I founded the "Bragging Cult" in Naruto.

Chapter 214 Being rejected isn't scary; what's scary is accepting someone with ulterior motives.

"Ughhhh!!! Why do we have to go to a meeting right after the New Year?!"

On the seventh day of the new year, at the Senju clan's territory, Tsunade, who had just been woken up by Tatsuma, was filled with murderous intent. She pushed open the door and, looking at the disciples waiting at the entrance, asked irritably, "What is it that you have to hold a meeting today?"

"Teacher, you'll see when you get there. I'm going to get ready for my mission."

Seeing that Tsunade was already up, and judging from her angry expression, she probably wasn't in the mood for a nap, Tatsuma turned and left, since it was almost time for him to start work.

After quickly arriving at the Hokage Building and changing into his Anbu uniform, Tatsuma went to the Hokage's office to begin his guard duties.

Hiruzen Sarutobi was flipping through the files accumulated over the past week. There weren't many that required his direct decision; most were just backups for him to review. After all, although the village wasn't large, no one could handle doing everything personally.

Moreover, nothing major has happened in the village these past few days. The most common complaints on his desk are from out-of-town businessmen about the uncivilized law enforcement by the garrison. These kinds of things can just be ignored.

Konoha granted the Uchiha a high degree of autonomy in law enforcement, and generally would not intervene unless a case with serious impact occurred, as this was a sign of respect for the Uchiha.

Of course, the village wouldn't clean up the mess for the Uchiha clan, nor would it help the police department maintain its reputation.

At some meetings, Hiruzen Sarutobi would only mention it occasionally, and the Uchiha clan head would also gloss over it with words like "I'll go back and investigate" or "I'll strengthen education and training."

After a while, Hiruzen Sarutobi finished reading the case file, signed it where necessary, and decided to wait and see what happened before making a decision on some unresolved matters.

Setting the file aside, Hiruzen Sarutobi took out his pipe, tobacco pouch, and other tools, preparing to take a puff, when Tatsuma, hidden in the darkness, spoke up:

"Lord Hokage, it's almost time."

Hiruzen Sarutobi paused, glancing reluctantly at the pipe in his hand. But then he remembered that he hadn't used it for a week, and it would take some time to clean it, otherwise the odor would become unbearable. He decided against it, as the Jonin meeting was more important.

Setting down his pipe, Hiruzen Sarutobi looked towards where Tatsuma was hiding and asked, "Is everyone here?"

Compared to Sakumo Hatake, Hiruzen Sarutobi felt that Tatsuma, the new bodyguard, was more agreeable. Not only was he intelligent and able to discuss matters inside and outside the village with him, but he also possessed many abilities that would benefit him, the Hokage.

For example, his exceptional perception. In the past, when Hiruzen Sarutobi attended meetings, he would either arrive early and wait for the other attendees, or wait for someone to notify him to make a grand entrance as the last person to appear.

However, the former wastes their own time, while the latter wastes everyone's time.

However, ever since Tatsuma became the Hokage's bodyguard, his excellent perception ability has allowed him to accurately control the situation of people on the scene, ensuring that Hiruzen Sarutobi always arrives at the exact moment.

"Reporting to the Hokage, apart from those who went out of the village on missions, all the members on the list of attendees have arrived at the Hokage Building and are expected to arrive at the conference room within one minute."

Upon hearing this, Hiruzen Sarutobi nodded, stood up, and said, "Then let's set off too, so as not to keep everyone waiting. By the way, what do you think of my new clothes?"

Chenma, who was hiding, was somewhat speechless, but still said, "The heavy-duty cotton-linen coarse knit fabric provides better overall support and is less prone to wrinkles. You look more composed now."

Upon hearing this, Hiruzen Sarutobi nodded in satisfaction. Although the new fabric wasn't as smooth to the touch, it made his lean body look less frail. He had discussed it with his wife for a long time before making the decision.

However, Hiruzen Sarutobi still asked with some concern, "Won't it give people a feeling of being poorly made, and affect Konoha's reputation?"

"In the post-war reconstruction, every penny needs to be spent wisely, and you are setting an example."

"Haha~"

Although it seemed like a deliberate compliment, Hiruzen Sarutobi was still very happy to hear Tatsuma say that, after all, there weren't many people who understood him anymore.

Having received a couple of compliments from Tatsuma, Hiruzen Sarutobi headed to the conference room in a good mood. Tatsuma followed him all the way until they reached the conference room, where they stopped. As Hiruzen prepared to push open the door and enter, he said:

"You will remain here and stand by. If any special circumstances arise, you may choose whether or not to intervene."

"Yes, Lord Hokage."

Upon hearing Tatsuma's reply, Hiruzen Sarutobi pushed open the door and entered. He was the last person to arrive, but no one dared to complain, since Hiruzen Sarutobi was not late at all, and his efficiency was much higher than usual.

Moreover, they weren't really in the mood to care whether Hiruzen Sarutobi was late today, because the Jonin meeting was quite serious, with Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi and elders Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado all present.

There were also several ninjas wearing research suits, and all three of them, including Hiruzen Sarutobi, had serious expressions on their faces.

This made many Jonin, whose minds were somewhat relaxed after the New Year, feel uneasy. Some even began to wonder if something terrible had happened before the New Year or in the past few days.

Happy New Year, everyone.

Hiruzen Sarutobi looked at Shikanobu Nara, and after seeing him nod, he began the meeting, saying, "The first phase of postwar reconstruction is now complete, and the land planning and image transformation of Konoha are also finished."

