I founded the "Bragging Cult" in Naruto.

Chapter 126 You think you can just run away after winning? There's no such thing as a free lunch.

Chenma chose [Divine Mechanism], and the effect was not just that he learned to use his body to deflect force, or rather, that he didn't need to think at all; his body would react instinctively the moment he touched the ground.

The effect of the divine plan was that in that extremely short instant, he thought of several methods and weighed the pros and cons of each method.

He deliberately chose to roll over to dissipate the force, and the place where his shoulder hit the ground and the angle of his neck turn were all within his own calculations. After rolling over and getting up, his unhealed left shoulder did not even bleed from the force.

This is something he couldn't do on instinct. Perhaps instinctively, he would have rolled over to dissipate the force and get up, but his left shoulder might not have been spared from the force, causing secondary injury. His neck and head might also have been affected to some extent, and he might have gotten even more mud on his body.

After careful consideration, he optimized his instinctive actions. This speed of thought, which surpassed his instinctive reactions, was something Tatsuma had never experienced before, and he thought it was amazing.

"Why do you have to act all cool even when you're down in the dumps?"

Just as Tatsuma was immersed in this joy, Jiraiya, who was being supported, spoke up in dissatisfaction. As an observer, Jiraiya even felt that Tatsuma's fall was pleasing to the eye.

This kind of charm made Jiraiya a little jealous. Hearing Jiraiya's words, Tatsuma turned his head and said quite seriously, "Jiraiya-sensei, is it possible that it's because I'm really handsome?"

Tatsuma's profile as he turned his head to the side caused some of the older ninjas in the group behind him to pause for a moment, captivated by his hair color, his eyes, and the air of complete control he exuded.

"He really looks like the Second Hokage. No wonder the Sand Village gave this kid that nickname."

A middle-aged ninja from the Inuzuka clan remarked that this young man, even when spouting nonsensical words, possessed the air of the Second Hokage issuing important orders.

Tsunade and Orochimaru's faces darkened. They knew that Tatsuma's nickname related to the Second Hokage was not a compliment; none of that kid had a nickname that was positive.

Although Jiraiya didn't know the details of the previous battlefield, he couldn't stand Tatsuma's show-off behavior. He staggered over to Tatsuma's side, raised his heavy hand, and started pulling at Tatsuma's hair.

At this moment, everyone had moved out of the area surrounded by Rain Ninja. Although Rain Ninja were still monitoring them from a distance, everyone relaxed.

Orochimaru looked around and said to the people who had come to their aid, "Gentlemen, I am deeply grateful for your help."

Upon hearing this, the surrounding Konoha ninja quickly waved their hands, saying things like it was the village's arrangement and comrades should help each other. Orochimaru nodded and continued:

"However, this matter is not yet over. We must leave the borders of the Land of Rain as soon as possible and report this matter back to the village. Those in charge of communications, please make sure to give a complete report."

When it came to serious matters, the relaxed expressions of those around them tensed up again, and there were no more polite words. The ninjas responsible for communications kept exchanging ideas and discussing how to report to the village efficiently, accurately, and completely.

Orochimaru, seeing that they all understood the importance of the moment, didn't offer any further instructions. Instead, he looked at Tatsuma, who was diligently combing the bird's nest with his ten fingers, and said:

"Tatsuma, you are an excellent ninja, but your fighting style is too aggressive. I have rarely seen you finish a battle unscathed. You must take this seriously."

I can understand the arrogance that talent brings, but showing a look of eagerness in front of a ninja like Hanzo is absolutely unacceptable, and you must never do it again.

Then Orochimaru looked at Minato Namikaze, twitched his lips, and said, "Words on the battlefield must be concise. As for the rest, just don't make the same mistakes as Tatsuma."

Tatsuma and Minato both nodded, but whether it could be changed was hard to say, especially for Tatsuma.

He didn't want to get hurt, but in every battle, his left shoulder always avoided a safe position. If his left shoulder had made even a slight mistake, he wouldn't have gotten injured. He didn't know if the amplification from [Divine Machine] could change this.

As for arrogance and showing eagerness towards Hanzo, that's not true. He didn't show that expression to Hanzo out of arrogance, but rather because he wasn't looking at Hanzo at the time. He was simply immersed in the scenery that only he could see.

Seeing that the two of them looked thoughtful, Orochimaru felt a little more at ease. He wasn't their teacher, but he just couldn't help saying these things today.

If their teachers had been more reliable, he wouldn't have had to come forward. Especially Tsunade and Orochimaru, who genuinely didn't want a promising talent like Tatsuma to go astray because of Tsunade's negligence.

"Should we go straight back to the village now, or go find Danzo and help him withdraw his troops?"

Tsunade asked at this moment, and Orochimaru's helplessness deepened. His two teammates were not only unreliable as teachers, but also unreliable as ninjas.

Now they only have one choice: to return to the village. They are under the surveillance of the Rain Ninja, and if hundreds of ninja obediently return to the Land of Fire, the Rain Ninja will naturally not stop them.

However, if they dare to detour to the south of the Land of Rain to find Danzo, the Rain Ninja will definitely stop them, and may even anger Danzo again.

After all, from the perspective of the Rain Ninja, who knows whether you Konoha ninjas are going to help with the withdrawal or to join Danzo's army to strengthen the Konoha army? Fortunately, the land of the Rain Ninja is even more reckless.

"Go back to the village. As for Danzo, leave that to the teacher."

Although speechless, Orochimaru still gave the order. Tsunade breathed a sigh of relief. She didn't really want to go looking for Danzo, but it seemed a bit of a waste for hundreds of ninjas to have been lying in wait for months, only to return to the village after doing this little thing.

