Chapter 118: The New Era
Time slipped by, and the years passed in a blink.
In these three years, the world had changed again and again.
The Moon Dream crisis had shifted from an apocalyptic threat into a controllable test of human nature. Over those three years, tens of millions perished inside that sweet illusion.
Everyone's feelings toward Moon Dream were complicated. Objectively, it was a horrific disease that shattered the old five nation order. That beautiful dream nearly collapsed the structure of reality itself. One percent of the world's population died directly within the false paradise. Countless more lost the ability to work, reduced to surviving on non physical labor alone.
Yet this unimaginable plague also birthed something that once seemed impossible in the ninja world. Two years ago, no one would have believed the chakra signal towers, built only to halt Moon Dream's spread, would become essential to daily life. The network those towers formed seemed to fulfill the Sage of Six Paths' supposed wish for chakra, bringing people closer, letting strangers hear each other's hearts.
The despair from Moon Dream, the confusion it planted in countless minds, all of it was answered within that chakra network. People who did not know each other relied on one another, opened their hearts, and shared burdens without ever seeing a face.
A story that sounded like fantasy had become reality. And perhaps only in an age this sorrowful could fragile truth finally take root.
Two years on, even the most remote Sand Village lay under the signal web spreading from the Land of Fire. A dense chakra network stretched across the world, communicating without pause. Even civilians could use special devices to connect, sending blessings and wishes to people they might never meet.
Ninjas, with chakra in their bodies, enjoyed privileges unique to this system. Sleep could be exchanged for study time. In dreams, they trained endlessly, catching up on everything they could not grasp while awake. They fought in ranked battles, life and death clashes against illusory enemies to prove their strength. They even found kindred spirits through the fully anonymous web, speaking freely without fear of origin or status.
Once two people confirmed their feelings, once both were certain they could appear in person and register with Konoha's authorities, they could meet in the real world and deepen those bonds.
Sometimes it was awkward, like accidentally bonding with someone from an outer village, but even that was not a real problem.
Root, the borderless organization, had become the strongest neutral power alive. It already commanded a ninja army that rivaled any of the five great nations. Dedicated to balance and the eradication of war, it grew stronger by the day. Every time Danzo spoke, lecture halls overflowed. His ideal of burying oneself deep for the sake of peace moved countless shinobi who had tasted the battlefield's cruelty.
And those who dared to face reality, those geniuses who tried to understand the true nature of the world and its hidden crises, were tested in another way. A series of difficult problems awaited them. If they passed, the mysterious entrance to Las Noches would open. The legendary research sanctuary would allow them in.
Life within the chakra network surpassed imagination. Sand, Stone, Cloud, Mist, all chose to join. Then every other village, large and small, followed. The entire ninja world was wrapped in a web made of thought and power. Chakra poured through it in endless flow, traversing the skies like invisible rivers.
If someone used chakra vision to look down from above, they would see countless signals and radiations flooding the land like light without end. It became almost impossible to observe what was happening beneath.
But that did not matter to ordinary people. They lived by sight, not chakra.
Across these three years, every village found its own new path. War's shadow had been pushed far away, yet fierce struggle did not vanish. It simply changed its shape.
"Hey, over there, move aside, Rin. Can't you see Rin is rushing to the Chunin Exams?"
"Um... Obito, please don't do this, okay?"
"How can I not?"
On Konoha's streets, Obito walked with absolute righteousness on his face, while Rin limped behind him in embarrassment.
"Your injury still hasn't healed. Damn it, if I find the scoundrel who beat you up through the virtual network, I'll get that revenge myself."
"Actually, I chose to do it..."
"Oh? I get it. Rin, you're brave. Way braver than me. I wouldn't dare turn on simulation mode right before an exam."
"Don't say it like that..."
Obito scratched the back of his head, grinning like a fool. Rin sighed, already cursing her own terrible internet habits.
When something new appears, young people accept it first. At eleven or twelve, when chaos and stubbornness are natural, even someone as gentle as Rin had fallen for the chakra network's allure.
In the dream battles, there was a special option popular among shinobi. The Realistic Network, available only to chakra users. It could fully simulate textures and pain, letting users fight all kinds of ninjas as if it were real. The price was simple. It was too real. Getting killed, feeling your body torn apart, suffering that level of agony in a single day, was normal.
Rin only wanted to indulge a little before the exams. Instead, she ran into a Sand Village automation specialist who hunted weak accounts for fun. She was pinned against a wall, drowned in a silicon crystal storm, and left dismembered in the simulation.
What could she say? She tried to reward herself with a game, and got farmed by a murderer.
Rin knew she was wrong. Still, all she could do now was limp toward the exam hall and hope her body would not betray her.
"Rin, want me to carry you?"
"No, that's not needed."
"It's fine. I still have strength."
Then, as Obito's eyes lit up with the eagerness to play hero, Rin smiled faintly and changed the subject.
"By the way, I heard Kakashi is taking the Chunin Exams this year too."
Obito froze for a beat. Rin kept going.
"It's been almost two years since we last saw him, right? Last time we talked, he wouldn't even turn on video. He felt so distant. I want to talk to him properly this time."
"Kakashi, that traitor, betrayed Konoha. I'll never forgive him."
"You mean Lord Aizen's decision was wrong?"
"Ah... this..."
"Or do you think Lord Aizen's judgment is flawed?"
"That..."
Rin's kind smile did not change, but Obito's words dried up like water in sand.
She sighed, limping down the slope, and whispered quietly.
"I wanted to join Las Noches. I wanted to become Aizen's researcher. But I'm still too stupid. I haven't received that legendary letter yet."
"It's okay. I believe you can do it."
Obito grinned at the girl he loved and gave a thumbs up.
"You're right. I believe in you, Rin. No matter what Las Noches or Aizen thinks, you can definitely make it."
"Hey, what are you doing? Watch your step. You're a Konoha ninja, aren't you? Why are you limping around like that?"
A cold snort cut through their moment. A Sand ninja strode up behind them, carrying a massive humanoid object on his back as if it weighed nothing.
"You call yourselves Konoha shinobi? If you've got hands and feet, don't block the road. Move faster."
"Tch... Sand Village fetishes."
Obito said it without thinking.
Then he realized where he was.
This was real life, not the anonymous network.
He clapped a hand over his mouth, but it was too late. The Sand ninja's face flushed red with fury as he spun around.
"What the hell did you say? You got a problem with my wife?"
"..."
"Tch. It's not Root, Hueco Mundo, or the Thirteenth Division, so why are you meddling in other people's hobbies?"
So only Root people or Aizen's faction get to gossip about you?
The man strode past with arrogant pride, still carrying the puppet. Its chest was enormous, so large it even hid its face.
Obito and Rin went silent. The aura alone forced them to shrink back.
Normally someone would have stopped this kind of nonsense in Konoha. Yet the streets did not react that way at all. People stared in awe, some even admired the Sand ninja openly. Not a single soul dared to challenge him.
"I think I should go take the Chunin Exams, Obito."
"Ah... um..."
Obito swallowed hard. With the Sand 'strongman' and his wife now leaving a clear five meter radius around them, he nervously followed Rin toward the exam venue.
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