I founded the "Bragging Cult" in Naruto.

Chapter 182 A wanderer needs to return home, especially one who has suffered injustice while away.

"Teacher, it's been a long time."

At the border between the two countries of Yu and Huo, the Konoha ninja army finally reunited with the Saigyou army, and Tsunade and others who had been active on the battlefield also arrived at the main camp.

"Long time no see! Did you bring your playing cards? I haven't played cards in ages!"

Tsunade was in a good mood because she had also received orders from the village to start a decisive battle with the Land of Rain to end the war. Moreover, she had been appointed as the commander-in-chief and would be fighting against Hanzo.

The thought of defeating Hanzo and proving that medical ninjas are no less capable than anyone else in battle filled Tsunade with immense joy.

Jiraiya stood to the side with a smile. As one of the most outstanding members of the younger generation, it was also his wish to fight against a veteran powerhouse like Hanzo.

Orochimaru, however, frowned and looked at Tatsuma, whose hair was being pulled by Tsunade, with a strange expression.

The village's order was that he, Jiraiya, and Tsunade, as the leaders of this operation, should defeat Hanzo.

Such a mission sounded very exciting, and Jiraiya and Tsunade even started discussing what ninjutsu they would use to defeat Hanzo.

Orochimaru felt that Hanzo was beyond the capabilities of the three of them. This wasn't an underestimation of himself, but rather a recognition of Hanzo's immense power.

He had been traveling between the four countries for the past few months and had witnessed Mifune's strength. To be honest, Orochimaru wasn't very confident. His best ninjutsu was too difficult to use against Mifune's speed and swordsmanship.

Yet, even with a group of elite samurai leading him, Mifune was easily defeated by Hanzo.

According to Mifune, who was disheartened after the war, they couldn't even harm Hanzo; they were completely defeated by Hanzo in the first battle.

Orochimaru wasn't as optimistic as his two teammates about whether the three of them could defeat Hanzo, and even felt that there was a problem with the arrangement of this mission.

Therefore, he reviewed the village's plan again and again, and finally, that familiar feeling was extracted from the plan.

The style of achieving the greatest victory with the least sacrifice is very similar to that boy who is now begging for mercy.

Even with Orochimaru's talent, he quickly deduced the village's, or rather, Tatsuma's, motives, but he was still very unhappy!

Orochimaru had always been the one scheming against others, but suddenly one day he found himself the one being schemed against. This sudden change made Orochimaru very uncomfortable.

She even wanted to replace Tsunade and rip Tatsuma's hair off!

After Tsunade finished reprimanding her disciple for going to the battlefield without playing cards, she finally let go. Jiraiya took the torch, put his arm around Tatsuma's shoulder, and leaned down to say:

"Tatsuma, let's make a deal. You teach me the Rasengan, and I'll teach you a very powerful technique in return."

"Very powerful? How powerful?"

Running his fingers through his hair, Tatsuma asked with great interest, "You agree first. Once I learn that technique, I'll show it to you." Jiraiya chuckled twice and said, "You agree first. Once you agree, I'll show it to you after I learn it."

Upon hearing this, Tatsuma roughly understood what Jiraiya was talking about. His eyes instantly became wary, and he distanced himself from Jiraiya, scrutinizing him.

Jiraiya is planning to get something for nothing. He'll teach Jiraiya the Rasengan, and then once Jiraiya has mastered the Sage Mode of Mount Myōboku, if Tatsuma wants to learn from Jiraiya, Jiraiya will definitely "regretfully" say:

"Oh dear! I just found out that only the successors of Mount Myōboku can learn this technique."

Having known Jiraiya for several years, and having even more spiritual connections in a past life, Tatsuma was well aware of Jiraiya's wickedness.

Seeing Tatsuma's wary look, Jiraiya felt a pang of panic, wondering if Tatsuma had seen through his plans. But he maintained his composure, feigning displeasure as he said:

"What? You think I'm lying to you?"

At this moment, Orochimaru, who was slowly walking over, was also curious about the reason for the two's sudden change of expression. He saw Tatsuma frown, scan Jiraiya from head to toe, and then say, "Can you guarantee that I can learn the technique you mentioned?"

"If you can guarantee it, I'll teach you the Rasengan."

"That technique? Rasengan?"

Orochimaru frowned, not understanding what Tatsuma was talking about. He probably knew about Jiraiya's technique, but what was the Rasengan?

A technique created by Tatsuma himself? Tatsuma has already developed a technique that even Jiraiya envies?

Orochimaru's suggestion is somewhat unbelievable, but... if Jiraiya wanted to learn it, it probably wouldn't be some proper technique, right? Rasengan, Rasengan.

As the on'yomi and kun'yomi readings kept switching in his mind, Orochimaru's expression became strange. Looking at this young ninja who had already earned the title of "Striking the Ball Hand" at such a young age, he wondered if it was a technique to twist the ball.

A gust of wind blew by at that moment. The early autumn wind was not cold, but it made Orochimaru shiver and stop in his tracks as he was walking towards the two.

He wondered if Tatsuma had somehow developed a technique so bad that even Jiraiya had taken a liking to it? What was his purpose? Was he trying to reclaim his reputation as the "Striking Hand" once again?

