I founded the "Bragging Cult" in Naruto.

Chapter 140 The last mile of project implementation is often the most difficult.

"You were pretty arrogant just now, weren't you?!"

As soon as Tatsuma stepped onto the arena, he felt countless malicious gazes and angry voices from some ninjas. Although many of them knew Tatsuma, he was still too arrogant.

Tatsuma glanced around at the nearly one hundred ninjas before him, a genuine smile on his face, and said, "To have made it to this final round, I believe you are all very talented and capable ninjas."

You also have the strength and ability to become the backbone of the village, so I give you a piece of advice: don't think about defeating me, but defeat the people around you. Only in this way can you succeed.

"Only your talents will be recognized by the Jonin, thus earning you a chance for promotion. If you insist on focusing your attacks on me alone, then your scores will all be unanimously failing."

"Hmph! You mean I'm inferior to you?!"

"A Uchiha ninja said angrily," Tatsuma said, raising his hand in an innocent gesture. "Sorry, I wasn't targeting you. I was saying that everyone here is inferior to me!"

"Whoosh~~"

The moment those words were spoken, the entire arena erupted in chaos, and even the Jonin watching from the sidelines showed expressions of astonishment.

After all, even they might not be able to gain the upper hand against hundreds of genin who were very likely to be promoted to chunin. If they were not careful, they could be surrounded and defeated if even one of them disrupted their rhythm.

Among these ninjas participating in the assessment, there are many from secret technique families, and even some who possess bloodline limits such as the Sharingan and Byakugan. Even if they don't have any tacit understanding or cooperation, their brutal siege is enough to cause great damage.

His words made even Hiruzen Sarutobi on the platform shift his seat slightly, feeling somewhat uneasy, since in his memory, Tatsuma was not an arrogant person.

Moreover, as someone who had been middle-aged for several years, Hiruzen Sarutobi believed he had seen all kinds of people. When Tatsuma spoke just now, he actually felt that Tatsuma had no intention of humiliating anyone.

He felt that Tatsuma was stating the fact that "you are strong enough to become Chunin, but I am stronger." This was the first time Hiruzen Sarutobi had seen someone like this before, or rather, not the first time.

In his youth, there was a man in the village whose strength was unimaginable, yet he was extremely kind and never hesitated to praise others. However, that man would never stir up other people's emotions like that.

Furthermore, Hiruzen Sarutobi believed that the man was capable of keeping his word, but Tatsuma's talent was exceptional. At the same age, Hiruzen Sarutobi had never seen a genius who could rival him, but it was impossible for him to do so.

Could it be that Hiruzen Sarutobi suddenly remembered a battle report from last year in which Tatsuma killed two Jonin and forty Chunin? But how could such a thing be repeated?

Judging from Mito Uzumaki's attitude, Hiruzen Sarutobi had guessed some of the situation at the time. Unless Mito Uzumaki intervened again, there was nothing that could help Tatsuma defeat so many people.

Whether it was Mito Uzumaki or Tatsuma, Hiruzen Sarutobi believed that they would never use that kind of power to harm their fellow villagers. But if that was the case, what else was there?

Moreover, even if Tatsuma has some trump card that allows him to do it, why does he think Minato can do it too? You have to understand that summoning beasts are prohibited in this test, and the powerful summoning beasts of Mount Myōboku and Shikkotsu Forest cannot help.

Hiruzen Sarutobi shifted his gaze to Minato. Although Minato didn't have the same confidence as Tatsuma at this moment, he also didn't show any negative emotions such as fear, grievance, or regret.

Clearly, Minato also seemed to believe he was capable of doing it.

"Lord Hokage, Lord Hokage!"

At this moment, a Jonin beside Hiruzen Sarutobi reminded him, and Hiruzen Sarutobi snapped out of his daze. He realized that everyone on the stage was looking at him, waiting for him to announce the start of the match. Hiruzen Sarutobi nodded and announced:

"The third round of the Chunin Exams begins!"

As soon as the words were spoken, almost all the ninjas on both arenas made the same judgment: they rushed towards Tatsuma and Minato, seemingly wanting the two of them to be the first to leave the arena.

"Rustling sound~"

Minato displayed his full speed, flashing through the crowd, but did not immediately make a move, instead observing his opponent.

To move through a chaotic scene of hundreds of people without encountering any obstacles is not just a matter of speed; it also requires route planning, observation, prediction, and avoidance of the movements of others along the route.

While other Jonin around Minato possessed speed comparable to Minato's, not everyone had the analytical and reaction skills required. Hiruzen Sarutobi nodded in satisfaction.

Minato, that kid, he's fast!

His gaze then fell on Tatsuma. Compared to Minato's agility, Tatsuma's performance was more straightforward and courageous.

As Tatsuma dodged, he grabbed the arms, wrists, or shoulders of one ninja after another, using strength surpassing that of everyone else in the arena to forcefully throw them off the stage.

However, Hiruzen Sarutobi quickly frowned, because with his discerning eye, he could tell that the ninjas Tatsuma had chosen were all of lower skill levels. While this would reduce the number of ninjutsu required,

This also freed up more space for truly talented and capable ninjas to attack him. These ninjas wouldn't easily reveal their weaknesses and let Tatsuma defeat them so easily.

"Tch~ Clang!"

