I founded the "Bragging Cult" in Naruto.

Chapter 181 Most people only scratch the surface of life and everything in this world.

"Tatsuma, do you know what a Tailed Beast is?"

Inside the study, Mito Uzumaki asked Tatsuma a question. Tatsuma nodded, and seeing this, Mito Uzumaki continued, "Legend has it that with the birth of chakra, nine tailed beasts were born in the world."

A thousand years ago, in that desolate era, humans and tailed beasts had no interaction. However, as humans explored new lands, conflicts arose between them.

Humans and the Tailed Beasts have been locked in a continuous battle for hundreds of years. The Tailed Beasts have repeatedly proven their power to humanity, and in every era, countless fearless individuals have challenged them.

Some craved fame, some desired the power of the tailed beasts, and some even wanted to enslave the tailed beasts.

At this point, Mito Uzumaki paused, looked at Tatsuma, and asked, "You should know who founded this village, right?"

"Senju Hashirama-sama."

Tatsuma gave Konoha's current standard answer. Uzumaki Mito nodded, then shook her head, and said, "There was another person back then, named Uchiha Madara, who was the strongest ninja to ever appear in the Uchiha clan."

It was he and my husband who built this village together. However, their friendship broke down later, and Madara Uchiha left the village. Later, he came to the village with the strongest tailed beast—the Nine-Tails.

Madara Uchiha failed; he died in a great battle with his best friend, leaving behind a tyrannical Nine-Tails.

Unlike Madara Uchiha, who treated the Tailed Beasts as slaves and pets, my husband proposed the idea of ​​humans and Tailed Beasts coexisting. He searched through ancient texts and asked everyone who had come into contact with the Tailed Beasts.

They even found a way to communicate face-to-face with the Tailed Beasts: the Jinchūriki, who sealed the Tailed Beasts into a person's body.

Mito Uzumaki paused, her hands, which had been resting on her legs, gently returned to her abdomen and pressed lightly, as if soothing a baby.

Then, Mito Uzumaki turned to Tatsuma again and asked, "Do you know who the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki is?"

Tatsuma didn't answer, but just looked at Mito Uzumaki. Mito Uzumaki nodded and said, "Perhaps you already guessed it, ever since you used that power."

I am the Jinchūriki of the Nine-Tails, the first Jinchūriki of the Nine-Tails, and also the first Jinchūriki of a Tailed Beast.

Tatsuma, of course, couldn't say that he knew this in his past life. He just waited for Mito Uzumaki to continue the conversation. Mito Uzumaki shook her head and said, "But I did not live peacefully with Kurama."

The Nine-Tails, which was controlled by Madara Uchiha, sealed by my husband, and eventually transferred into my body, is unable to communicate with me; that's one aspect.

On the other hand, I have also clashed with the Nine-Tails. The Nine-Tails was unwilling to communicate with me, and I have never opened my heart to it. Over the years, I have only used my power to suppress it and prevent it from causing trouble.

Mito Uzumaki spoke in a very personal tone this time, even referring to herself as "I" again, and her usual dignified expression disappeared, showing distress and sighs.

Faced with such a turbulent Mito, Tatsuma didn't know how to talk to her and could only listen quietly.

After a moment of silence, Mito Uzumaki spoke again: "I can't live forever. In fact, I may only have less than four years left to live. If I live any longer, I won't be able to stabilize the seal on the Nine-Tails within my body."

For the sake of the village and the ninja world, we need a second Jinchuriki, but I'm afraid.

I fear that the next Nine-Tails Jinchuriki will be unable to suppress the power of the Nine-Tails, and I fear even more that the next Nine-Tails Jinchuriki will follow in my footsteps, spending his entire life fighting against the Tailed Beasts, without ever being able to open his heart to the other.

"Tatsuma, can you answer a question for me?"

Tatsuma nodded, and Mito Uzumaki also nodded, then asked, "What kind of beings do you think the Tailed Beasts are?"

"I believe that tailed beasts are extremely dangerous. It would be too unfair for a Jinchuriki to gamble their remaining life on whether they can coexist peacefully with a tailed beast, or even more so on the more elusive possibility of communicating with it heart to heart."

After pondering for a long time, Tatsuma finally spoke his truest opinion. He then looked earnestly at Mito Uzumaki and asked, "Grandma Mito, without the Tailed Beasts, how long could you live?"

"My child, the value of life is not measured by its length."

After Mito finished speaking, seeing Tatsuma's still serious gaze, she looked away, unwilling to answer the question, and simply said, "There are always some things that require specific people to take responsibility for."

Despite saying this, Mito Uzumaki's eyes dimmed, because Tatsuma's attitude meant that he would not choose to coexist peacefully with the tailed beasts, not even try.

Tatsuma can treat her and everyone else the same, but he can't treat the tailed beasts as human beings.

In fact, Mito Uzumaki already knew about this. It was clearly stated in Tatsuma's report when he went to Awa to carry out the mission of sealing the tanuki Kincho.

However, Mito Uzumaki didn't pay attention at the time. Firstly, Tatsuma hadn't shown the potential to become the Nine-Tails' Jinchūriki, and secondly, people's perceptions always change over time.

But now it is clear that, unlike his peers, Chenma's cognitive concepts are more complete and more steadfast, and it is probably difficult to change them.

If we force Tatsuma to become the second Jinchūriki, then we'll probably be going down the wrong path for decades to come.

Mito Uzumaki felt a pang of regret and disappointment, but not anger. She turned her gaze back to Tatsuma and asked, "Are you confident about this battle?"

"On the battlefield, who can say for sure? All we can do is try our best."

