Traveling through Naruto with Heroes of Might and Magic.

"I'll be right back."

After greeting the eagerly waiting Tianzang and Zhishui, Qingwu couldn't wait to soar into the sky.

Two hours later, he left the Hokage Building.

Behind him were two Konoha advisors trembling with anger, and the Third Hokage with shaking hands.

They've hollowed it out; Konoha's finances have been completely depleted.

But they dared not, or rather... were unable to, say anything.

"Hiruzen, he just took him away like that?" Koharu Utatane said with heartache, "But he hasn't promised to go to the front lines yet."

"I think we were a bit stunned just now," Mitokado Homura said.

“We should send someone to the outside of the Death Forest… no, don’t disturb them, just… express the village’s grandeur and waiting attitude, be humble, but don’t pressure them.”

Seeing Mitokado Homura's attitude, Utatane Koharu became even angrier.

The third generation leader spoke softly, "He will go, no matter the cost. As long as he takes it, he will give back!"

The third generation leader believed he had not misjudged this point.

Mitokado Homura nodded thoughtfully. Yes, if he didn't want to have anything to do with the village, he wouldn't have come to find the Third Hokage in the first place.

No wonder, no wonder Hiruzen had to endure the heartache and even take out military funds to appear generous.

……

Qingwu, who returned to his territory without stopping, did not hesitate to invest natural energy and a large amount of converted gold coins.

【Ding! 】

[Activate Ancient Praise and upgrade the Centaur Stable?]

【Ding! 】

[Activate Ancient Praise to upgrade the Dwarf Village buildings?]

【Ding! 】

【………】

[Activate Ancient Praise and upgrade the buildings in Dragoncliff?]

In one fell swoop, all seven-tier barracks were upgraded.

Qingwu is not worried about the losses being wasted.

Based on past experience, the more resources consumed, the greater the benefits gained.

Buzz! Buzz! Buzz! Buzz buzz buzz—!

Seven beams of light, each a different color, enveloped the seven military camps scattered throughout the territory.

Within the beam of light, there were some subtle changes in the barracks.

It doesn't seem to have the same scale as the previous upgrades to ancient trees and the construction of new buildings.

But in Qingwu's perception, the barracks seemed to have broken through some inherent limitations and opened a path to a higher level.

A moment later, the beam of light dissipated.

Qingwu opened the panel and, sure enough, the troops that previously needed to be upgraded at the tower after recruitment can now be recruited directly as advanced troops.

Centaur leader, dwarf warrior, archel, silver pegasus, withered tree guard, unicorn, golden dragon!

He already had the other Qingwu units; his attention was focused on the final units.

"Let's start with a golden dragon!"

Qingwu rubbed his hands together, secretly excited. This day had finally arrived.

【Ding! 】

[Consumes 1 unit of Natural Essence]

One of the light cocoons on the tree canopy disappeared, and at the same time—

hold head high--!!!!

A majestic dragon roar, capable of shattering gold and splitting rocks, soared into the sky from the depths of Dragon Cliff!

The dragon's roar was high-pitched and powerful, instantly spreading throughout the entire Forest of Death and even reaching Konoha Village, causing countless ninjas and civilians to look in horror toward the Forest of Death.

Before the shocked eyes of Tianzang and Zhishui, a dazzling golden pillar of light erupted from the entrance to Dragon Cliff!

In the light, a colossal creature slowly stretched its body and flew into the air!

At first glance, it appears to be nearly 100 meters long, its entire body covered with magnificent scales that seem to be made of pure gold, yet shimmer with the luster of life, shining brightly in the morning sun.

The enormous dragon wings spread out, blotting out the sky and casting shadows that covered a vast forest.

With its long, graceful neck, majestic and proud dragon head, and a pair of golden dragon horns that curve backward like a crown on its forehead, it exudes boundless power.

It is the ultimate unit of the seventh tier of the Barrier - the Golden Dragon!

It simply hovered there quietly, its dragon might as a tangible mountain pressing down on Tianzang, making it hard for him to breathe.

Even Shisui, who possessed a kaleidoscope, felt a pang of fear.

