I founded the "Bragging Cult" in Naruto.

Chapter 152 Even those who seem like one of our own should not be taken lightly.

In the rainforest, the sound of raindrops and the rushing water of the first rainy season is undoubtedly very soothing to the senses. But strangely, there are no sounds of small animals or insects.

If you were a person, standing in this rainforest, you would probably feel a chill run down your spine, and the hair on your body would probably stand on end involuntarily, because the murderous aura in the rainforest seems to linger for a long time.

"Who is it?"

Suddenly, an extremely deep voice echoed through the rainforest. Accompanying this voice, even the first flow of water seemed to cease, and the voice came to an abrupt end.

The rainforest grew increasingly quiet, with only the sound of raindrops falling on fallen leaves and mud.

"Bang!"

Suddenly, a loud noise startled hundreds of Konoha ninjas. They all grabbed their ninja tools, some already preparing hand seals, and looked warily toward the source of the sound. The leader was a young ninja with long white hair.

"I ran for so long to escort your reinforcements here, and this is how you treat me?!"

Hearing this irritable voice, the white-haired ninja smiled, raised his hand to signal the surrounding ninjas not to be nervous, then scratched his head and said, "Tsunade, you're several days late. I thought something had happened to you."

Despite saying that, Jiraiya had no intention of approaching Tsunade, who was far away. Tsunade rolled her eyes at Jiraiya and waved her hand. Instantly, more than 300 ninjas appeared from the rainforest.

Tatsuma and Minato both waved to Jiraiya. Seeing his students and disciples, Jiraiya's smile widened. However, after glancing around, he showed a hint of doubt and asked:

"Tsunade, where's Orochimaru? And Nawaki, weren't they supposed to be at the front lines too?"

As he spoke, the ninjas around him became alert again. Although Tsunade and the others in front of them seemed perfectly normal, they still needed to be vigilant at all times, since these were all summaries of experience from their predecessors.

"Stop looking around. Nawaki said he's going to the battlefield. Orochimaru will stay there to take care of him for now. You can contact Danzo."

After Tsunade finished explaining, Jiraiya quickly said, "Hey! Look at what you're saying, it's like I don't trust you."

Despite saying that, Jiraiya made a gesture behind him without changing his expression. He then moved slightly closer to Tsunade, opening his arms slightly in welcome, and said:

"I've been waiting here for you to come back, and I was a little worried because I didn't see Orochimaru. However, the group of genin you brought are all of very high quality; there are quite a few that I didn't even notice just now."

As he spoke, his gaze swept across the faces of the ninjas behind Tsunade. Tsunade knew that Jiraiya was still somewhat wary, and she was quite displeased, but she still explained:

"On the way here, Tatsuma and Minato led them through several waves of Rain Ninja. Although their strength didn't improve, they did hone their ability to conceal their movements."

Jiraiya nodded again. Tsunade's explanation was reasonable. At the same time, he moved closer and closer to Tsunade, even to a dangerous distance where he might not be able to react if she launched an attack.

"Painful Heavenly Kick!"

Seeing the expression on Jiraiya's face, Tsunade kicked him directly.

"Bang!"

Smoke billowed up, and Jiraiya vanished. At the same time, a crater appeared beneath his feet. Tsunade raised an eyebrow and said, "What exactly are you trying to test?"

"No, no! It's just that we haven't seen each other in a long time, I was just joking."

At that moment, Jiraiya emerged from the rainforest where he had come from, his face showing a mixture of pain and joy. He trotted over and began to ruffle the hair of Tatsuma and Minato.

After several tests, and especially after experiencing the superhuman strength firsthand, Jiraiya finally believed it. He also confirmed the news from the other side of the battlefield. Only then did he enthusiastically say:

"Everyone, you must be exhausted from the journey. Let's gather together and rest first. We'll arrange the tasks tomorrow."

Tsunade then let out a heavy nasal sound and said, "You've confirmed our identities, but I haven't confirmed yours yet."

Jiraiya knew Tsunade was deliberately throwing a tantrum, but he wasn't annoyed. He simply smiled apologetically and asked, "How do you confirm? A code or a mission scroll?"

"Password? I've long forgotten about those things."

Tsunade shook her head. She was too lazy to actually test him; she was just annoyed with Jiraiya. Jiraiya quickly nodded and said, "Let's confirm later. Let's come in and rest now."

Tsunade nodded, and Jiraiya looked at Tatsuma and Minato, who were carrying two large packs, and asked, "What supplies did you two bring? Do you have any food? The camp has been without food for the past few days, and we only have soldier rations left."

The previous plans were extremely tight. Chenma and the others were delayed for several days on the road, and the supplies in the camp were almost exhausted, at least the food.

Chenma patted the bag on his back and said, "I brought it. It'll last us a while."

Jiraiya nodded happily, then looked at Tsunade and said, "We've accumulated quite a few wounded recently, and a few infections have progressed to serious illness in the last few days."

"Take me to see it."

When it came to serious matters, Tsunade's expression became serious. Jiraiya led the way, and Tatsuma and Minato followed on their own.

The camp here is much simpler than the camp in the Battlefield of Wind and Fire. The main structure is a cave with poor lighting, and an underground river divides the two sides of the cave.

