I founded the "Bragging Cult" in Naruto.

Chapter 337 Knowing how to change for your own best benefit doesn't necessarily mean you'll do it.

"Tatsuma, you need to be more focused. With your talent, learning Sage Mode shouldn't be difficult, but you always get stuck at the last step."

In the Shikkotsu Forest, Tatsuma, wearing only shorts, sat on a coral reef. Beside him was Yuuki, whose size had shrunk considerably. Yuuki could control her size at will, and shrinking down at this time was to make it easier to communicate with Tatsuma.

Seeing Chenma open his eyes again, his eyes still full of spirit and thought, Zhiyu said, "For other people who cultivate the Immortal Mode, the most difficult thing is to calm down, but you are different."

You enjoy this tranquility so much that you like to immerse yourself in your own world. However, the stillness of "sage mode" requires even "me" to be abandoned. If you can't do that...

You can never enter perfect Sage Mode without external assistance.

"I understand."

Tatsuma nodded, picked up a towel from the side, and wiped his body. He was very thin now, so thin that his muscles were completely stretched into strands. This was a side effect of dehydration caused by the imperfect Sage Mode.

More than a year ago, after the intelligence work in the Land of Water got on track, Tatsuma spent a lot of time in Shikkotsu Forest practicing Sage Mode.

His cultivation process went very smoothly. Within a week, he was able to enter a near-perfect immortal mode in the water without much effort, and he was able to balance the energy in his body very quickly.

Then came the attempt to enter the Immortal Mode in places without high concentrations of natural energy. This was an extra step compared to cultivating the Immortal Mode in the wet bone forest: experiencing and attracting natural energy.

However, he suffered a serious setback at this step. He could quickly calm down, remain calm and composed, and his excellent perception talent allowed him to quickly sense the natural energy floating in the air.

But his brain could hardly stop thinking. Even when he was calm enough, his brain would think about things that wouldn't cause emotional fluctuations. His brain, which was far more developed than others, seemed to have no stop button.

In this situation, his mind and body are far from being in harmony with nature, and he cannot allow natural energy to actively approach him. Instead, it can only be passively attracted by him, which makes his immortal mode always imperfect.

Almost every time he emerges from Sage Mode, he loses three to five kilograms. Unlike the frog petrification of Mount Myōboku or the snake transformation of Ryūchi Cave, the consequence of the imperfect Sage Mode in Shikkotsu Forest is severe dehydration.

In severe cases, it can even dehydrate and turn into a dried-up corpse.

However, he did not come away empty-handed over the past year. He learned a great deal of the immortal techniques of the Wet Bone Forest, and at the same time, he did not neglect his work in the Dark Division, after all, he had a large family to support.

However, they were unable to achieve the perfect Sage Mode. Both Zhiyu, the guide, and Chenma himself felt extremely uncomfortable, as they both had mild obsessive-compulsive disorder.

In fact, as things stand, even if Tatsuma uses an imperfect Sage Mode, it won't affect the battle, because dehydration takes time. In about ten minutes, his body will become so dehydrated that it weakens him and affects his condition.

However, his chakra reserves couldn't support him fighting in Sage Mode for more than ten minutes. In other words, Tatsuma would have been forced to exit Sage Mode long before his body dehydrated to the point of danger.

I'm just really annoyed, even though we were so close.

Seeing Tatsuma wiping his body, still lost in thought, Zhiyu said, "Why don't you learn from Jiraiya, as you said, and temporarily put down what you're carrying? Perhaps then you can find true 'stillness'."

"Need not."

Tatsuma shook his head and said, "It's not that I have a problem with my mindset, but rather that my guiding principles for handling things are different from those required for Sage Mode."

The guiding principles required for the Sage Mode are nothing more than four states of mind: joy born of detachment, joy born of concentration, sublime joy born of detachment, and pure equanimity. Only with pure equanimity can one enter the most perfect Sage Mode.

Upon hearing Tatsuma's words, Zhiyu pondered for a moment, then shook his enormous head up and down, even feeling somewhat happy, because finally someone had managed to summarize it.

But why couldn't Tatsuma, who had summarized all this, achieve "a state of detachment and purity"? Just as she was about to ask this question, Tatsuma continued:

"The guiding principle that I endorse and practice is that only by knowing when to stop can one be settled, only by being settled can one be calm, only by being calm can one be at peace, only by being at peace can one contemplate, and only by contemplating can one achieve. After stopping my thoughts, settling my mind, calming my heart, and settling my spirit, I began to think."

I cannot remain still for the sake of stillness; I can only remain still for the sake of movement. And this past year or so of peace before reflection has indeed helped me understand many things, which I believe is no less valuable than the "immortal mode."

Given the gains I've made, it's difficult for me to discard or deny my guiding principles. I apologize for disappointing you, Zhiyu.

"It's alright, Tatsuma. You're still young. Perhaps you'll have a different mindset when you're older. You're the most talented person I've ever met. Maybe you can even develop a Sage Mode that's more suitable for you."

Zhiyu's tone remained gentle. She knew that Chenma was a person with his own opinions and a smart person. Since Chenma himself had discovered the crux of the problem, then let him solve it himself.

Tatsuma stood up, picked up the clothes that were casually hanging to the side, and put them on one by one. It had been more than two years since Mito Uzumaki passed away, but the habits she left behind for others had not changed.

Tatsuma still orders some clothes every quarter, all of which are wide-sleeved robes that Mito Uzumaki would be satisfied with. Dressed neatly, Tatsuma bids farewell to the plant healing.

Back in Konoha, Tatsuma went straight to a ramen shop. It wasn't mealtime yet, and there was no food to eat at home.

