I founded the "Bragging Cult" in Naruto.

Chapter 104 Don't easily empathize, even with "one of your own."

The two villages' drastically different attitudes toward Tatsuma further intensified the conflict between the Kaze and Fire Kingdoms, but this had nothing to do with Tatsuma himself.

The only thing that was relevant to him was that after an unknown period of unconsciousness, he successfully woke up and did not remain unconscious.

"You're awake? I'll go get Lady Tsunade."

In the dimly lit medical tent, Minato, who had been feeling tired, saw that Tatsuma's eyes seemed to have opened and instantly woke up. He jumped up from the small stool and was about to rush out.

"Wait, cough, wait."

Upon hearing Tatsuma's words, Minato stopped and immediately turned back to Tatsuma, asking, "What's wrong? Tatsuma? Are you feeling unwell?"

"water"

Tatsuma felt his lips would crack when he opened his mouth, his throat felt like it was being rubbed with sandpaper when he spoke, and the skin on his inner cheek, which was in contact with his teeth, seemed to be torn off.

He didn't feel hungry, but he was incredibly thirsty. His parched body and groggy mind both needed water.

Upon hearing this, Minato didn't dare to delay. He poured a glass of water and was about to hand it to Tatsuma when he thought about it. Instead, he took two or three medical cotton swabs.

Minato soaked a cotton swab in water and then gently applied the water to Tatsuma's lips. Although he hadn't attended Tsunade's medical lessons for a long time, Minato still remembered that patients who had just recovered from surgery or a long coma should not drink water or eat immediately.

Tatsuma, Tsunade's disciple, naturally understood. He slightly opened his mouth, letting the water droplets slide into his oral cavity, slowly moisturizing him. With the replenishment of external water, his body gradually recovered and began to secrete saliva on its own.

After carefully demonstrating a few swallowing movements and confirming that everything was alright, Tatsuma tilted his head slightly, indicating to Minato that he didn't need to feed him water anymore, and then asked, "How are you feeling now?"

Upon hearing this, Minato pursed his lips and said, "The situation is... not good. You've been unconscious for four days and don't understand many things."

Minato placed the water glass and cotton swabs aside and then said, "We did achieve victory that day. Apart from Chiyo and a few other Jonin from Sunagakure, no one else was able to break through our encirclement."

After reinforcements from Sunagakure arrived, Lord Orochimaru announced a temporary ceasefire. Sunagakure requested the return of the remains, which we agreed to, however…

At this point, Minato paused, looked at Tatsuma's condition, and seeing that he was getting more and more energetic, he continued, "Some problems arose after the body was handed over."

"Sarsenal's death was too gruesome. In short, Sunagakure is now condemning us for the brutal killing of their ninja and demanding that we hand over the murderer who killed Sarsen."

"Haha~ Am I about to be sent there?"

Tatsuma said with a smile that he was not worried, because the fact that Minato could say it proved that this matter was impossible to pass within Konoha. If Konoha intended to agree, this news would not have been known to a genin like Minato.

Minato smiled and shook his head, saying, "How could a village do such a thing?"

Upon hearing this, Tatsuma's smile became somewhat strange, but he did not interrupt. Instead, he listened as Minato continued, "Both Orochimaru and Tsunade have refused, but the villagers of Sunagakure are already filled with resentment and are determined to take revenge."

They even gave you two new nicknames: one is Konoha's Ryuma, and the other is... *cough cough* Jade-Striking Hand.

"My hands are dirty, can you chop them off for me? And what about my reputation? Have I gotten tainted too?"

Tatsuma naturally understood what "striking the jade pouch" meant, because he often struck his opponents' jade pouches, including the one that caused this incident, Sasori, whose jade pouch was also shattered by Tatsuma.

However, Tatsuma frowned and asked, "The situation you described is not good. Is it the resentment among the Sunagakure villagers caused by the remains of Sand Star?"

Minato nodded and said, "That's right. The Second Kazekage had a very high reputation in Sunagakure. Now, his descendant, or rather, his only descendant who could continue his bloodline, has been killed by you."

Moreover, the fact that they were killed in this way greatly displeased the ninjas of Sunagakure. The Sunagakure leadership used this opportunity to gather the ninjas again and have already set off for the Land of Rivers. It seems that a great war is inevitable.

However, Lord Orochimaru is currently trying to find a way to suppress the intensity of this wave of public opinion in Sunagakure.

"Lower it? Why lower it?"

Tatsuma propped himself up slightly on the bed and sat up, saying, "Shouldn't we in Konoha be helping to publicize the decision made by the Sunagakure leadership?"

"ah?!"

