Time slipped by, and another two years passed since the full implementation of the "Deep Blue Nexus 2.0" plan.
During those two years, the Shinobi World appeared peaceful on the surface, even enjoying unprecedented prosperity.
Rōran's standard currency, the "Rōran Yuan," had become the primary settlement currency for international trade. The main lines of the continent-spanning rail network were largely connected, the smart energy grid brought stable energy supplies to many remote regions, and Rōran's technological products permeated every aspect of life.
The economic levers Sōkyū Hatake had built were like spreading vines, tightly entwining and connecting the entire Shinobi World, taking deep root.
Yet beneath this facade of prosperity and stability, undercurrents never stopped surging.
Old nobles stripped of their traditional power and interests, conservative ninja afraid that Rōran's technological torrent would obliterate their cultures and ways of the ninja, and local powers whose interests had suffered during "integration"...
These scattered sources of discontent, once suppressed by Sōkyū Hatake's absolute power and economic measures, quietly gathered in desperation.
They dared not confront Rōran openly and could only retreat deeper underground, like lurking venomous snakes, waiting for a possible change-an opportunity to shake the foundations of Rōran's rule.
They secretly forged connections and established an organization called "Tracing the Source," signifying their intent to trace the source of power and escape Rōran's technological "shackles."
The organization's membership was complex. It included radicals in Iwagakure dissatisfied with Ōnoki's weakness, militant factions in Kumogakure who believed Kakashi relied too heavily on his younger brother, old powers in Konoha seeking to restore their clans' glory, and even elders secretly contacted by Sunagakure's Ebizo who were concerned about Pakura's absolute loyalty to Sōkyū Hatake.
They moved like ghosts, communicating through ancient secret passages and methods of communication not yet fully covered by Rōran's intelligence