"Boss, tonkotsu ramen, two servings of noodles, two servings of chashu pork, two eggs, two servings of vegetables, just one serving of soup base, and then add boiling water."

After skillfully taking his order, Tatsuma noticed a young man standing next to the ramen chef. The owner nodded, and seeing Tatsuma's gaze, smiled and said, "This is our new apprentice, Tatsuma Sakamoto! This is a regular customer of ours, a gentleman who is a Tatsuma Sakamoto."

The boss turned his head, his squinting eyes filled with a warm smile. Chenma stared at him blankly for a moment, but quickly came to his senses and nodded. The boss soon placed a large bowl of ramen in front of Chenma.

This bowl was custom-made by the boss. The bowl that Chenma used before, which was specially designed for big eaters, was no longer enough, so they had to make it bigger.

"Tatsuma, you're back?"

Just as Tatsuma was eating his ramen, a surprised voice came from the doorway, along with another voice that sounded annoyed. Tatsuma nodded; the exhaustion from being severely dehydrated made him too lazy to argue with anyone.

Minato pulled Kushina to sit next to Tatsuma. Minato had also finished his mission in the Land of Lightning long ago, just a little later than Tatsuma, but not by too much.

"Tatsuma, have you heard?"

Minato lowered his voice slightly and looked at the boss. The boss understood and took his hand into the kitchen to prepare the salt ramen that Minato and Kushina often ordered.

Tatsuma looked at Minato with a puzzled expression. He had been away from Konoha for two weeks and had only just returned. He hadn't had time to inquire about recent events yet, so he asked, "What's bothering you so much?"

"Sakumo-senpai has officially applied for retirement, and you are on the waiting list he submitted."

Upon hearing this, Chenma was also taken aback for a moment, then frowned and said, "Aren't there still three squad leaders?"

The Anbu consists of four squads, one of which is the Root. The Root is directly under Danzo's command, so it naturally does not have a squad leader. Therefore, under the head of the Root, Hatake Sakumo, there are three squad leaders.

With Sakumo Hatake retiring from the Anbu, the first replacement should be one of these three squad leaders. Last year, Tatsuma was eligible to run for squad leader, but he declined the position for the sake of his training.

As for the position of Anbu Chief, Tatsuma didn't have any particular interest in it. After all, he was still in the Anbu, and his current thought was that if he stayed in the Anbu, he wouldn't need to be promoted to Jonin.

After all, even if it's just a formality after being promoted to Jonin, one still has to mentor one or two Genin to fill out one's resume. Tatsuma didn't want to mentor children, since that would affect his own training.

Similarly, promotions within the Dark Division would also consume some of his time and energy, not to mention jumping ahead to the position of Dark Division Chief.

Minato explained, "Kakashi plans to participate in this year's Chunin Exams. If he succeeds, he will have to leave his original team. Lord Sakumo should be willing to personally lead Kakashi."

Moreover, I've heard—just heard—that Lord Danzo is very dissatisfied with the Hokage because he believes the Hokage is deliberately "suppressing" you and preventing your promotion. The Hokage also hopes to use this opportunity to clear Lord Danzo's name.

"Tsk! These two old guys are having a fight, and they're using me as a pawn. What's going on?"

Tatsuma grumbled in dissatisfaction, then sighed and said, "I'll look into it."

At this moment, Tatsuma suddenly felt that something was wrong with Kushina. If it were in the past, Kushina would have already lost her temper if Minato had talked to her for this long. Tatsuma looked at Kushina.

Finding that she hadn't lost her temper, but her eyes were filled with rage, Tatsuma frowned, and a sense of unease welled up in his heart again.

Tatsuma withdrew his gaze, feeling increasingly uneasy. However, his relationship with Kushina had always been poor, and saying anything rashly would not only be ineffective but could even escalate the conflict.

Just then, Minato suddenly said, "By the way, Tatsuma, Kushina's house has been renovated. We're planning to invite some friends over for a get-together. We'll probably have the party in a few days. Can you spare some time?"

Upon hearing this, Tatsuma nodded subconsciously, as he did indeed need an opportunity to understand Kushina. However, he quickly regained his composure, a look of doubt on his face, and asked:

"It's just a house, right? It's been under renovation for over a year? I thought it was finished a long time ago."

"At first I thought it was just a house, but then I found out. Anyway, you'll see when you get here."

Minato paused, then turned to look at Kushina. The violence in Kushina's eyes vanished instantly, replaced by a rare gentleness she displayed only when facing Minato. Minato, oblivious, simply said:

"Jiraiya-sensei will be back that day. It's been so long since I've seen him."

Hearing that the two people she disliked most about contacting Minato were going to have a gathering on that day, Kushina pouted, and the ends of her crimson hair fluttered slightly. However, she suppressed her dissatisfaction, blocked out the nonsense of the stinky fox inside her, and forced a smile, saying:

"Great! I've also made plans with some people. Shall we set aside some time to go shopping for the things we'll need for the party?"

"Um."

Seeing the two so deeply in love, their eyes practically drooling, Chenma shuddered, goosebumps rising on his skin. He quickly finished the remaining noodles, placed the money on the table, and said:

"I'll be going now. You guys enjoy your meal."

"Get out of here!"

Tatsuma ignored Kushina's last words and left the ramen shop. He frowned; he needed to find Tsunade and Nono to find out about Kushina's recent situation.

After all, the responsibility of ensuring the stability of the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki was Mito Uzumaki's dying wish. Tatsuma wouldn't just sit idly by and watch Kushina and the Nine-Tails within her go out of control just because they clashed.

As for Sakumo Hatake's retirement and the matter of the head of the Anbu, let's postpone it for now. After serving as the head of the Anbu for so many years, it won't be easy for Sakumo Hatake to complete the retirement process so quickly.

(End of this chapter)