I founded the "Bragging Cult" in Naruto.

The love letter I handed you in Chapter 189 might just be a request for you to pass it on to someone else.

Is someone there?

Tatsuma, who was undoubtedly chewing dry rations, was startled awake by Minato's voice. He came to his senses and looked in the direction of Minato's gaze, and saw three small figures floating on the river.

In an instant, due to the urgency of the war, memories that had been subconsciously hidden surfaced, and he quickly recognized the three people: Yahiko, Nagato, and Konan, the future founders of the Akatsuki organization.

Considering the current situation after the war, their appearance at this time seems to match up. Seeing the three people floating on the river without struggling, Tatsuma frowned and said, "They must be drowning. Let's pull them out and take a look."

"it is good."

Minato nodded, took out three shuriken, and with lightning speed, attached them to a steel wire before throwing them at the three people who were swaying and bobbing in the river.

The shuriken grazed the three children's raincoats, and after hitting the riverbed, it quickly changed direction and got caught on the steel wire from the direction it came from, trapping the three children in the wire.

If Tatsuma already possessed 100% of Minato's ninja tool throwing talent, then Minato should now have realized about 80% of his own ninja tool throwing talent.

Even in terms of the current application of ninja tools, Minato is not much worse than Tatsuma. After all, some of the techniques in Minato's limited talent have additional conditions, and Tatsuma does not yet have some of those conditions, so he cannot bring them to fruition.

With a gentle pull on the wire, Minato scooped the three children ashore. The Konoha ninjas around them neither stopped nor approved of the rescue; many of them were munching on dry rations or drinking water with listless expressions.

Even Jiraiya and the other two only slightly raised their heads and glanced in their direction.

If Minato and Tatsuma were just ordinary ten-year-old children, they would have warned them to be careful of a trap. However, these two were already as skilled and experienced as many adult ninjas, so no extra reminder was needed.

After quickly checking the three children and confirming that they were indeed ordinary children and that no explosive tags or similar items had been hidden on them, Minato breathed a sigh of relief. Tatsuma, who had just finished his dry rations, came over.

After briefly glancing at the three of them and subtly prying open Nagato's eyelids, Tatsuma said, "They've drowned and are suffering from oxygen deprivation, plus the impact injuries, and possibly a concussion. They still have a heartbeat, but they can't breathe on their own, so let's drain the water first."

As he spoke, Tatsuma picked up the orange-haired boy, Yahiko, by the leg and lifted him up. However, he was surprised to find that the boy was surprisingly light.

However, thinking about the three of them's life during the war, he understood. He lifted Yahiko's leg with one hand and patted his back with the other, and Yahiko soon spat out mouthful after mouthful of water.

Minato had also learned the first aid techniques, and soon the three of them expelled the water from their bodies. Tatsuma checked them and found that their breathing had returned to normal and their heartbeats seemed to have become stronger, so he did not continue to use first aid methods.

After treating the three men's injuries with medical ninjutsu, he carried them to the makeshift campfire. The early autumn weather wasn't cold, but it wasn't warm either.

Since it was unknown how long the three children had been in the water, keeping them warm was essential, and their clothes needed to be dried as soon as possible.

However, this was not a hospital, so it wasn't that meticulous. Chenma didn't even take off their clothes and wring them out. He just took off their raincoats, spread them out, stretched out their clenched fists and curled-up legs, and then left them alone.

"Is it meaningful? Letting them drift downstream might be the only way to end their suffering."

Just after Tatsuma and Minato finished their work, a hoarse voice suddenly rang out. Jiraiya looked at Orochimaru with displeasure, while Tsunade, though not looking up, also frowned.

"If I encounter this situation, I'll help out. No one will refuse something that's easy to do and within my ability."

Tatsuma shrugged slightly, offering no further explanation or rebuttal to Orochimaru. Orochimaru's expression remained unchanged as he continued, "Perhaps their tragedy was caused by us?"

Perhaps saving them only creates three more people seeking revenge against Konoha in the future? We are ninjas; we shouldn't be so merciful.

"Teacher, what are you saying?"

Nawaki gently tugged at Orochimaru, but Orochimaru ignored him and continued to look at Tatsuma. Tatsuma also looked at Orochimaru and said, "I think I'm a person first, and then a ninja."

We certainly bear some responsibility for leaving the Land of Rain riddled with holes, but I doubt any of my colleagues would willingly and happily do the same again. On the contrary, saving lives and protecting others is what makes us ninjas and leads us to the battlefield.

We are ninjas, but that doesn't mean we should abandon our humanity. Duty is duty, and conscience is conscience; they should not be confused.

As for the revenge you mentioned, Lord Orochimaru, that's too far off. For now, I'll just do good deeds and not worry about the future.

