The Ancient Era.
The existence of the God Tree was feared by the ancient nations, including the Land of That and the Land of Ancestors.
To burn off his excess chakra, Naruto used Shadow Clones and the Nine-Tails' chakra to form fox-spirit cloaks, spreading several golden-red carpets outward from the God Tree. Like rolling streams of magma, they surged across the land and appeared among the human villages of the Ancient Era.
Being worshiped as a tree god made Naruto feel like he was stealing a bit of the First Hokage's thunder.
Hadn't Aunt Kaguya said that Uncle First Hokage was the walking, human-shaped Human God Tree?
While helping the people kneeling before him back to their feet, Naruto accidentally shared his chakra with them as well. As a result, he ended up doing what Rikudō Sennin was supposed to do several decades ahead of schedule.
Naruto and the Nine-Tails were freaking out.
However, Minato Namikaze and the others felt that this might not necessarily be a bad thing.
To ensure that someone could still keep the God Tree in check after they left, they decided to come up with a plan to stir things up.
Naruto Uzumaki would act as the "Messenger of the God Tree" and order the people of the Ancient Era to regularly prune the God Tree's roots.
"I can't believe you guys came up with that." Izuna Uchiha laughed. "If the God Tree could understand us the way the Tailed Beasts can, it'd probably be cursing us out right now."
Hashirama Senju glanced at the God Tree beside him. He couldn't hear anything, yet for some reason he had the distinct feeling that the thing had been grumbling nonstop the entire time...
Once the strategy was settled, Naruto relayed his intentions to his vast army of Shadow Clones.
"Tobirama! Multiple Shadow Clones really is a great ninjutsu!" Hashirama gave his younger brother a thumbs-up.
Unfortunately, Tobirama didn't seem particularly pleased. He stood with his arms crossed, turned his head away, and huffed, looking as though he were sulking.
Hashirama still couldn't figure out what had upset Tobirama this time.
Madara Uchiha broke into a sweat and reminded him, "You sealed that jutsu in the Scroll of Seals, didn't you?"
"Oh, right! Sorry, sorry! I completely forgot! Hahahahaha!"
Over on Naruto's side, he had sent one Shadow Clone to represent him in every human village.
To make himself even more convincing to the people of the Ancient Era, Naruto used the Transformation Technique to turn each Shadow Clone into his "Sage Naruto" form.
That's right. He might not have learned Senjutsu yet, but his Transformation Technique was top-notch!
He transformed into the sixteen-year-old version of himself he had once seen, dressed in a red cape similar to his dad's divine robes over a brand-new orange tracksuit. Most importantly, he had the frog-like eyes and crimson eye markings that symbolized a Sage.
That glamorous appearance immediately sent the people of the Ancient Era dropping to their knees again, bowing and prostrating themselves before him.
They cried out that the Human God Tree had descended, promising to offer tribute every year and begging the God Tree to bless them with peace and prosperity.
That was exactly what Naruto wanted.
He cleared his throat and did his best to put on the air of an enlightened sage.
This was basic prank stuff. Standard procedure.
"You don't need to offer any tribute."
"But the God Tree does indeed have something it needs you to do."
With Sage Naruto's appearance and the fox-spirit cloak backing him up, those two simple sentences somehow carried enough authority that no one dared disobey.
The ancient villagers stared at the "Messenger of the God Tree," whose appearance and clothing were obviously unlike anything they had ever seen. They bowed repeatedly and declared that they would obey every command of the God Tree.
[Kurama: "The God Tree is merciful and has no intention of harming anyone."]
Sage Naruto (Naruto): "The God Tree is merciful and has no intention of harming anyone."
[Kurama: "But unfortunately, it cannot suppress its instinct to absorb human vitality."]
Sage Naruto (Naruto): "But unfortunately, it cannot suppress its instinct to absorb human vitality."
Naruto was hopeless at speaking in that kind of archaic, flowery language, so Kurama had no choice but to feed him the lines one sentence at a time while Naruto repeated them word for word.
