I founded the "Bragging Cult" in Naruto.

Chapter 145 When talking badly about someone behind their back, it's best to make sure they won't suddenly appear.

"Their clothes are so cool. I want to get one when I become a Chunin."

In a dense forest in the Land of Fire, a group heading to the Land of Rain stopped here. Nawaki looked at the group of Chunin wearing Konoha vests and uniforms with envy.

Orochimaru chuckled and patted his disciple's head. Orochimaru cherished Nawaki very much, after all, he had watched him grow up. If it weren't for his lack of talent, he would have wanted to pass on all his knowledge and abilities to him.

Nawaki's talent has always been a source of regret for Orochimaru, but this has improved in the last year or two. Perhaps it's because he's grown up, or perhaps it's because he's been around people who are good at learning, but Nawaki's talent seems to be developing little by little.

Although Nawaki's talent differed from Orochimaru's in ninjutsu and scientific research, his talent seemed to lie entirely in taijutsu. However, having talent is ultimately a good thing. Looking at Nawaki, who was examining the necklace Tsunade had given him, he said:

"Work hard, and you'll become a Chunin soon too."

"Okay! Let's start now. During this break, I'll do three thousand push-ups. If I can't finish that, I'll do five thousand squats!"

Upon hearing his teacher's encouragement, Nawaki clenched his fist with a determined look on his face. Orochimaru's warm smile froze for a moment, and then he said, "That's not how you work hard. Accumulating knowledge is also a form of effort."

Look at Tatsuma and Minato; they know how to seize every minute to accumulate knowledge and improve themselves.

As he spoke, Orochimaru pointed to the two people who were reading scrolls in the tree while also acting as sensory ninjas to scout the surroundings. Nawaki scratched his head and said, "But I can't understand what they're reading."

"Isn't it just some advanced chakra nature transformation stuff?! What's so hard to understand?!"

Orochimaru wanted to roar at his disciple, but... never mind. If being fierce could make Nawaki smarter, then with Tsunade as his older sister, Nawaki should be the smartest person in the world.

Reminding himself that he shouldn't become an irresponsible teacher like Tsunade, Orochimaru felt his mood calm down considerably, and his smile returned as he said to Nawaki:

"No one can understand it from the beginning. Tatsuma-kun and Minato-kun also got to where they are today through learning step by step. They were only ten years old when they started studying Jonin material. You should also try your best to keep up."

Hearing Orochimaru's teachings, Nawaki nodded solemnly, while the genin in the distance were somewhat surprised, after all, Tatsuma and Minato were younger than most of them, and the youngest among them was only the same age as the two.

They had just graduated as genin, while their juniors or classmates had already been promoted to chunin and even started studying jonin material. This was too discouraging!

"Seriously, he's already monstrous, yet he's still working so hard. Doesn't he even give us mediocre ninjas a chance to survive?"

Yamanaka Inoichi gritted his teeth and pulled the weeds with even more force. He was already exhausted from cramming for his graduation exams, and he never expected that his classmates had already secretly taken the Jonin course.

"Cultivation is such a hassle."

Nara Shikaku, who had been covered in bits of grass and flowers thrown at him by Inoichi, showed no anger or envy at Tatsuma and the other's excellence, since his ambition was not to become a powerful ninja.

Meanwhile, Choza Akimichi nudged Inoichi's armpit, then pointed to a fallen, withered tree not far away and said, "Inoichi, are there any mushrooms over there?"

Haiyi understood Dingzuo's meaning, but said, "Even if we had them, it would be useless. We can't fire until we reach the camp. We can only eat soldier's rations or dry rations."

Upon hearing this, Ding Zuo's face fell. He had been eating soldier's rations for two whole days. This was the first time in his life that he had gone without food for so long. Indeed, war was truly awful.

Hyuga Sento had quietly taken off his Hyuga clan's bulky and inconvenient clothes, revealing a green bodysuit underneath, and hid behind a large tree, starting to do handstand push-ups.

"Blackie, eat more, grow up quickly, have some more, just one more bite."

"Ugh~ Ugh~"

While covering the eyes of a black dog with one hand, Inuzuka Tsuru pinched the dog's cheeks. The dog instinctively opened its mouth, and Inuzuka Tsuru took the opportunity to stuff handfuls of dog food into the dog's mouth.

A member of the insect race also swiftly stuffed another soldier's ration pill into his mouth. Although the insects inside him were already saturated, he still hoped that his insects would perform well.

Orochimaru observed the children around him. This was a task assigned to him by his teacher. Along the way, he used Tatsuma and Minato to motivate the others and encourage them to work harder.

After resting for a while, Tsunade finished giving a lesson to some junior ninjas who were interested in medical ninjutsu before announcing the departure. Tatsuma and Minato, who were in the tree, quickly put away their scrolls and walked at the front of the group.

In terms of using sensory abilities, no one in the team is better than the two of them. Even Orochimaru now lacks more methods, after all, he is just the young Orochimaru now, not the later Orochimaru.

The road from Konoha to the front lines was not easy, with more obstacles than when Tatsuma first set off with the team.

