I founded the "Bragging Cult" in Naruto.

Chapter 24 Mom, tighten up, it looks good.

"Chenchen Horse?"

During the holiday, Minato opened the door early in the morning and saw Tatsuma looking excited. However, he almost didn't recognize him at first glance, thinking that someone had pranked him by piling up a bunch of cotton candy in front of his door.

It wasn't until he saw Tatsuma's face through the fluffy cotton candy that Minato recognized that the person in front of him was actually a person!

"Haha~ I accidentally figured out how to activate it."

Tatsuma shoved his entire right hand into his super-explosive hairstyle, laughing heartily. Minato understood what Tatsuma was up to and said with some delight:

"So our research approach wasn't wrong; scalp activation is indeed similar to muscle activation?"

"Ding~ [Ninja +10]"

Hearing that the match from several months ago had finally come to fruition, Tatsuma nodded, his hair trembling slightly like a fluffy tree canopy before he said, "However, it's much more difficult. It's not just about activating the scalp, but also about specifically activating the hair follicles."

I can only activate about half of the hair follicles right now, but that's thanks to the chakra control I've been practicing for the past six months; otherwise, I probably would have only been able to activate a tiny bit.

Upon hearing this, Minato looked at Tatsuma, whose entire body was wrapped in fluffy hair, with some amazement. He was surprised that only half of the hair follicles were activated. If Tatsuma were fully activated, wouldn't he become a walking curly-haired man?

However, Tatsuma's state did not last long. Minato wanted to observe him more closely, but he noticed that Tatsuma's hair was rapidly shortening and then reverted to its bird's nest shape.

Chenma scratched his head and said, "There is one drawback, which is that it requires complete concentration to control. If you lose focus, it will retract. It seems that my training is still not enough."

Only by shifting this focus to a passive state... Wait, Minato, come with me to the Nara residence!

Minato, completely out of sync with Tatsuma's train of thought, asked, "What are you going to the Nara family for?"

"Go learn the Nara family's special techniques!"

Tatsuma said something, then pulled up Minato and dashed towards the Shikaku residence in Nara. Minato paused for a few seconds, then said anxiously, "I haven't closed the door yet!"

Twenty minutes later, the two finally arrived at Shikaku's house in Nara. Tatsuma rang the doorbell and waited there. Minato then asked:

"You still haven't told me what we're supposed to learn? Also, isn't it a bit too much for us to just ask upstairs for advice?"

"Don't worry! It's not their family secret technique, they shouldn't mind."

Tatsuma smiled, which reassured Minato a little. After all, this friend was quite reliable, and they had also become friends with Shikaku.

If it doesn't involve family secrets, I should be able to learn it, right?

After a while, a woman who looked very gentle came to open the door. Seeing the two of them, the woman said with surprise, "Minato? Tatsuma? Are you here to play with Shikaku?"

"Come in quickly, I'll go wake Lu Jiu up. You guys should come more often too. Since the start of the holiday, Lu Jiu has been sleeping until noon every day, just like his dad when he was young. This won't do; he won't meet any girls."

After the woman finished her rambling, the three of them entered the living room. Only then could Tatsuma speak, saying, "I understand, Aunt Karin, but our purpose in coming here is..."

Before Tatsuma could finish speaking, Shikaku's mother came running upstairs, and then her voice, completely different from the gentle tone she had used when talking to the two of them, erupted.

"Nara Shikaku! It's already noon! And you're still not up?! Are you waiting for me to feed you lunch before you get up?! Your friends have all come to play, and you're still sleeping?!"

Hearing the sound, which was like a volcanic eruption, even Tatsuma and Minato couldn't help but tremble. Tatsuma also turned his head to look at the clock, which showed that it was only 7:30.

Indeed, every mother is a powerful woman who has triumphed over time.

Then, Nara Karin came downstairs and said to the two with a gentle smile, "Why are you still standing there? Sit down, Auntie will get you some drinks and snacks. By the way, have you had breakfast?"

