I founded the "Bragging Cult" in Naruto.

Chapter 158 Talent can grow through hardship, but hardship does not create talent.

Seeing that Orochimaru had brought up Mito Uzumaki, Rima and Tetsuma, though still looking displeased, said nothing more. Their status and position were undeniable, and they had no choice but to accept it.

Furthermore, they had to be the people in the village who most respected Mito Uzumaki's opinions, because the blood flowing in their veins destined them to listen to Mito Uzumaki, Hashirama Senju's wife, and even to do their utmost to protect her.

Danzo's face was also grim, because he dared not contradict Orochimaru. He was the only one in the village he dared not touch, but if it were anyone else...

Even when it came to Hiruzen Sarutobi's wife, Biwako Sarutobi, Danzo wouldn't give his old friend any face when it came to actually going to the battlefield, but Mito Uzumaki was the only exception.

If he dared to object, Tetsuma and Rima, who still wield considerable influence among the disbanded Senju clan, would likely immediately switch sides and disregard the consensus they had reached.

"In that case, you should all go back to Tsunade's side. We'll 'enjoy' the victory on this battlefield all to ourselves."

Danzo's slightly sarcastic tone did not anger Orochimaru. He toned down his previous tough attitude, softened his tone, nodded, and said, "Then congratulations in advance to everyone."

However, there are some things I want to advise you all in advance: striving for victory is good, but if it leads to some people who shouldn't be on the battlefield being sent there, then when the village investigates, none of you will be able to escape unscathed.

Orochimaru was referring, of course, to the ninja academy graduates who had just arrived at the camp. Although these graduates were already genin, they were theoretically qualified to go to the battlefield.

However, this group of genin was quite special. They were not assigned to ninja squads after graduation, which made their combat ability on the battlefield not very strong. After all, some of the knowledge they learned in school was too outdated and too "righteous".

Without a ninja leader to teach them the newer, and perhaps more unsavory, techniques, the ninja academy students' knowledge base was completely insufficient to deal with the enemy.

But in the eyes of militant figures like Danzo, this is not a problem, because they might firmly believe in a not-so-correct view that there will be a constant stream of talented people emerging from the mud.

For the sake of victory in the war, they were willing to send batch after batch of children into the mud, let them roll around in it, and then find the one that remained untainted by the mud and praise and publicize it.

This has become another classic case in their "laws of growth," and they don't care about those who are mired in the mud, buried or even rotting.

Given Danzo's character, he would undoubtedly be the one to throw those children into the mud. To be honest, Orochimaru didn't care about those children's lives either.

However, he knew that if Danzo did this and something went wrong, it would be his teacher who would be attacked. If those children died on the battlefield, his teacher's reputation among the common people and his status among the ninja clans would drop by more than one level.

Orochimaru didn't want Danzo's greedy actions to ultimately be paid for by his teacher, so he brought up the topic directly. These people in the camp would then become witnesses to reduce his teacher's responsibility in the future.

Danzo had a deep understanding of these political tactics, so he immediately understood Orochimaru's intentions. He simply snorted and said nothing more.

At this point, it would be inappropriate for him to say anything, such as insisting on sending those children to the battlefield. If he dared to say that, he wouldn't even need to wait until they were on the battlefield; tomorrow, Hiruzen Sarutobi would receive requests from various ninja clans to replace the frontline commanders.

He says he would never send those children to the battlefield? Those children are ninjas too! If they don't fight on the battlefield, are they just supposed to stay in the rear and eat?!

Therefore, he could only remain silent and temporarily refrain from mobilizing those graduates. However, if the battlefield needed these graduates to make the final decision, he would not hesitate to send them to the battlefield.

However, his answer was irrelevant to Orochimaru at this moment; he only needed to convey the message. He nodded, stood up, grabbed Jiraiya by the back of the collar, and said:

"Then Jiraiya and I will not linger any longer. What we are about to discuss is all confidential, and it is not convenient for Jiraiya and me to listen. Farewell."

"Okay, goodbye."

Jiraiya casually gave a bow and then scurried out of the tent.

"You stinky snake, I never thought you could be so rational. I thought you'd just go along with their nonsense."

After leaving the tent, Jiraiya put his arm around Orochimaru's shoulder. Orochimaru twisted his voluptuous waist a couple of times, but couldn't shake him off, so he ignored him.

Orochimaru looked at Jiraiya and said, "Hanzo's actions this time will definitely not be a sneak attack. He will give Sunagakure ample time. If we, Konoha, take advantage of this, we will probably fall into Sunagakure's trap."

"Why? Sunagakure doesn't know we poisoned Amegakure. They're probably still wondering what Hanzo is planning by gathering the ninja!"

Jiraiya was somewhat puzzled, but Orochimaru rolled his eyes at him and said, "Rain Village has never launched a large-scale attack on Sand Village. Why do you think that is?"

"Uh, is it because Konoha is already dealing with the Sand Village ninja?"

Yes, but not entirely.

