I founded the "Bragging Cult" in Naruto.

Chapter 159 Hesitation leads to defeat, decisiveness leads to surrender.

The camp was quiet. There were more than two thousand ninjas here, but they did not make a sound. Even their breathing seemed to be deliberately suppressed.

This phenomenon was caused by news from another camp and another battlefield: two days ago, Danzo led his ninja army to launch a surprise attack on the Sunagakure camp, engaging in a major battle with the original frontline troops of Sunagakure and the support troops led by Ebizo.

The Konoha ninja army was held back by the Sand Ninja and unable to retreat. Meanwhile, on the other side, during the war negotiations between the two countries, Chiyo agreed to the war reparations demanded by Hanzo.

After a brief war with Hanzo's Amegakure forces, Chiyo led over a thousand Sand Ninja back to reinforce the area. Danzo's forces were caught in a pincer attack, and without a doubt, the Konoha ninja army was routed in just one day.

However, even a single, extremely severe defeat would not significantly impact the camp currently commanded by Jiraiya, Tsunade, and Orochimaru.

The reason this camp was so quiet was that when Danzo's Konoha ninja army was defeated, a large number of Konoha ninja who had abandoned their surnames stayed behind to cover the retreat in order to allow the other ninjas to escape.

To this day, Danzo's remaining forces have retreated, but the ninjas who stayed behind to cover the retreat have disappeared without a trace.

"You guessed right."

Jiraiya, who was guarding the communications unit, looked at Orochimaru, who was also waiting for news, and said in a complicated tone.

Orochimaru, unable to maintain his usual composure, frowned and pursed his lips. He didn't respond to Jiraiya immediately, but after a long while, he spoke in a hoarse voice:

"The Senju. Perhaps only they have such a fervent and sincere love for the village, and are willing to sacrifice for it."

Upon hearing Orochimaru's words, Jiraiya couldn't help but nod. Konoha and other ninja villages all have ninjas who are fearless and willing to sacrifice themselves for their villages, but which ninja clan would uphold this ideal as a belief for the entire clan and carry it out?

That leaves only the Senju clan.

Even though the Senju clan was disbanded, and even though the Senju surname was taken back, and they no longer used "Senju" as their surname, their love for the village and their willingness to sacrifice for it at any time were not taken away.

There were just too many. In this battle, almost all the surviving members of the Senju clan who had been dismissed, as well as their descendants, perished.

Even though the final intelligence hadn't been sent back yet, both Jiraiya and Orochimaru knew they wouldn't be coming back.

Jiraiya looked up at the small, recently built workshop in the camp and said, "Who's going to check on Tsunade?"

Although he said that, he had already placed his hands on his knees, preparing to get up. Jiraiya knew that he should not approach Tsunade at this time, because given Tsunade's personality, she would most likely take her anger out on others.

But someone has to go and check on things. Anyway, Jiraiya felt he was used to Tsunade's punches, so what if he was seriously injured again?

"I'll go."

Just then, a similarly hoarse voice, but one characteristic of boys going through puberty, rang out. Rope Tree, dressed in a tight-fitting outfit, no longer had the naive, hot-blooded look of before; his face was now serious. He said:

"No matter what, she's still my sister, and this is a family matter."

Orochimaru was stunned when he saw his disciple suddenly exuding a more mature aura. For a moment, he didn't know whether to agree or disagree with his disciple's decision.

"Aren't you kidding me?! The last thing Tsunade wants to hear right now is have the existence of her clan brought up again."

Jiraiya stopped Nawaki, who was about to walk in that direction. Just as Nawaki was about to say something, a blond-haired boy exclaimed in surprise, "Sensei, Tatsuma, he..."

"Tatsuma? What happened to Tatsuma?"

Jiraiya hurriedly looked at the spot where Tatsuma had just been, but there was no one there. He panicked and looked at the poison preparation room, only to see that Tatsuma had already reached out and opened the door.

"Gurgle~"

Jiraiya, Orochimaru, Nawaki, and Minato all involuntarily swallowed hard. It was definitely too late to stop Tatsuma; they just hoped his body could hold on.

In the poison preparation room, Tsunade sat at the worktable, her face devoid of any emotional fluctuation, as if she were doing the most boring thing on the most boring day. Calm, or rather numb, she was as numb as a worker on an assembly line.

"Click~"

Tatsuma entered the poison preparation room and gently closed the door. The slight noise seemed to wake Tsunade, who turned around and saw him, saying, "What are you doing in here?"

"Teacher, you haven't assigned me any work today. There aren't any wounded or sick people in the camp lately. I've come to ask if there's anything I can do?"

Tatsuma remained calm, as if he hadn't heard any news today. His calmness surprised Tsunade, whose lips and chin twitched involuntarily a few times. She also clenched her teeth and didn't answer immediately.

After a while, Tsunade seemed to suppress the emotions that had welled up inside her. She first took a breath and then said, "Let's prepare all the poisons we've been researching."

"it is good."

Chenma didn't say anything extra. He took out tools such as a mortar and pestle, beakers, measuring cups, and test tubes from the tool cabinet, and then took out various raw materials from the material cabinet to begin material processing.

