I founded the "Bragging Cult" in Naruto.

Chapter 166 When you eat a sour orange, tell the next person that the orange is sweet.

Some news can't be suppressed, such as the heroic feat of Chenma and his companions this time.

The attack severely damaged the Sand Ninja elite force, rendering thousands of Sand Ninja incapable of fighting at the same time. This forced Chiyo and Ebizo to disregard the village's opinions and withdraw their troops back to the Land of Wind.

Inside the Tsuchikage's office in Iwagakure Village.

Onoki looked at the battle report in his hand, his face very solemn, his big nose and chest rising and falling in unison.

"I really underestimated Hiruzen Sarutobi's three disciples, and Konoha's White Fang and Ryuma are truly remarkable."

Onoki, who was usually defiant in his speech, actually sounded somewhat impressed.

"Clang~"

Huang Tu, who was taking documents from a tall cabinet, accidentally bumped his bottom against a low cabinet, causing the ornaments on the cabinet to fall to the ground.

Seeing his son's clumsy appearance, Onoki sighed, looked back at the report in his hand, and a hint of envy unconsciously appeared in his eyes.

That boy named Sakamoto Tatsuma is even younger than his son, only ten years old, yet he managed to plot against and harm thousands of Sand Ninja. Such talent, such a genius, and yet he's from Konoha!

He took down the documents, picked up the yellow soil from the ornaments on the ground, placed the documents on his father's desk, and said somewhat dismissively, "It's not that great, is it? It only seriously injured over a thousand Sand Ninja, but actually killed only a hundred or so."

"Even if thousands of ninjas died, let alone injuries, Sunagakure, no matter how poor, could recover quickly, right?"

Onoki gave his son a disappointed look and said, "If they had really killed thousands of ninjas, Sunagakure could have recovered quickly, but they spared their lives, and that was the wisest thing to do!"

"what?"

Huang Tu found it hard to understand; after all, wasn't death more serious than injury? Onoki remembered that Hiruzen Sarutobi seemed to have a habit of smoking, and at that moment he suddenly wanted to have a shot or two.

Compared to the young people of Konoha, Huang Tu is still too mediocre. Onoki sighed and said:

"Do you know how many medical ninjas it takes to care for a thousand seriously injured Sand Ninja? And the formula for the antidote—Konoha dared to give it to us, but Sand Village wouldn't dare to use it directly; it has to be verified."

This will require a lot of time, energy and money, and at the same time, controlling the degree of poisoning of these wounded people is another huge expense.

Even if Sunagakure successfully develops the antidote, after such a long delay, how much fighting power can they recover even if they are cured?

If their combat strength does not recover well, or they are even unable to continue being ninjas, Sunagakure must support them until they grow old.

You think Konoha spared the lives of thousands of ninja warriors for Sunagakure? No, it sent thousands of burdens to Sunagakure!

Furthermore, Sunagakure would have to expend resources to treat them. If they abandoned these thousands of Sunagakure ninja, who would dare to become a Sunagakure ninja in the future? Who would dare to go to the battlefield and risk their lives for Sunagakure?

After finishing his sentence in one breath, Onoki took several deep breaths and looked at his son, who was beginning to understand and had his mouth agape, and said, "You think that's all? Konoha's schemes go far beyond that."

Konoha severely injured over a thousand Sand ninja, but do you believe that not only does the Sand Village not dare to break ties with Konoha, but they also have to thank them?!

From then on, Sunagakure would probably be inferior to Konoha, and Konoha's restraint would allow them to gain a lot of prestige and recognition.

After the war ends, the entrustment of those former nobles and even royal families of the small countries that were once part of Sunagakure will no longer belong to Sunagakure, but will be transferred to Konoha.

Moreover, having suffered such a crushing defeat, if Sunagakure cannot achieve a major victory over Konoha and plunder vast amounts of land and other resources in a short period of time, how long do you think their daimyo can tolerate it?

Looking at the dumbfounded yellow earth, Onoki sighed and said:

"War is not a private fight, it is not just a matter of life and death between two people on the battlefield, or even the survival and victory of two armies on the battlefield. It is a clash between two countries, and force is only one aspect of it."

Why do you think Ai and I didn't go all-in on the war? Because to go into war, we had to be prepared to give up everything we'd accumulated and gamble the future of a village or a country.

Neither the Land of Earth nor the Land of Lightning possesses sufficient confidence—not my or Ai's confidence, but rather the confidence of these very countries.

"Did the Third Hokage really think that much about it?"

Huang Tu still found it somewhat unbelievable. Although these things seemed to make sense coming from his father, could anyone really have imagined them before the war started?

"Hmph! Do you believe that in the next period of time, rumors will spread that this battle was fought by Konoha for its annihilated allies?"

Moreover, barring any unforeseen circumstances, those who died as members of the Thousand Hands clan will be honored with titles such as "never forgetting the oath" and "fighting to the death to uphold the promise."

These rumors won't be released through official channels, but will spread gradually from low to high, and from specific points to a wider audience, through repeated discussions among people.

It wouldn't be an exaggeration to call Hiruzen Sarutobi a genius.

Hearing Onoki say this, Huangtu nodded involuntarily, because he had already heard some voices praising Konoha and Senju in the past two days. Huangtu seemed to remember something and asked somewhat anxiously:

"If Konoha is going to reveal the truth about the Land of Whirlpools, then we..."

