I founded the "Bragging Cult" in Naruto.

Chapter 269 The early bird catches the worm, but the early worm gets eaten by the bird.

On the northwestern border of the Land of Fire, a small ANBU squad was resting. This squad was led by Tatsuma. Leaning gently against a branch in the treetop, Tatsuma said casually:

"I didn't expect these people to be so impatient. It's only been less than forty-eight hours since our whereabouts were leaked. But attracting twenty people is really beyond my expectations."

At this moment, Minato, who was drinking water while lifting half of his mask, guessed, "Perhaps our sensory abilities weren't exposed. Senior Earwig also hid it very well, without letting anyone discover his abilities."

"If we appear together, people might think we're a trio; his presence is too weak."

The wild vulture said half-jokingly, while the earwig adjusted its mask and said, "You're talking about our clan leader and young clan leader. I just look rather ordinary, but that's different from having a low profile."

Listening to Aragyu's words, Tatsuma also thought of the young clan head of the Aburame family, who was his classmate, and his name was Aburame something.

Unable to recall for a moment, Tatsuma didn't dwell on it. Instead, he said, "You are all ninjas with extensive experience in assassination and counter-assassination. What's your guess as to when they might launch an attack on us?"

"Two hours later."

"Me too."

The vulture and earwig gave their answers, and Minato thought for a moment and said, "At the speed at which they are getting closer, two hours is too short. The closer they get to us, the slower they will inevitably become."

I'd guess three hours, with an extra half hour for the journey and another half hour for observation.

"Squad leader, what do you think?"

Wild Eagle looked at Tatsuma, who thought for a moment and said, "Two and a half hours, I support what Mutu said. They will increase the journey by half an hour and use a slower speed to get closer more safely."

However, I don't think they will observe for an extra half hour. After all, the time for the dark side to rest is not as long as a normal sleep; four hours is already the limit.

We've been resting for half an hour. Two and a half hours later, it will be three hours. We'll be in the middle to late stage of our rest, which is when our attention is at its lowest, making it the perfect time for them to launch an attack.

Moreover, it was close to 5 a.m. at that time. If there were any rogue ninja from Kirigakure among them, they would definitely cooperate with Kirigakure to cover their tracks with the morning mist.

"Let's see who guesses the closest to the result."

Wild Eagle smiled and nodded, then stretched and said, "By the way, Squad Leader, Earwig, Wood Rabbit, I'll leave the night watch to you guys. After all, I'm not good at sensing, so I should rest more and prepare for battle."

Although he was laughing, his tone was still somewhat serious. After all, he was surrounded by many rogue ninjas, so how could he really relax?

In fact, Tatsuma had already explained everything to him and analyzed the pros and cons. Tatsuma, the squad leader, even made it clear that if he didn't want to participate in the operation, he could find someone to expedite his retirement application.

But for some reason, Aragaki suddenly agreed to Tatsuma's plan, thinking that he wanted to give his ANBU career a good ending.

Wild Eagle knew that his combat talent was actually not that great, otherwise he wouldn't have been assigned to the team that specialized in handling corpses.

Unlike earwigs, which are suited for corpse handling due to their talents and abilities, wild vultures are limited by their abilities and can only join some non-combat teams.

Aragyu's retirement application was submitted before Tatsuma actually took over the team, but retirement from the Anbu is never a simple matter.

Apart from those granted special permission, other ANBU ninjas who wish to retire must undergo a series of rigorous reviews and receive a series of confidential training sessions before they can officially leave the organization.

Aragyu's original plan was to simply get through the last period of time honestly. He did the same when he went on missions with Tatsuma before, seeking no merit but avoiding mistakes.

However, his retirement application has recently made progress. His background check has been approved, and after a period of further processing, he will be able to receive confidential retirement training.

At this stage, Aragaki could have applied for the sealing and calculation of the Dark Guard's files, and his attendance would no longer be mandatory. However, facing the squad leader who was less than half his age, Aragaki still agreed.

Perhaps it was Tatsuma's plan that stirred up his heart, which had stopped beating intensely ever since he accepted his mediocrity.

However, this youthful vigor, like a brief resurgence before death, could not last long. From the moment he stepped out of the village again, that heroic spirit began to wane.

Although his mission as a ninja prevented him from backing down, the fearless mentality he had before leaving the village had been almost completely worn away.

Tatsuma sensed something was off, but he didn't point it out. Instead, he nodded and said, "Okay, but don't slack off during the battle."

"Of course."

Aragyu nodded, and Tatsuma continued, "By the way, don't stray too far from me during the battle. I've just learned a few Wind Release techniques, so take a look and give me some pointers later."

Arashi was taken aback. His Wind Release skills weren't that great either. Although he was a ninja from the Shimura clan, not every Shimura ninja was proficient in Wind Release. But Arashi quickly realized what was going on and said:

"No problem. After we retire, it won't be convenient for us to have too much contact. During this time, I'll share more with you."

The conversation between the two was so natural that even the earwig didn't notice anything amiss, only wondering how the wild eagle's mastery of wind magic could guide that genius class monitor.

