I founded the "Bragging Cult" in Naruto.

The result of the hype surrounding Chapter 346 is that even arranging a meeting requires careful consideration to avoid ambiguity.

Sakumo Hatake entered through the window, a smile as always on his face. He went straight to Tatsuma, pulled up Nonou's chair, and sat down, saying:

"The Hokage ordered me to monitor Root's actions, and sure enough, they went to find Kushina. However, I intervened early, before Tsunade could get angry."

Tatsuma knew what Hatake Sakumo meant by "intervention"—it meant that he would take action before Tsunade could act. Tatsuma smiled and replied, "Then why did you come to me, Sakumo-sama?"

"The tasks assigned by the Third Hokage are things you should report to him; I'm merely your subordinate."

Sakumo Hatake's smile faded, and he asked seriously, "Tatsuma, what are your thoughts on succeeding as the head of the Anbu?"

"Me? I lack the experience and skills; wouldn't that be inappropriate?"

Tatsuma's answer was within Hatake Sakumo's expectations. He sighed and said, "The Anbu members who came from Root have gradually taken up half of the Anbu. With me here, the Anbu will still be the Hokage's Anbu."

But once I retire, who will manage this Anbu? That's hard to say. Wasn't the information leak in the Hokage's office this time quite obvious?

"Intelligence leaked?"

Tatsuma feigned ignorance, but Sakumo Hatake crossed his legs and said, "Pretend. Don't tell me you can't even see that? Even I find this obvious."

Despite being exposed by Sakumo Hatake, Tatsuma didn't feel embarrassed. Instead, he said, "But the Root is the training base for the Anbu. As long as the Third Hokage doesn't reclaim authority, the current state of the Anbu cannot be changed."

"That's why I'm recommending you. If there's anyone in Konoha who can mediate between the Hokage and Danzo, it's definitely you. As long as you're the head of the Anbu, the Anbu won't change its ways."

Hatake Sakumo rubbed his prominent eye bags and said, "I know that with your talent, staying in the Anbu is a bit of a waste, but since you still don't plan to leave, then do something for the Anbu."

Tatsuma pursed his lips and said, "Lord Sakumo, do you think the Third Hokage can be deceived by Lord Danzo?"

Upon hearing this, Hatake Sakumo shook his head. In fact, he had already reported Danzo's actions to Sarutobi Hiruzen, but Sarutobi Hiruzen was able to produce a more comprehensive report than he had submitted.

In other words, Hiruzen Sarutobi was not unaware of what Danzo had done, but...

"Even if I wanted to change what the Third Hokage tacitly approved, what could I do? You're just indulging in the orderly and beautiful past of the Dark Side. Actually, Root's large-scale involvement wasn't without its benefits."

For example, the Dark Division has become dirtier. Tasks that even the Dark Division would have been ashamed to do in the past are now undertaken and completed by Root and its derivative members, bringing much benefit to the village.

Although the old-style secret service was directly under the control of the Third Boss, who held centralized power, it still possessed "humanity." However, such secret service members could exist without "humanity," so the Third Boss was willing to delegate power.

Whether it's Root gradually taking over the Anbu, or Lord Sakumo's initiative to protect the purity of the Anbu, these are all things beneficial to Konoha. Besides, the Third Hokage won't make a decision until it comes to fratricide.

Hearing Tatsuma say this, Sakumo Hatake's expression gradually darkened. He wasn't good at political maneuvering, but more than that, he couldn't actively participate. He was more than capable of understanding it.

For a moment, Hatake Sakumo suddenly had some self-doubt. If Sarutobi Hiruzen really thought that way, then all these years of his struggle against the Root in the shadows, even his "power grab," had been meaningless, hadn't it?

Hatake Sakumo shook his head, sighed, reached into one of the pockets of his vest, and said, "I had prepared some bargaining chips to coerce you into becoming the head of the ANBU, but it seems I won't need them now. You can keep them."

As he spoke, he pulled out a piece of wood shard.

Tatsuma frowned, his senses activating to capture everything around him. Then, he cautiously looked at Sakumo Hatake. The malice perception talent he had acquired from Kurama confirmed that Sakumo Hatake had no ill intentions.

At this moment, Tatsuma relaxed slightly, picked up the piece of wood, and said, "Lord Sakumo, when was this discovered?"

"To prevent the Root from infiltrating, I went to investigate in person. The chakra of this piece of wood is extremely similar to the chakra that misled me from you two years ago. So I think this is your technique."

As one of Konoha's most outstanding ninjas, Hatake Sakumo had almost no weaknesses in ninja skills. Therefore, even if the results of a simple analysis were unbelievable, Hatake Sakumo was confident in his judgment.

Tatsuma recalled that after his first Wood Release "lost control" and returned to the village, he was indeed almost treated as an enemy by Hatake Sakumo. However, he did not expect that Hatake Sakumo would remember such a small abnormality and remember it for so long.

"Thank you, Sakumo-sama."

Tatsuma crushed the wood chips in his hand and casually scattered them into the nearby trash can. Hatake Sakumo raised an eyebrow; he had experienced the texture of the wood chips before, and Tatsuma's strength was truly remarkable.

"Since you have no interest in being the head of the ANBU, then you can manage the spare squads. You can't refuse even that, can you?"