As he improvised the script, Kurama found the whole situation increasingly absurd.
'The cage is finally open, so how did I end up living like this? Not only do I have to go along with this brat's pranks, now I have to write his script and come up with his lines too?'
'Hmm. Good thing that even though my handwriting is a little ugly, I'm still plenty well-read. Hmph. If that idiot Shukaku were doing this, he'd probably get so nervous he couldn't even string together a complete sentence~'
[Kurama: "Hmph~ As expected of me~"]
Sage Naruto (Naruto): "Hmph~ As expected of me~"
[Kurama: "..." (awkward)]
Sage Naruto (Naruto): "..." (dead-eyed)
Deep Inner Mind Chat Group
"What the hell are you saying, Kurama?!"
["Shut up! That slipped out by accident! Why did you repeat it?!"]
"How was I supposed to know you'd suddenly start praising yourself in the middle of the speech?! What the hell was that about, dattebayo?!"
["You're so annoying! So annoying!"]
The Nine-Tails was both tsundere and clearly in the wrong. Irritated, he swiped a paw and kicked Naruto straight out of the Deep Inner Mind Chat Group.
Well, being the group admin really did come with privileges.
Future leader of the Tailed Beast Chat Group, with a title personally bestowed by Rikudō Sennin: "Gathering Hall Administrator."
Outside the Deep Inner Mind Chat Group, the ancient people were completely baffled.
What was with that sudden change in tone?
"Your Excellency the Messenger truly lives up to your title."
Fortunately, the ignorant villagers had already found an excuse for him.
"The God Tree has mercy on all living beings. Then how can we prevent it from draining our lives?"
"Should we regularly offer fine food, wine, and hunted game as tribute?"
[Kurama: "That will not be necessary."]
"That will not be necessary."
[Kurama: "All you need to do is clear away the God Tree's roots once every six months."]
Once the Shadow Clone finished relaying Kurama's words, Naruto's main body near the God Tree called out to Hashirama Senju, the walking, human-shaped Human God Tree.
"First Hokage!"
"Got it!"
Hashirama clapped his hands together.
The Technique of Getting Whatever You Want!
"Wood Release: Advent of a World of Flowering Trees!!"
Starting from where Hashirama Senju stood, enormous trunks and branches erupted from beneath the earth!
Such was the scale of his Wood Release that even Naruto and the others stationed in distant human villages could clearly see what was happening near the God Tree.
The newly grown trees were terrifyingly massive, yet they burst from the ground like seedlings sprouting at a speed visible to the naked eye. Bent at first, they rapidly straightened, shot upward, and spread in every direction.
From afar, the Flowering Trees appeared to form a great ring roughly two hundred meters from the God Tree, completely enclosing it!
It was almost as though someone had built an enormous fence around the God Tree.
When the gigantic pink flowers bloomed, the breathtaking, almost otherworldly sight left the people of the Ancient Era nearly forgetting to breathe.
Even Kaguya emerged from the wooden house built with Wood Release and stared silently toward the God Tree.
Her maid, Aino, stood beside her and gently reminded her, "Kaguya-sama, your body is no longer yours alone. Please be mindful of the chill at night."
She held the torch closer, using its warmth to drive away the cold around Kaguya.
Kaguya Otsutsuki remained as ethereal and otherworldly as ever, gazing at the distant God Tree without revealing what was on her mind.
Meanwhile, Hashirama Senju still wasn't satisfied after using Wood Release: Advent of a World of Flowering Trees.
He smiled confidently.
"I'm not done yet!"
The markings of Senjutsu appeared across Hashirama Senju's dark skin.
"Senjutsu: Gate of the Great God!"
Red Torii Gates descended from the heavens!
In this Ancient Era, where people had never even seen ninjutsu and had no idea what chakra was, they mistook the spectacle for a gift from heaven, a true divine miracle!
One after another, they turned toward the God Tree and hurriedly made wishes to the heavens, much like people rushing to make a wish upon seeing a shooting star.
