I founded the "Bragging Cult" in Naruto.

Chapter 218 Some people wait for companies to choose, while others choose companies.

Any scientific research project starting from scratch involves unimaginably complex preliminary work, especially an unprecedented bioengineering project like recreating a Wood Release ninja.

For about half a year after the Jonin meeting passed the resolution, Orochimaru had been in charge of the preliminary work, including selecting a research site, choosing personnel, and purchasing equipment.

Of course, this might be his excuse for not wanting to go to the Senju clan's territory to teach Nawaki. After all, with Orochimaru's intelligence, he would surely guess that if he dared to appear in front of Tsunade, he would definitely not have a good outcome.

Tatsuma has always maintained his routine of going back and forth between two points: during the day, he works in the Hokage's office, contemplating the Flying Thunder God Technique and his medical ninjutsu; at night, he goes home to train and keep improving.

Meanwhile, some news began to circulate among the public, praising Tsunade for her selflessness and dedication to the village. The basic public opinion environment was gradually changing people's views on Tsunade.

Some casinos even launched exclusive discounts for Tsunade; for example, while a normal person could exchange 10,000 taels for 100 chips, Tsunade could exchange for 120 chips.

For the casino, no matter how much Tsunade exchanges, it will all be lost, perhaps to the house or to other players. And the other players' money will gradually fall into the house's hands through the 5% commission system, so they don't lose anything.

However, the discount didn't last long because Tsunade, who was short of money, took Tatsuma there on one of his days off.

The two set up a separate gambling table. Tatsuma won Tsunade's chips time and time again, then exchanged the chips for money, lent them to Tsunade to exchange for chips, and then lost them to Tatsuma again.

Although the house takes a cut, it didn't stop the two from betting six figures with just one roll of dice. In one day, Chenma raked in a middle-seven figure from the casino, forcing all the casinos to suspend their discount promotions.

All the wool naturally went to Tsunade, while Tatsuma received a stack of IOUs. However, Tatsuma knew that these IOUs were probably impossible to cash, so he just kept them and let Tsunade steal them when she broke into his house on his shift one day.

Later, Tsunade told her that Tatsuma had been blacklisted by various casinos. As for Tsunade, without Tatsuma, that wicked disciple, accompanying her, Tsunade would just be throwing money away and would never be on the blacklist.

Tatsuma's peaceful life didn't change until the height of summer.

"Yaksha, this is the new task the village has assigned to you."

Inside the Hokage's office, Hiruzen Sarutobi placed a scroll on the table. Tatsuma, who had just arrived at work, was taken aback for a moment, then nodded, picked up the scroll, and began to read it.

Hiruzen Sarutobi took a deep drag of his cigarette and said, "For the project to recreate the Wood Release ninja, you will go to the laboratory and act as Orochimaru's assistant to help him complete the experimental research on recreating the Wood Release ninja."

Upon hearing this, Tatsuma's expression became extremely strange, not because of the mission Hiruzen Sarutobi mentioned, but because the mission on the mission scroll in his hand was different from the one Hiruzen Sarutobi had mentioned.

"From the start of the Recreating Wood Release Ninja Project, I am responsible for monitoring Orochimaru, the lead researcher of the project, backing up all research results of this project, and preventing incidents that violate biological research ethics and inhumane events from occurring."

This is the actual content of the mission scroll in Tatsuma's hands. It's not that it's completely unrelated to what Hiruzen Sarutobi said; it's just that they're worlds apart.

When faced with the same event, there are two different task instructions. In terms of priority, the verbal order directly issued by Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi has a higher priority than the task in the task scroll.

However, mission scrolls, especially those received by ANBU ninjas, can be entered into the ANBU file from the moment the decision is made. At this moment, a surveillance mission should have already appeared in Tatsuma's ANBU file.

This was the first time Tatsuma had encountered such a situation, because in the past, Hiruzen Sarutobi's verbal orders were only supplementary when carrying out missions.

For example, if Hiruzen Sarutobi decides to take action against foreign ninjas hiding in the Land of Fire while escorting him to the Daimyo's residence, this is a supplement to the escort mission, so it can be reported afterward.

