A new year, Konoha, early summer.
Two things happened that year.
First, the Konoha Network Grand Barrier was established, marking the Shinobi World's departure from simple, primitive communication and its entry into an information age built upon a chakra network.
Second, Kabuto was born.
Konoha Barrier Team, Grand Barrier Control Center.
This was the control center of Konoha's entire Grand Barrier. The enormous circular chamber was packed with sensory ninja from the Yamanaka clan and members of the Barrier Team.
The air was filled with a dry smell, like an overheated server room.
At the center stood a massive crystal ball over three meters in diameter. It had been built based on the jutsu the Third Hokage had used to spy on the women's bathhouse throughout Konoha through the Hokage Grand Barrier.
All around it, countless strange plants modified by Orochimaru supplied chakra to the giant crystal ball as though they were living people.
"Hokage-sama, all nodes are ready. The application can connect to the local area network for testing!"
A ninja nervously transmitted the information through the local network to the top-floor office, his voice trembling slightly. "The server's chakra supply has been confirmed stable. Shall we reboot Konoha's new barrier?"
He was incredibly nervous, because the project he had applied to the Fourth Hokage for was finally going live today!
The ultra-large Konoha resource map manager!
"Begin."
Hiroki's voice came through the headset, unnaturally calm, as though all he had to do was press a power button. "Remember the command."
But in truth, that was exactly what it was.
The ninja responsible for activation swallowed and looked around. Nearly every member of the Sealing Team and Barrier Team had been gathered here. Though they had run the process countless times, the thought of connecting to tens of thousands