Traveling through Naruto with Heroes of Might and Magic.

The appearance of the special building [Magic Tower] allowed him to enjoy the benefits of upgrading his troops ahead of time.

Although, even upgraded basic units cannot cross ranks.

However, if the quantity is large enough, the bonus is quite considerable.

An hour passed in the blink of an eye.

【Ding! 】

[Magic upgrade successful!]

[The Slow Technique has been upgraded to LV2]

Qingwu snapped out of her thoughts and looked at the skill descriptions in the [Spellbook].

[Slowness Spell LV2]: Basic Earth Magic

[Effect]: Uses natural energy to affect an area with a diameter of 15 meters. All creatures within the area have their attack and movement speed reduced by 35%.

"not bad!"

Qingwu was in high spirits; the magic's range increased by a full 5 meters, and the control effect was enhanced by 10%.

This made him even more eager to upgrade the Deadwood Guardian.

However, the skill upgrade slot was currently empty, so Qingwu thought for a moment and selected to upgrade the fire-type [Bloodlust Technique] that he had just obtained.

【Ding! 】

[Bloodlust Magic Upgrade in Progress...]

[Remaining time: 168 hour]

After a week, once the upgrade was selected, the skill icon turned gray, indicating that it was temporarily unavailable.

Qingwu didn't pay any attention.

The Bloodlust Technique can only be maximized when there are many different troop types.

In the upcoming Chunin Exams 1v1 matches, it's highly likely that you won't even need to deploy any special units to win easily.

Time passed second by second...

At night, Qingwu opened her eyes.

【Ding! 】

[Troop upgrade successful!]

[The Deadwood Guardian has been upgraded to a hero!]

"???"

Qingwu thought of a possibility and quickly opened the panel to check.

Sure enough, the Deadwood Guardian has been separated into its own unit category, and a suffix has been added to its name.

【Deadwood Guardian (Hero)】

【Ding! 】

Please name the new hero!

666 Ah!

Qingwu was overjoyed.

At this point, the Deadwood Guardian is now marked as ready to fight, which means it has recovered.

And it has even evolved into a hero.

With the surge in attributes, the possibility of transcending social classes is officially realized.

"Is it true that one cannot build something new without destroying it?"

"From this perspective, compared to the benefits gained in the battle against Orochimaru, the losses of the basic troops are simply negligible."

"Or perhaps the Withered Wood Guardian from the newbie gift pack is special?"

Qingwu then thought of another possibility.

From the very beginning, the only unit type that could be easily communicated with was the Deadwood Guardian.

Perhaps it inherently possesses the qualities to evolve into a hero.

With a delighted expression, Qingwu saw the naming prompt and said, "Mumu, let's call her Mumu."

In terms of the game's background, the heroes' names are all Westernized.

But... it's my territory, I'm in charge. Mumu is so kind and fitting!

【Ding! 】

[Naming successful!]

[Mumu (Deadwood Guardian) Level 19]

[Note: Hero levels are synchronized with the lord's level!]

【Ding! 】

[Unlock new features!]

Lords can share skills with heroes!

Another series of system prompts followed.

Qingwu was so happy she almost fainted.

If he can use the Deadwood Guardian's skill [Root Entanglement], his combat style will become more diverse.

The effect of the [Root Entanglement] skill is: after hitting, the target cannot move (but can attack and counterattack).

In other words, as long as the opponent's attack threshold cannot break the roots, the user will be permanently controlled in place.

He also possesses the earth magic [Slow Spell].

The combination of these two techniques is simply a god-tier skill for controlling the battlefield!

Moreover, "skill sharing" means that the Deadwood Guardian can also use his four elemental magics.

There will be more crowd control and buff spells later on.

The Deadwood Guardian possesses the ability to "lead an army alone".

Qingwu was excited for a long time.

But in order to avoid attracting attention, he stayed inside the tower for another day.

They didn't emerge from the tower until the next morning.

Still in high spirits, he greeted the ANBU guards around the tower and headed straight for the Chunin Exams venue.

The preliminary rounds of the Chunin Exams will be held at Konoha Training Ground 3.

Due to unforeseen circumstances in the second round of the Death Forest assessment, a total of 11 teams still passed the assessment.

Yes, almost all of those eliminated were done by the Qingwu team.

There are still 33 people left, so a preliminary round must be held to determine the final participants for the main competition.

However, the team's "combination" ended from the qualifiers onwards.

In a 1v1 battle, all your teammates can do is cheer you on.

"Iruka, don't be nervous."

While chewing on the breakfast that Iruka had brought, Qingwu comforted him, "Maybe you'll get a bye later."

Theoretically, it is indeed possible to have 33 people.

Iruka shook his head with a stiff face, "I-I'm not nervous. It's just a 1v1. When did we ever have a practice test before the end of the semester at school?"

That being said, such a peer-to-peer assessment is quite different from a formal exam.

Red Bean noticed Iruka's nervousness, but she wasn't in the mood to talk today.

These past few days, rumors about her teacher Orochimaru have been circulating all over the village...

Chapter 55 Rumors, Preliminaries

Currently.

There are two main rumors circulating in the village about Orochimaru.

On one hand, Orochimaru was dissatisfied with his failure to become Hokage and had a long-standing grudge against his teacher, Hiruzen Sarutobi.

On the other hand, it is said that Orochimaru actually used his own companions for human experiments, killing many of his fellow villagers in the process.

Even more concerning, there are rumors that Orochimaru's human experiments were conducted with the tacit approval of the Third Hokage.

The reason for Orochimaru's defection was that the Third Hokage demanded that Orochimaru hand over the results of his experiments.

In general, these rumors are definitely fueled by someone with ulterior motives.

However, the third generation leader made no explanation and let the dirty water be splashed on him, causing many speculations to arise in the village.

Red Bean is very sad.

Many fans were unaware that she had become Orochimaru's disciple.

As a result, before she could even show off when she returned, her teacher... became a traitor.

Thinking of this, Hongdou's gaze towards Qingwu became somewhat complicated.

The rumor only says that before Orochimaru defected, he attacked Qingwu, who possessed the Wood Release bloodline limit, during the Chunin Exams in order to take revenge on the Third Hokage.

It doesn't say that Orochimaru coveted Qingwu's special power.

But Hongdou knew perfectly well that Orochimaru had taken the risk of appearing because he was after Qingwu.

Wood Release bloodline ninjas are no longer a secret in Konoha.

The news that the Third Hokage had detained a Wood Release ninja from Root had already spread far and wide.

The story of Qingwu encountering the Cloud Ninja while on a mission in the Forest of Death and using Wood Release to repel them had long been circulating among the various clans.