I founded the "Bragging Cult" in Naruto.

Chapter 222 Leader: How difficult it is is your business, but the project must go live tomorrow!

"Bang!"

In a small conference room in the Hokage Building, Mitokado Homura slammed his hand on the table, causing the documents on the table to shake and scatter.

Mitokado Homura's face was full of anger, and Utatane Koharu, Shimura Danzo, and Sarutobi Hiruzen also looked displeased. The other two, Orochimaru, and Tatsuma, whose childishness had faded a bit, also showed no joy.

Mitokado Homura looked at the two and said, "Two years! Two years! And this is all you've researched?! The village asked you to research Wood Release, to recreate Wood Release ninjas, and what did you do?!"

Mouse limb replantation experiments, anti-rejection drug research, genetic testing, detection of multiple gene loci for paternity testing, somatic cell mutation, research on the upper limit of cancer cell division, and mouse-based cell culture. What are you all researching?! Does this have anything to do with Wood Release?!

The Daimyo gave you so much money, and the village gave you so much support, not so you could just play around! In two years, how much have you actually done related to Wood Release?!

They extracted a few gene sequences related to Wood Release, and that's it? What about the cloning work? The transplantation work? The human trials?!

Chenma frowned and said, "Lord Yan, regarding..."

As soon as Tatsuma opened his mouth, Orochimaru suddenly placed his hand on the hand that was about to be raised. Seeing this, Tatsuma also shut his mouth, frowned, pursed his lips, and remained silent.

"Cough cough~"

Hiruzen Sarutobi coughed twice, looked at the furious Homura Mitokado, and said, "Homura, don't be too anxious. Such a complex project inevitably requires some preliminary research."

Having said that, Hiruzen Sarutobi looked at Orochimaru and asked, "How much of the preliminary research is still needed?"

"There are many more."

Orochimaru did not give a clear answer because he knew that the people in front of him would not understand, and explaining would be superfluous; telling them a lot was already enough.

Hearing Orochimaru's perfunctory answer, Hiruzen Sarutobi, already somewhat displeased, frowned further and asked, "Then can you tell me how long until the actual Wood Release experiment?"

"About five years, or even longer if you want to ensure a high success rate."

Orochimaru spoke calmly, but his answer caused the faces of Hiruzen Sarutobi and the other three to darken once again. Danzo tapped the table and said, "The time given by the Daimyo is only five years."

You wasted two years of your year in preparation, and now you're telling us it's another five years before the actual experiment. So, how many years will it take until the experiment succeeds?

The Wood Release ninja has reappeared. How many years will it take to train him and make him a ninja capable of suppressing tailed beasts? And how much will the Daimyo's budget exceed this limit?

Upon hearing Danzo use the word "waste" to describe his past two years, Orochimaru raised his head, stared at Danzo, and remained silent.

Koharu Utatane also spoke up, saying, "Orochimaru, although you are the leader of this project and the village has given you enough freedom, you need to produce something to ensure that the village and the daimyo continue to support your research."

"The research that Tatsuma and I have done is enough to advance the medical level of the ninja world by thirty years. If this still can't impress you, then I have nothing more to say."

Orochimaru's tone was extremely impatient, as if he were about to explode in anger at any moment. Hiruzen Sarutobi raised his hand to calm Orochimaru down, and then said:

"The thirty years you mentioned are only thirty years without the intervention of medical ninjutsu and medical ninjas, but there is too much research in this area that can be completely replaced by ninjutsu."

Of course, it's not to say that everything you've done has been in vain, but what the village needs most right now is research results related to Wood Release. It's really not enough to have only extracted a few gene sequences in two years.

"During the previous planning discussions, the Dark Side agreed to complete the gene sequence extraction within three months and conduct human trials within six months. But you spent two years completing what would normally be three months' worth of work, didn't you?"

"If it were just about disregarding human life, I could complete the gene sequence extraction in a month and conduct human trials in two months, but that would be meaningless."

Why did I spend so much time completing research that could be replaced by ninjutsu? It's because the ninja world has never valued it! Without this foundation, it's simply impossible to successfully recreate Wood Release ninjas.

Even when facing his teacher, Orochimaru directly retorted that he had stopped Tatsuma not because he wanted to swallow his anger, but because Tatsuma was not suited to bear such pressure and anger.

Hiruzen Sarutobi was stunned and extremely uncomfortable watching Orochimaru's rare outburst of anger, feeling as if his disciple was beginning to rebel.

He took a deep breath, his tone turning cold, and said, "The village can't even accept this interim report, let alone the daimyo. Submitting such a report will only damage the stable connection between the village and the daimyo prefecture."

"You should go back and rest for now. I will arrange for others to produce some results before the deadline for submitting the interim report and submit it to the lord."

"Teacher, are you trying to strip me of my position as the top student?"

Orochimaru was also coldly watching his teacher. Hiruzen Sarutobi, who was about to nod, suddenly stopped when he saw the faint mocking smile on Orochimaru's face.

"Is this what you're after, Orochimaru?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi suddenly felt a sense of unease. He had always known that Orochimaru was very dissatisfied with being in charge of this project, after all, Orochimaru had expressed it from the very beginning.

Looking back on the past three years, including the year of preparation and establishment, Orochimaru was indeed very dedicated, because no matter how hard he tried, he could not tarnish his reputation.

Over the past two years, Orochimaru has been doing nothing of substance throughout the entire experimental process. Exposing this work would be beneficial to Orochimaru.