Little did they know that if the God Tree could actually speak at that moment, it would probably be screaming at Hashirama Senju at the top of its lungs:
"Back off! Back off! Back off!!!"
"It really is sealed up tight."
Young Obito watched first the Advent of a World of Flowering Trees, then the Senjutsu: Gate of the Great God, and couldn't help commenting.
Rin said, "Looking at it like this, the God Tree actually seems kind of weak, pitiful, and helpless."
Naruto had poured so much excess chakra into all of them that it was just like during the Fourth Shinobi World War, when even a single Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm could casually knock aside one of the Ten-Tails' attacks.
With the fox-spirit cloak amplifying them, Hashirama Senju's "Wood Release: Advent of a World of Flowering Trees" and "Senjutsu: Gate of the Great God!" were both roughly ten times larger and more powerful than before.
Even Madara Uchiha thought Hashirama had gone a little overboard this time.
It made him want to bring out Susanoo and have some fun too.
Naruto's Shadow Clone stared at the commotion in the distance and marveled that, with the Nine-Tails' chakra enhancing him, the First Hokage had become even less humanly powerful than usual.
The moment Hashirama came up, the Nine-Tails had a bellyful of resentment with nowhere to vent it.
That bastard had claimed Kurama's power was uncontrollable, then simply pressed both hands against his head and hit him with a wooden-man head pat.
It was absolutely fucking ridiculous!
"The God Tree has issued its command. That sea of trees marks the boundary. Any roots that grow beyond it must be severed."
Following the lines improvised on the spot by Kurama, their battlefield screenwriter, Naruto addressed the people kneeling before him.
"This will not be an easy task. The God Tree cannot suppress its instinct to absorb the life force of any living creature that approaches it. That is why I bestowed this power upon you just now. Only by learning to use this power properly will you be able to carry out the task of regularly pruning the God Tree's roots."
The ancient humans felt the chakra flowing within their bodies.
Until now, they had relied solely on bows and blades. Yet at this moment, they felt as though they had suddenly become heaven's chosen, each of them capable of anything.
[Kurama: "However!!!"]
A gigantic fox head suddenly emerged from Naruto's fox-spirit cloak!
The Nine-Tails' appearance, together with his deep, resonant voice, instantly supplied all the imposing presence Naruto had been lacking.
[Kurama: "This power you received from the God Tree may only be used for righteous purposes!! Otherwise!!!"]
"Otherwise?"
[Kurama: "You will be unable to withstand the curse brought by the God Tree's wrath. Natural disasters, man-made calamities, war, and plague will descend upon this world all at once!!"]
Even after taking on his most terrifying appearance, the Nine-Tails still felt that words alone lacked a little intimidation.
Just then, the person he hated most, Madara Uchiha, suddenly unleashed Susanoo not far from the God Tree!
After watching Hashirama show off so happily, how could Madara resist showing off a little himself?
He wanted to see what Susanoo felt like while enhanced by the fox-spirit cloak.
Susanoo gradually rose from the ground. Then the Complete Body Susanoo, now twice its previous size, spread its wings and soared into the sky.
By that point, the people of the Ancient Era were already numb with terror.
However, Madara Uchiha seemed to be even more creative than Hashirama Senju.
Advent of a World of Flowering Trees and Gate of the Great God were merely larger than usual. What was so interesting about that?
He immediately came up with the idea of using Susanoo to cast Genjutsu on the people of the Ancient Era.
Rinnegan-level Genjutsu, no less.
He showed the entire world the wars he had witnessed firsthand.
People of the Warring States Period slaughtered one another with ninjutsu. Even children only six or seven years old could not escape the fate of dying on the battlefield.
Their families could do nothing but watch, their eyes filled with despair and helplessness.
"Hey! Uncle Madara!"
Naruto was a little worried.
Was it really a good idea to directly show the people of the Ancient Era that chakra could be used for fighting and killing?
But Madara Uchiha had his own idea.
And his idea achieved exactly what he intended.