I founded the "Bragging Cult" in Naruto.

Chapter 190 Those who are truly close to their superiors may not necessarily hold high positions.

Yahiko and his two companions were not ninjas. They did not know the difficulty and significance of Jiraiya and his two companions holding Hanzo back and isolating him from the battlefield. They only knew that they had lost even in a three-on-one fight.

On the contrary, Tatsuma injured Hanzo, whom the three of them couldn't defeat, with a single move, and then defeated several hundred Amegakure ninja with another move, which made him seem very powerful.

Moreover, Tatsuma seemed kinder than the big tree with paint on its face in front of them. They had just seen Tatsuma healing others, and from the ninjas' hushed conversations, they also learned that it was Tatsuma and that handsome older brother who had saved them.

In their minds, the best teacher was undoubtedly the "strong" and kind Tatsuma, followed by the older brother with the handsome smile, and as for the flamboyant uncle in front of them...

Noticing the gazes directed at him, Tatsuma snapped out of his daze, looking at Yahiko's admiring and longing eyes with confusion, then at Jiraiya's sorrowful and resentful gaze, wondering what had happened.

Although he felt like his former student had stolen his love, Jiraiya quickly explained the situation, and Tatsuma's expression grew increasingly strange.

A powerful ninja? Him? Tatsuma didn't think so at all. Even if Jiraiya gave him a handicap, he still had no hope of winning.

Tatsuma did indeed possess the means to severely injure or even kill Jiraiya, but having the means doesn't guarantee success. Just like, was killing Hashirama Senju difficult? Not at all.

Take a knife and cut off his head, then separate his body from his body, and Hashirama Senju will surely die! But no one can actually slice a knife across Hashirama Senju's neck.

Tatsuma has several techniques that are indeed very powerful, but Jiraiya will never give Tatsuma a chance to hit him.

On the contrary, if Jiraiya wanted to control Tatsuma, he wouldn't even need to use ninjutsu; he could suppress Tatsuma with just his strength and speed.

But Tatsuma probably realized that Yahiko and the others really didn't understand, so he said, "I'm going back to Konoha. If you want to learn from me, you'll have to go to Konoha too."

Upon hearing this, the three hesitated. After all, they had never left the Land of Rain, and when Yahiko proposed to learn ninjutsu, he said it was to help the Land of Rain become better.

But if they leave the Land of Rain, how will they help the Land of Rain become better?

Such children don't think about returning after completing their studies, nor do they know how vast the ninja world is, or how far the Land of Rain is from the Land of Fire for ninjas.

They've left, and that's it. As for coming back, they haven't even thought about it yet.

In contrast, Jiraiya was willing to stay and teach them in the Land of Rain, where they were born and raised. Suddenly, Jiraiya's appeal increased dramatically.

Jiraiya seemed to understand the implication in Tatsuma's words, and gave Tatsuma a satisfied look. As expected, he was indeed worthy of being his former student.

Although he ultimately didn't become my apprentice, he was still grateful; at least he didn't steal my love away.

Suddenly, Jiraiya sensed something was wrong. He had been "generous" enough to stay and teach the three, so why did he now have to depend on Tatsuma's mood to teach them?

And these three brats had "abandoned" me, so why do I feel a strange excitement at the moment they turn back?

Yahiko's eyes darted back and forth between Jiraiya and Tatsuma before he said with a heavy heart, "I'm sorry, ninja master, we don't want to leave the Land of Rain."

Then he looked at Jiraiya and said, "Sir ninja, could you teach us ninjutsu?"

When Yahiko explicitly mentioned learning ninjutsu, Jiraiya hesitated for a moment, but when the three of them looked gloomy, he couldn't bring himself to refuse.

He patted Yahiko's head and said, "I will not break my promise as Jiraiya-sama has made. However, I will not teach you ninjutsu too soon."

I will teach you how to become excellent people. As for whether I will teach you ninjutsu, that depends on your talent.

"Forget it, Jiraiya. You're not even a good person yourself, yet you want to teach others?"

Tsunade stabbed him in the back, and Orochimaru nodded in agreement. Jiraiya's expression froze, and Yahiko suddenly wondered if he had made the wrong choice.

However, his gaze quickly hardened again. Even if the ninja in front of him was not excellent or powerful enough, Jiraiya already had enough for them to learn from.

Seeing that Yahiko didn't regret his decision, Jiraiya breathed a sigh of relief, stood up, and looked at Tsunade and Orochimaru. Orochimaru looked at Jiraiya and said, "Are you really not going back?"

"I'm not going back for now. Anyway, the war is over now, and there may still be some repercussions in various places, but with you all here, that's enough."

Then, Jiraiya looked at Minato, who had remained silent, and said, "Minato, I won't be able to help you with your training from now on."

"It's okay, teacher, I'll try my best."

Minato smiled and answered, which made Jiraiya feel even more guilty. He patted Minato's head and said, "Minato, your teacher hopes that you can forge a path different from mine, and then..."

Surpassing my teacher! That's what I think is the proudest thing about being a teacher, and it's what I aspire to most.

"I will, teacher."

Minato nodded vigorously. In fact, over the past year or two, Jiraiya had gradually reduced his involvement in planning Minato's growth path, leaving it to Minato to explore on his own, with Jiraiya providing guidance.