Tatsuma and Minato nodded vigorously, saying, "We've already eaten, thank you Aunt Karin." *2

The two sat on the sofa. Hua Ling brought over two drinks, a stack of dried fruit, and a stack of fresh fruit, and sat down in the seat next to them, looking at them with a gentle, aunt-like smile.

This made Tatsuma and Minato stand up straight, not daring to relax, and not daring to sit down completely. This is the intimidating buff that comes with every woman becoming a mother.

Ten minutes later, Shikaku, scratching his head with one hand and his stomach with the other, staggered downstairs. Seeing the two of them, he complained, "Why did you come so early?"

"What kind of attitude is that?!"

Karin glared at them, then looked gently at Tatsuma and Minato and said, "Don't mind him, Shikaku has the same temper as his father."

Okay, you kids can play now. Auntie's going to buy groceries. Why don't you stay for lunch?

"No need, Aunt Hualing."

Tatsuma quickly declined, but Karin showed no intention of listening to their opinions, changed her shoes, put on her small bag, and left.

Lu Jiu walked over, plopped down, and said, "What do you two want with me? Are you trying to drag me to the training ground too? Let me make this clear, I'm not going."

Minato then looked at Tatsuma, as he was still unaware of Tatsuma's intentions. Tatsuma shook his head and said, "I know you can't go. I'm just here to learn one of your family's unique techniques."

"Special skill? Shadow magic? Chess skills? Or are you just copying our laziness?"

Shikaku grabbed a handful of dried fruit and ate it, his eyes lifeless. Tatsuma shook his head and said, "I want to learn how to tie my hair as tightly as you guys."

Upon hearing this, Shikaku looked at Tatsuma and Minato's hair and shook his head, saying, "No, your hair is too short to tie up."

"Don't underestimate the length of any naturally curly hair!"

As Tatsuma spoke, he pulled the hair that reached his eyebrows directly to his lips. This action made Shikaku more alert, and he even rubbed his eyes.

"You can definitely tie your hair up like that now, but why are you copying it? Is our hairstyle going to be the next trend?"

Shikaku was still somewhat puzzled, and Tatsuma didn't explain immediately. Instead, he formed a seal called "Unknown Hand Seal," which helps ninjas control their chakra more precisely and is essential for training in tree climbing and water treading.

As he manipulated his chakra, his hair rapidly swelled, though not as dramatically as Minato had shown. Looking at Shikaku's wide-open mouth, Tatsuma said:

"This is a ninjutsu that Minato and I learned from Jiraiya-sama, but we still can't control it well. It happens when we lose focus."

As he spoke, Tatsuma pointed to his hair, which was already shortening, and continued, "So I want to tie my hair up tightly so that I can always pay attention to it and practice my control."

"Studying during the holidays? You two are so weird. But if you tie your hair up..."

Shikaku walked behind Tatsuma, took off his hair tie and put it on his wrist. Then he gathered Tatsuma's hair, combed it, grabbed it and twisted it. Tatsuma felt his hair being pulled and felt a series of sharp pains.

Shikaku immediately tied Tatsuma's hair up tightly and said, "That's it."

"duang~"

But the next second, Tatsuma's hair mischievously broke free of the rubber band. Tatsuma touched his head and said, "I think I understand now. The key is to tighten it at the end, right?"

Shikaku nodded, and Tatsuma stood up and said, "I understand. I'm going to train now. Thank you for explaining. I'll treat you to ramen next time."

As Tatsuma and Minato were about to leave, Shikaku's expression darkened, and he said, "Don't go!"

"what?"

The two looked puzzled. Lu Jiu said grimly, "If you dare leave now, my mom will think I haven't been hospitable enough, and she'll nag me for days. You have to finish lunch before you leave!"

"Oh? Okay then, but you have to play shogi with me."

(End of this chapter)