However, this also makes it easier to get water within the camp, as they can obtain it without leaving the camp, and the mountain wall where the cave is located can also help them better resist the rain ninja.

However, this camp offers no advantage if they want to attack. Fortunately, they are stationed here to fight alongside the Rain Ninja and to appease them, so they don't need to consider attacking.

The camp was not as clearly divided as the Wind and Fire Battlefield camp. There were two ventilation shafts, one for cooking and the other for accommodating the wounded. Everyone else was piled up in other places.

Arriving at the area where the wounded were gathered, and looking at the dimly lit surroundings, Tsunade frowned and asked, "Are the batteries all used up too?"

Jiraiya nodded. The ninjas in this camp had been hastily assembled and deployed, and there were not enough supplies or ninja types allocated properly, so things had not been going well for them.

However, on the battlefield, everyone endures as much as they can and just toughs it out. But this is harsh even for healthy ninjas, let alone wounded ones.

Without batteries and with the Rain Country shrouded in perpetual darkness, they could barely even examine wounds; otherwise, some of the injured wouldn't have developed serious conditions.

Upon hearing this, Tatsuma and Minato, without needing any further instructions, removed their backpacks, retrieved the sealed scroll containing batteries and other supplies, unsealed it, and began replacing the batteries.

Soon, the medical camp was lit up, and Tsunade quickly checked the condition of the wounded. Most of them had lesions and infections, which were very deadly on the battlefield.

Not only is it more difficult to cure, but the recovery time is also longer. Before they are fully recovered, going to the battlefield is basically suicide, as their weak bodies simply cannot support them in combat.

"Minato, you and your teacher coordinate the supplies. Tatsuma, you and I prepare to begin the surgery. Nonou, you'll assist Tatsuma. Anyone else who wants to learn can observe, but don't interfere with the surgery. The rest will be handled by Jiraiya."

Tsunade quickly gave the order, and Minato nodded, picked up his backpack and Tatsuma's backpack, and headed away with Jiraiya. Nono and some other genin also gathered around the medical camp.

Shikaku touched his jagged hairline, preparing to follow Jiraiya away. Did he know that Jiraiya intended for them to rest? Wouldn't it be better to rest early?

But after he took two steps, Tsunade seemed to remember something and said, "Some of the wounded Nara clan members have head injuries and it's inconvenient to use anesthesia. They need your secret techniques to help them."

Shikaku's face fell, while Yamanaka Inoichi and Akimichi Choza tacitly pushed Shikaku toward the medical camp, and then happily followed Jiraiya away.

"Ugh, this is such a hassle."

Like a puppet on a string, Shikaku walked listlessly toward the medical camp. There were three or five other people who looked similar to him, with the same jagged hairlines and the same laziness, as if these were fragments engraved into the DNA of their clan.

Tsunade somewhat regretted agreeing to Danzo's decision to leave all the Chunin who knew medical ninjutsu in that camp. After all, with so many wounded soldiers piled up for so long, having only two medical ninjas and one assistant who could only clean and suture wounds was really difficult.

Especially in battlefield camps, where hospital imaging equipment cannot be used, some internal injuries can only be assessed based on the wounded's descriptions, combined with the medical ninja's own judgment and chakra probing, making the process even less efficient.

Fortunately, the master and apprentice had the perfect summoning beast for medical ninjas—the Shikkotsu Forest Slug. The slug's special chakra allowed it to quickly detect the condition of patients or wounded, reducing the time spent on observation and examination.

This time, it was Tsunade who summoned the live slug, while Tatsuma only summoned a slightly larger slug to assist. Since there were no conditions for complete sterilization and detoxification, Tatsuma used sealing techniques to create a barrier to isolate the outside world and achieve sterilization and detoxification in a small area.

Fighting against Rain Ninjas is also an easy way to be invaded by poison, but this time Tatsuma couldn't use his newly developed Poison Extraction Technique because there were too many external distractions, and he didn't have an environment that allowed him to focus completely.

The master and apprentice could only treat patients one by one. As for Shadow Clone Jutsu, medical ninjutsu is too sophisticated, and Shadow Clone Jutsu is relatively uncontrollable. There is only one physical clone technique that can truly meet Tsunade's requirements for safety and control, and neither of them can learn it yet.

Because that technique, from ancient times to the present, has only been used by Hashirama Senju, and that technique is the Wood Clone Technique.

Unlike other elemental clones, which are created using substances of their respective attributes, wood clones are created by mutating one's own cells using chakra.

In other words, other attribute clones are chakra plus matter, shadow clones are chakra mimicry, while wood clones are chakra plus myself, making them the most stable and controllable.

Unfortunately, no matter how good the technique was, Tsunade and Tatsuma couldn't learn it. After all, it was a technique that required the Wood Release bloodline limit as a prerequisite, and to this day, only Hashirama Senju possessed Wood Release.

Only Tobirama Senju possessed such talent. His Shadow Clone Technique, developed based on the Wood Clone Technique, also had its shortcomings. It could be used for training, learning, and even combat, but it was still lacking in the delicate operations of healing.

The master and apprentice worked tirelessly for four whole days to cure all the wounded. Next, it was their turn to focus on their own rehabilitation and recovery.

Before the two could even rest, news of an attack by the Rain Ninja suddenly arrived at the camp.

(End of this chapter)