way toward the others.

Toru watched her leave, his mind still reeling from the implications of what he had just encountered. 'How twisted must her world be to harbor such an item?' The thought lingered, unsettling him in a way few things had.

'I still haven't fully adjusted to this place yet, but I have to and fast. Otherwise I'll freeze at such encounters which can be dangerous in some situations.' He slumped into a chair, resting his arm on the counter and leaning his head against his hand. His eyes drifted over the room, taking in the mingling refugees and the few newcomers.

His gaze returned to Miyako as she spoke with someone at the ATM, likely arranging her newfound fortune. 'I never thought of it to be true, but I had my suspicions. ' he remembered her saying during their brief journey to retrieve the pendant. 'There are different nexus points, or there used to be.' 

'A bar.' she had mentioned, as though it were another variant of this market. 'Does that mean nexus points come in different forms?' He glanced around noting a point. 'With the look of a generic hypermarket, that could mean endless products, anything can be product regardless of what it is. Then that bar, if one thinks about it, it's a downgrade considered to this. Endless drinks? Unlimited beverages? Then could the market be some sort of a project? An upgrade to the old? It's confusing yet somehow clear.' 

He sighed as he tried to gather theories, but it's a bit too much for him now. Atleast he noted down a significant intel regarding its mysteries. 'But, is the one responsible. Could it be him?' He recalled the events that occured in the past, to where to kazuhiro was fighting the convicts.

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[The park]

The sharp crack of gunfire echoed through the park, cutting through the eerie silence like a knife. Toru's breath caught in his throat as he sprinted, adrenaline coursing through his veins, pushing him to the brink. He ducked behind a thick tree, his small frame collapsing against its rough bark, chest heaving as he struggled to regain control of his breath.

His heart pounded in his ears, drowning out all other sounds, but then a low, guttural moan broke through the haze of fear. Toru's eyes widened in alarm as he turned to see the shuffling figure of a corpse. Its dead, lifeless eyes locked onto him, drawn by the noise of his desperate breaths.

Panic surged through him, his limbs heavy and uncooperative as he tried to push himself up. His lungs burned from the sprint, and every movement felt sluggish, his strength drained by the intense exertion. He managed to stumble a few steps before his legs gave out beneath him, sending him sprawling onto the ground.

He tried to scramble backward, but the corpse was closing in, its decaying hands outstretched, ready to drag him into the darkness. Toru's breath hitched as he squeezed his eyes shut, bracing himself for the inevitable end. The only sound was his own heartbeat, a frantic drumbeat in his chest.

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"You can open your eyes now," a calm voice broke through the stillness, deep and steady, yet holding an edge of something... distant.

Toru hesitated, his breath still shaky as he cracked one eye open. The corpse that had been mere inches from him was now nothing but a pile of dismembered flesh, its body torn apart with clean, precise cuts. His gaze followed the trail of blood, leading to a man standing in the shadow of the tree.

The man's face was partially obscured, his features softened by the dim light filtering through the leaves. He had a lighter complexion, almost ethereal in the half-light, and his hair, hung slightly over his forehead. His outfit was sharp and formal. A suit with a long coat draped over his shoulders, giving him an air of authority that was as intimidating as it was comforting

Toru's mind raced, trying to piece together what had just happened. The corpse, the man—everything seemed to blur together in his confusion. But the stranger remained still, leaning casually against the tree, seemingly unfazed by the carnage at his feet.

"Look around before you decide to rest," the man advised, his voice carrying a note of quiet amusement as he fished a cigar from his pocket. He lit it with a flick of his lighter, the small flame casting brief shadows on his face, revealing just a hint of sharp, discerning eyes.

Toru remained where he was, still too stunned to move as the man exhaled a puff of smoke. He seemed almost nonchalant, as if saving a terrified child from certain death was just another part of his day.

The man tossed a small, cube object toward Toru, the block landing with a soft thud a few feet away. "Here," he said, his tone shifting to something more serious. "This should help you if you encounter any more danger. I know you'll use it wisely."

Toru's eyes flicked to the object—it was unassuming, a simple block that bore no markings or signs of its purpose. But the way the man spoke made it clear that it held some kind of significance. Gathering his courage, Toru finally found his voice, though it was barely above a whisper.

"Who… who are you?" he asked, his words laced with a mix of slight fear and curiosity.

The man didn't answer immediately. Instead, he turned slightly, giving Toru a better view of his face, though his expression remained inscrutable. "I'm sure you'll figure it out," he replied, his voice carrying a hint of mystery. As he began to walk away, he paused and glanced back over his shoulder, his gaze softening just a fraction. "The one you're with… go easy on him. He's been through a lot."