Minato was somewhat puzzled, but Tatsuma smiled and said, "The Land of Wind and the Land of Fire have been at war for years, and countless ninjas die every year, but neither the Land of Wind nor the Land of Fire has ever been accustomed to it."

But the death of Chiyo's son and daughter-in-law sparked this war, and now the Second Kazekage's descendant is dead, escalating the war further. Doesn't this mean that, apart from the high command, the lives of the other Sand Ninja are worthless?

Minato's eyes lit up, and he said, "You mean, you're saying that the Sand Village's higher-ups don't care about the lives of lower-ranking ninjas, but only about the lives of the higher-ups and their descendants?"

Thinking about this, Minato pondered for a moment, and then said, "Leaving aside past grievances, let's take this war as an example. Sha Xing was just one of the countless ninjas from both countries who died."

Whether it's Konoha or Sunagakure, many more ninjas are dying, but the Sunagakure leadership doesn't care; they only care about their loved ones and disciples being killed.

For this reason, he was even willing to sacrifice the lives of his own village's ninjas to avenge his family and disciples.

"As expected of you, Minato. You know your stuff. This plan is called 'The lives of low-level ninjas matter too!'"

Tatsuma smiled and said, "Please discuss this idea with Lord Orochimaru. I seem to be having some difficulty moving around right now."

Tatsuma could sense that he didn't seem to have any injuries. Most of the injuries he sustained in the battle had been healed by the Nine-Tails' chakra, and the remaining injuries were probably healed by Tsunade within the next four days.

However, medical ninjutsu is not omnipotent. It can heal a person's wounds, but it cannot replenish the blood lost by a wounded person. Also, newly healed muscles and bones need time to adapt.

Minato nodded after hearing Tatsuma's words, but didn't leave immediately. A hint of doubt appeared in Tatsuma's eyes. Minato pointed outside and said:

"Isn't it impolite to wake Lord Orochimaru at midnight?"

Upon hearing this, Chenma consciously began to look around. The surroundings were very dark. At first, he thought it was because the tents were sealed and not well lit, leaving only the light from some medical instruments.

Upon closer inspection, Chenma realized that it was very dark outside, with only a few firelights, and the tents were not completely sealed, which allowed him to see his surroundings clearly.

Seeing that Tatsuma finally understood the situation, Minato stopped explaining and asked curiously, "Tatsuma, I'm really curious, what is it that made you finally dare to kill the enemy?"

"Sigh~"

Tatsuma sighed, looking troubled, and said, "Why do you all think that I don't kill the enemy because I'm afraid? I've said it more than once, I just don't want to do such a wrong thing."

"And now? Don't you think it was wrong anymore?"

"No, that won't change. It's just that I've stopped examining my own life. I used to hear people say that an unexamined life has no value in living."

I've always thought so too, so I constantly scrutinize every choice I make. I believe murder is wrong, but this excessive scrutiny makes me unconsciously try every possible way to avoid it.

But living with such excessive scrutiny is exhausting. I now feel that life sometimes doesn't need too many reasons; doing some meaningless things, or occasionally being a cog in the machine, can reduce a lot of worries.

Chenma lay down again before slowly continuing, "Mutual killing is wrong, and it's not a way to truly resolve conflicts. It's a simple, direct way that has existed since the beginning of life."

Since the birth of life, countless years have passed, probably in the hundreds of millions. Therefore, I think we should use more advanced methods to resolve conflicts.

But my abilities are really limited. When someone puts a knife to my neck, or to the neck of someone I care about, I can't think of any other way to resolve it, so I chose the same simple way as everyone else.

Until I find a more "advanced" way to truly resolve the conflict, my insistence on not killing will only move myself in the end, and may even hurt myself and the people I care about.

I chose to stop violence with violence, not because I agreed with it or thought it was right, but simply because I couldn't find another way.

But if I can think of a better way, or if someone thinks of a better way, I will change it again.

After speaking, Minato did not reply, but remained silent for a while before saying, "Tatsuma, I really envy you. You can think of so many things, while I can only do what others say."

"It's already quite remarkable, Minato. Most people can't even live a decent life by following a set script. It's already very good that you're doing as well as you are now."

But only a very small number of people can truly be changed. I've had the desire, but not the power. My situation is just needlessly worrying.

After finishing speaking, Tatsuma closed his eyes. He didn't want to sleep, he just didn't want to continue talking about this topic. Minato was also good at reading the air, so he stopped talking and leaned back in his chair to fall asleep again.

Tatsuma opened his eyes again after Minato fell asleep. He looked at Minato, and even though Minato didn't say anything, he could guess why the rescue that day had come so timely.

"We will all have longer and more wonderful lives ahead of us, Minato, thank you."

(End of this chapter)