"So, the reason you called me here… is to develop a large-scale network that goes beyond just local connections? Does that mean once it's built, I can finally play games with people outside of the Hidden Leaf Village?"

In the mental network world, the Nine-Tails—now shrunken to human size—asked with great excitement, a stark contrast to its earlier impatience.

The sight was enough to confirm it: the once-mighty Nine-Tails had now become a full-blown internet-addicted fox.

Truly a tragic tale.

Uchiha Kei took a moment of silent mourning, then pulled himself together. Grabbing hold of the Nine-Tails, he immediately refined part of its chakra and infused it into the mental network world to conduct a test.

As a fusion of mental and physical energy, chakra was practically omnipotent within the mental network. Functions that usually required high-tech gadgets could be accomplished purely through the chakra system.

From the Sharingan to sealing scrolls—even chakra itself—it all followed the same principle.

Kei had brought the Nine-Tails in to see if it could serve as a signal base within the mental network. The inspiration came from the original storyline.

During the Fourth Great Ninja War, Naruto Uzumaki distributed the Nine-Tails' chakra among the Allied Shinobi Forces. With this, they not only gained immense power but also accomplished incredible feats.

From Minato Namikaze's use of the chakra link to instantly teleport everyone via the Flying Raijin Jutsu, to the sharing of thoughts and emotions—creating miraculous communication among people.

And then there was the Tailed Beast Realm, a spiritual dimension where tailed beasts could connect. In essence, it was like a low-tier version of the mental network.

Everything pointed to the tailed beasts being highly compatible with the mental network system—they were the perfect candidates for ninja-world signal towers.

Thus, using the Nine-Tails for testing made perfect sense.

Sure enough, Kei's efforts in converting the Nine-Tails' chakra into a spiritual network signal tower went smoothly—so smoothly it felt like mastering a skill in a game with maxed-out resources.

But problems arose after the experiment.

Kei had initially hoped the vast chakra reserves of the Nine-Tails would allow him to build a network that covered an entire nation. However, after the test, he realized that was wishful thinking.

The Nine-Tails was powerful and had immense spiritual energy. But its maximum range—even when fully exerted—was only around a 500-kilometer radius.

And that was purely theoretical. Real-world obstacles like mountains, underground terrain, and interference from special minerals would reduce it further.

In actual use, a 300-kilometer radius was the safest bet. Beyond that, the signal would weaken and the network would become unstable.

Naturally, this result left Kei deeply dissatisfied—it was far below expectations.

The Nine-Tails, who had been with him the entire time, noticed his frown. It had just been entertaining itself with its current transformation—posing like a beautiful fox maiden, admiring itself in a mirror.

With a cool tone that clashed oddly with its flirtatious appearance, the fox asked, "What's wrong? Did it not work?"

Kei could only sigh internally—this fox was acting more and more like an actual lady.

Tragic. It was a slippery slope. Sooner or later, it would get wrecked.

Of course, he kept that thought to himself and responded plainly, "No, it worked. Just not as well as I'd hoped."

He explained the coverage issue.

The Nine-Tails raised a delicate hand, tapping its chin with a soft finger—clearly an unconscious habit picked up through all its time spent playing traditional games, particularly Japanese ones.

Those elegant heroines in the games often had such gestures, and the Nine-Tails had started imitating them after getting hooked on cosplay.

Kei could only lament inwardly: the Nine-Tails' "wreckability" just kept increasing.

Suddenly, the fox sensed a wave of hostility. Glancing around warily, it didn't suspect Kei—because in this mental realm, Kei *was* the world. If he had malice, it would feel like the entire realm was against it.

And since the hostility vanished as quickly as it appeared, the Nine-Tails chalked it up to someone else's hatred toward the "Nine-Tailed Fox."

While it still didn't like such negativity, the fox was no longer bothered by it. After all, it was happy now. A different, harmless emotion was slowly seeping into it… perhaps that was the real reason its wreckability was growing.

Returning to the issue, the Nine-Tails spoke again. "So relying on just me as the signal base isn't enough? What if you add more towers—one every so often across the land?"

"That way, even if you can't cover the whole continent, covering the Land of Fire and nearby areas should be doable, right?"

Kei paused. "Add more towers…? Hm. Theoretically, yes. But how do we place them every few hundred kilometers? This setup relies on your chakra. That would mean using other tailed beasts—or you splitting yourself."

