I founded the "Bragging Cult" in Naruto.

Chapter 114 Successful people all like to talk about their dreams and original aspirations.

"Bang bang bang~"

Rope Tree's figure rose and fell in the air. When he finally fell, he would land precisely on another explosive tag trap, which would then blast him up again.

Watching this scene from afar, Tsunade gaped, saying in disbelief, "That kid Tatsuma has such a deep understanding of explosive tag traps?"

Orochimaru, watching his disciple dart through the air like a rag doll, murmured in surprise, "Could it be that he learned it from the Uchiha? But the Uchiha..."

Even Minato Namikaze scratched his head. Having fought alongside Tatsuma for three months, he knew Tatsuma's skill with explosive tag traps well. He was strong, but not this strong, was he?

The direction of the explosion is extremely difficult to calculate. Being able to roughly calculate the direction of the people or objects affected by the explosion, react in advance, and seize the opportunity to attack before the enemy lands is already a high-level way to use explosive tag traps.

But the rope tree has been flying in the air for almost half a minute now, and it has triggered more than a dozen explosive tags. That's a lot of calculation involved.

Minato Namikaze even wondered if Tatsuma had deliberately held back on the battlefield to appease him, but he quickly shook his head, because Tatsuma was a sensible person and would not have held back for that reason.

Even the experienced and worldly-wise Mito Uzumaki, who had witnessed the changing times, couldn't help but tighten her grip on Kushina's hand slightly. She could see that the explosive tags were losing power, but after so many bombings...

Not to mention these people, even the instigator, Chenma, was dumbfounded. He had planned to lure the rope tree into these dozen or so traps in stages.

By blasting the rope tree more than ten times, he became wary of whether there were explosive tag traps ahead before each sprint. But how come all the rope trees were triggered at once?

"Boom~~~Crack~"

Finally, Rope Tree triggered the last explosive tag trap, and after a difficult 1080-degree spin in the air, it plunged headfirst into the ground like a scallion.

"Gurgle~"

Seeing Rope Tree's motionless movement in mid-air, Tatsuma wondered if he had really been injured by Rope Tree's explosion. At the same time, he wondered if Rope Tree had some special talent that allowed it to catch explosive tags 100% of the time.

"Ding~ [Constitution +5], [Wisdom +5], pick up?"

Seeing that no special talent had been obtained, Chenma inexplicably breathed a sigh of relief and quickly ran to the rope tree, pulling it out of the tree with a single, upside-down motion.

"Rope Tree, Rope Tree, are you alright?"

Tatsuma patted Nawaki's crooked and dark face, and Nawaki suddenly shuddered, his eyes gradually regaining their sparkle.

"Very good. Such a powerful explosive tag trap. But thankfully, I am a taijutsu ninja. Let me take a moment to calm down. See you at the summit."

Nawaki was babbling incoherently when Tsunade, who had also come over, gave him a flick on the forehead and then used her hands to heal him with blue-green chakra.

"Teacher, is he alright?"

Aside from being a bit disheveled, Nawaki's body wasn't seriously injured, but Tatsuma was still a little worried. If he had actually blasted Nawaki into serious injury, it would be difficult to explain.

Tsunade frowned, looking very serious, which made Tatsuma even more nervous. However, the reason Tsunade frowned was not because Nawaki's injury was too serious, but because it was too minor.

Tatsuma's explosive tags were obviously less powerful, but hitting more than a dozen of them was still something that an ordinary genin could not withstand. However, apart from being a little dizzy, Nawaki seemed to be unharmed.

Oh right, his face was swollen, and apart from that, even Tsunade couldn't find any other injuries.

"Could it be the result of the training over the past few months?"

A thought popped into Tsunade's mind: Nawaki himself said that he was training with a ninja named Might Guy, whom Tsunade actually knew.

Or rather, it was the minority in the village who didn't know Might Guy. It's just that Might Guy was remembered not because of his strength, but because of what many people called his foolish diligence and idiotic passion.

Furthermore, Might Guy was only a genin, and Tsunade had never considered that Nawaki, who trained with Might Guy, would make any progress. But now it seems that she may have been presumptuous.

"He's fine, just a little dazed."

After thinking it over, Tsunade picked up Nawaki and headed towards his room. Although he wasn't seriously injured, he still needed to rest.

At this moment, Orochimaru said to Mito Uzumaki, "Lord Mito, I'll be leaving now. I'll come back when I have time."

"Um."

Mito Uzumaki waved his hand. After Orochimaru left, Minato seized the opportunity and started chatting with Kushina. Since it was about his experiences on the battlefield, Kushina listened intently.

In an instant, only Tatsuma was left. Fortunately, Mito Uzumaki waved to him, and Tatsuma immediately ran over. Firstly, he had just beaten up Mito's grandson, and secondly, he didn't want to stay and be a listener.

Upon arriving at the hall where he had previously learned sealing techniques from Mito Uzumaki, Tatsuma sat down without hesitation. Mito, however, showed no interest in teaching and instead asked:

"Do you miss that powerful feeling?"

Upon hearing Mito Uzumaki's question, Tatsuma immediately knew she was asking about the Nine-Tails' chakra. He paused for a moment, then spoke:

"It would be a lie to say I don't miss that powerful feeling, but the side effects of that power are simply unacceptable to me."