At this moment, the mission that Tatsuma received and the verbal mission that Hiruzen Sarutobi issued at the same time did not directly conflict, but the meanings they represented were vastly different.

For a moment, Chenma couldn't understand why the village would assign him such a task.

Seeing that Tatsuma hadn't replied for a long time, Hiruzen Sarutobi said, "It was Orochimaru's request that you go to the lab to help. He thinks you have the talent, at least more than anyone else."

Hiruzen Sarutobi's emphasis on his words was odd. Tatsuma pursed his lips, realizing that the village didn't really want him to help, or rather, they didn't want him to go.

But due to certain factors, he had to go, so the village gave him a reason to go, and this reason...

Upon re-examining the contents of the mission scroll, Chenma realized that it was essentially a non-stick pan!

If this research is successful, it means that no "accident" has occurred, and Tatsuma has completed the surveillance mission assigned by the village.

At the same time, Tatsuma can also become a contributor to this research by virtue of Hiruzen Sarutobi's verbal orders, and enjoy the rewards and subsequent benefits brought by the success of the project.

If this research fails, then Hiruzen Sarutobi might completely forget the verbal orders he once gave to Tatsuma.

As long as Tatsuma reports in a timely manner when an "accident" occurs, his surveillance mission can be completed smoothly, and with a little effort, he can even become a hero in preventing the "accident" from escalating.

Even if the research was neither a success nor a failure, but was halted due to time constraints or budget overruns, Chenma ensured that no accidents occurred during the research. Perhaps his contribution was small, but he certainly did not make any mistakes.

In other words, regardless of the outcome of the research on recreating Wood Release ninjas, Tatsuma will only gain benefits from this operation, and will not be guilty of any wrongdoing.

After figuring all this out, Tatsuma's initial resistance to getting involved dissipated.

Although he felt that this research would most likely fail, and might even end with dozens of lives lost, when he couldn't stop it from happening, it seemed that protecting himself was the best outcome for him.

Two years ago, Tatsuma might have tried every means to refuse, choosing to stay away to avoid these things and prevent anyone from dying because of him.

But now he has figured it out: when you can't change or stop the tragedy, simply running away will only make you feel good, because if he doesn't participate, someone else will, and they will bear the burden of this darkness.

Admittedly, if Tatsuma doesn't get involved in this research, the karmic consequences for those who might die won't fall on him. However, similarly, those who will die because of it won't survive just because Tatsuma stays away.

Moreover, Chenma felt that with his participation, the results of this experiment might change.

However, a troubled look appeared on Tatsuma's face beneath the mask. With his current abilities, he was powerless to contribute to such a biological research project.

Perhaps sensing Tatsuma's emotions, Hiruzen Sarutobi said, "There's still some time before the project starts. In the meantime, you can go to Konoha Hospital for an internship. We haven't assigned you a position yet."

What Hiruzen Sarutobi was referring to was, of course, an official position. After all, ANBU ninjas need to keep their positions secret. If a ninja has no teammates and doesn't work in any department, yet still lives comfortably, then there must be something wrong with him.

The reason why Tatsuma hasn't been given a position yet is because Hiruzen Sarutobi himself was thinking that, given Tatsuma's political talent, it would be most appropriate to simply give him an administrative post within the Hokage Building.

However, Tatsuma's combat talent was also outstanding, but as a Hokage's bodyguard, he could not go out, so he could not be assigned to a combat squad.

Meanwhile, the kid also learned medical ninjutsu quite well. The ninjas who returned from the battlefield would occasionally praise Tatsuma for saving them when they recalled the incident.

Hiruzen Sarutobi had heard his wife say more than once that Konoha Hospital was short of staff and that Tatsuma would definitely be a great help, but he could only keep making excuses.

You can't exactly tell your wife that the young man you've got your eye on is hiding in my office every day, inhaling secondhand smoke, can you?