After Tatsuma finished speaking, even though it was his true feelings, he felt that he had spoken a little too sentimentally. However, seeing the dejected Nawaki and many other Konoha ninjas whose eyes had regained their spirits, he held back his words.

Jiraiya raised his head and smiled, but before he could even laugh out loud, he aggravated the injury to his chest and abdomen, wincing in pain.

A relieved smile appeared on Tsunade's face. She couldn't bring herself to say such things as Tatsuma. If she could, perhaps these Konoha ninjas wouldn't be so downcast right now.

But this does not diminish her pride as a teacher in the slightest. Moreover, isn't Tatsuma's emphasis on life exactly what every medical ninja should possess?

Orochimaru observed the changes in the people around him and said nothing more, but he still stared at Tatsuma for a while before finally sighing.

He didn't know if Tatsuma was too young or if he already knew what his words meant, but Tatsuma still said them anyway, seemingly perfectly, which reignited the emotions of his companions.

However, Tatsuma subtly pointed the finger at the village's higher-ups as the source of the trouble, but he handled it quite well, without saying it aloud or leaving any obvious hints.

If Orochimaru could tell something was wrong, how could the Konoha high-ranking officials, who spent their days with these kinds of people, not notice? Hopefully, this time, their words won't get back up the chain of command.

Seeing Orochimaru shake his head and lower it again, Jiraiya nudged him and said with dissatisfaction, "Is Tatsuma wrong? You stinky snake."

"Shut up."

Orochimaru wasn't in the mood to pay attention to Jiraiya. If Nawaki hadn't been sitting next to him, he might have even called him a "loser."

These words should have been left unsaid, but Jiraiya is bringing them up again, isn't he just causing trouble for Tatsuma?

Jiraiya had never seen Orochimaru act this way before. Although he instinctively wanted to continue arguing, seeing the warning look in Orochimaru's eyes, Jiraiya opened his mouth but then chose to shut it up.

After resting for a while, Tatsuma received instructions from Tsunade to check the wounds of the injured, change their dressings, or treat them.

Previously, the wounded were only treated simply on the battlefield, and Tsunade even focused most of her energy on treating the Rain Ninja, so there were still quite a few wounded in the camp.

Chenma naturally wouldn't refuse. Not to mention that he didn't mind at all, even if he was unwilling, he would still do it. After all, he had just said a lot of nice things, and it would be too ridiculous if he didn't follow through.

"Cough cough~"

Just as Tatsuma was examining the wounded, Yahiko and the other two woke up. Upon seeing the situation around them, the three of them immediately became tense.

The bodies that Tatsuma had stretched out instinctively curled up, even moving closer together, their eyes warily scanning their surroundings.

Seeing this, the surrounding Konoha ninjas quietly made way for the three children, which was one of the few acts of kindness they could show them—letting them leave.

The three children quickly discovered the path. They nervously grabbed their raincoats from the ground and helped each other out of the cave. It was still raining outside, and they were soaked almost immediately. They also saw a river in front of them.

In an instant, memories from before he lost consciousness also came flooding back. It seemed they had been blasted off a cliff by ninjas and fallen into the water. Thinking of this river, Yahiko, with his orange hair, murmured to himself:

"Could they have saved us?"

At this moment, Yahiko couldn't help but continue looking into the cave. He found that the cave was not as dangerous as he had imagined. The Konoha ninjas were just sitting in place, eating dry rations and drinking water, or resting.

Some were receiving treatment. When Yahiko saw the figure healing the ninja, his eyes lit up. He recognized this Konoha ninja who looked only a few years older than them and was exceptionally powerful!

"Coo coo~"

"Coo coo~"

"Coo coo~"

But then, Yahiko's stomach rumbled. Having not eaten for a long time and having been forced to drink a lot of water, which was then poured out, they were starving.

After Yahiko's stomach rumbled, the stomachs of the other two also rumbled as if in chorus.

Nagato lowered his head, tugged at Yahiko, and said, "Let's go first."

Yahiko nodded, but didn't move. After a while, just as Nagato and Konan were about to ask again, Yahiko suddenly said, "I have a way. You wait here."

"Yahiko!"

Seeing Yahiko actually walking into the cave, Konan was about to scream in fright, but before she could open her mouth, Nagato pulled her back. Konan felt the coldness and trembling of Nagato's hand, so she gripped it back and nervously watched Yahiko's back.

Yahiko swallowed hard, and under the watchful eyes of more and more Konoha ninja, he walked step by step toward the three people in the very center of the cave who seemed to be of the highest status.

He knew these three people; they were the kind of people who couldn't be defeated even if the three of them ganged up on Hanzo. Compared to approaching the "powerful" Tatsuma, the three who seemed weaker gave Yahiko more courage to get close.