Seeing his figure leave after that message, he had to know more. "Wait—"

Toru's mind raced with questions, but before he could ask anything more, a loud honk echoed through the park, the sound piercing through the quiet. Toru's head whipped toward the direction of the noise, suddenly reminded of Kazuhiro and the battle that was raging on somewhere in the distance.

When he turned back, the man was gone. All that remained was the small block lying on the ground where the stranger had tossed it.

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Toru furrowed his brows, his gaze fixed on the device in his hand, the events from the past replaying in his mind. The object given to him by that mysterious figure still weighed heavily on his thoughts.

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Xxxx

__Inventory__

● Phantomweave cord.

● Almighty flame:

-- After pressing the button, the block must be thrown for it to activate. Once on the ground, it emits a large square boundary with a red hue emanating from its edges. After a 5-second countdown, anything within the boundary will be reduced to nothing but into ash. This powerful trap is effective if timed correctly. One-time use only.

Xxxx

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Toru had read the description multiple times, yet something still unsettled him. 'How did he know I would join the market?' The question gnawed at him. 'It's as if he anticipated my path, as if he knew exactly what I'd need.' The more he thought about it, the more it seemed like that figure was deeply involved in the very fabric of this place.

'Could he be the one responsible for all of this?' Toru wondered, the idea both terrifying and fascinating. 'I need to talk to Kazuhiro about it. If anyone knows, it should be him.'

His train of thought was interrupted by a voice. "Toru, was it?"

Toru looked up to see the older man he recognized, the man introduced himself as the leader of a village. Two others stood beside him, one a masked figure and the other a man who called himself Jiraya.

"Yes? How may I help you?" Toru asked, pocketing his device, his tone as monotone as ever.

"I want you to approve of someone willing to venture into another world," the Hokage stated.

Toru nodded. "Then you must know there's a procedure for that."

"I am aware," the Hokage replied, his voice was firm.

"Then which world would that be?"

Jiraiya grinned, gesturing the number with his hand. "That would be the fifth world."

Toru raised an eyebrow slightly. "I see. I wonder if it will work."

"What do you mean?" The hokage raised an eyebrow.

"As you know, aside from the travel fees, it requires the approval of both a worker and a local from that world to bypass the travel restrictions," Toru explained. "Since I reside in that world and am also a worker, will it even work if I fill the approvals for both?"

Jiraiya considered this for a moment before a smile crept onto his face. "Might as well find out. How much?"

"25 SC for a year's stay in that world. You can come and go as you please until that subscription ends," Toru replied, recalling the details Kazuhiro had informed him of. "Be aware that time differs in every world. Years there can be seconds here or vice versa."

 As Jiraiya counted out his credits, Toru's eyes caught the distinct scales symbol on the coins—proof that they were indeed credits from the market. 'who would've thought someone would go for the physical options of the credits.'

With 25 coins now laid on the counter, the machine registered the payment before the coins vanished, replaced by a paper ticket that detailed the world and the remaining time on the subscription.

"Here you go," Toru said, handing over the ticket. "This is your key to the fifth world. Lose it, and you'll have to purchase another."

"Thanks, kid," Jiraiya said with a grin before heading back to where Minato and Rubeus were.

He looked at the hokage, still standing in place, "is there anything I can help you with?" 

The Hokage looked at Toru thoughtfully before speaking. "Yes, I have a question. Are trades between worlds permissible? If so, I'd like to establish a trade agreement with the eleventh world, where Rubeus resides."

Toru paused, considering. "I'm not sure about that. I don't know if it's allowed by the market. I suggest you wait for my supervisor's return. He knows much more than I do."

The Hokage nodded, seemingly satisfied with the answer. "I see. And does the same apply to becoming an adventurer?"

Toru nodded again. "Yes, you'll need to wait for his return."

"Well then," The Hokage turned to the masked girl beside him. "Inform Minato to stay here and relay the message to Fujii."

"Yes, Hokage-sama," she replied, before the Hokage suddenly vanished in a puff of smoke, leaving Toru momentarily surprised.

'I thought using powers was nullified here,' Toru thought, his eyes widening slightly at the unexpected turn of events. He was about to address the matter with those affiliated with the Hokage but was stopped by the masked girl.

"There's no need, what you saw was a clone of the former. Hokage-sama has sent the clone to venture in his stead."

Toru digested this new information, nodding slowly. 'They are ninjas, after all. I suppose such skills are common among them,' he thought, returning to his seat behind the counter.

But as he sat down, his mind began to wander back to the growing mysteries of the market. 'I still need to learn more about the worlds that have appeared during my absence,' he thought. 'I need to prepare myself for whatever might come next.'

Getting up from his chair, Toru decided to head back to where the majority of people were gathered. He'd been informed earlier that there was a kiosk where he could gather information on the various worlds connected to the market.

