I founded the "Bragging Cult" in Naruto.

Using famous quotes in essays, as described in Chapter 157, can earn high marks, and the same applies to life.

"This is outrageous! This is absolutely outrageous!"

In the Rain Ninja camp, Hanzo rushed back and saw his subordinates suffering from the torment of poison. His exposed upper face turned red with anger. As a master of poison, he had actually been tricked by someone using poison.

Beside him, the Rain Ninja, also wearing gas masks, all lowered their heads, not daring to speak. After all, this was far too humiliating. After simmering in anger for a long time, Hanzo asked with dissatisfaction:

"Have you found out who did it?"

Upon hearing the question, a Rain Ninja nodded, presented a document, and said, "According to the returning ninja, they encountered three ninjas who appeared to be from the Sand Ninja Anbu, one of whom was suspected to be skilled in puppetry and sand control techniques."

After examining the poisoned ninjas and testing their blood samples, we found some components that were extremely similar to the poison used by the Sand Village ninjas. However, there was no completely identical toxin, leading us to suspect that it is a new type of poison developed by the Sand Village ninjas.

Hanzo took the report and began to read it. Ever since he was transplanted with the poison sac, he had never stopped researching poisons for his own sake and for the sake of those around him, so he could naturally understand these professional reports.

The report not only included an analysis of the poison used this time, but also a comparison with other known poisons. After reading it, Hanzo concluded that the poison that had afflicted his subordinates was from the same series as the poison used by Chiyo of Sunagakure.

This is something that no poison master can avoid. Each generation of poisons is an innovation based on the research and summary of previous works. In the eyes of professionals, they can naturally see many connections.

What was Konoha's reaction?

After reading the report, Hanzo's anger subsided. Upon hearing this, a Rain Ninja said, "Konoha must have also discovered information about this incident, and they sent us an invitation for talks yesterday."

Hearing that Konoha had no intention of taking advantage of the situation, Hanzo breathed a sigh of relief. After all, in Amegakure, he was the only one who could rival the high-ranking forces of a great ninja village.

However, he was unable to truly fight on multiple fronts. His eastward expansion was blocked by the samurai of the Land of Iron. Hanzo led his troops to fight against the samurai group led by Mifune for a long time without being able to truly conquer them.

This wasn't because the warriors of the Land of Iron were truly powerful enough, but rather because these pedantic warriors had, for the first time ever, requested outside help from Konoha.

After suffering heavy losses in the initial battle due to their unfamiliarity with ninja combat, the samurai quickly adjusted their strategy. The three ships were responsible for the overall battle deployment, but on the spot, Konoha ninjas took over the command.

Meanwhile, the ninjas sent by Konoha were mostly medical ninjas, which greatly reduced the number of samurai casualties. Takigakure, which was originally powerless to stop the eastward expansion of Amegakure, also managed to forcefully block the Amegakure's advance with the help of samurai and Konoha ninjas.

This frustrated Hanzo, because annexing and expanding was the only way for the Land of Rain to rise, and he would not actually occupy the Land of Earth, the Land of Fire, and the Land of Wind, which bordered him, no matter how ambitious he was.

Moreover, Hanzo had no way to condemn the tripartite alliance of Takigakure, the Land of Iron, and Konoha. After all, he had taken the initiative to declare war on the Land of Iron and the Land of Fire. As for Takigakure and Amegakure, they had already invaded other people's territory. Could he not allow them to resist?

The prolonged siege filled Hanzo with dissatisfaction and rage. He stared at the report in his hand and then said, "Gather a thousand ninjas and come with me to attack the Sand Village."

"Lord Hanzo, but the Sand Village ninja haven't..."

One of his men was about to advise Hanzo, but noticing the dangerous look in Hanzo's eyes, he quickly shut his mouth.

Attacking the Sand Village now is indeed not a wise move, but the northeastern front has been unable to be breached for a long time, and Konoha is unwilling to fight the Sand Village and has been on the defensive. Even if they wanted to fight, they could not find an opportunity.

The only remaining force that could potentially help the Land of Rain turn the tide is the Sand Village, which has suffered repeated defeats in its battles against Konoha. Moreover, their current large-scale attack on the Sand Village is therefore justified.

However, even though the Sand Village suffered repeated defeats in the war against the Leaf Village, it was still a major country and a great ninja village. Its foundation was not comparable to that of the Rain Village. The fact that the Sand Village still had the ability to fight the Leaf Village after more than a year of defeats shows that it was capable of fighting the Leaf Village.

Konoha continuously mobilized ninjas from various regions, urging the ninja academy to produce ninjas as quickly as possible, ensuring a steady stream of combat power to join the battlefield. At the same time, it launched battles against Sunagakure, defended against Kumogakure, supported the Land of Iron, and even penetrated deep into the Land of Rain to seek opportunities for peace talks.

Although Sunagakure is not as powerful as Konoha, their battlefield is more concentrated, consisting only of the Land of Rain battlefield. They also have unused forces and tailed beasts stored up in the rear.

Why is the Land of Rain so eager to expand eastward? Besides resources such as land and population, the tailed beasts of Takigakure are also something they value. Only by mastering the power of the tailed beasts can they maintain the confidence to wage a true war against major powers.

Although the five great ninja villages have different levels of control over their respective tailed beasts, they all undoubtedly possess the power to use the tailed beasts in war. However, no ninja village will activate its tailed beast until the very last moment.