As expected, in the midst of the melee, a ninja sword struck Tatsuma's left shoulder from the side. If it weren't for the ninja headband tied around his left upper arm, his entire left upper arm might have been slashed.

When the people around him saw that Chenma was injured, they all showed their joy. Just as they were about to speed up their attacks and expose more weaknesses in Chenma, Chenma actually raised the corners of his mouth.

He deliberately exposed his left shoulder just now, wanting to see if this situation would be judged as a fight, since it cannot be activated in actual combat.

However, as the pain in his left shoulder subsided rapidly, Tatsuma knew that his attempt had succeeded. Of course, he was also prepared for the possibility that he would not be able to activate the White Demon effect.

With his mastery of clinical medical ninjutsu, he could have healed that stab wound quickly, but now he could better enjoy the "battle".

Chenma's pace suddenly dropped, seemingly affected by his injuries. He no longer displayed the martial prowess of his previous feats of knocking away more than twenty people in a row. Instead, he continued to fight with those around him and stopped eliminating opponents in succession.

"He'll be exhausted."

Seeing that Tatsuma's pace had become more conservative, one Jonin commented, and another Jonin nodded in agreement, saying, "Without stopping the bleeding, his stamina will be depleted more quickly."

The surrounding Jonin all shared similar opinions, but only Hiruzen Sarutobi, who had a better view from the high platform, was somewhat puzzled. He felt that Tatsuma wasn't slowing down because of his injuries.

Because Tatsuma is now more composed, he saw several opportunities to eliminate his opponents directly, but Tatsuma gave them up. Judging from Tatsuma's physical reactions, he definitely saw and was capable of eliminating his opponents, but he did not choose to do so.

Minato seemed to have observed the situation thoroughly and began to make his move. Unlike Tatsuma's approach of eliminating a large number of people in one fell swoop, Minato's approach was more cautious, constantly using shuriken, kunai, and explosive tags.

This will conserve a lot of stamina and chakra, while also restricting the opponent's route and putting them in an area where Minato can have more freedom.

Tatsuma kept observing Minato's side until Minato had eliminated twenty people in succession. Only then did he stop paying attention, use the Body Flicker Technique to break out of the encirclement, causing many people's attacks to miss.

"Earth Release! Earth Returns!"

The moment he landed, Tatsuma had already completed the hand seals. The arena trembled, and an earthen wall, larger than a normal ninjutsu wall, quickly rose up, but in the opposite direction.

A dozen people were thrown into the air by the sudden rise in ground, and some even landed in confusion on the arena next door where Minato was. After getting up, they rushed towards Minato, who was surrounded by the crowd, without being able to see who was surrounded.

However, they were quickly spotted by the surrounding Jonin and eliminated.

"Intelligent, not bound by the application of ninjutsu."

Hiruzen Sarutobi praised him, and looking at the increasingly excited Tatsuma and the equally confident Minato, Hiruzen suddenly felt that Tatsuma and Minato might not be without a chance of winning.

As long as both players can maintain their physical strength and stay focused, they can take advantage of the opponents' lack of coordination and inability to cooperate, which may even affect their allies, and gradually reduce the number of opponents.

This situation is almost unheard of on the battlefield. After all, even in the most chaotic battlefield, there will always be someone to take command. Even if the command is not very good, the formation can still be maintained.

However, this is the Chunin Exams, and no one has the right to order everyone around. Also, the mindset for battle is not as united as in a real free-for-all.

Hiruzen Sarutobi felt that Tatsuma and Minato should be able to handle the first sixty to eighty people, but the remaining ones were the real challenge. These remaining people had ample room to use their own methods without fear of accidentally harming their allies.

Although there are no allies in the melee, they now consider defeating Tatsuma and Minato as their common mission, so they will naturally be more careful. Moreover, hitting allies will reduce the power of the technique and the damage to the real target.

However, once the number of people decreases, the problem is solved, and the remaining people are the most capable and powerful in the group, making them much more difficult to deal with.

As Hiruzen Sarutobi had predicted, as time went on, only thirty or forty people remained on each of the two arenas.

At this moment, both Tatsuma and Minato were panting, while the rest were in much better condition. Some of them hadn't even made a move from beginning to end and were now at full strength.

Defeating the remaining thirty or forty people is much more difficult than defeating the previous seventy or eighty.

The pace of the battle slowed down once again. The remaining people did not take the initiative to attack Tatsuma or Minato, and the two of them were given a rare moment of rest.

Standing on their respective arenas, the two simultaneously pulled out their rations without any prior warning. They suddenly turned around, glanced at each other, and Tatsuma popped a ration into his mouth, slurring his words:

"Minato, it's time to show us your true ninjutsu."

"Yeah, I originally saved it to defeat you, but now I have no choice but to use it."

After swallowing the soldier's ration pills and feeling their strength rapidly recover, both of them simultaneously formed the hand seals for creating shadow clones. Hiruzen Sarutobi on the high platform also stood up. If what had just happened was a display of taijutsu, tactics, and superb combat talent, then ninjutsu only accounted for a small part of it.

Now it's time for these two kids to fully demonstrate the results of their years of ninjutsu training. Seeing their stance, Hiruzen Sarutobi guessed what their final solution was.

Because that's what Hiruzen Sarutobi is best at!

(End of this chapter)