I never expected that after being teammates for so many years, this guy, Wild Eagle, would still hold back a trick against me. Luckily, I did the same.

"Then let's take turns every hour. I'll go first, then you take over, Earwig Senior, and finally, you, the shift leader, will take over for the last hour."

Minato didn't notice anything amiss either, especially since he knew that Tatsuma had indeed been practicing Wind Release recently, specifically the Wind Release of the Shimura clan. So it was perfectly normal for him to seek guidance from a Shimura clan ninja.

Upon hearing Minato's suggestion, Earwig nodded. He didn't like to show off or offer opinions; he was content to quietly follow instructions.

Tatsuma naturally wouldn't refuse, especially since the last hour was the most likely time to be attacked, and he didn't feel comfortable letting others guard it.

They had been traveling for the past two days and really needed to rest. Their conversation stopped abruptly, one person kept watch while the other three rested.

Two hours later, without the earwigs reminding him, Chenma woke up and communicated with the earwigs that were looking in his direction using gestures.

The earwigs then began to rest, while Tatsuma once again sensed the surroundings. The nearest chakra was now less than a kilometer away.

This distance is actually within the range of a ninja's surprise attack. With the speed of a ninja, they can cross this distance very quickly and launch an attack.

However, those rogue ninjas did not make that choice, since they were both partners and competitors.

It is acknowledged that the bounty for Tatsuma and Minato, even if divided among twenty people, would be very generous. However, these rogue ninjas, who were recruited so early, are all greedy individuals.

How could they possibly trust their temporary teammates? They were even plotting how to kill their teammates while simultaneously planning how to kill Tatsuma. How could such a team possibly have any teamwork?

Therefore, one kilometer was still not enough for them. Chenma was not in a hurry, but pretended not to notice anything wrong and continued to wait.

800 meters. 700 meters. 500 meters.

Sensing the clusters of chakra, Tatsuma didn't wake the others because they were getting close, as they were still within a controllable range.

However, fog began to rise at this time, a natural fog mixed with fog that clearly contained chakra. Sure enough, among these rogue ninjas, there were rogue ninjas from Kirigakure.

Of course, it's also possible that he was a rogue ninja who learned the Hidden Mist Technique from somewhere, since the Hidden Mist Technique isn't considered a high-difficulty ninjutsu, and its learning difficulty can even be said to be at the lowest level.

However, this technique has a very high ceiling. According to Sakumo Hatake, some strong individuals in Kirigakure can even use the Hidden Mist Technique to obscure the chakra perception of sensory ninjas. This is a skill that can only be mastered by thoroughly understanding the nature transformation of water-style chakra.

300 meters. 250 meters.

A slight smile appeared beneath Tatsuma's mask. That's about it.

"Bang! Boom boom boom~"

Suddenly, a series of explosions rang out. Minato and the other two, who were just resting and hadn't really fallen asleep, instantly got up and entered battle mode.

Tatsuma, however, sensed that the explosion had only caused minor damage to the two rogue ninjas. These people living underground knew how to survive better than most ninjas.

Perhaps due to the shock effect of the explosion, or perhaps due to injuries, Chenma discovered that six out of the twenty people had become separated, and some had even turned around and left.

As for the remaining fourteen people, they sped towards this side, and soon, figures rushed out from the forest and surrounded Chenma and his group of four.

Chenma quickly observed the fourteen people. Although he couldn't see their faces clearly due to the thick fog, he was able to identify several of them based on certain characteristics.

Although the remaining ones were difficult to identify, Tatsuma had a rough estimate of their strength.

The value of sensory ninjas goes beyond just detecting hidden enemies, especially for sensory ninjas like Tatsuma who rely solely on chakra perception.

Although the Inuzuka and Aburame clans have a large number of sensory ninjas and each has their own secret techniques, they also have shortcomings. For example, they cannot estimate the strength of an enemy by measuring the amount of chakra they possess.

Although chakra quantity cannot be completely equated with strength, most ninjas still follow this rule, since the power of a technique, besides its characteristics, is most significantly influenced by the amount of chakra.

The more chakra one has, the more ninjutsu one can unleash, and the greater the coverage and destructive power of the same ninjutsu. Those with less chakra are always limited in this respect.

After easily assessing the strength of the people in front of him, he found them somewhat troublesome, but not yet insurmountable. As an appetizer, Tatsuma was quite satisfied.

"Ding~"

At that moment, Tatsuma's voice also announced the match from two and a half hours ago. After receiving the message, Tatsuma immediately started another match:

"I originally thought that only active-duty ninjas would be so diligent in carrying out missions, but I didn't expect that you rogue ninjas would be just as hardworking."

"I'd heard that Sakamoto Tatsuma was sharp-tongued, and it turns out it's true. But there's a reason we came so early; after all, the early bird catches the worm."

Upon hearing this, Tatsuma chuckled, making his already comical Yaksha mask even more ridiculous. He looked at the group and said, "Indeed, but we're all early risers. Who's the bird and who's the worm is still uncertain."

As soon as he finished speaking, Chenma's figure disappeared, and a streak of silvery-white light appeared in the thick fog.

(End of this chapter)