I founded the "Bragging Cult" in Naruto.

Chapter 322 He always finishes his hair with great care only to realize he hasn't put on a shirt yet.

"Yes, Lord Mizukage."

Yagura nodded, but he was very puzzled. He wasn't stupid, and he naturally realized that Hozuki Gengetsu was killed by the ninja named "Takasugi Shinsuke".

Moreover, judging from Genmi's words, Takasugi Shinsuke is most likely still a member of some functional department in Kirigakure. However, Yagura has been working in the Mizukage Building for the past few years and is quite familiar with the various departments.

But he had never heard of this name before either. Genmi's face was ashen, and he dared not voice his doubts to Lord Mizukage.

Genmi, however, quickly suppressed the surging emotions in his heart and said, "Perhaps it's not a real name, but it seems to be related to the incident in the Land of Whirlpools. He possesses the bloodline of the Whirlpools."

"Six-Tails, right?"

Liuwei hesitated for a moment before saying, "It does indeed have the characteristics of the Uzumaki clan, and it can use the Uzumaki clan's Adamantine Sealing Technique."

Upon hearing this, Genmi nodded and said, "Takasugi. Perhaps it is the surname of another of his ancestors. It is uncertain whether it is a first-generation relative or a multi-generational relative. We cannot investigate based solely on this name."

However, since he chose this name as his designation after betraying Kirigakure, there must be a reason, and he probably won't change it easily. It's best to use this name for the bounty.

"I understand, Mizukage-sama. Should I head back to Kirigakure first?"

Yagura nodded. Sure enough, he was still somewhat overwhelmed when it came to handling these matters, and there was still a lot he needed to learn.

"Um."

Genmi turned to look at Rokuwei and asked, "Do you want to accept the barrier seal again?"

The six-tailed creature's tentacles touched, and it said, "It's possible, but it's not safe. That Takasugi Shinsuke can easily break the barrier, and he even has the ability to control me."

Although somewhat embarrassed, Rokuou still spoke up. Genmi lowered his eyelids, looked back at the coded message Hozuki Gengetsu had left him, and said:

"I understand. I will find a vessel for you as soon as possible to prevent you from being enslaved."

"I won't be enslaved, I just hate being disturbed!"

The Six-Tails' voice became extremely shrill, as if it had been angered by Genmi's words. However, Genmi had no patience to comfort the Six-Tails at this moment. He simply turned his head and fixed his sinister gaze on the Six-Tails.

In an instant, Liuwei fell silent. It didn't understand what was going on lately, why it kept seeing the figures of "old friends" in other people.

The brat named "Takasugi Shinsuke" was like that, and the Third Mizukage whom he had known for many years suddenly had the shadow of "old friends" in front of him, and they were all "old friends" who had brought him unpleasant experiences.

The following day, a large number of members of the Kirigakure sealing team were dispatched to the swamp. Without the help of Hozuki Gengetsu, even if the Six-Tails were willing to cooperate, Genmi could not complete such a large-scale barrier sealing on his own.

However, with so many people, it becomes difficult to conceal their presence. But Xuanmi can't worry about that too much. And even if others know that the Six-Tails is sealed here, what can they do?

Even if an ordinary person knew the location of the Six-Tails, it would be impossible to break the seal. As for Takasugi Shinsuke...

The news that they had sealed the Six-Tails here could not have been leaked. No more than five people in Kirigakure knew about this, and each of them was absolutely trustworthy.

In other words, the leak of the Six-Tails' whereabouts could not have been due to someone leaking the information. Either a sensory ninja happened to pass by, sensed it, and knew of the existence of the tailed beast, thus leaking the information.

Either Takasugi Shinsuke's target wasn't the Six-Tails at all, but rather Hozuki Gengetsu. After all, it's quite reasonable for a ninja who hates the village to assassinate its high-ranking members.

Not only Hozuki Gengetsu, but other high-ranking members have also been assassinated by rogue ninja to varying degrees. However, this time, Hozuki Gengetsu was defeated.

If this hypothesis is correct, then Genmi can conclude that Takasugi Shinsuke is unlikely to return to attack the Six-Tails in the short term.

After all, neither Hozuki Gengetsu nor the Six-Tails mentioned Takasugi Shinsuke's final condition. It's highly likely that he wasn't seriously injured and left on his own, rather than being forced to retreat due to injury.

Moreover, if he was forced to retreat due to injury, the "enslaved" Six-Tails would not let this opportunity pass by and watch Takasugi Shinsuke leave.

Genmi didn't know how to punish Takasugi Shinsuke. Given his crimes, he deserved to die, but his old friend, even at the end of his life, earnestly begged him not to kill Takasugi Shinsuke.

Give the younger generation a chance.

Meanwhile, the bounty for Takasugi Shinsuke was also issued. Bounties for rogue ninjas were not uncommon in Kirigakure, but an S-rank bounty was quite rare.

Information about Kirigakure is difficult for other major ninja villages to obtain, but it spreads very quickly within the Land of Water. Not only active Kirigakure ninjas, but even those rogue ninjas have received bounties.

In the temporary camp where Rabbit Maru was located, compared to the day before when they had nothing, the camp was now a bountiful harvest. Food, medicine, and weapons, which were previously scarce, were now piled up all over the camp.

Everyone had a smile on their face. They had only wanted to test the authenticity of the information provided by Takasugi Shinsuke, but no one expected to gain so much.

It's a bit strange that they didn't encounter any ANBU ninjas from Kirigakure.

Usamaru sat on the steps, watching the cheerful crowd, but there was some doubt on his face. This operation had gone too smoothly, and there were signs of recent activity in the supply station.

