I founded the "Bragging Cult" in Naruto.

Chapter 194: Don't believe the promises of infrequent business trips and occasional overtime in job postings.

Three shuriken flew in and struck Tatsuma in the chest. In an instant, dark red blood gushed out, soaking through Tatsuma's clothes, and Tatsuma's face turned extremely pale.

He pressed on the area around his wound and ran quickly upstairs, but after running only half a floor, the stairs were suddenly blocked by a thick iron wall. Chenma unleashed his superhuman strength and slammed into the iron door.

"Thump~"

A cloud of dust fell, leaving faint marks on the iron gate, but it did nothing to stop him. Tatsuma, his face growing paler, recklessly smashed the iron gate.

"Knock knock knock~"

The sound grew fainter and fainter, and Chenma's body trembled involuntarily. Finally, his body swayed and fell down the stairs, landing on the landing of the second floor, his body twitching intermittently.

Sweat was clearly visible on his bare skin, but the trembling of his body was getting smaller and smaller. His eyes were open, and his pupils were gradually dilating. Even though he was facing a lamp, his pupils did not constrict.

"Tap tap tap~"

Just then, light footsteps sounded, and a masked ANBU ninja appeared beside Tatsuma, extending his finger toward Tatsuma's neck.

"Senior, don't forget that I also know medical ninjutsu."

Suddenly, Tatsuma's pupils contracted, and his originally hard and twisted fingers had somehow come to grip a kunai, the tip of which was now pressed against the ANBU ninja's throat.

"I just didn't expect you to react so quickly, and your acting was so realistic."

The ANBU ninja, unfazed by the kunai pressed against his throat, remarked with a hint of admiration, "And this blood pack... it's enough to fool most ninjas."

The ANBU ninjas also suspected that Tatsuma was faking his injury, but Tatsuma's physical reaction was just like that of the ninjas they had seen who put up a last-ditch resistance, and the smell of blood was too real.

"It's homemade, made with real blood. Luckily, we slaughtered a pig yesterday and collected some fresh blood, otherwise I wouldn't be able to fool you."

Tatsuma didn't retract his kunai; instead, he smiled and continued, "I'm always ready for the test. Did I pass?"

"You can kill me at any moment, what can I say?"

The ANBU ninja placed his hand on his mask and said, "The Hokage told me that your weakness is genjutsu, which is why he sent me to test you. I didn't expect that I could be deceived by you even before I could activate genjutsu."

After saying that, he lifted his mask, revealing a thin face with disproportionately large eyes. Tatsuma quickly put away some of his kunai and said, "Lord Shinku, I didn't expect it to be you. I didn't expect you to be an Anbu member as well."

Tatsuma finally understood why this examiner was so eager to check him. It turned out to be an acquaintance. If it had been a stranger, the ANBU examiner might not have cared about Tatsuma's life or death and would have chosen to play it safe by not checking him immediately.

Seeing that Tatsuma's hand had only retracted a little bit and hadn't completely withdrawn, Yuhi Shinku understood that the kid was still not entirely at ease. He shook his head and smiled, "Tatsuma, congratulations on passing the Anbu test."

Upon hearing this, Tatsuma finally withdrew his hand completely, and put the kunai back into his ninja tool bag. He smiled and said, "I only brought one set of clothes, and now that it's ruined, I can only leave after changing into new clothes."

Kurenai Yuhi smiled and ruffled Tatsuma's hair before putting on her mask and saying, "From now on, call me Tenko here."

Standing up, Kurenai Yuhi said, "Come with me now. It really is time to give you a new set of clothes."

Tatsuma nodded, quickly got up and followed Yuhi Shinku down to the third basement level. Some ANBU ninjas were waiting there. When they saw Yuhi Shinku bringing Tatsuma in, some people laughed and some people were taking out money and others were collecting money.

Tatsuma, who was following Yuhi Shinku, saw Yuhi Shinku's tightly clenched fist, which suggested that there might be a secret bet going on.

Walking up to a table, Yuhi Shinku also took out a wad of cash, placed it on the table, and without saying a word, led Tatsuma directly into the room next door.

"This is where the equipment and masks are stored. You can take two sets. Any more than that will require special permission, or you will need to provide evidence of damage to the equipment for recycling and replacement."

Once inside the room, Yuhi Shinku closed the door before speaking to Tatsuma. Tatsuma nodded, selected a set of ANBU uniform that fit him, walked to the bathing area, took off his clothes, and rinsed off the pig's blood.

He then put on the Anbu uniform, wiped the water droplets from his hair, and walked towards the area where many masks were hanging, asking, "Lord Tenko, can I choose any of the masks here?"

"Yes, these are all masks that no one has ever used or that have been retired. You can choose the one you like. Of course, if you like mine, I can give it to you."

Upon hearing this, Tatsuma looked at Yuhi Mako with a puzzled expression. Yuhi Mako shrugged and said, "I'm preparing to retire from the Anbu. Being an Anbu member is always a blow to my family, and I can't be with them."

Tatsuma nodded, and then remembered that if it were Kurenai Yuhi, his daughter Kurenai Yuhi should have been born by now. Now that the war is over and the atmosphere in the Anbu is no longer so tense, his decision to retire is a very good one.