Tatsuma was telling the truth. He longed for that powerful feeling, but he didn't like that power, not only because its appearance was accompanied by tragedy, but also because he lacked the ability to control it.

He didn't want to experience that feeling of his brain being filled with anger again. He wanted to be strong, but he craved real strength, not just various buffs.

Hearing Tatsuma's words, Mito Uzumaki nodded. As the Nine-Tails' jinchūriki, how could she not know the burden brought by the Nine-Tails' chakra?

Moreover, what she gave Tatsuma was the Nine-Tails' chakra that had passed through her hands. If it were pure Nine-Tails chakra, Tatsuma would probably be even less able to withstand it.

While observing Tatsuma's answer, Mito Uzumaki borrowed Kurama's power. Although she believed in Tatsuma's sincerity and frankness, she felt even more at ease at this moment.

However, a pang of regret suddenly rose in Mito's heart. Tatsuma, who had a clear understanding of the Nine-Tails' power, was the most suitable person to safeguard this power.

Unfortunately, his body lacked the ability to retain this power.

If Tatsuma can maintain his current rate of progress, he might have a chance when he comes of age, but Mito Uzumaki knows she can't wait that long.

If Mito Uzumaki wanted to live, she certainly could. After all, with the vitality of the Uzumaki clan and her control over their power, living for a few more years wouldn't be a problem.

However, having lived to that point, she could no longer guarantee that the power of the nine-tailed fox within her wouldn't go berserk. She was responsible for safeguarding this power for the village, and the handover of this power needed to be carried out under her protection.

Therefore, she had to entrust this power to someone else for safekeeping when she had control over it, which meant that she would not be able to wait for Tatsuma to grow up, and the possibility of Tatsuma growing up was only a possibility.

Only Kushina, who shares the same Uzumaki clan bloodline as her, could have grown to that level in the few years she had left.

Mito Uzumaki gently smoothed Tatsuma's sideburns and pulled his curly hair down a bit before changing the subject, saying, "You should get a haircut; it's too long and makes you look tired."

"Um."

"Is there anything else going on lately? If not, come here to continue learning sealing techniques."

"The Third Hokage said he would take some time to teach Minato and me ninjutsu, which may take up some of my time."

"Okay, keep up the good work, and come over when you have time."

Tatsuma enjoyed spending time with Mito Uzumaki because she genuinely treated him like a junior in the family, which reminded him of the wonderful childhood he had in his previous life.

If Chenma felt wronged at school or was scolded by his parents at home, he would run to his grandmother's house. His grandmother would use a large enamel mug to make a packet of instant noodles that he was not allowed to eat at home, or cook some sesame paste for him.

Grandma doesn't understand many things, like education, the future, or competition, but she knows how to make her grandson happy.

The day after returning to the village, Tatsuma went to see Tony, the hairdresser in Konoha Village, early in the morning and cut his hair two-thirds shorter, although the length didn't seem to change much.

The ends of her hair still lingered between her eyebrows and eyes, but her head didn't look as swollen; it was as if her head had shrunk by two sizes.

After getting his haircut, Tatsuma planned to go to the Senju clan's territory, but as soon as he turned into an empty street, a figure landed in front of him before he had taken two steps.

"Tatsuma, it's been a long time."

Looking at the ninja dressed in ANBU attire but with his mask raised, Tatsuma smiled and politely said, "Lord Sakumo, it's been a long time."

"The Hokage is already waiting for you at the training grounds. I'll take you there."

"Thank you for your hard work, Lord Sakumo."

Upon hearing this, Tatsuma's face showed a hint of excitement. Sakumo reached out and ruffled Tatsuma's hair, resulting in his hand being covered in silver hair flakes.

Sakumo Hatake patted Tatsuma on the shoulder, subtly brushing the stray hairs back onto Tatsuma's clothes, and then asked, "My sword must have caused you a lot of trouble, right? I heard you've been surrounded on the battlefield more than once."

Tatsuma quickly shook his head. The reason he was surrounded and attacked was not because of Hatake Sakumo's sword. Of course, that might be part of it, but the main reason was himself.

In the early stages, it was Sand Star who targeted them. Later, after Sand Star was killed, the Sand Ninja would run into them and shout slogans of revenge for Sand Star, rushing towards Tatsuma. Sometimes they would even ignore Minato and Fugaku Uchiha, who were on the same team as Tatsuma.

"You flatter me. I should be thanking you. Your sword, and the ninjutsu you asked Lord Orochimaru to teach me, have been a great help to me on the battlefield."

"That's good."

Sakumo Hatake didn't delve into it. Regardless of whether his sword was targeted or not, Sakumo knew that given Tatsuma's personality, he wouldn't blame his sword or him. He would simply give Tatsuma some preferential treatment in the future.

The two quickly arrived at the third training ground, where Minato was already waiting. Hiruzen Sarutobi had also taken off his usual hood and changed back into a ninja outfit with a style reminiscent of the Sengoku period.

"Sandaime-sama."

Although Hiruzen Sarutobi had his back to Tatsuma, Tatsuma still bowed and greeted him. After all, given Hiruzen Sarutobi's strength, if he dared to make a face, he would definitely be noticed, let alone do anything more egregious.

Hiruzen Sarutobi nodded, then turned slightly to show the two of them his profile, and calmly asked, "Do you know what a ninja is?"

(End of this chapter)