Even if he rashly lets others take over now, and the new person who takes over causes any unexpected problems in the project, it will only make Orochimaru seem more stable, and his reputation will rise to a higher level.

In this way, Orochimaru not only joined the project and fulfilled the village's entrustment, but also made many contributions, and the final stain could not be tainted on him.

In an instant, Hiruzen Sarutobi suddenly realized that everything Orochimaru had done over the past three years had been a scheme.

Hiruzen Sarutobi should have been happy that his disciple was able to escape the quagmire, but when he thought of the pressure from the daimyo's constant questioning, coupled with his disciple's dissatisfaction at being turned against him, Hiruzen Sarutobi suddenly became extremely angry.

Orochimaru, has the fire in your heart been extinguished?

He murmured to himself, but on the surface, Hiruzen Sarutobi forced a smile and said, "This is just a formality to appease the daimyo. The follow-up of this project will require your continued leadership."

During this time, you should rest. The village will not treat you unfairly; all the credit will go to you.

"snort!"

Orochimaru snorted coldly upon hearing this, while Danzo and the others looked at Hiruzen Sarutobi in astonishment. Had this monkey become so biased towards his disciple?

Ignoring the feelings of others, Orochimaru stood up and said, "In that case, I'll go and rest. I look forward to the day I return."

Seeing Orochimaru leave, Tatsuma also stood up, suppressed his discomfort, bowed, and left. After leaving the Hokage Building, Orochimaru headed straight for the Senju clan's territory.

Perhaps noticing Tatsuma's change in mood, Orochimaru said with a smile, "It's been a long time since I've seen Nawaki. I wonder how he's doing now."

Tatsuma, however, didn't believe it at all. He could fool Nawaki with those words, but Tatsuma knew without a doubt that Orochimaru's purpose in going to the Senju clan's territory was to let Tsunade know that he had been "kicked out" of the project.

If anything goes wrong with the project later, don't blame him.

After walking for a while, Orochimaru asked, "Tatsuma, what do you think of the village's environment?"

"The natural environment is beautiful, and the cultural environment is also good. As for the research environment, let's not even mention it."

Tatsuma, whose voice was hoarse during puberty, sounded somewhat similar to Orochimaru's. Upon hearing this, Orochimaru smiled and said, "Yes, a bunch of short-sighted fools!"

No, mice have contributed far more to scientific research than they have.

After saying that, Orochimaru sighed and said, "These past two years have hindered your growth."

Tatsuma shook his head and said, "No, I've learned a lot too. Your insights into techniques have been very helpful to me."

This wasn't just Chenma being polite. Over the past two years, due to his constant involvement in projects, the potential for Chenma's talent had been limited, but the realization of his various talents had been steady yet surprising.

In particular, his mastery of ninjutsu and hand seals, under Orochimaru's guidance, not only allowed Tatsuma to learn a great deal about cursed seal techniques, but also gave him a new understanding of the ninjutsu he had mastered.

With Orochimaru's help, Tatsuma disassembled and reconstructed all the ninjutsu he had mastered. Not only did his understanding and mastery of the techniques become more profound, but the additional boost to his seals, "Return to Simplicity," also saw a leap forward.

Tatsuma rearranged the complicated and rigid hand seals into simpler and more convenient ones. In particular, with the help of Tobirama's notes on water jutsu, Tatsuma can now perform most water jutsu with a simple clap of his hands and call out whatever he wants.

In addition, Tatsuma has made great progress in his training in the nature transformation of various chakra attributes, all thanks to Orochimaru's guidance.

On the contrary, Orochimaru himself has been using his ninjutsu less and less in the past two years, and his snake-style ninjutsu based on Ryuchi Cave summoning has become more and more refined.

In a recent real-world sparring match, Orochimaru completely abandoned escape techniques and only used snake-style ninjutsu, along with some body-flicker techniques and summoning techniques, which were enough to cover all dimensions, including long-range, mid-range, close-range, offensive, defensive, and supportive abilities.

Seeing that Tatsuma didn't really care, Orochimaru smiled and nodded. After the two returned to the Senju clan's territory, Tsunade was still not there, but Nawaki had returned from training.

Now Nawaki is fifteen years old. Years of taijutsu training have made him develop faster than his peers, and his physique is almost indistinguishable from that of an adult ninja. However, his personality is still like that of a child.

Upon seeing Orochimaru, Nawaki complained incessantly that Orochimaru hadn't visited him in a long time. Orochimaru, who had ulterior motives, suppressed his urge to punch this green-skinned disciple to death and also talked about what he had been busy with these past few years.

Upon hearing that Orochimaru had been kicked out of the project by the village for the sake of its safe progress, Nawaki indignantly began to criticize the village's decision. Seeing this, Orochimaru smiled; he had achieved his goal.

Orochimaru doesn't need to see Tsunade; Nawaki will tell Tsunade the information he heard from Orochimaru.

Orochimaru left before dinner, and Mito Uzumaki, who had aged considerably in the past two years, did not try to stop him. Her physical abilities were also rapidly declining, and now the village was sending people to take care of her daily life.

After dinner, Tatsuma chatted with Mito Uzumaki for a while, helped her to bed, and then returned home. But as soon as he entered the house, Tatsuma said:

"Xiao-senpai, is there anything I can help you with?"

From the darkness, a figure emerged—it was Xiao. He looked at Tatsuma and said, "The Hokage requests your presence."

(End of this chapter)