I founded the "Bragging Cult" in Naruto.

Chapter 133 Don't fail in vain, fail for the sake of success.

"Tatsuma, I'll go first. Observe the fighting style of the warriors from the Land of Iron. It's okay if I lose, but it would be great if you could win."

The next day, in the changing room of a kendo dojo, Minato, who was putting on protective gear, looked at Tatsuma and said in a serious tone.

Yesterday, after they finished their meeting with Mifune and returned to the accommodations prepared for them in the Land of Iron, Orochimaru and his two companions began an extremely long tutoring session for the two of them.

They were taught how to deal with the samurai of the Land of Iron, with a particular focus on Tatsuma. In fact, they had discussed this to some extent before setting off and along the way.

Jiraiya taught Minato how to perform hand seals with one hand, and Tsunade recommended Tobirama Senju's simplified notes on Water Release hand seals to Tatsuma, all in preparation for fighting against the samurai of the Land of Iron.

However, at that time, the plan was to deal with situations where negotiations failed and the two sides turned against each other, or to prepare for situations where, in or around the Land of Iron, one encountered rebellious samurai and was able to fight them without being at a disadvantage.

But Orochimaru and the others never expected that Tatsuma would actually accept Mifune's invitation, which was originally just a polite one, and even connect the content of the invitation with the purpose of their trip.

In this way, Tatsuma would need to have enough means and information to deal with samurai. However, Orochimaru and his two companions rarely fought with samurai. The few times they did fight were in the early years when they fought against incompetent rebellious samurai.

Those experiences were helpful, but only to a limited extent. In fact, Orochimaru and the others had considered using Minato as a pawn to test the methods of the samurai of the Land of Iron, but they did not say it aloud.

Minato's intelligence allowed him to easily come up with a way to help Tatsuma. Minato has now been infected by Tatsuma and become a competitive person, but he does not have Tatsuma's almost fanatical competitive spirit.

Moreover, Minato's competitive spirit was mostly manifested in his matches against Tatsuma. He didn't crave victory in matches against others, so he proposed to test the waters himself.

After hearing Minato's suggestion, Tatsuma thought for a moment and said, "Minato, you can go first, but I hope you can fight in the way that is most comfortable for you, rather than deliberately testing the opponent."

We are facing different opponents. In the final just now, I actually saw some things, but it's not to the point where I need you to gather intelligence for me.

Also, be careful of your opponent, that guy with the sword. He's clearly trained in wind-style chakra nature transformation. Be very sensitive to his attacks to avoid being accidentally injured.

Minato nodded and said, "I'll be careful. By the way, your opponent's observation skills are unmatched by many ninjas. I've only seen them in senior Uchiha Fugaku and the Hyuga ninja seniors."

In the past, you would unconsciously expose your left shoulder as an opening during battles, but against these samurai wielding long swords, the risk of revealing an opening is too great. Prioritize safety.

Tatsuma shared the same sentiment, saying, "That bald guy is indeed very difficult to deal with. His physical training is also extremely strong. When he faces the knife-wielding opponent, it's not like the first place versus the second place; it's more like the top student versus the bottom student. The difference is too great."

The two briefly discussed their views on their respective opponents, then checked whether the opponent was wearing the layered armor correctly, whether there were any omissions or loose fasteners, before leaving the locker room.

Back at the kendo dojo, many of the spectators had already left, since the winner had been decided. Although Mifune had said there would be "extra entertainment," not many people were willing to stay.

After all, many samurai believed that samurai were stronger than ninjas, and that ninjas didn't even have a chance to form hand seals under their swords, let alone two even younger children.

After the two men wearing layered armor walked out, Orochimaru and the other two looked at them with a slightly solemn and worried expression. However, when they saw Tatsuma, all three of them were obviously stunned for a moment.

They all experienced the reign of the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju, during their childhood and had all met him, especially Tsunade, who was very familiar with him.

But because she was so familiar with him, she didn't think Tatsuma and her great-uncle looked very similar, and therefore she wouldn't make fun of Tatsuma and Tobirama like some old folks with failing eyesight do.

But now, Tsunade was somewhat dazed when Tatsuma appeared before her in a blue, layered armor and with a serious expression. For a moment or two, she truly saw the figure of her great-grandfather.

Although the face is still different, and the age and hairstyle don't match, the feeling is too similar.

If Tsunade, who was familiar with Tobirama Senju, felt this way, one can only imagine how Jiraiya and Orochimaru, who only had a vague impression of Tobirama Senju, felt. Mifune, sitting in the main seat, also looked on with emotion.

Turning his gaze away, Mifune looked at the two teenagers, Tateto, the runner-up in the swordsmanship tournament, and Okisuke, the runner-up, who had already rested, and asked, "Are you ready?"

Daito and Okisuke nodded. In fact, the two of them didn't exert much effort at all. After all, they had been facing off for three minutes, and then Okisuke swung his sword only three times before Okisuke's sword was already at Daito's neck.

Seeing that the two young swordsmen were ready, Mifune looked at Tatsuma and Minato and asked, "Have you decided on the order of your appearance?"

Minato nodded, stepped onto the stone platform in the center of the kendo hall, and said, "I'll go first."

Minato went first, which was entirely within Mifune's expectations. He looked at Tateto and said, "Tateto, you go."