However, there are still many new challenges ahead, such as attracting investment, improving people's livelihoods, education, and healthcare, which await us in the new year. At the same time, this is also an important opportunity for the villages to recover since the great battle.

Although we achieved an overwhelming victory in this great war, the war over the past two years has exposed many problems within Konoha.

The purpose of gathering you all here today is to discuss and resolve several major issues facing Konoha, as well as to plan some new supporting policies and new development directions.

This is crucial to whether Konoha can maintain its position as the leader of the ninja world after the war, and it is also a critical juncture that will determine the future attitudes of the villagers of Konoha, the citizens of the Land of Fire, the daimyo, and foreign nations towards Konoha.

After slowly finishing his long speech, Hiruzen Sarutobi looked at the serious-looking crowd, then turned to Shikagami and said, "From now on, I won't waste any more time, Shikagami."

Please distribute the list of proposals and their summaries. Once everyone has them, they can familiarize themselves with the meeting's focus to avoid having to introduce each one individually and wasting everyone's time.

"Yes, Lord Hokage."

Lu Yuan stood up and distributed stacks of documents. The Jonin in the conference room also began to look through the documents. Tsunade rested one hand on the table, her head on her hand, looking at the cover of the document, but did not open it.

After all, she had done the same thing in previous Jonin meetings: when the voting for the proposals began, she would simply agree, reject, or abstain randomly.

However, the others dared not be as lazy as Tsunade. They all started flipping through the pages, but after reading only a few pages, their eyes fell on Tsunade, and some of them even had hesitant expressions on their faces.

"You guys are looking at the documents, why are you looking at me?"

Noticing the gazes of those around her, especially the affected look in Kato Dan's eyes, Tsunade straightened up and said with displeasure.

"Cough cough~"

Hiruzen Sarutobi, standing on the stage, coughed and said, "Take a good look, everyone."

Tsunade frowned, flipped through the documents, and glanced at them perfunctorily. Without even looking at the list, she turned to the next page. When she saw that the first proposal was about establishing a new medical ninja training system, Tsunade perked up.

Guessing that the people around her were looking at her for this reason, she carefully looked at the project description and found that it was similar to what she had submitted, so she relaxed.

She has been piloting this at Konoha Hospital for several months, training several young ninjas who can serve as wartime medical ninjas without affecting the team's combat capabilities.

This made her feel even more that her idea was correct. Although learning medical ninjutsu would slow down the growth of a ninja's original combat power, Tsunade felt that medical resources were more valuable than combat power.

"Is this finally a sign that they're going to allocate funds to me?"

As Tsunade thought to herself, a smile involuntarily appeared on her face. She also felt much more energetic and even had the mood to turn to the next page.

"Project application for researching and training Wood Release ninjas".

Upon seeing the title of the next proposal, Tsunade's smile suddenly froze, but soon her lips drooped, and she clenched her teeth tightly, the words in her vision trembling.

She wanted to continue reading, but she didn't even have the strength to move her eyes. Her hands unconsciously tightened, and the paper instantly became crumpled.

With all her might, Tsunade finally lowered her gaze to the project description. Looking at the vague yet highly specific words, Tsunade's breathing became heavy.

She looked up and instinctively began to look for her teammates, but Jiraiya was not there, and Orochimaru was not in the meeting room either. She felt more and more helpless and angry, and glared at her teacher.

Tsunade stood up, placed her hands on the table, her body tensed up, and every muscle burst forth with powerful strength.

"Click-clack~"

The table beneath her hands began to crack, and chakra gradually overflowed from her body, causing her clothes to flutter in the wind.

"Knock knock knock~"

Just then, a knock sounded at the door. Hiruzen Sarutobi, who was thinking about how to appease his disciple, frowned and looked towards the door. Sensing that it was Tatsuma, he was a little puzzled, but still said, "Come in."

The conference room door was pushed open, and Tatsuma appeared. Without concealing his identity as an Anbu member, he went straight to Hiruzen Sarutobi's side, leaned close to Hiruzen's ear, and placed one hand on the table in front of Hiruzen.

The words "Meeting adjourned" were written on Tatsuma's palm.

At the same time, Hiruzen Sarutobi also heard the sound of Tatsuma's lips touching, but none of the Jonin in the room heard what Tatsuma said.

Including Hiruzen Sarutobi, because Tatsuma didn't say anything, just stood there with his mouth open but didn't make a sound. Hiruzen Sarutobi quickly realized that this was Tatsuma's way of intervening, and his expression quickly became serious.

The Jonin, seeing this, also became puzzled.

"Bang!"

Suddenly, Hiruzen Sarutobi slammed his fist on the table, stood up, and said, "Gentlemen, I have some matters to attend to. The meeting is adjourned. Please take your documents back and review them. The date for resuming the meeting is to be determined."

After saying that, Hiruzen Sarutobi left under the astonished gazes of Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado, with Tatsuma following closely behind. Tsunade, who was about to explode, stared intently at Tatsuma's back, her teeth grinding together.

Back in the Hokage's office, Hiruzen Sarutobi's expression instantly calmed. He looked at Tatsuma and asked, "How long will it take you?"

"Reporting to the Hokage, the earliest we can do it is tomorrow, depending on Tsunade's psychological capacity."

"Alright, you can go back now. Report back to me when you've finished."

"Yes, Lord Hokage."

Tatsuma left quickly, changed his clothes, and immediately returned to the Senju clan's territory. He didn't go to the Uzumaki Mito family's house, but went back to his own home, because Tsunade was already waiting for him.

As soon as I entered the house, I heard Tsunade's voice, which was completely different from usual and so calm it was chilling.

"Explain this to me."

(End of this chapter)