Sakumo Hatake stood up and said with a smile, "Splitting into teams is fine. Anyway, I'll find an assistant and have him hand over all the administrative work to the new department head."

"It's settled then. I need to go back and carefully study my last mission before retiring."

Sakumo Hatake stretched his arms and back, while Tatsuma lowered his eyelids for a moment before looking up and saying, "Lord Sakumo, if I may be so bold, but would it be possible for me to participate in your mission? Even just the initial mission analysis?"

Interfering in other people's missions, especially secret or top-secret missions of the secret service, is a very offensive thing to do.

Therefore, upon hearing Tatsuma's request, Sakumo Hatake's smile vanished, replaced by a cold expression. He looked at Tatsuma, but the coldness quickly disappeared, and Sakumo Hatake, his smile returning, said:

"Anyway, you'll soon become a squad leader, and squad leaders do have the authority to inquire. Consider this as granting you special permission in advance. Besides, I really want to find someone to help me oversee this mission."

As he spoke, he caught a scroll, tossed it to Tatsuma, and then said, "Return it to me before dawn tomorrow. After all, the Hokage might call me at any time tomorrow to discuss mission-related matters, so I need to read it at least twice."

Tatsuma caught the scroll and said, "No problem, I'll return it as soon as I'm done reading it. Sakumo-sama, please stay up all night and wait for me."

"Alright, I'll go back and write the report then. Even though I only knocked out my comrade, I still have to explain things clearly. It's such a hassle."

Sakumo Hatake complained as he put the chair back in its place and then climbed out the window again. Tatsuma, holding the scroll, didn't open it immediately. The flow of people at Konoha Hospital was too complicated; it wasn't a good time to read the mission description.

And Nono is coming back soon; she seems to be in a hurry.

Thinking it over, Tatsuma put away the scroll, formed the Opposing Seal, and unlocked the office door a crack as his hair grew out.

As Tatsuma pulled his hair back, Nono entered through the door. Looking at Tatsuma, who remained seated seemingly motionless, his expression as serious as when she left, Nono asked:

"Sorry for the short wait in line, I hope it didn't affect your appetite?"

"No, hunger is the best catalyst for making food taste delicious."

Tatsuma composed himself, putting on a polite smile. Nono nodded, put down her lunchbox, and placed a bulging lunchbox next to Tatsuma.

After so much time had passed, Nono also noticed that Tatsuma ate more than the average person, but she didn't know exactly how much more. She just asked the cafeteria lady to give him more.

When Tatsuma opened the lunchbox, Nonou suddenly remembered something and said with some distress, "Sorry, I forgot to ask Auntie to add more seasoning. If your food isn't enough, I can share some with you."

The amount of food remained basically the same, but if there was too much rice, the overall flavor would become bland. Nono felt that she was too careless and hadn't even thought of this.

Chenma shook his head and said, "No need. I don't like eating too much salt. Whether it's eating too much salt and seasoning, or needing to drink more water because of too much salt and seasoning, it will increase the burden on the kidneys."

Tatsuma's needs for food have transcended mere cravings, especially after his training in Shikkotsu Forest. His requirements for food are actually only two: it must be cooked and preferably hot.

As for the taste, Chenma wishes that no salt or salty seasonings would be added by outside vendors, because this way he can directly use salt crystals or saline solution, combined with his exercise level, to get a more accurate salt solution.

After all, he is a special patient who needs to be ready to undergo sampling and physical examination at any time, and he avoids all factors that may affect the expression of his physical indicators.

Of course, these all refer to salt. Sugar is different, since with the plan to remove the restriction on the proliferation of divine tree cells, the divine tree cells in his body are growing rapidly every day.

The energy that the Divine Tree cells can hold is far greater than that of his original cells. In addition, with the hidden talent of "Unceasing," he can consume as much sugar as he wants without overdoing it.

It's so delicious with strawberry ice cream, strawberry sundae, and strawberry parfait.

Eating his meal with a blank expression, Tatsuma put on the most unappetizing mukbang performance ever, even with the dessert he had imagined. Nono, who usually eats a whole box of rice, only ate half of it and felt full today.

Nono has no habit of wasting food, so she had to suppress the feeling of fullness in her stomach and finish the rest of her food. She was about to ask if Tatsuma needed help washing the lunchbox when she realized that Tatsuma was not in the office.

Just as she was wondering, Tatsuma reappeared, holding two strawberry ice creams in his hand, his face beaming with a happy and hopeful smile. Nono looked at the two ice creams and instinctively assumed one of them was for her, so she quickly refused, saying, "Thank you, I can't eat anymore."

Tatsuma was taken aback. Today's inexplicable buy-one-get-one-free offer had prepared him to enjoy two ice creams all to himself, but since Nonou had said that, he had no choice but to reach out and say:

"Eat more sugar, it'll help you think faster."

"No! No! No!"

He secretly hoped that Nono would reject him again, after all, desserts are one of the culprits of aging for women! But Nono glanced at the calendar on the table, blushed, and accepted the ice cream.

The calendar marks February 14th, Thursday, Valentine's Day.

It's a pity that Tatsuma-kun doesn't like chocolate, otherwise she could have prepared a return gift.

(End of this chapter)