I founded the "Bragging Cult" in Naruto.

Chapter 215: What you can't have always stirs your heart; those who are favored are always fearless.

Upon entering the house, Tatsuma did not immediately answer Tsunade. Instead, he picked up the kettle and began filling it with water to boil. Tsunade's gaze remained fixed on him, following him wherever he went.

It was as if they were afraid that if they weren't careful, Tatsuma would run away.

Tatsuma had no intention of running away. After all, he had deliberately interrupted the meeting to bring Tsunade back so that he could talk to her. Besides, who in the village could protect him now?

The only person who could possibly stop Tsunade is Mito Uzumaki, but Mito Uzumaki will not be involved in this matter.

Even if Tatsuma wanted to see Mito Uzumaki now, he might not be able to, even if she were in the next room.

Tatsuma boiled the water, brewed a pot of tea, and handed a cup to Tsunade. Tsunade looked at Tatsuma, her tone strange, and asked, "Are you planning to apologize?"

"No, I'm just inviting you for tea. After all, it's rare for you to come here."

Tatsuma poured himself another drink, then replied, "Besides, have I done anything wrong that I need to apologize to you for?"

"you"

Tsunade glared at her and said, "You dare say you didn't know the content of today's meeting?!"

"I know, and I also participated in the integration and improvement of the proposal. The proposal about Wood Release ninjas was also planned by me. Even the arrangement of letting you see the good news first and then the proposal about Wood Release ninjas was also arranged by me."

Hearing Tatsuma's words, Tsunade's last glimmer of hope—that perhaps her disciple didn't know the truth—shattered, and Tatsuma even trampled on her last hope.

Tsunade gritted her teeth and asked, "You've never even met my grandfather, the Senju clan has been kind to you but has no grudge against you, I'm your teacher, and your grandmother has always been very caring towards you, so why... why did you do something that disgraced the Senju clan?"

"I never thought of defiling the Senju clan, nor did I ever think of disgracing Lord Senju Hashirama. I still remember the care that the Senju clan took of me, including Grandma Mito, you, and the Senju clan."

I simply cannot stop it from happening. Whether I carry it out or someone else does, it won't change anything.

Upon hearing Tatsuma's explanation, Tsunade realized what was happening and asked, "Who wanted to train Wood Release ninjas?! Was it Hiruzen Sarutobi? Or Danzo Shimura?"

"Daimyo."

Upon hearing this, Tsunade's mouth dropped open in surprise, and then she said angrily, "How dare he?! If it weren't for my grandfather, his ancestors would have been buried in the dust of history long ago!"

It was my grandfather's choice to coexist with the powerful Ming dynasty that gave his ancestors the chance to survive and achieve his current status. How dare he?!

"The daimyo is not the same as he used to be, and the Senju are not the same as they used to be. If Lord Hashirama Senju had been willing to kill the daimyo and abolish their rule, that would have been called reform."

Nowadays, not to mention how many people are willing to attack a daimyo, even if they succeed, the land will be full of rogue ninja, not just the daimyo of the Land of Fire.

This is true for the daimyo of the five great nations. Decades of custom have been enough to change the mindset of an entire nation's citizens and ninjas. Whoever attacks a daimyo is an enemy of their village; whichever village dares to attack a daimyo becomes the common enemy of the ninja world.

Tatsuma took a sip of tea and continued, "Grandma Mito is getting old, and the growth potential of you and Nawaki is already clearly visible. The Senju clan is left with only the old, weak, sick, and disabled. If we just leave them like this, the Senju clan will eventually become a page in history."

What the daimyo wanted was to bring him one last bit of profit before the Senju clan was completely destroyed.

"I absolutely will not allow this to happen! I will not agree to it! Even if it means giving up everything I have."

Tsunade shook her head, her face full of resistance. Tatsuma also shook his head, but only in response to Tsunade's words. He said, "Teacher, your objection won't have much effect."

If you rejected this proposal at today's meeting, what do you think would happen?

"This proposal will absolutely not pass unless I agree! If they dare to attack Grandpa and the Senju clan, then one day the village will attack other ninja clans. They cannot agree to this."

"A Jonin meeting can be held as long as more than half of the Jonin are gathered. In special circumstances, the standards can even be lowered. Today, the meeting room is mostly filled with Jonin from ninja clans, and they will follow your opposition."

But what if we draft another list of attendees tomorrow, focusing primarily on ordinary civilian ninjas?

"Even a Jonin from a commoner background could never forget the contributions of my grandfather, my great-grandfather, and the entire Senju clan. Without the Senju clan, they wouldn't even be able to become ninjas!"

Tsunade's words were resolute, showing her extreme confidence in the popularity of her grandfather and the Senju clan in Konoha.

Tatsuma nodded. That was true. However, Tatsuma looked up at Tsunade and asked, "Even if it fails to pass in one or two Jonin meetings, it doesn't matter. As long as the Daimyo doesn't give up, the village must continue to try."

If, at this time, rumors begin to circulate that Tsunade, for her own personal gain, disregarded the village's interests, hindered the stability of the village and the country, and was unworthy to speak for the Senju clan, what would you think?

It's fine if you don't budge; it will just continue to fuel public opinion, leading to comments like, "The First Hokage dedicated himself to the village, how could he have such a descendant?", "If the First Hokage knew he could still contribute to the village after his death, he would definitely have agreed," and "How can a nameless person represent the Senju?" How will you face that? How will you treat others?

