Traveling through Naruto with Heroes of Might and Magic.

Kakashi pointed to the newly built dwarf village and asked, "How did you combine Wood Release and Earth Release?"

This was simply beyond his imagination.

Qingwu had previously explained to Kakashi that his Wood Release and chakra were different from usual.

He pretended to be exhausted: "I also want to thank you, senior."

"??" Kakashi looked over.

Qingwu sat down on the ground and explained, "These past two days of sparring with such a powerful ninja as my senior has given me a constant sense of enlightenment about my own abilities."

Kakashi seemed to be deep in thought.

Qingwu said, "Senior knows that I originally knew how to use earth-遁 (earth-遁 is a type of magic that allows one to escape through the earth).

Kakashi nodded.

Qingwu suddenly launched a powerful attack: "Senior, have you ever heard of natural energy?"

The eyes beneath the mask suddenly widened.

Qingwu raised a finger, and a green energy arrow with arcs of electricity wrapped around its surface instantly condensed at his fingertip.

"I heard that the First Generation Master developed immortal techniques using natural energy?" Qingwu asked.

Kakashi opened his mouth: "I've only heard about it."

In fact, his teacher Minato Namikaze also practiced the Sage Mode of Mount Myōboku, but it was done in a rather private way. Moreover, because he mainly practiced the Flying Thunder God Technique and the No-Seal Ninjutsu, Kakashi never actually saw it.

(Okay, it's the patch Kishimoto added later!)

"You mean...?" Kakashi couldn't contain the shock in his heart.

"Yes!" Qingwu nodded solemnly: "I am now almost certain that I awakened my bloodline in this forest established by the First Generation Master..."

I use natural energy, but unlike the first generation, I do...

The First Generation Master used it to develop Immortal Arts, and my application is to combine it with my original Earth Escape Technique.

Kakashi is having a hard time.

Although he was very intelligent, these things were indeed beyond his previous understanding.

Qingwu continued, "I just used the withered tree guardian to absorb some natural energy as a reserve before I used this technique."

With a slight frown beneath his mask, Kakashi asked:

"Is your technique biased towards construction? Why did you expend chakra... cough, natural energy to construct this?"

Qingwu: "..."

He decided to demonstrate it to Kakashi all at once.

[Recruitable Units: Dwarves (Tier 2 Units), Combat Dwarves (Requires Building Upgrades)]

[Number of recruits available: 6]

[Recruitment Price: 10 Natural Energy, 20 Gold Coins, 20 Wood]

Qingwu checked his remaining natural energy and, just to be on the safe side, recruited only one dwarf.

squeak-

The heavy wooden door opened.

Under Kakashi's shocked gaze.

A creature that only reached Kakashi's waist in height, but whose horizontal volume was almost twice his, stepped out of the door...

Chapter 16 Ancient Tree of Life - Upgrade!

His unkempt, reddish-brown beard cascaded down to his navel like a waterfall, with several copper rings braided at the end.

The dwarf wore heavy leather armor and carried a huge warhammer almost as tall as himself on his shoulder.

"This……"

Kakashi became alert.

Qingwu waved his hand and summoned the four centaurs as well, then said, "Senior, you see, the building is just... well, how should I put it, just a medium!"

Kakashi had already seen the centaur, and upon hearing this, he waited for Qingwu to continue explaining.

Qingwu knew that Kakashi was essentially the Third Hokage's eyes and ears, so he simply laid it all out:

“My awakened bloodline is completely different from that of the First Hokage; it leans more towards… psychic abilities.”

"Spiritual summoning?" Kakashi's heart skipped a beat.

He had already witnessed the abilities of the Deadwood Guardians and the centaurs, so this newly appeared 'dwarf' creature...

Qingwu directed the dwarves to swing their warhammers, saying, "That's right, I can communicate with them through a medium and then command them."

Kakashi: "..."

"And when they exist, they consume very little natural energy. If the number of spirits is small, they can even exist indefinitely!" Qingwu continued to spout nonsense.

Summoning beasts in the ninja world require a continuous consumption of chakra, but their soldiers do not.

This way, we can avoid having to explain things further later.

"I know what you're probably thinking."

Qingwu continued, "The seniors might think that I'm taking a shortcut, and they might feel that improving myself is more important."

"..." Kakashi looked over. "No, if everyone is as strong as it and can protect you, then you haven't gone astray in your ninja way."

Kakashi refers to the withered tree guard he had fought.

That powerful defense was so strong that even Fire Release techniques couldn't work!

Qingwu stuck out her tongue inwardly, realizing she had guessed wrong.

However, it's good that Kakashi thinks this way, so that he won't have to explain to the Third Hokage later.

"I will report everything that happened here to the Hokage!" Kakashi said.

Qingwu smiled, and Kakashi's honesty showed his growing respect for him.

"Of course!" Qingwu said, "This is your task!"

Kakashi nodded, his gaze sweeping over the withered tree guards, dwarves, and centaurs before he vanished.

"call……"

Qingwu wiped away non-existent sweat.

There may have been some loopholes along the way, but we managed to get through it.

Turning around, Qingwu looked at the dwarf who stood silently.

"The first humanoid creature in the Bulwark faction requires some extra persuasion."

He muttered to himself and gave the dwarf the order to gather the materials.

Without even glancing at the surrounding trees, the dwarf took off running towards the rocky mountain.

Qingwu understood.

The description of the [Dwarf Village] is very clear: Stone mining efficiency +15%.

In other words, dwarves can not only be used as combat units, but mining is also their main occupation!

Compared to the difficulty of movement of the Deadwood Guardians, although the dwarves have short legs and are not as fast as the centaurs, their mobility is not 'crippled'.

After checking the remaining natural energy, Qingwu did not follow the dwarves to the rocky mountain.

While remaining within the territory and accelerating the restoration of natural energy, Qingwu began to study the seedlings of the ancient tree of life.

as predicted.

Once the unlocked Centaur Stable and Dwarf Village were completed, a new construction quest was triggered.

【Ding! 】

The Ancient Tree of Life (sapling) meets the upgrade requirements.

[Consume 150 Natural Energy and 150 Gold to build: Ancient Tree of Life (Growth Stage)]

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

Qingwu: "..."

With the addition of dwarf troops, he could see that he would not be short of wood and stone for the time being.

However, natural energy is the most important factor in the upgrade requirements of the Tree of Life.

It only costs 50 points when you're a seedling, but now that you're upgrading, it's tripled.

The embarrassing thing is that his current maximum value is only 150 points.

Even after it's fully restored and meets the upgrade requirements.

It will drain him dry again, causing him to fall into a coma!

"Damn it, I have a feeling this damn system is doing this on purpose," Qingwu complained.

After waiting for the natural energy to recover, I recruited six dwarves.

In any case, accumulating resources is still the top priority right now.

After the Tree of Life is upgraded, other barracks will likely be unlocked, which will also lead to a high demand for wood and stone.

[Received: Stone Ore *4]

[Received: Stone Ore *4]

[Received: Stone Ore *4]

【…】

As a tier-two unit, dwarves are several times more efficient at mining stone than centaurs.

Of course, this is also due to the current bonus of +35% stone mining efficiency.

Although it is still not as efficient as the Deadwood Guardian in collecting wood.