"Where did this battle report come from?"

"The Land of Wind".

"That's right. Konoha is waiting for our offer, and this battle report was even voluntarily and willingly disseminated by Sunagakure."

"Huh? Why?"

"Because if only his village buys out the information, then his village will lose money. But if the other three villages buy out the information, then Sunagakure will not lose money, and Konoha will make a profit."

Upon hearing this, Huang Tu nodded, then asked with a puzzled look, "But haven't there already been rumors that the Land of Whirlpools was besieged and destroyed by the four kingdoms? Is it still useful to buy out the information at this point?"

"What would you call the people who were killed by White Fang in the four villages?"

Hearing his father's test, Huang Tu frowned, but still insisted, "It's the spirits of the village's heroes!"

"Wrong! They are the sinners. They destroyed the Land of Whirlpools, and it had nothing to do with their village. Our Hidden Stone Village has never participated in the destruction of the Land of Whirlpools. It was that sinner who brought this upon himself."

Looking at his father's expressionless face, Huang Tu showed a look of disbelief. After a long while, he said, "Father, I'm really not suited to be the Earth Shadow. Maybe you shouldn't train me anymore."

"Sigh~"

Looking at his son's expression, Onoki sighed deeply. When he was young, wasn't he also a person who saw things in black and white like Huang Tu? But there is no world that is only black and white.

"So, are we just supposed to obediently pay Konoha for the information?"

Seeing his father's sad expression, Huang Tu quickly changed the subject. Onoki touched his bulbous nose and said, "Don't you think that Sakamoto Tatsuma has been wronged in Konoha?"

After all, this kid has done more than just this one big thing since the start of the war, but Konoha has repeatedly denied it and even tried to control the information. I'm getting old, and my heart is getting softer. I can't bear to see a young man suffer.

"Dad, you mean bring Sakamoto Tatsuma to our Iwagakure?"

Huang Tu suddenly stepped forward, looking very interested. He knew that his father admired Sakamoto Tatsuma. If he could become a member of Iwagakure, he might not have to be trained as the Tsuchikage anymore!

"Snapped!"

Onoki jumped up and flicked Koto on the forehead, saying, "If Konoha dares to give me someone like that, would I dare to use him?!"

"Huh? What does that mean?"

"Konoha suppresses such a peerless genius, so why don't we help promote him? I want him to become the future God of Shinobi! Then we'll just wait and see if he can make it to the future."

"."

Looking at his father's appearance, Huang Tu, who had been holding back for a long time, finally blurted out, "Dad, your heart is truly filthy."

"You unfilial son! Behold my Earth Release: Rock Fist!"

Hearing his son's evaluation of him, Onoki's bulbous nose turned as red as a ripe strawberry. He raised his fist, and soil condensed in his hand. Just as he was about to throw his fist at the yellow earth.

"Click~"

"Ouch!!! My back!"

Leaf.

After suffering a crushing defeat and being recalled to the village, Danzo Shimura spent several days reflecting on his actions. Today, he brought the battle report to the Hokage's office.

"Snapped!"

Danzo slammed the battle report onto Hiruzen Sarutobi's desk and shouted, "Sarutobi! Send Tatsuma to my Root!"

"Phew~"

Hiruzen Sarutobi lit his pipe, took a deep drag, glanced at Danzo, and then said casually, "No."

"Sarutobi! This child possesses the same talent and potential as his teacher, as well as the same courage and darkness. Within my Root, he can definitely grow into a ninja as outstanding as his teacher, or even more outstanding!"

"You single-handedly ruined over a thousand Sand Shinobi, forcing them to withdraw from the battlefield. This is something others have worked on for a whole year and still haven't achieved. Under your command, he can't possibly grow any real strength!"

Danzo continued to demand more people, and Hiruzen Sarutobi took another drag of his cigarette before casually saying, "The talent and potential shown by this child you've set your sights on have all been discovered under my training program."

Hiruzen Sarutobi's words weren't particularly infuriating, but his tone made Danzo's blood boil. His face turned purplish-black as he angrily said, "Sarutobi! You're too weak! You'll hinder his growth!"

"Danzo, I am the Hokage."

"You, Sarutobi, will regret this!"

Danzo waved his hand, turned around, and was about to leave the Hokage's office, intending to smash the door that displeased him. But just as his hand touched the door, preparing to slam it shut, Sarutobi spoke up, "Danzo."

Hearing his old friend's call, Danzo stopped. Although he was quite annoyed that he hadn't slammed the door, he still looked at Sarutobi, waiting for him to continue.

Hiruzen Sarutobi took another long drag of his cigarette, and amidst the swirling smoke, he said, "Danzo, you shouldn't attend this meeting, and you should refrain from any activities for the time being."

I will have Sakumo take over your and your Roots' data and personnel from this war, and continue your work.

"impossible!"

"If you continue to show your face or remain active, even I will not be able to suppress the voices in the village. You have failed your teacher, the Thousand Hands Clan."

Upon hearing Hiruzen Sarutobi's words, Danzo gripped the door frame tightly, causing cracks to appear along its edge. After a long while, Danzo gritted his teeth and finally said, "I understand."

After saying that, Danzo turned and left. He didn't bother to slam the door shut. Watching his retreating figure, Hiruzen Sarutobi said, "After this period, Root will still be yours after the war ends."

"snort!"

(End of this chapter)