Seeing that Mito Uzumaki had changed the subject, Tatsuma readily followed suit. However, Mito Uzumaki abruptly changed the subject, asking, "Are you willing to give Kurama another chance?"

Tatsuma paused for a moment, then pursed his lips and asked, "That feeling of being controlled by emotions last time still bothers me a little."

He is a rational person. Whether in his past life or this life, whether he was young or grown up, he rarely lets his emotions control his behavior.

He is the kind of person who, even when he is furious or heartbroken, can regain his composure with a simple deep breath or similar action.

He always only experiences joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness briefly, never getting deeply involved.

Therefore, Tatsuma was very uncomfortable with, or rather, very resistant to, the state brought about by the Nine-Tails' chakra. Although it could bring him greater power, he always felt it was not worth it.

"The experiences on the battlefield are the best test of one's character. Perhaps you are now able to control that power with ease?"

Mito Uzumaki didn't give up. Seeing that Mito Uzumaki had spoken a second time, Tatsuma couldn't refuse and could only nod.

Seeing this, Mito Uzumaki stretched out her hand, palm up, gesturing for Tatsuma to place his hand on top. Having learned from the previous experience, Tatsuma didn't need Mito Uzumaki to say anything more and placed his left hand on Mito Uzumaki's right hand.

Gently pinching her arm, which had gained a lot of weight compared to last year, Mito Uzumaki's face showed the joy and relief that every grandmother feels when she sees the village grow up again.

With her right hand gently grasping Tatsuma's left hand, Mito Uzumaki's left fingertips brushed across the inside of Tatsuma's arm. Despite her neatly trimmed nails, they were like sharp blades that could cut through iron like mud, easily slicing open Tatsuma's skin.

The next instant, fiery red chakra surged from Mito Uzumaki's body and flowed into Tatsuma's wound.

"Tch~"

As chakra was injected, scorched marks appeared at the edges of Tatsuma's wound, and a wisp of white smoke rose up, just like a piece of meat being roasted on an iron plate.

Tatsuma clenched his teeth, his face instantly turning red. This time, the Nine-Tails' chakra was far more turbulent than the last time.

His hand instinctively tried to pull back, but Mito Uzumaki's right hand, which had only been gently gripping his arm, tightened its grip and held his hand firmly.

Tatsuma's intuition was correct; the amount of Nine-Tails chakra that Mito Uzumaki injected this time was far greater than the last time, and this chakra had even overflowed from Tatsuma's body.

Its body was covered in fiery red chakra, and two things that looked like horns or ears even emerged from its forehead. Chakra tails also appeared behind it, one and two.

Just as the third tail emerged, Mito Uzumaki stopped channeling chakra and quickly inscribed a sealing technique on Tatsuma's arm with her left hand, which was stained with Tatsuma's blood.

As the technique was completed, light appeared on the technique, and the chakra in Tatsuma's body was drawn back into his body and then surged towards his left hand, while the cut skin began to heal.

"Phew~"

Feeling as if he had just been tortured, Tatsuma collapsed to the ground. Mito Uzumaki released his grip, and Tatsuma touched his left hand.

The charred area peeled off easily, leaving no trace of burns on the ground. However, the heaviness in his left hand still made Tatsuma feel very uncomfortable.

"Unlike the last seal, this is the Four Symbols Seal. You can unlock it whenever you need it."

Mito Uzumaki looked at the exhausted Tatsuma and said something. Tatsuma nodded and tried to stand up, but his left hand kept drooping. After standing up, he unconsciously had uneven shoulders and looked at his left hand with some disgust.

A strange expression inexplicably appeared on Mito Uzumaki's face. She then said, "Kyuubi spoke up, saying that you are the fourth most hated person he has ever met, even more despicable than those who had previously devoured him."

"what?"

Tatsuma was a bit confused. How had he offended the Nine-Tails? It was clearly Mito Uzumaki who forcibly poured the Nine-Tails' chakra into him!

"You're slandering him again. No, you're slandering me!"

Mito Uzumaki's tone suddenly changed as she spoke, which reminded Tatsuma of the night four months ago when Mito Uzumaki hung Tsunade up and beat her.

"Gurgle~"

Tatsuma subconsciously swallowed, but in an instant, Mito Uzumaki's face showed a doting expression, and she said, "Just kidding. The reason I value you is that you will never treat me differently from others."

But Tatsuma still didn't dare to relax. Mito Uzumaki waved her hand and said, "Go play, but don't forget to come back for dinner."

"Yes."

After leaving Mito Uzumaki's study, Tatsuma headed towards his own study, or rather, Tobirama's study, only to find Minato there, copying the scroll of the Fire Dragon Flame Bullet.

Upon seeing Tatsuma approach, Minato smiled and said, "Tatsuma, I've already copied it. Take a look at it first, and I'll return the scroll to the Hokage after I finish copying this one."

"it is good."

Tatsuma nodded and said, "So that's why Kushina glared at me when I came over. Turns out you abandoned her to copy the scroll."

Hearing Tatsuma's teasing, Minato, who had been somewhat puzzled by Tatsuma's strange demeanor, forgot to ask and scratched his head with a silly grin, wanting to deny it but also enjoying hearing it.

Seeing that Minato had shifted his attention, Tatsuma prepared to speak again, intending to make Minato completely forget his abnormality.

"Minato, have you successfully mastered the Rasengan?"

Upon hearing this, Minato stopped grinning and instead gave a shy smile, saying, "I've only barely learned it; I'm not very proficient yet."

As he spoke, he spread his hands, and a bright chakra ball floated above his palm.

Chenma's eye twitched. Good grief, they really put it on his face, didn't they?!

(End of this chapter)