"I"

Tsunade's eyes suddenly went unfocused, and the color drained from her lips, but she quickly regained her composure and gritted her teeth, saying, "The villagers can't be that stupid! How could they possibly have such thoughts?"

"It doesn't matter if they don't have these thoughts, as long as others do. They just need to be listeners and mouthpieces. When these words spread, what will you do? Leave the village in a fit of anger?"

Upon hearing this, Tsunade nodded instinctively, as this was something she would do. Tatsuma shrugged and said, "You can indeed leave, and the village won't even refuse to assign you a long-term post outside the village, but what about afterwards?"

Could Nawaki also leave the village? Perhaps he could stay at home, or by Orochimaru's side, unaffected by public opinion.

But what about the elderly members of the Senju clan who have just lost their children? What about the children who have lost their parents? Their background will make them surrounded by rumors, gossiped about, and criticized behind their backs.

The Senju clan is known for its fierce nature. Do you think the Senju people will rebel at that time? If they do rebel, how will you deal with the Senju's oppression of civilians?

Furthermore, if because of this incident, some of the remaining descendants of the Thousand Hands clan suffer the loss of life due to anger, and some children are severely bullied, leading to resentment within the clan towards you, how would you handle that?

With each hypothetical scenario Tatsuma described, Tsunade's trembling intensified, until finally she became completely distraught.

"What should I do? Agree? Let them defile my grandfather's body?"

After a long silence, Tsunade managed to squeeze out a few dry words. "The possibility Tatsuma mentioned is terrifying. Could it happen?" "Yes."

Therefore, Tsunade knew that if she acted willfully, all sorts of tragedies would unfold as Tatsuma had foreseen, and even Tatsuma himself would be a part of it.

Whether he was an accomplice or a victim of persecution, it was unknown, but Tsunade did not want to see either.

If she didn't act impulsively, she wouldn't know what else to do. Therefore, Tsunade had no other choice but to seek help from the disciple who was "plotting" against her.

With a sigh, Tatsuma said, "No matter what, you can't preserve Lord Senju Hashirama's body. Since that's the case, why not use it as a bargaining chip?"

Life is full of disappointments, and it's common to encounter situations where you can't seem to win no matter what you do. Everyone wants to rebel, but in reality, no one can truly succeed.

You either have to suffer this kind of hardship or that kind of hardship. Everyone has to bear the bitter fruit of reality, whether they choose to or are forced to.

Upon hearing Tatsuma's answer, Tsunade fell silent once again. Tatsuma was right about everything, and she couldn't refute any of his points. However, she still found it hard to accept the idea of ​​using her grandfather's remains as a bargaining chip to exchange for other things.

Furthermore, Tsunade said weakly, "What can the village give me that I want? Just a sum of money that was already promised to me?"

Tsunade didn't really want anything. She didn't want to be a ninja, and she had no need for ninjutsu. The only thing she might want was money, but Tsunade would never ask for money.

"What we cannot truly obtain is the most precious."

Tatsuma looked at Tsunade and said, "Nothing material can match the value of Lord Hashirama Senju's remains."

Tsunade nodded, but she still felt a little uncomfortable. After all, Tatsuma's words implied that he was still treating her grandfather's body as a commodity.

However, she still wanted to wait for Tatsuma to finish speaking. Tatsuma was a good boy, but just like Orochimaru or Hiruzen Sarutobi, he would never give the real answer in the first sentence and would always drag it out for a few more sentences before he would speak.

If Tatsuma knew what Tsunade was thinking, he would definitely feel helpless, because sometimes, being blunt is the worst form of communication.

Conversely, as in his communication with Mito Uzumaki, no directly related words need to be explained. Some introductory remarks are enough for both parties to understand each other's questions and answers. Even when refusing, he saves face for both parties.

Tatsuma was used to his own way of speaking, which made it difficult for him to communicate well with Tsunade or the Senju clan.

Seeing that Tsunade was still looking at him expectantly, Tatsuma still hinted, "Grandma Mito has a very high status in the village. As long as she is here, the Senju clan will never be forgotten."

"Um"

Tsunade nodded, continuing to stare expectantly at Tatsuma. Tatsuma twitched the corner of his mouth and said again, "But as I said before, Grandma Mito is very old."

"Um"

Seeing that Tsunade still didn't understand his meaning, Tatsuma sighed and said, "Therefore, after Mito's grandmother passes away, the Senju clan must have another person to prove the Senju clan's status for her."

"Uh-huh?"

Seeing Tsunade raise an eyebrow, Tatsuma finally breathed a sigh of relief, but Tsunade's raised eyebrows quickly lowered again, and she said, "But Grandma has decided to let it go, you wouldn't understand."

"It's not that I don't understand, but that's not what I meant!"

Chenma was getting a little impatient and abandoned all pretense, saying, "What I'm saying is, you need to let everyone in the village know that the future stability of the village was bought with everything you, the heir of the Senju clan and the granddaughter of the First Hokage."

You must become a symbol of the Senju clan in the villagers' future memories, an object of genuine reverence. The village must achieve this to match the value of your donation of Lord Hashirama Senju's body.

"Oh, is that so? But the village can't just arrest every villager and force them to undergo illusionary magic, can it?"

"Public opinion! Public opinion! Public opinion! I've told you so much, and you still don't understand the power of public opinion? You're really a blockhead, no, a hopeless case!"

Seeing the irritable Tatsuma, Tsunade didn't get angry immediately; instead, it awakened some childhood memories.

It looks just like how my second grandfather scolded my grandfather.

Wait a minute! This kid insulted me?!

(End of this chapter)