Tsunade was worried that these Konoha ninjas were dissatisfied. After all, in three months, they could have completed dozens of missions on the front lines, but they could only complete one mission now. The effort and the reward were completely disproportionate.

Tsunade nodded and said, "It's good to go back. There are quite a few injured people, and I'm powerless to treat them right now."

At this point, Orochimaru seemed to remember something and asked casually, "Is that some kind of secret technique? Does it have a time limit?"

Orochimaru was referring to Tsunade's remarkable prowess during their battles with the Iwa ninja in the past few days. Orochimaru had initially thought this was the result of Tsunade's training, but today, Tsunade suddenly seemed to have lost her touch.

Not only was he unable to unleash his previous formidable strength, but even the efficiency of his injury and physical recovery had decreased significantly, showing little change from before his year-long seclusion.

Tsunade nodded, not wary of Orochimaru despite his actions in the cave, and said, "Yes, I've used up all my stored chakra, so I can't maintain that power anymore."

After a moment's thought, Orochimaru roughly understood the effect of the technique Tsunade was practicing, and didn't ask any further questions.

The team's return to the village was not fast; at least, they couldn't make it in three days as Hanzo had suggested. After all, there were quite a few wounded in the team, including Jiraiya, who was unable to move on his own. Tsunade herself was also in poor condition and unable to treat them.

This is why Orochimaru needed communication ninjas to quickly relay messages back, and the village's reply was simple: they guaranteed their safe return to the village and didn't need to worry about anything else.

However, three days later, when they were only halfway back to the village, Danzo's army had not withdrawn from the Land of Rain, nor had there been any news of Hanzo declaring war, but it seemed that important talks were taking place.

Tatsuma could imagine the situation of the talks. Konoha was unwilling to give up its advantage over Sunagakure and was unwilling to withdraw easily. Konoha's solution would probably be to start a three-way talks, which would not involve Iwagakure but would be a three-way talks between Konoha, Sunagakure, and the Land of Rain.

Konoha's demand is definitely for Sunagakure to stop first, and then withdraw from the Land of Rain while ensuring that its advantages are not lost. As for whether there will be further fighting, and where to fight, that can be discussed later.

Sunagakure would certainly not agree to such a request. It's similar to a gambling table situation: if the winner wants to withdraw early, the loser will definitely be unhappy because if they continue, the loser might have a chance to win back their losses, but once they withdraw, they can never get them back.

In this situation, Sunagakure's demands are easy to deduce: Konoha must surrender first and compensate for the war losses. Konoha doesn't want the war to escalate, but Sunagakure isn't afraid.

The Sand Village, already trapped in a gambler's dilemma, wouldn't mind having the Rain Country as an opponent. After all, this could be a chance to win against both sides. If they succeed, they could not only recover their losses but also make a fortune.

In this situation, the Land of Rain, as the house, is also in a dilemma. After all, the Land of Rain is a small country and doesn't have many chips to play with Konoha and Sunagakure. Moreover, no matter how they play, the Land of Rain will definitely lose money.

The quickest way would be to help Konoha, their invading enemy, drive Sunagakure out of their territory, but that would be tantamount to offending Sunagakure to the death.

As for assisting Sunagakure? Sunagakure was already weak, and even with the assistance of Amegakure, it did not have the absolute advantage to overwhelm Konoha. It would not be able to drive Konoha away at all, and it would also offend Konoha to death.

No matter what they do, the Land of Rain will be coveted by powerful nations; this is the predicament of small countries.

Tatsuma knew what Hanzo would ultimately choose: to overturn the gambling table. Since he had to offend a major power, he might as well offend a big one. He would attack Sunagakure and Konoha as well.

At the same time, the Rain Kingdom also needs to develop. Small countries can't compete with large countries, right? Then my Rain Kingdom will become a large country.

In the original story, why would the Land of Rain go to war with the Land of Iron, which is not even bordering it? Could it be for an enclave? Tatsuma doesn't think so. He believes that Hanzo's ambition is not the Land of Iron, but rather the five or six small countries between the Land of Rain and the Land of Iron.

Starting from the Land of Rain and heading towards the Land of Iron, the only country with a powerful military is the Land of Iron at the far end of the line. The process of defeating the Land of Iron is itself a process of gradually eroding these smaller countries.

Once Hanzo manages to unify these small countries, he will truly be qualified to compete with the five great nations. However, the Land of Rain does not have the capacity to fight on three fronts.

No matter how strong Hanzo was, he could not possibly contend with a single nation, let alone more than one. In the end, he could only abandon the plan.

Of course, these things haven't happened yet. The Land of Rain, the Land of Wind, and the Land of Fire are still in the pre-war negotiation stage. Hanzo hasn't overturned the table yet, and the Land of Iron can't possibly imagine that it will be dragged into this.

Tatsuma knew he couldn't stop Hanzo from flipping the table right now, but he hoped Konoha could keep Hanzo in check and delay the flipping of the table as long as possible, because Tatsuma needed time.

The battlefield was the best place for him to grow, but he also had to survive. In order to survive, Chenma set his sights on the three talents of [Strength], [Constitution], and [Spirit] that he was about to accumulate to 10,000 points.

If these three talents can also receive additional boosts, then his strength will also see a significant improvement.

Tatsuma looked at Minato, who was reading a scroll, and said, "As expected of you, Minato! Studying so hard even while on the road. But theory is no substitute for practice. Let's have a real fight!"

Minato's body trembled, and he instinctively replied, "Okay!"

The others who were resting were speechless. Did these two kids not know what anxiety was?

(End of this chapter)