However, they did not encounter any enemies during their raid, as if someone had received prior orders to evacuate.

Usamaru couldn't help but wonder again if Takasugi Shinsuke's raid was also under the control of the Mizukage.

It's quite common to send your own people to the enemy camp for some benefit, but the benefits are just too many.

They were just a small rogue ninja organization of about thirty people, most of whom were Chunin. Was it really worth the Mizukage spending so many resources just to send in a young genius who was capable of annihilating them?

"Boss Usamaru! Boss Usamaru!"

At that moment, Yamabuki rushed back to Usamaru's side, holding a wanted poster, and said, "Takasugi Shinsuke is wanted! An S-rank rogue ninja!"

"What?!"

When Usamaru heard that he was an S-rank rogue ninja, he was also startled. In the decades since Kirigakure was founded, the number of rogue ninjas who have been listed as S-rank rogue ninjas can be counted on one hand.

Yamabuki continued, "Also, didn't you ask me to follow those tracks yesterday? I checked, and they're all heading towards Mengze. There are so many ninjas in Mengze now that they can't even hide anymore."

"You mean something really terrible has happened to Yumesawa? Could it be that Takasugi Shinsuke really killed Hozuki Gengetsu?"

Usamaru was still somewhat incredulous. Hozuki Gengetsu was a high-ranking member of the village, a Jonin who was qualified to compete for the position of Mizukage back then, and an elite among Jonin.

He admitted that Takasugi Shinsuke was strong, but strong enough to kill Hozuki Gengetsu? Was that really something a teenager could do?

Seeing his boss's shock and disbelief, Yamabuki said, "When Takasugi Shinsuke comes back, we can just ask him directly, right?"

"And now we should be able to try to truly cooperate with him. He said he has more than thirty subordinates with Chunin-level strength who can join us and be at our disposal."

Upon hearing this, Usamaru's spirits lifted. His grand plan to revive Kirigakure still required the help of Takasugi Shinsuke and his subordinates.

Rather than constantly doubting and shrinking back, he might as well take a gamble. He didn't leave Kirigakure to survive, but to wait for the day he could return to the village and put it back on the right track.

But soon, he thought of an important point and said, "But... we can't contact Takasugi Shinsuke. What if he perished along with Hozuki Gengetsu?"

"Don't worry, I believe Takasugi Shinsuke will come back. The moment I saw him, I knew he was an extraordinary person. Perhaps... he really can shatter that arena in Kirigakure!"

Yamabuki transformed into Sugibuki, completely forgetting that when she first saw Takasugi Shinsuke, her first reaction was that she was doomed, after all, he was a ninja from the Anbu's pursuit unit.

In the Wet Bone Forest, after a whole day, Tatsuma, who was deep in a small pool, finally opened his eyes, and orange-red fairy-like marks appeared on his forehead and around his eyes.

It seems to be a legacy of the Sage Mode from Shikkotsu Forest, yet it also seems somewhat different. But this is Sage Mode.

Chenma lowered his head slightly, without causing any ripples in the pool. In the dim light, he looked at his reflection in the water and thought he looked incredibly handsome.

However, his pupils did not become straight like the two sages of Mount Myōboku, or like Jiraiya and Naruto; their shape remained unchanged, only becoming increasingly bright red.

After observing himself for a full three seconds, Chenma finally stood up from the pit in the pool, his face still maintaining the composure he believed an immortal should have.

But this composure crumbled the moment he stood up, because his tattered trousers did not rise with him.

"Whoosh~"

Chenma immediately sat back down in the pool, trying to control his expression. He kept glancing around and found that only Zhiyu was there. Chenma breathed a sigh of relief.

The society is dead, but not completely dead.

How could he have forgotten? His clothes were already tattered, with only the more durable vest remaining, though it was also worn and damaged from the battle.

He rubbed his hands in the water for a moment, then took out a scroll. After forming a hand seal and unsealing it, two sets of clothes appeared in his hands. One set was the equipment of the Konoha Anbu, and the other set was the spare equipment of the Kirigakure Anbu.

After thinking for a moment, Tatsuma used the new inner lining of the Kirigakure Anbu to match the battle-damaged vest.

Thinking that he was already dead in front of the plant anyway, Tatsuma decided to give up and got up to walk on the coral reef plain. He gently shook off the juice from his body and put on a new lining.

Tatsuma thought that he was probably the most disheveled "immortal" right now.

But human joys and sorrows are not shared, let alone those of humans and slugs. Zhi Yu couldn't understand at all, and simply asked, "How are you feeling now?"

"great."

Tatsuma gently clenched his fist, feeling the power within his body, and the precision of his perception that allowed him to know everything, a smile appearing on his face.

Zhi Yu then said, "Your constitution is very special, which allows you to successfully enter the Celestial Mode in water full of natural energy, but this is only the first step."

You will also need to learn how to balance and stabilize energy, how to absorb natural energy to enter Sage Mode without relying on the water of Shikkotsu Forest, and Sage Techniques.

"I see."

Tatsuma nodded. He knew that he couldn't be considered to have mastered Sage Mode yet, since he couldn't possibly tell his opponent, "Wait for me, I'm going to Shikkotsu Forest to enter Sage Mode first," halfway through a battle.

After thinking for a moment, Chenma looked at Zhiyu and asked, "Zhiyu, when I absorb natural energy, I find that excessive mental and physical movements disrupt the balance. I'd like to ask you about it."

Besides increasing my proficiency, are there other ways for me to maintain a balanced absorption of natural energy during combat?

"You mean something like the dual-life technique from Mount Myōboku?"

(End of this chapter)