However, Tatsuma didn't immediately take the old members' masks. Instead, he looked at the unused masks, most of which were animal images, and a few were just simple geometric patterns.

After scanning the area, Tatsuma's gaze suddenly fell on an ugly and somewhat comical mask. Tatsuma reached out and picked it up, and Yuhi Shinku explained, "Yasha, brave, swift, and voracious, it suits you quite well."

Tatsuma rejected the words Yuhi Shinku offered, which, in plain terms, meant: strong, fast, and a big eater. Tatsuma suddenly wanted to put the mask back, but...

There were indeed no masks on the wall that could interest him more, so after thinking for a moment, Tatsuma simply put the mask on his head.

"Forehead"

Kurenai Yuhi's hesitant voice rang out, and Tatsuma asked in confusion, "What's wrong, Lord Tenko?"

"These masks have been here for who knows how many years, and who knows how many people have touched them. They might have even been touched by hands that have touched dog food, insects, or even worse. Don't you want to wash them first?"

Upon hearing this, Chenma immediately took off his mask and quickly went to the bathing area to wash the mask and his face.

Seeing Tatsuma's strong reaction, Yuhi Shinku quickly said, "Oh, it's nothing, it won't cause warts. I was just joking. It's been sitting here for so long, the probability of infection is definitely lower than that."

Tatsuma's face, which had been red from rubbing, turned completely black at this point. He wished he could wash off a layer of skin from his face. It took him even longer than when he had just taken a bath before he stopped rinsing.

But looking at the mask in his hand, he still didn't have the courage to put it on again.

This mask isn't indestructible, so I should be able to request a replacement, right? Or maybe I accidentally damaged it and the village gave me a new one?

However, Tatsuma ultimately abandoned this wise idea. After all, he hadn't even completed his onboarding process yet, and he was already causing losses to the Anbu. It wouldn't be good if he were dismissed because of this.

After taking several deep breaths and mustering his courage, Chenma put the mask back on his face to cover his reddened cheeks.

He looked in the mirror and found that the mask didn't really suit him; it was a little too big, and the more he looked at the Yaksha mask, the more ridiculous it seemed.

Fortunately, the mask had ample opening around the eyes, so Tatsuma's vision wasn't restricted. After familiarizing himself with it for a moment, Tatsuma looked at Yuhi Shinku and asked, "Lord Tenko, what should we do next?"

"Have you chosen all your equipment?"

Yuhi Shinku asked, and Tatsuma looked himself over, nodded, and said, "I'm not very good at handling weapons like ninja swords, so I won't take it."

"Alright, I'll take you to get your Anbu Ninja ID card. We'll notify you of the training later. Just follow the schedule and you'll receive some training. Then you can report to the Hokage."

The onboarding process was much shorter than Tatsuma had imagined. He had thought it would be much more complicated. Perhaps his performance on the battlefield had already proven his talent, and with the Hokage's special approval, only a simple assessment was needed.

After completing the series of procedures, Tatsuma only needed to wait for onboarding training before starting work. As he left the base with another set of ANBU ninja uniform, Yuhi Shinku once again reminded him that it was best not to let others know his ANBU identity.

Even when dealing with civilians and some low-ranking ninjas, it's best to hide the existence of the "Anbu".

Therefore, Tatsuma used a transformation technique to return home, of course, changing his own appearance so that his return to the Senju clan's territory wouldn't seem strange.

The ANBU guarding the Senju clan's territory discovered Tatsuma's identity, but after Tatsuma showed his ninja identification card, they let him go. Back home, Tatsuma didn't show off.

Although Mito Uzumaki knew he had joined the Anbu, and Nawaki and Minato also had some understanding of the Anbu, the rules and regulations still had to be followed.

He didn't reveal that he was an Anbu ninja. Of course, if others guessed it, it wasn't Tatsuma's fault. After all, the Anbu couldn't restrict other people's intelligence and reasoning abilities, could they?

The next day, Chenma received a training notice, which started that day. After finishing his morning exercise, he went to the base for training.

It wasn't training focused on combat capabilities, but rather courses on concealment, evasion, and even how to protect masks during combat—dozens of courses in total, but none of them were particularly difficult.

Tatsuma spent a week passing the post-training assessment, and he finally met the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, for the first time as an Anbu member.

Inside the Hokage's office, looking at the child who already possessed the qualities of an Anbu, Hiruzen Sarutobi nodded in satisfaction. This child was indeed intelligent, but his aesthetic sense was a bit lacking; he had actually chosen such an ugly mask.

After finishing, Hiruzen Sarutobi said, "Good, from now on you can just wait in the office."

You can bring some books or scrolls that you're currently studying. You can study them when you have free time, and if I'm available, you can ask me questions about anything you don't understand.

Tatsuma nodded and said, "Yes, Hokage-sama."

Hiruzen Sarutobi pulled out a file and said, "Although I told you before that being my bodyguard wouldn't require you to leave the village often, you still have to come with me to the Daimyo's residence tomorrow."

"Yes, Lord Hokage."

Sure enough, you can't believe what the job posting says about not frequently traveling for work.

(End of this chapter)