Also, you even changed your manner of speech after transforming. Nine-Tails, you're really on the path of no return…

He added that snark mentally.

The Nine-Tails cradled its right elbow with its left hand, toying with its silver hair using slender fingers. "Exactly. I'm talking about splitting. You know my situation—splitting off chakra isn't hard for me. It's just that no human has ever managed to get me to do it before."

"You're just borrowing my chakra to build these towers anyway. So just store the split-off chakra in one of your ninja tools and plant it all around the Land of Fire."

"Even if each fragment can only cover a few dozen kilometers, with enough of them, the signals will overlap to form bridges—and my consciousness can spread across them."

"If that happens, maybe your genjutsu network can stretch as far as my will can reach?"

Kei raised an eyebrow at the idea and rested his chin on his hand. "Theoretically, yeah. In fact, that might be the right way to build the network if advanced tech isn't an option."

It was exactly what the old empire used to do.

He hadn't considered it earlier—partly because he wasn't sure the Nine-Tails would agree to splitting its chakra, especially without Naruto or a war.

Also, the system's given tech blueprint was highly advanced—super stations in sync with satellites, covering vast areas with minimal infrastructure. He'd been focused on that approach.

But if that wasn't feasible right now, the clumsy method would have to do.

Though resource-heavy and vulnerable to sabotage, it was currently the most realistic way to establish large-scale coverage in the ninja world.

As someone who had seen a backward world develop into something advanced, Kei understood one thing well: some things had to be done—risk and all—because only through construction could greatness be achieved.

And even if these towers were easy to destroy, they were also easy to repair. With backup units hidden throughout high-risk areas, one could simply switch to spares if needed.

If even the backups were taken out, then it would mean full-scale war anyway—at which point, priorities would shift.

Since the Nine-Tails was willing to cooperate—then so be it!

With that, Kei set out to continue his research. This time, he brought in Kushina Uzumaki and Orochimaru—and even reached out secretly to Sasori, pulling him into the project.

The moment everyone heard the plan for a massive network, their eyes lit up.

After all, they'd already experienced its benefits. Kei himself was a signal hub, though his coverage was limited to the Leaf. Still, the reliability of the messaging app and the ease of accessing the genjutsu realm had everyone hooked.

Kei made it clear: the new network would work with both the genjutsu realm and the messaging app. Just imagining having those features even outside the village was enough to show how insanely valuable it was.

Once completed, it would change the world.

And to be part of something that world-changing—even those who didn't care about fame were thrilled. It was a project that let them realize their full potential and leave their mark on history.

Motivated and energized, the group dove into research. They weren't just working in isolation either—sometimes going outside to ask questions or borrow equipment.

Before long, the first prototype was completed: a small signal tower.

It used sealing techniques and engineering knowledge from Sasori, along with support jutsu like the Yamanaka Clan's Mind Transfer Jutsu.

The result was a rough-looking structure made of wood and steel, about 3 meters wide and 5 meters tall, covered in ninjutsu symbols—like a giant metal stake.

Sure, it was bulky for a prototype and had a range of only 3 kilometers, but that was enough.

This was a proof of concept. The tower successfully connected to Kei—the "core server"—and created a working signal bridge.

Though crude and far from elegant, the sheer beauty of what it represented was staggering. For Orochimaru and Sasori, it was mesmerizing.

The hardest part of any creation is going from nothing to something.

And Kei and his team had just brought the signal network from 0 to 1.

To expand the range, they'd only need to scale the design.

Of course, the bigger it got, the harder it would be to manage. Resources and manpower became major constraints. So, while scaling up, they'd also need to improve efficiency.

Kei tasked Orochimaru and Sasori with this next step—collaborating on optimization.

Yes, Kei had arranged for the two to meet. When they did, Orochimaru looked genuinely surprised. He hadn't expected Kei to have someone like *him* on his team.

Especially since the other party was none other than Sasori—the one recently being hunted by Sunagakure.

Orochimaru chuckled. "Kei-kun, you really are unlike anyone else. The so-called rules of the shinobi and the system of the villages… they're nothing but chains that stifle your talent."

Kei offered a different perspective. "No, Orochimaru-dono. Those things have never been obstacles—they're tools. And back when I was weak, they actually protected me. So I'll continue to maintain them firmly."

"As for what comes after… isn't that what we have Minato for? We can trust him to change both the Leaf and the world, can't we?"