Tsunade recently completed the first phase of her pilot program, sending away a group of newly trained medical ninjas to join combat teams. Only two remained, leaving Konoha Hospital short-staffed again after its recent improvement.

I don't know where Sarutobi Biwako got the idea that Tatsuma still hasn't been assigned a squad or a position, and she's been pestering me for the past few days demanding more people, or else she'll have a third child.

Therefore, after much agonizing thought, Hiruzen Sarutobi had no choice but to part with him. Coincidentally, Tatsuma needed some preliminary work done, so he was sent to Konoha Hospital to help out and gain some relevant knowledge.

Upon hearing Hiruzen Sarutobi's instructions, Tatsuma replied, "Yes, Hokage-sama."

After saying that, he asked, "But, Hokage-sama, what about my guard duty here?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi sighed and looked at the files. Normally, Tatsuma not only had to hide and smell secondhand smoke, but also act as a think tank, especially for things that were inconvenient to have Shikamaru come over to explain or make decisions. Tatsumaru usually helped with those.

After Tatsuma left, Hiruzen Sarutobi thought for a moment and said, "Xiao will fill in for you during this time, but you still need to come and perform guard duties every Thursday."

Upon hearing this, Tatsuma nodded and said, "Yes, Hokage-sama."

Do you have any other questions?

"Yes, I went to Konoha Hospital. Who should I contact? Is it Tsunade, the Junin?

"Looking for my wife, Sarutobi Biwako."

"Alright, I have no other questions, Hokage-sama. Do you have any other plans?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi might not be very familiar with places like hospitals, so he can find out more from his contact person or his teacher tonight.

Seeing that Tatsuma didn't make any demands, Hiruzen Sarutobi was suddenly very pleased. Perhaps it was because his three disciples were all troublesome, but suddenly he encountered a grand-disciple who was easy to manage and could also help him. The contrast was too great.

After thinking for a moment, Hiruzen Sarutobi felt there was nothing else to do, so he said, "There's nothing else to do today. Have Xiao come over and coordinate with him, then go report to Konoha Hospital."

"Yes, Lord Hokage."

The connection with Xiao was easy, and he arrived at Konoha Hospital before noon. Using the staff form at the Konoha Hospital registration desk, Tatsuma quickly found Sarutobi Biwako.

Inside the dean's office, Biwako looked at Tatsuma with an undisguised smile and said, "Welcome to Konoha Hospital. By the way, which department would you like to go to? I'll arrange it for you directly."

However, if you start now, we can only give you the title of resident physician for now. After you've settled in and adapted to the job, we'll arrange an assessment and give you a promotion. What do you think?

"You can arrange it as you see fit, but I prefer emergency or surgery. I lack theoretical knowledge, but I do have some clinical experience. As for professional titles, just follow the normal procedures."

Tatsuma felt that the oncology and pathology departments would be most helpful to the project of rebuilding Wood Release ninjas, but he couldn't make a difference in these two departments with his current level of expertise. Therefore, he could only start working there first, then study, and see if he could switch departments later.

Biwako smiled and nodded, saying, "Okay, then you can work in the emergency room for a while. If you don't adapt well, give me your feedback and I'll arrange something else for you."

"Oh, right, let me introduce you to your colleagues and show you around the department. It's almost lunchtime, so how about we just go to the cafeteria for a bite?"

"No problem, thank you for your help."

Tatsuma readily complied, after all, the woman in front of him was the Hokage's wife, and there was no need to rush to offend her. Seeing Tatsuma's good attitude, Biwako also smiled and led Tatsuma to the emergency department.

There were many people in the emergency room. After waiting for a while, Biwako finally grabbed two equally thin and small doctors and said, "Hezi, Nono, let me introduce you. This is Sakamoto Tatsuma, your colleague."

"Tatsuma, these are Jabami and Yakushi Nonou, medical ninjas trained by your teacher. Get to know each other."

"We already know each other; Tatsuma-senpai taught us before."

Snake Ci spoke frankly, while Nonou, who was more familiar with Tatsuma, was a little shy and said softly, "Sakamoto-san, it's been a long time."

(End of this chapter)