After all, the village was collecting ninjas scattered throughout the Land of Fire and focusing its efforts on three battlefields. The Land of Fire was actually in some chaos, with ninjas from other villages, wandering ninjas, and some mountain and river bandits starting to cause trouble.

However, neither Orochimaru, Tsunade, nor Tatsuma and Minato made a move, leaving these rare opportunities to others, especially the Chunin who were about to go to the battlefield.

This group of people will first stay at the camp in the Wind and Fire Battlefield to complete the personnel allocation. The Chunin who are brought along are all required to go to the battlefield, while the Genin are not.

The genin's mission is not on the battlefield, or to be more precise, not on the front lines. Given their abilities, it would be difficult for them to play a significant role on the front lines. A large amount of logistical, communication, and paperwork needs to be handled by manpower.

Although the genin's abilities are somewhat lacking, their numbers can make up for it, freeing up more combat-capable ninjas to participate in the main battlefield, though there are exceptions.

Upon arriving at the camp of the Battle of Wind and Fire, Nawaki suddenly said to Orochimaru, "Sensei, I want to go to the battlefield. Can you take me with you?"

Orochimaru and Tsunade, who were organizing the list of supporting ninjas and some of the supplies they brought, were taken aback when they heard this. Tatsuma and Minato also stopped what they were doing and looked at Nawaki.

Suddenly being stared at by several people, Rope Tree felt a little embarrassed. He scratched his head and said, "Well... what I mean is, I can't be of much help with logistics, but I'm very skilled in martial arts, which should be more useful on the battlefield."

After all, I came here to fight for Konoha. If I just hide in the back and can't play a role, that would be too unproductive, and I'd rather not have come at all.

Upon hearing Nawaki's explanation, Orochimaru didn't reply. Instead, he looked at Tsunade, who frowned as she watched Nawaki scratching his head with a goofy grin. He looked just like her grandfather.

Tsunade's lips twitched several times, as if she wanted to speak, but looking at her younger brother, she couldn't utter the words she wanted to say. Instead, she glared fiercely at Orochimaru and said:

"This is your disciple. He wants to go to the battlefield. Why are you looking at me like that?!"

Orochimaru was not angered by Tsunade's retort, but calmly said, "If it were me, I would agree to let him go to the battlefield, just as you agreed to let your disciple go to the battlefield."

Upon hearing his teacher's words, Nawaki's eyes lit up, revealing an expectant look. Tsunade clenched her fist and said, "But the Rain Ninja in the Rainforest are too dangerous, and I didn't agree to Tatsuma going to the battlefield immediately."

"Then I'll stay here for a while and help Nawaki get used to the battlefield. You and Jiraiya should be able to hold out for a while, right?"

Orochimaru frowned and thought for a moment. In the rainforest, the Rain Ninja had a huge advantage, and against the Rain Ninja who were good at using poison and traps, Nawaki's best taijutsu would hardly be of any use.

However, if it were just a matter of staying on the battlefield between the Land of Wind and the Land of Fire, then it would be much more controllable. After all, the ninjas of the Land of Wind are not adapted to fighting in the rainforest, and this is not something that can be changed in a year.

Perhaps high-ranking ninjas like Chiyo can adapt in a very short time, and even if they don't adapt, it won't affect their strength too much. But this doesn't work for lower-ranking ninjas because it doesn't work in terms of chakra attributes.

The reason why the five great nations use five chakra natures as their names is because different geographical environments can change the genes of most people in a region over a long period of time.

Although the Land of Fire has produced many geniuses with multiple or even all five attributes, if we were to do a statistical analysis, fire-style chakra is undoubtedly the most common, with most ninjas in the Land of Fire possessing fire-style chakra.

The same applies to the Land of Wind. Ninjas who practice Wind Release will encounter many obstacles in the rainforest, which will reduce the power of their ninjutsu. At the same time, the humid and heavy air will make it more difficult for them to control the surrounding air and airflow.

Furthermore, the ninjas on the battlefield changed batch after batch. Before they could even adapt to the environment of the Land of Rain, they would be killed or severely injured and forced to leave the battlefield, and new ninjas would have to adapt all over again.

As for the advantages of Konoha ninjas in the Land of Rain, they only have the advantage of being able to fight in the rainforest. In terms of chakra attributes alone, they are not at an advantage. This is why the Land of Rain is able to fight on three fronts at the same time without being defeated.

Because they are familiar with the terrain here, and their chakra attributes, ninjutsu, and combat methods are all inextricably linked to this land, the Rain Ninja are more of a headache for Konoha than the Sand Ninja, who are from a major country.

Upon hearing Orochimaru's proposed plan, Tsunade's brows relaxed slightly. The current strategy for the battle between Konoha and Amegakure was still conservative. Jiraiya alone could hold out for a while, so with Tsunade's help, there would be even less of a problem.

Perhaps she wouldn't be able to achieve great merit, but maintaining the current situation wouldn't be a problem. However, Tsunade's brows, which had finally relaxed, furrowed again. She said:

"But... the commander here is that guy, Danzo Shimura, he..."

"What's wrong with me?"

At that moment, a deep, powerful voice came from outside.

(End of this chapter)