Tsunade glanced at the materials Tatsuma was processing, then got up and took out some more sophisticated equipment from her tool cabinet. After Tatsuma finished processing the raw materials, he handed them over to Tsunade, who then proceeded with the purification and extraction.

Outside the drug mixing room, Jiraiya and the others waited anxiously, hoping to hear the sounds of smashing or the walls breaking open and Tatsuma flying out. However, Tatsuma didn't appear until noon.

Moreover, he wasn't knocked out or thrown out; he simply opened the door and walked out without any injuries.

"Tatsuma?! Are you alright?"

Jiraiya quickly came to Tatsuma's side, his large hands constantly squeezing Tatsuma's shoulders and arms. Tatsuma struggled for a moment and said, "I was fine before, but you're almost giving me internal injuries."

Hearing that Tatsuma still had the mood to joke, Jiraiya breathed a sigh of relief and asked, "What are you doing in there? How's Tsunade?"

"Work, drug mixing, the teacher is fine, but I need to hurry up and get my food, she's waiting for me."

Tatsuma didn't say much and walked towards the logistics department. Jiraiya was skeptical and lingered in front of the drug preparation room, wanting to see what was inside. However, the drug preparation room was sealed off and dark, with only a ventilation opening and a wastewater pipe.

Not long after, Tatsuma returned from getting food and saw Jiraiya perched on the door like a giant toad, seemingly trying to observe the situation inside through the crack. However, as one of the assemblers of the poison mixing room, Tatsuma was extremely familiar with the room's airtightness.

"If you want to see, then just open the door and look. Or is Jiraiya-sensei afraid?"

Tatsuma said with a smile, then asked Jiraiya to make way for him before opening the door and going inside. Before Jiraiya could even see what was inside, Tatsuma closed the door, leaving Jiraiya both anxious and angry, jumping up and down at the door.

"Hmph! Me, afraid? I'm not afraid at all!"

Jiraiya muttered to himself for a long time outside the poison preparation room, seemingly trying to encourage himself. Finally, he mustered his courage, looked resigned to his fate, and reached out his hand toward the doorknob of the poison preparation room.

At the same time, Orochimaru, who was also observing, grabbed Nawaki and Minato by the arms and pulled them away to the outer perimeter. Jiraiya panicked a little when he saw Orochimaru's alarmed appearance.

His hand, resting on the doorknob, hesitated to move. Finally, Jiraiya mustered his courage again, turned the doorknob of the drug mixing room, and, with a greasy smile on his face, said, "Tsuna."

"roll!"

"it is good."

"Bang!"

Jiraiya closed the door, looking dejected. He then scratched his head in confusion, wondering how Tatsuma could go in without any problems, while he was like this the moment he opened the door.

Not far away, Nawaki asked in confusion, "Why is my sister taking her anger out on Jiraiya instead of Tatsuma?"

Nawaki rarely used honorifics when speaking to Jiraiya. After all, as Tsunade's younger brother, he had watched Jiraiya grovel before his sister since childhood and was often beaten up, so it was difficult for him to feel any respect for Jiraiya.

Orochimaru was also pondering this. Although Tsunade's attitude towards Jiraiya was not good, it was mostly due to Jiraiya's own reasons. In serious matters and at crucial moments, Tsunade rarely made things difficult for Jiraiya and even protected him on many occasions.

Just like the last time the three of them were surrounded by Iwa ninja.

However, Orochimaru saw nothing wrong with Jiraiya's actions today. After all, as teammates, it was only right to visit him after such a big incident.

Judging from Tatsuma's condition, Tsunade shouldn't have reached the point of losing her mind yet, so why did she...?

Minato stroked his chin and said, "Teacher is too hesitant. With Tsunade's strength and sensory abilities, she must know that Teacher has been lingering at the door for a long time."

A girl will react negatively, even angrily, if she finds out that a boy has had any hesitation about her, let alone hesitation in action. The best solution is to just open the door and go in, like Tatsuma did.

Is that so?

Jiraiya, who had returned dejectedly, looked ashen-faced upon hearing his disciple's words.

Seeing Jiraiya's withdrawn expression, Minato quickly waved his hand and said, "Sensei, this is just my personal guess, don't take it seriously."

"Minato, I can understand that you know these things, but why does that brat Tatsuma know them too?!"

Jiraiya said somewhat irritably, after all, he had heard that Tatsuma hadn't received a single Valentine's Day chocolate when he was studying at the Ninja Academy. Although Jiraiya hadn't received as many as Orochimaru back then, he had received some too!

Although it was an elderly lady who helped me on my way to school who gave it to me.

"Oh, this."

Minato didn't know how to answer, but Orochimaru said, "With Tatsuma-kun's talent and wisdom, it's normal for him to understand these things. Of course, it's also normal for you, with your talent and wisdom, not to understand them."

"Stinky snake!"

"Loser! Oh, sorry, Nawaki, I wasn't talking about you, I was talking about Jiraiya."

(End of this chapter)