Traveling through Naruto with Heroes of Might and Magic

Chapter 3 Mission Rewards

My body still feels very empty.

Qingwu turned his head slightly and saw the enormous object standing in the dim light of dawn.

The withered tree guardian still stands there like a silent mountain.

Its eerie green eyes steadily scanned the surroundings.

At its feet, two Cloud Village prisoners were once again enveloped by roots, with only their unconscious heads showing.

Qingwu struggled to sit up and found a dark coat covering her.

The coat exuded a delicate, youthful fragrance—it was Uzuki Yugao's.

Yugao, clutching her ninja sword, leaned against a tree not far away, her eyes closed, it was unclear whether she was asleep or not.

Umino Iruka leaned against a rock, his chest bandaged, his face pale, but his eyes clear.

Seeing Qingwu wake up, Iruka's eyes lit up: "Qingwu, you're awake! How are you feeling?"

Qingwu shook his head: "I'm fine, just a little overworked."

Iruka assumed it was a chakra depletion caused by a summoning jutsu. He glanced timidly at the withered tree's back and swallowed hard.

"Qingwu, you're truly amazing! I never imagined your chakra was so powerful that you could summon such a strange... cough, creature!"

In fact, Iruka was terrified; the enormous size of the Deadwood Guardian always reminded him of nightmares.

If it weren't for his own physical weakness, Iruka would have preferred to stay far away from this monster.

The girl had opened her eyes at some point, her purple eyes fixed on him. "Qingwu, it's not a sentient being, is it?"

Iruka was unconscious at the time, but she wasn't.

Although they hadn't been a team together for very long.

However, according to Uzuki Yugao, Qingwu was just an ordinary ninja with mediocre grades when he was in the ninja academy.

How could someone possess such a vast amount of chakra to summon the enormous object before them?

"Who exactly are you?" Xi Yan's eyes held a hint of inquiry.

At 12 years old, she is a year younger than Qingwu, but because of her outstanding mission record, she has already attracted the attention of Konoha's Anbu.

At this moment, Xiyan unconsciously adopted an interrogative tone.

Iruka was so nervous he didn't know what to do.

"..." Qingwu was silent for a few seconds. He knew that some things could no longer be kept secret.

Moreover, he didn't intend to keep it a secret forever.

In his past life, he was a corporate slave, used to living a life of compromise within the rules.

But having transmigrated once and gained such a cheat code—if he were to still be as cautious as the original owner, he would be doing a disservice to this second life.

"My name is Senju Seigo!" he said calmly. "I am Senju, the orphan of the branch family of Senju Hashirama, and I have lived in Konoha as a commoner for thirteen years."

"Thousand Hands?!" Iruka exclaimed, his eyes wide with shock.

Xi Yan's pupils contracted slightly, but she quickly regained her cool composure: "Where's the evidence?"

Not long after the end of the Third Shinobi World War, given the difference in Qingwu's behavior before and after, Xiyan had reason to suspect that he was a spy trained from childhood by another ninja village.

As for the Senju... very few people knew about their breakup and integration into Konoha!

Qingwu pointed at the withered wood guardian: "Aside from the First Hokage, have you ever seen such a powerful Wood Release artifact?"

"Wood Release...product?" Yugao turned to look at the giant creature in front of her. She had never seen it before, nor had she ever heard of it. "It's definitely not a summoned creature."

"No!" Qingwu said with certainty, "This is a bloodline ability that I awakened in a moment of crisis. Hmm, it's a little different from the First Generation Lord's."

Remembering the wriggling branches growing in the palm of the withered tree guardian, Yugao temporarily suppressed her suspicions: "It was actually Wood Release!!"

Iruka swallowed hard and asked, "Qingwu, can you... control it?"

Qingwu nodded and looked at the withered tree guard to issue the command.

Pat, pat!

The two Cloud Village prisoners, wrapped up like "zongzi" (rice dumplings), were thrown to the ground again.

"So, the next question."

Xi Yan stood up, dusted herself off, and asked swiftly, "What should we do with these two Cloud Village prisoners? Kill them, or take them back?"

【Ding! 】

[Mission Triggered: First Blood!]

[Mission Description: Kill one enemy!]

[Task Rewards: Natural Energy +20, Gold Coins +50]

Qingwu: ? ? ?

He was just about to say that the living Cloud Village was more valuable, but then...

Moreover, judging from Xiyan's tone, the question was meant to be a test.

Damn it, whatever!

Qingwu's eyes hardened, and he pulled out a kunai and walked over.

"You..." Before Xi Yan could react at all, *pfft*—

Qingwu had already plunged the kunai deep into the back of Hei Pi Yunyin's neck.

【Ding! 】

[Mission Complete!]

[Rewards: Natural Energy +20, Gold Coins +50]

Hearing the mission accomplished, Qingwu secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Leaving one prisoner would allow him to explain to Xiyan and Iruka.

However, he had just turned around to speak...

【Ding! 】

[Natural energy and resources detected meet the conditions for unlocking the 'Tree of Life'!]

[The current environment has been detected as suitable for binding as territory!]

[Consume 50 Natural Energy and 50 Gold to build: Ancient Tree of Life (Sapling)]

[Effect: Territory Core, greatly increases natural energy regeneration and unlocks more buildings]

Qingwu: ? ?

it's here?

This is Konoha's Forest of Death. Although it is very large, it is mostly used as the testing ground for the Chunin Exams.

【Ding! 】

Should construction begin immediately?

[Note: The Heart of the Fortress must rely on a territory centered around the Tree of Life. If it does not have a territory within the specified time, it will fall into permanent slumber!]

"Permanently?" Qingwu just wanted to curse.

I just got a taste of the benefits after activating it, and now you're telling me this?

do not care!

What's wrong with Konoha's territory? My Senju clan isn't even qualified to occupy a forest?

Faced with a choice of "yes" or "no".

Qingwu immediately selected "Yes"!

[Consumes 50 Natural Energy and 50 Gold Coins]

[Construction: Ancient Tree of Life (Sapling)]

Construction has begun, estimated time: 6 hours.

"Hiss~ another 6 hours?"

Just as Qingwu felt a toothache, the system notification sounded again:

【Ding! 】

[First-time construction grants 1 construction speed-up opportunity!]

[Consume all natural energy to accelerate construction?]

"??" Qingwu's eyes widened. So this system just wants to drain me dry, right?

"Qingwu, why did you kill him?" Qingwu's killing of the prisoner aroused Xiyang's suspicion once again.

Iruka also said, "They have lost the ability to resist, and bringing them back will allow us to gather more intelligence."

Given the nature of the ninja profession, what they said makes sense.

However, Qingwu waved his hand, ignoring the two of them.

He looked at his control panel:

[Heart of the Fortress (Level 1) Bound to: Thousand Hands Green Willow]

[Natural Energy: 5.8/120]

Gold Coins: 0

Timber: 0

[Stone Ore: 0]

When he first woke up, his natural energy level had recovered to 34.2 points.

Judging from the sky, Qingwu calculated that the energy was recovering at a rate of 10 points per hour. The task he just completed not only restored 20 points, but also increased the upper limit of natural energy by 20 points.

Building the Tree of Life (sapling) cost 50 points, and now I have 5.8 points left.

"value!"

"Use all resources to accelerate construction!"

As Qingwu gave the command, emerald green light burst forth from beneath his feet, seeping into the earth.

"Qingwu, what have you done?"

Sensing the energy fluctuations, Yugao and Iruka were greatly alarmed...