That was an overwhelming dominance on a life level, the aura of a tyrant at the very top of the food chain.

"This...this is..." Tianzang was so shocked that he couldn't speak.

For months, the captain had been "tinkering" within the territory, but he never expected that he would actually "research" and create such a creature.

"It's...it's so shocking," Shisui murmured, his eyes filled with awe.

Looking up at the magnificent golden dragon in the sky, Qingwu felt a surge of pride.

With it, the sky will be ruled!

Especially... after Dragon Cliff is built, golden dragons can be mass-produced.

You can recruit one every week, and you can recruit a total of four in a month.

Yes, at least until the natural essence in the canopy of the ancient tree is depleted.

"It's not over yet!"

Excitement gleamed in Qingwu's eyes as he turned and leaped toward the tower, the golden dragon in the sky following closely behind, its enormous form shrinking as it descended.

Like the unicorn, the golden dragon can also shrink in size when not in combat.

Otherwise, it would indeed be somewhat inconvenient.

"The hero unit for the Deadwood Guardian is already Woodwood, so... what about the other six unit types?"

The time has come to verify our hypothesis.

Upon entering the tower, Qingwu eagerly opened the control interface and almost shouted out in happiness when he discovered that his troops could indeed be upgraded again.

However, just like skill upgrades, there are limited upgrade slots for troop upgrades, and each upgrade takes a considerable amount of time.

……

Chapter 281 Clues to the World Tree

After standing still for a moment, Qingwu first invested the low-level centaur leader into the upgrade.

As for low-level troops, frankly speaking, they are of negligible use against the enemies he is currently facing; they can only be used as cannon fodder.

So let's promote them in order.

In any case, units like the Unicorn and Golden Dragon are the main force of the army even without upgrading.

After finishing the troop upgrade, Qingwu stepped onto the back of the golden dragon, soared through the sky, and experienced the speed difference between it and the silver pegasus.

Then, they returned to the majestic ancient tree that had covered the entire territory.

With the natural energy surging within him after receiving feedback from the ancient tree, he needed time to properly digest all the changes brought about by this upgrade.

However, when he focused his attention on the system panel again, he was stunned.

【Ding! 】

[Detection indicates that the Ancient Tree of Life (Prehistoric Era) has reached its current stage limit!]

[Unlock the next stage: World Tree (Complete Form)]

[World Tree: Special upgrade conditions required!]

[Special Condition: Absorb a world fragment containing the essence of life, or an energy core of the same level!]

[System Analysis Suggestion: Try to obtain items such as "Divine Tree Fruit" or "Natural Energy Source Core".]

"The fruit of the divine tree? The essence of nature?"

Qingwu's pupils contracted slightly. Back in Takigakure Village, when the system detected the "Sacred Tree" as the "Ancient Tree of Life (fake)," he had already made some guesses.

It is speculated that the system's power structure may have some deep connection or influence with this ninja world.

This has now been confirmed.

He transformed the sacred tree in Takigakure Village into a secondary territory, and now... if he wants the Ancient Tree of Life to evolve into its complete form, he must obtain the fruit of the Divine Tree.

Yes, the three sacred sites may be related to the origin of nature.

But... I feel that perhaps because it was born relatively recently, the natural energy contained in my territory may already surpass that of the three holy lands.

Therefore, a natural source of the same level cannot be obtained in a short period of time.

Waiting for thousands of years? By then, the opportunity will have passed!

In comparison, obtaining the "fruit of the divine tree" seems to be a more permanent solution.

"It seems that if we want to go further, we can't get around the Otsutsuki clan. Perhaps... we can 'help' Black Zetsu complete the Eye of the Moon Plan?"

Qingwu's eyes flickered as she quickly made a plan in her mind.

To obtain that thing means that he will likely have the most direct conflict with Kaguya Otsutsuki, Black Zetsu, and even the possibly resurrected Madara Uchiha, as well as the Akatsuki organization's plans.

But this is not a bad thing; the path to strength is one of continuous climbing.

Moreover, helping Black Zetsu execute the Eye of the Moon Plan? No, he's more inclined to... steal the fruits of others' labor!