Daodao nodded, first sitting upright, picking up the long sword beside him, then standing up and walking to the center of the stone platform. Shuimen formed the opposing hand seal, and Daodao also squatted down in salute, then assumed a drawing stance and said:

"I carry a sword; please give me your guidance."

"I am Minato Namikaze, nice to meet you."

Minato Namikaze bluntly revealed his real name, but Mifune didn't seem to care. He simply sat up even straighter and said, "Begin!"

The moment he finished speaking, Minato Namikaze didn't draw the long sword that was also at his waist. Instead, he threw several shuriken at the sword-wielding man.

"Ding ding ding~"

A hint of surprise flashed across Daodao's face. After all, swordsmen wouldn't launch an attack so quickly, since it wasn't a real battle or assassination. But Daodao quickly regained his composure and swung his sword, knocking the sword from his hand.

Taking advantage of this opening, Minato quickly retreated, creating distance between himself and the longsword. Minato didn't know how to use a longsword at all, so the distance he had just been at was a comfortable zone for the longsword but a painful zone for him.

As he created distance, Minato began to form hand seals, but Daito had already reacted. Seeing that Minato was about to form hand seals, he took a step and instantly appeared in front of Minato, his speed no slower than the Body Flicker Technique used by many Chunin.

Minato was taken aback when the sword suddenly appeared in front of him, but he reacted quickly. Seeing the sword swing as it thrust forward, he stopped retreating, pushed off with both legs, and rushed into the sword's attack range.

Minato also produced a kunai in his hand. Holding the kunai, he thrust it towards the katana. The katana frowned. He hadn't expected Minato's reaction and response to be so quick. He quickly withdrew his sword to block.

"Ding~"

The kunai struck the blade, creating a spark. The swordsman then flicked his wrists, pushing Minato back a little. He swung the sword again, but Minato had already taken a step, giving him an opening.

With a swift change of direction, Minato dodged the blade's edge while also deflecting the wind-attribute chakra-infused slash. Upon landing, Minato changed direction again without hesitation, as the blade had already caught up.

"Sure enough, he's still too young, and his body is suffering a lot."

Orochimaru commented softly, and Jiraiya and Tsunade nodded slightly as well. Minato was indeed a genius, but his age limited his growth. His strength and speed were not as good as those of the older Daigo.

Among his peers, Minato's advantage was that he developed his body earlier, but when he encountered the physically stronger Tateto, his advantage was almost completely negated.

Meanwhile, the swordsman had adapted to Minato's fighting style and his attacks became increasingly rapid, making it very difficult for Minato to dodge.

"This can't go on any longer."

Minato made up his mind, waved his right hand, and the kunai once again blocked the blade of the sword. At the same time, he raised his left hand and began to form a hand seal. The one-handed hand seal stunned the swordsman for a moment.

But no one had ever told him that a ninja could actually perform hand seals with just one hand.

"Fire Release: Flame Bullet!"

At this moment, Minato finally finished his hand seals, raised his left hand, took a deep breath, and then spat out a mouthful of oil. The moment the oil was spat out, it ignited, forming a ball of flame that he hurled at the sword.

"Secret Sword! Air Slash!"

Although Dai Dao was surprised, it was only for a very short time. When he came to his senses, wind-style chakra quickly climbed onto the blade, and with each swing, the wind-style slash cut through the flames.

Seeing that the sword had dodged his attack, Minato was somewhat disappointed. After all, he had used one hand to block the sword's attack in order to activate this technique, and his hand was still a little numb.

But the swordsman gave Minato no time, pressing forward again. Minato could only deal with the swordsman's relentless sword techniques, while constantly looking for opportunities to unleash his ninjutsu.

But the speed of the sword was too fast, and what was even more valuable was that he was young and had a lot of combat experience. He chased after Minato, not letting Minato create distance, nor letting Minato get close.

After dozens of exchanges, Minato finally managed to dodge the blade attack, but was kicked in the chest by the blade. The force of the kick was so great that the ten-year-old, who was neither tall nor big, was struck.

Minato, who was lighter in weight, was kicked out of the stone platform by the knife.

"I lost."

Rubbing his chest, Minato stood up and landed back on the stone platform. With a smile, he said, "You are very strong. I will try my best to surpass you."

After saying that, Minato formed the reconciliation seal, and Daito nodded, saying, "You're quite good too. At your age, I'm far inferior to you."

After thinking for a moment, Dao still reached out and touched Minato's finger. As the victor, he had to maintain some decorum.

The two stepped down from their respective platforms. The prematurely balding Okisuke also came to the center of the stone platform. Looking at Tatsuma, who had been whispering intimately with Minato before arriving at the center, he said:

"You should just admit defeat. Your skill level is probably about the same as your teammates, right? You have no chance of winning. With such a weak will, you can't defeat me."

Upon hearing Okisuke's words, Tatsuma grinned, revealing an infectious smile, and said, "What I admire most is someone as unruly as you, because the satisfaction of defeating someone like you is indescribable."

Okisuke understood what Tatsuma meant and knew that Tatsuma would not give up on him. He obediently squatted down and bowed, then said, "I am Okisuke. Nice to meet you."

"My name is Sakamoto Tatsuma. Nice to meet you."

(End of this chapter)