However, having a teacher is different from not having one. When he is around, Minato can ask him questions without any guilt if he doesn't understand something.

While others might be happy to teach Minato in his absence, Minato might not be able to accept it readily. Therefore, Jiraiya looked at Orochimaru and said:

Orochimaru, it's me.

"Um."

Before Jiraiya could even voice his request, Orochimaru nodded. Jiraiya was so easy to understand; he didn't need to say anything for Orochimaru to guess what he wanted to say.

It's simply a matter of getting him to ask Minato if he's encountered any difficulties in his training and then answering his questions.

In any case, Nawaki was destined not to inherit his teacher's talent in ninjutsu, and Orochimaru was not opposed to teaching Minato and Tatsuma, who had extraordinary potential.

Yahiko also realized something, and looked at the handsome older brother with an apologetic gaze. If it weren't for his request, this older brother might not have had to part ways with his teacher.

However, Yahiko didn't want to miss this opportunity, so he could only stare at Minato. Minato, of course, noticed this and gave Yahiko a sunny smile once again.

Jiraiya looked at Tsunade one last time, and asked somewhat hesitantly, "Tsunade, will you wait for me to come back?"

"Hmph! Your feet are in your own hands. You can go back to the village whenever you want. What does it have to do with me? Or do you want me to stand here in the rain while you finish disciplining these three brats?"

Upon hearing this, Jiraiya lowered his head even further and said nothing more. He simply led Yahiko and the other two away from the group, and Orochimaru gave the order again, and the group headed back towards Konoha.

The return journey started slowly, taking a day and a half to finally leave the Land of Rain. Seeing the sky brighten again, the ninjas in the group felt much better.

After two days of silence, the team began to talk, occasionally punctuated by bursts of laughter, finally bringing a hint of victory to the air.

As they got closer to Konoha, the atmosphere within the group improved, because the people of the Land of Fire they encountered along the way praised and lauded them as heroes who had quelled the war.

During his conversations with the people of the Land of Fire, nicknames such as "The Three Legendary Sannin" and "The Dragon of Konoha" that Hanzo had given up began to spread.

The wounded soldiers' injuries gradually healed, but the return journey not only did not speed up, but actually slowed down considerably, because Tsunade would go to the casino every time they passed through a town.

Tsunade was responsible for losing, and Tatsuma was responsible for winning, which barely allowed them to break even. Of course, this was under the condition that Tatsuma strongly insisted that Tsunade only play games like dice and black and white, which only had two possible answers.

Otherwise, if it were a roulette wheel game, Chenma wouldn't be able to win it back.

However, as they played, the two of them ran out of money. After all, if Tsunade bet on "big", the dealer might not necessarily win with "small" and could even win with a "triple".

In addition, Chenma's initial capital was not much, and it was all taken from some Rain Ninjas. Even if he could win, his growth was limited due to the limited capital. After a few rounds of winning hands, he naturally lost it all.

The village was very lenient with them and did not require them to return to the group immediately. As a result, it took them nearly ten days to complete the journey that normally takes less than three days.

Because their return journey was so "strange," the villagers of Konoha did not predict when they would return. Only a few people lined the road to welcome them, and although there were not many people, the smiles on their faces were extremely sincere.

Tatsuma went with Tsunade and the others to report on their duties. After all, it was Tatsuma who proposed the general direction of this operation, so Hiruzen Sarutobi was also specially summoned for an audience.

Although the battle report had already been sent back, as a leader, it was still necessary to ask a few questions in person to show that he valued it, and the praise in person would also make the subordinates more excited.

After his report, Tatsuma also gave an analysis of the post-war situation, but this time he returned too late, and the village had already given a similar analysis.

Although he didn't help much, it made Hiruzen Sarutobi appreciate Tatsuma even more, since the analysis results of Shikamaru and his entire staff were almost the same as those of Tatsumaru.

Although Lu Yuan and his team's analysis report contained clearer and more specific data, and handled the details more thoroughly, presenting the advantages, disadvantages, and impacts of the solutions, this workload was beyond what Chen Ma could accomplish alone, making Chen Ma's analysis seem somewhat weak.

However, Tatsuma's insight and foresight have already been demonstrated, which is something that Hiruzen Sarutobi admires.

Just as Tatsuma finished his performance review and was about to leave to take a shower and get a good night's sleep, Hiruzen Sarutobi suddenly asked:

"Tatsuma, do you have any plans regarding your post-war plans?"

Upon hearing this, Chenma was taken aback, because he had never thought about this issue. After all, he had been living a life of going on missions when there were missions and cultivating when there were no missions for several years, and he had never considered a targeted career plan.

However, Tatsuma quickly realized that Hiruzen Sarutobi was planning to give him a clearer path to advancement. Tatsuma asked curiously, "Hokage-sama, I haven't thought about this. Do you have any suggestions?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi nodded, a smile appearing on his face. Tatsuma's perceptiveness and incredibly pleasant way of speaking were far superior to his three rebellious disciples. Hiruzen Sarutobi chuckled and said:

"Sakumo will be very busy for the next period of time, so he will no longer be able to serve as the Hokage's bodyguard. I wonder if you would be interested in filling the vacancy left by Sakumo?"

As everyone knows, the duty of the Hokage's bodyguards has never been to protect the Hokage.

(End of this chapter)