Hanzo was convinced that his own reasoning was not enough to warrant the Sand Village deploying its tailed beasts, which is why he decided to attack the Sand Village forces at this time.

Hanzo was arguably the sole leader of the Rain Country ninja group, and his orders were quickly carried out. In just one day, a thousand ninjas were assembled into a team.

The difficulty of mobilizing a thousand ninjas in the Land of Rain is on a completely different level from that in Konoha. In a large country, a thousand ninjas would be considered a medium-sized military operation, but in the Land of Rain, it would be a large-scale military operation.

The actions of the Land of Rain immediately alerted spies from other ninja villages who were hiding in the Land of Rain. In a short time, the high-ranking officials of Sunagakure, Konoha, and even Iwagakure received the news.

Inside the command tent of the Konoha camp, Danzo, upon receiving the news, revealed a rare smile. Orochimaru also looked somewhat surprised, glancing occasionally at the grinning Jiraiya.

Although Jiraiya's actions were remarkable, Orochimaru did not believe that this was Jiraiya's plan; the most likely culprit was Tatsuma-kun.

"Last time it was a trap, this time it's driving a tiger to devour a wolf. Tatsuma-kun, you're really giving me more and more surprises."

Orochimaru sighed inwardly. It seemed that Tatsuma was not only becoming more and more like the Second Hokage, but his methods were also becoming more and more similar. Could this be a talent passed down from generation to generation?

As the one who created the rumor, Orochimaru now had some doubts about whether he had inadvertently revealed the truth and spread it as a rumor.

"This is Konoha's chance. We should seize the opportunity, concentrate our forces, and crush them in one fell swoop while the Rain Ninja are fighting the Sand Ninja."

At this moment, Tetsuya looked at Danzo with shining eyes, but as soon as he said this, Orochimaru and Jiraiya frowned, and even Hyuga Ying couldn't help but purse her lips.

Such an approach is far too short-sighted. The best course of action for Konoha right now is to stay out of this matter. Regardless of which side wins the battle, Konoha will be able to secure a greater advantage.

However, if you get involved, and something unexpected happens, it could result in a lose-lose situation for all three parties. Therefore, the best approach is to stay out of it and let the Sand Village and Rain Village fight it out.

However, Danzo's face showed a hint of interest. After establishing his development strategy for the next ten years, Danzo understood what he needed: merit and fame.

Watching from the sidelines might guarantee the village's profits, but it wouldn't benefit him personally. Therefore, he spoke up, saying, "I'm also considering this. What do you all think?"

As he spoke, he looked at Orochimaru and Jiraiya, who were frowning. Jiraiya simply waved his hand and said, "I'm going back to Tsunade's side soon, so I won't get involved or comment on what's happening here."

Danzo was somewhat dissatisfied upon hearing Jiraiya's words. After all, this was a time to concentrate forces on important matters. Although he looked down on Jiraiya, he had to acknowledge Jiraiya's role on the battlefield.

But Jiraiya was going to leave, and he had no reason or excuse to stop him. After all, Jiraiya's status on the battlefield was now equal to Danzo's; both were commanders of their respective battlefields.

However, Orochimaru, Jiraiya, and Tsunade did not care who actually controlled the command, so they could hand over command at will. If one or two of them left the camp, it would not have a big impact.

Jiraiya was unwilling to get involved, so Danzo turned his attention to Orochimaru. As for the other high-ranking members of the camp, such as Hyuga Hideaki, Danzo didn't care about their attitudes because he had the authority to command and mobilize them.

What he wanted was more power, whether it was Jiraiya or Orochimaru, preferably both of them. However, Jiraiya was unwilling, so he could only watch Orochimaru.

However, Orochimaru shook his head and said to Danzo's gloomy face, "I only stayed here to let Nawaki experience battlefield combat. Now that he has adapted, it's about time for me to go back and report."

"Are you going to disregard the village's interests?! What kind of education did Hiruzen give you?!"

Before Danzo could speak, another person in the tent, Rima, who also had the Senju bloodline, questioned the two of them. Seeing that someone spoke up for him, Danzo was in no hurry to speak.

He had previously spoken with the two of them. As descendants of the Senju clan, Rima and Tetsuma were naturally willing to stand with Danzo, who was working to "make Konoha rise again." When faced with Rima's questioning, Jiraiya tried to explain, but Orochimaru stopped him and said:

"Seniors, striving forward is for the benefit of the village, and holding our ground is also for the benefit of the village. It's not that I'm unwilling to let Konoha expand its advantage, but Jiraiya and I also have our own battlefield and tasks that we should complete."

Upon hearing this, Rima's expression turned somewhat grim. At this moment, Tetsuma also spoke up, "Since you've chosen to go back, shouldn't it be alright to leave Tsunade's disciple behind? We need his medical skills."

"I'm sorry, but I don't think Tsunade will agree."

Orochimaru continued to refuse, and Rima slammed her hand on the table, saying, "What? Do we not even have the authority to command or deploy a single Chunin now?!"

Rima's chakra erupted at that moment, making the atmosphere in the command tent extremely oppressive. However, Orochimaru showed no fear; instead, he became even more resolute than before. He looked at Rima, then at Tetsuma, and said:

"Seniors, I don't know if you've heard, but Lady Mito has already acknowledged Tatsuma as the successor to the Second Hokage. Forgive my bluntness, but you really have no right to command or move Tatsuma."

After taking the medicine, I felt very weak, just like when I had low blood sugar, it was unbearable.

Everyone should take good care of their health to avoid premature aging like me.

(End of this chapter)