Unaware that Orochimaru was secretly criticizing him, Jiraiya looked at him with a "I've seen through you" gaze, causing Jiraiya to stammer.

Jiraiya is now certain that Tatsuma has indeed seen through his emo. He clearly never explicitly discussed Sage Mode with anyone, so how did Tatsuma know?

Could it be?!

Jiraiya's unfriendly gaze swept over his "official" disciple, Minato, who was smiling as he looked at his teacher and friend. He was somewhat bewildered by Jiraiya's glare.

After much thought, Jiraiya could only come up with one reason that was somewhat plausible.

That was because the toads of Mount Myōboku inadvertently leaked the secret after Minato summoned the toads. However, very few of the toads knew that he was practicing Sage Mode.

Could it be that Minato, without his knowledge, had already gained the approval of the two toad masters, Shima and Fukasaku, and was able to summon them?!

The more Jiraiya thought about it, the more likely it seemed. When he took Minato to Mount Myōboku for training, the sage Shima really liked Minato. Perhaps he had already secretly accepted Minato and was willing to be summoned by him!

"Minato, have you learned the Rasengan yet?"

Jiraiya suddenly asked a question, and Minato nodded subconsciously. At that moment, Jiraiya felt a sharp pain in his heart; his disciple had actually betrayed him!

Orochimaru, listening to all this, began to scrutinize Minato with a strange look. This sunny and cheerful boy, had he actually learned such low-class ninjutsu?

No, how could he have prejudicially assumed that Minato was a sunny and cheerful young man? Thinking of how Minato was even more ruthless to his enemies than he was, Orochimaru, who had been standing still, began to retreat.

None of these three are good people!

That's true, they were all taught by Jiraiya, so what good stuff could they be?

Especially that Sakamoto Tatsuma, he not only betrayed the enemy, but also betrayed his own people!

"teacher!"

Just as Orochimaru was making the most malicious assumptions about Jiraiya and the other two, a green figure suddenly crashed into his arms, startling Orochimaru so much that he almost used his Body Flicker Technique to escape.

"What monster!"

Although he had already gritted his teeth and accepted that Nawaki's aesthetic sense had gone astray, Orochimaru was still taken aback by seeing his disciple so suddenly after not seeing him for so long.

"Teacher! Are you alright? You're sweating a lot."

Seeing Orochimaru's panicked face and the sweat on his forehead, Nawaki suddenly asked worriedly, wondering if his teacher had been injured and that his collision had aggravated his injuries.

Before Orochimaru could speak, Tsunade rolled her eyes and said, "Ignore him. He's been acting strangely these past few days."

As teammates and friends of many years, Tsunade naturally noticed Orochimaru's unusual behavior these past few days. However, she didn't expect that after seeing so many companions, his symptoms not only didn't improve, but seemed to have worsened.

If Tsunade didn't know Orochimaru well enough, she would have suspected that the Orochimaru in front of her was an enemy in disguise. But if he wasn't an enemy in disguise, then did Orochimaru suffer from a mental illness?

Tsunade's gaze also turned serious. With the great battle imminent, if Orochimaru truly developed some kind of mental illness, it could affect the entire operation.

Orochimaru understood Tsunade's scrutinizing gaze, his face darkened, and he pushed Nawaki aside, coldly saying, "I'm fine."

After saying that, Orochimaru turned and left. Tsunade still had some doubts in her eyes, but mental illness requires the patient's cooperation the most. Since Orochimaru refused to cooperate, even she didn't have any good solutions.

The camp was quickly set up. Orochimaru stayed in the command tent, while Tsunade and the others exchanged words and then headed towards the command tent.

Since there were no classified documents inside yet, Tatsuma, Nawaki, and the others didn't try to hide anything and followed them in. As soon as they entered the command tent, they saw Orochimaru's serious expression.

"I think that with the decisive battle imminent, we need to treat this with the utmost care and also equip ourselves with the best gear to reduce the casualty rate."

I propose that all ninjas participating in the final battle must wear Ninja War Armor!

As he spoke, Orochimaru took out his armor from the sealing scroll. The gray iron plates, black lining, and thick plates extending to his groin made Orochimaru very satisfied.

Upon hearing this, Jiraiya, who always preferred to go against Orochimaru, did not refuse and nodded. The others did the same, except for Nawaki, who pointed to himself and said somewhat helplessly, "Sensei, I'm still a genin, I don't have this kind of armor."

"Forehead"

Looking at the glaring green of the rope tree, Orochimaru's lips twitched a few times before he said, "Take mine and modify it! Or you can stay off the battlefield!"

Nawaki originally wanted to say that it was fine for him to wear his own clothes, but seeing the unquestionable look on Orochimaru's face, he could only nod. Compared to briefly practicing his green youth, serving the village on the battlefield was more important.

Orochimaru nodded in satisfaction, then took out a map of the Land of Rain and its surrounding area, spread it on the table, and said, "Next, let's discuss the attack route. The rest of you, rest and prepare. We'll depart the day after tomorrow to begin the decisive battle!"

"The day after tomorrow? Isn't that too rushed?"

"Urgent? I can already imagine the countdown to getting home in my head!"

Orochimaru displayed a toughness completely opposite to his usual self; he didn't want to spend another minute with these guys!

(End of this chapter)