Jiraiya initially smiled smugly upon hearing Orochimaru's approval, but the latter part of Orochimaru's words caused his expression to fall. He punched Orochimaru in the chest with his other hand and said, "Say it, stop pretending to be profound."

"Because the Sand Village never truly angered Hanzo, or rather, the Rain Village had no legitimate reason to attack."

Orochimaru disdainfully brushed away Jiraiya's hand that was resting on his chest and said, "The Sand Village ninja were driven here by our Konoha. Of course, they were somewhat forced to come, but that's enough for them to say that entering the Land of Rain was not their wish."

Jiraiya nodded. He knew the content of the previous meeting. What Orochimaru said was the excuse used by the Sand Village at the time. Jiraiya also knew that this was just Orochimaru laying the groundwork.

As expected, Orochimaru continued, "Think about why we were attacked so heavily by the Rain Ninja?"

"Because they killed civilians from the Land of Rain?"

Jiraiya seemed to understand somewhat, but he frowned and continued, "But what about those small countries?"

"Could Hanzo, along with all the Rain Ninja, defeat Konoha?"

"We can't beat them."

"Could Hanzo, along with all the Rain Ninja, defeat the Sand Village?"

"We still can't beat them."

"Could Hanzo, along with all the Rain Ninja, defeat those small countries if they didn't unite?"

"Snapped!"

Jiraiya slapped his headband, finally understanding. He said, "When facing the strong, you need to reason with them, stand on the moral high ground, condemn them, and then negotiate terms and demand compensation."

When facing the weak, all you need to do is show your fist! Then take whatever you want.

"Hmm~"

Orochimaru casually replied, then said, "The moral high ground, interesting. It seems you weren't lying when you said you were studying these past few years."

"Aha! That's right! When did I, Jiraiya, ever lie?!"

Jiraiya suddenly became very agitated, but Orochimaru noticed something was wrong and asked, "Who told you about this concept of the moral high ground?"

"Um...cough~ Tatsuma."

"It's Tatsuma-kun again, how interesting."

Orochimaru narrowed his eyes, then looked at Jiraiya and said, "So now you understand? Why I thought our plan against the Sand Village wouldn't succeed?"

"Um."

Jiraiya also regained his composure, withdrew his hand from Orochimaru's shoulder, and said, "If nothing unexpected happens, Hanzo will strongly condemn the actions of Sunagakure and demand compensation."

Sunagakure is unlikely to pay compensation. Even if they were responsible for this operation, they would never compensate a small country for war losses.

After a round of verbal sparring, the preparations and deployments that Sunagakure needed to make would be completed. It would simply mean sending another team that could contend with Amegakure. No matter how poor Sunagakure was, it was not impossible for them not to be able to spare one.

Hanzo's goal is not to actually defeat Sunagakure, but to seize benefits. Therefore, the contest between the two sides will likely have room for maneuver, just like how Amegakure treats Konoha.

Despite the reckless attacks, the losses inflicted each time have been within Konoha's acceptable range. Let us maintain the mindset that there is still a chance for peace talks and wait for an opportunity to negotiate.

"That's right. Moreover, the last time the Root organization disturbed the morale of the grassroots Sand Ninja, a large number of hidden agents buried in the Sand Village were brought to the surface and eliminated. The Sand Ninja's next actions will definitely be classified or even top secret. As a result, there are too many unpredictable factors."

If we were to attack the Sand Village at this time, and the Sand Village were to reluctantly cede resources to the Rain Village and spare troops to support the camp, it would likely be a repeat of the story of Hyuga Miyako and Hyuga Minako.

The harder we Konoha work, the faster the Sand Village will compromise, and the more benefits the Rain Village will gain. In the end, only Konoha will lose, while the Rain Village and the Sand Village will break even.

"By remaining inactive and watching from the sidelines, letting the Sand and Rain Ninja wear each other down, even if their losses are minimal, it will still be a gain for Konoha."

Orochimaru agreed with Jiraiya's statement and added some details. Jiraiya's expression turned very serious. He glanced back at the command tent and said, "Then why didn't you tell Danzo and the others about this?"

Upon hearing this, Orochimaru stared at Jiraiya, taking a long time to choose his words before finally saying, "You went to a bathhouse to do a lot of scouting work, and one day you came to the best observation point with a telescope."

If someone told you that the girls wouldn't be coming to bathe today, but rather some elderly women, would you believe them? Or would you think they were just trying to persuade you to leave and then take over your observation point?

"Forehead"

Jiraiya was speechless, and he understood why Orochimaru hadn't tried to persuade those people—because it was impossible to convince them. He shook his head, banishing the images of naked old women that had inexplicably appeared in his mind, before saying:

"So what do we do now?"

"Let's preserve more of Konoha's fighting force, and at the same time, let's have our teacher persuade Mifune to put some pressure on the Rain Ninja outside the Land of Rain, and see if we can force Hanzo to abandon his plans."

"Hmm, taking a leave of absence while on the battlefield? Isn't that a bit inappropriate?"

"Are you going to your death?"

"Um, I'll go tell Tsunade we're going back right away."

(End of this chapter)