Orochimaru stood up abruptly, squinting at Yahiko who was approaching. Yahiko swallowed again, took two steps forward, and stared at Jiraiya, who was chewing on his dry rations for a long time without swallowing.

This person seemed a bit friendlier. Although the older woman didn't seem to have any ill intentions, she didn't look up and didn't have any food in her hand.

Jiraiya stared at Yahiko, even smacking his lips, making it seem like a feast despite it being dry rations. Finally, Orochimaru couldn't take it anymore and asked in a hoarse voice, "What are you going to do?"

Yahiko spread his hands towards Jiraiya and said, "Give me some of your food."

Despite his impolite tone, Yahiko was incredibly nervous. He knew that begging might be more likely to get him food, but he wanted to see what kind of people the Konoha ninja were.

After all, he had considered taking Konan and Nagato to learn from the ninjas of Konoha. If the ninjas of Konoha were all fierce, then he would give up on this idea.

Where are your parents?

Jiraiya wasn't angry. Instead, he looked at the child, who was just as courageous as himself, and asked Yahiko, who gave an answer that Jiraiya had already guessed: "They died in the ninja war."

Upon hearing this, the Konoha ninjas who had been dissatisfied with Yahiko's attitude calmed down and remained silent. Jiraiya stopped smacking his lips, handed over the dry rations in his hand, and said:

"Take it."

Yahiko didn't take it immediately. Instead, he put it down, turned around, and said, "Nagato, Konan, come here. They don't seem like bad people."

Seeing Nagato and Konan approach, Yahiko breathed a sigh of relief. Jiraiya didn't retract his outstretched hand, but continued to ask, "Did their families also die in the war?"

Upon hearing the words, Konan lowered her head sadly, Nagato stopped in his tracks, and Yahiko quickly nodded, saying, "Yes."

After saying that, he took the dry rations and approached Konan and Nagato. The three of them quietly ate the rations in the cave. Tatsuma tossed his water bottle to Minato, who nodded and took off his own water bottle as well.

As he approached the three, he could clearly sense that they tensed up again, but Minato's gentle smile, as warm as sunshine and rare in the Land of Rain, dispelled their tension.

Rope Tree also came over, put down his water bottle, and then they all turned and left, leaving the three of them alone.

Inside the cave, the Konoha ninjas ignored the three. Only after Tatsuma finished checking everyone and reported to Tsunade did the Konoha team set off again.

Unlike their journey through the rainforest on the way there, they chose a road on the way back. When Yahiko and his two companions saw the Konoha group leave, they quickly finished their dry rations and chased after them.

Because the return journey wasn't in a hurry and there were quite a few wounded, the group wasn't moving fast. The three of them could barely keep up, but as they continued to follow, some people gradually became dissatisfied.

The hot-tempered Tsunade stopped, turned to look at the three, and asked with displeasure, "We've given you food, what more do you want?!"

Upon hearing this, the three tensed up again, but the little girl was the first to relax. She took two steps forward, presented a paper flower to the three of them, and said, "Thank you."

Seeing this, Tsunade's displeasure disappeared, replaced by embarrassment and a sense of helplessness. Jiraiya patted Konan's head and said, "It's alright, but if there's nothing else, you shouldn't follow us."

"We are ninjas, and we may encounter danger at any time."

Yahiko stepped forward and said, "We want to learn ninjutsu so that we can at least change something in the future."

Upon hearing this, Orochimaru pursed his lips, wanting to suggest killing them again, but remembering what Tatsuma had said earlier, he held back and didn't say it.

Jiraiya glanced around at the devastated Land of Rain and said, "Orochimaru, you and Tsunade take everyone back first. I'll stay here and take care of them for a while."

"What?"

Tsunade asked, puzzled, and Jiraiya replied, "I want to do something, like stay with them until they can support themselves, as a form of compensation, just like Tatsuma said. Do good deeds and don't worry about the future."

Then, he smiled, looked at the three of them, and said, "Would you like to learn from me?"

Jiraiya never mentioned learning ninjutsu, nor did he intend to teach the three ninjutsu. If one wanted to change something, it didn't necessarily have to rely on ninjutsu. Yahiko hesitated at this moment, turning to look at Tatsuma, who was frowning and deep in thought.

With his mouth open and closed, Yahiko said, "Um, we want to learn from powerful ninjas."

"Huh? I am a powerful ninja."

Jiraiya pointed at himself and spoke anxiously, but Yahiko's gaze once again drifted towards Tatsuma, and even Konan and Nagato couldn't help but shift their eyes.

Following the gazes of the three, Jiraiya's eye twitched; he felt as if he had misplaced his trust in someone.

Is it genuine?

(End of this chapter)