Toru arrived at the information kiosk, deciding to figure out the interface on his own. It didn't take him long to navigate through the controls and understand how the system worked. He methodically began to read through the descriptions of the worlds connected to the market, one by one, from World 1 to World 15.

As he scrolled through the worlds, some of them were familiar. Places he had heard about or encountered in some form. Others were entirely new to him, bizarre and filled with supernatural elements that stretched the limits of his imagination.

When he reached the entry for World 15, his eyes narrowed as he read the details. 'World 15 is infested with devils triggered by people's phobias,' he muttered to himself, furrowing his brows in concern. 'Living in such a world must be agonizing.' The thought lingered in his mind, a mix of empathy and a slight chill running down his spine as he imagined the kind of horrors that might exist there.

Closing the tab for World 15, Toru's eyes caught something. A buffering icon, just below the last world he had read about. He leaned in closer, curious about what it might signify, but before he could investigate further, a soft beep drew his attention.

The door to the market had swung open, and the sudden sound caused heads to turn, including Toru's. Emerging from the doorway was a boy with brown hair and green eyes. He wore a black-striped, white shirt with short sleeves and military green cargo pants. The most striking thing about the newcomer was the large accessory watch strapped to his wrist, almost too big for his small frame. Toru raised an eyebrow, observing the boy, who seemed to be close to his own age.

'Judging by his posture... he must really need to go,' Toru thought, noticing the boy's restless shifting. He frowned slightly, more out of habit than annoyance, as he studied the boy's movements.

"What..." the boy muttered, his mouth slightly agape as he took in the unfamiliar surroundings of the market, clearly overwhelmed by what he was seeing.

Toru, realizing the boy's predicament, decided to help him out before things got messy. "Head that way, and keep going straight," Toru instructed, pointing down the directions. "The bathroom should be to your left."

"Uh," The boy blinked, his thoughts clearly racing with questions, but the urgency of his situation outweighed his curiosity, rushing off in the direction Toru had indicated.

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(Bonus segment)

[W????]

The command center was in chaos. Alarms blared, screens flickered with urgent warnings, and voices overlapped as everyone scrambled to comprehend what was happening.

"What's the threat level?!" a man in a uniform barked, trying to make himself heard over the cacophony. His tone was sharp, betraying his mounting frustration.

A woman, seated in front of a bank of monitors, frantically tapped at her console, her face bathed in the glow of red alerts. "U—unknown for the moment! It seems like some sort of malfunction!" she called back, her voice edged with panic as she dismissed one alert after another, only for more to take their place.

"DAMN IT! This is the worst possible time for a system failure!" The man cursed under his breath, gnawing at his thumb in a display of uncharacteristic anxiety. 'That large beam of light… it overwhelmed our systems. It must be something big.'

"What do we do?!" the woman demanded, her voice barely audible over the rising din. "We don't even know what we're dealing with yet!"

"Tsk!" The man's frustration boiled over. "We can't assess its threat level without more data! But we can't risk waiting either. The beam hit Z-City, so we might have some time to react. Send in everyone—all the S-Class heroes."

"All of them?" the woman echoed, her voice tight with disbelief, nearly drowned out by the continuing noise of alarms and hurried conversations.

"Yes, all of them!" He turned sharply toward her. "Report it to the Hero Association! Tell them we couldn't identify or assess the threat, but it's urgent!"

"Roger!" she responded, her fingers already flying across the keyboard to relay the orders.

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[Z-city]

In a quieter corner of Z-City, the chaos of the command center was a distant concern. A bald man in a plain shirt and shorts stood calmly, his expression unchanging even as the massive beam of light that had descended from the sky dissipated before him. just inches before the beam touched his being.

The ground where the beam had struck was scorched, but as the light faded, it revealed something unexpected.

The man blinked once, then twice, his face remaining impassive. "Hm?" he muttered, more out of habit than any real surprise. He took a few steps closer, his flip-flops slapping lightly against the ground, curiosity piqued more by its sudden appearance than by any sense of danger.

As he got closer he noticed that what stood was a door. It stood upright, incongruously ordinary amidst the devastation, with a single, mysterious emblem of a scale etched into its surface. He noticed that it had a emblem on its sole. 

Remembering something crucial. With a plastic shopping bag in hand, he absentmindedly rummaged through it. "That reminds me," he mused aloud, "I forgot to buy a pack of eggs."

He glanced back at the door especially its scale mark, his expression unchanging. "Convenient," he remarked, almost to himself. Without a second thought, and with the same nonchalance he approached everything else in life, the bald man decided to step inside.

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(AN: Apologies for the wait, I should upload two starting from the next week. Extra for the missed upload last week.)