I founded the "Bragging Cult" in Naruto.

Chapter 353 Those who walk on the spider web are either prey or predators.

After Hai left, Chenma started thinking to himself again, and one could even say he was somewhat troubled.

He had been planning and participating in the Water Kingdom's operation for over a year, pouring a great deal of energy and effort into it. Now that progress had been made, he should continue to follow up.

However, Kushina has just lost control, and he is currently the most effective line of defense after Kushina lost control. The village will definitely prevent him from leaving the village in the near future, or at least not to a place where he cannot return in time.

Similarly, Kushina's emotions have not yet fully settled down after losing control, and at this point in time, she is probably the most insecure.

For Kushina personally, Tatsuma's departure might not matter, but if Tatsuma is going to follow up on the mission to the Land of Water, he will definitely have to lead the team away.

In other words, Minato is also going to be taken away. If Minato leaves at this time, it will have a huge impact on Kushina. Whether subjectively or objectively, Minato is the one who should not leave.

Tatsuma was worried because if he proposed to Hiruzen Sarutobi the idea of ​​leading a small team on a mission, he would probably be rejected again.

Moreover, the recent events have been too concentrated, to the point that Chenma suspects that someone is orchestrating all of this.

First, it triggered the Nine-Tails' riot, and then Kirigakure intensified its efforts to eliminate the rogue ninja, forcing the rogue ninja to speed up their preparations to gather supplies and fight back against Kirigakure.

Tatsuma, however, is unable to leave Konoha due to the Nine-Tails' rampage.

That's not all. The secret operations of Kumogakure and the whereabouts of Iwagakure's additional funding have created a sense of impending doom throughout the ninja world.

That feeling of impending war resurfaced in Tatsuma's mind.

Moreover, unlike his premonition of the Second Shinobi World War when he was still in the Ninja Academy, Tatsuma is now in a higher position and can see more.

As a result, there seems to be no sign of a major war in the ninja world yet, but Tatsuma has already begun to worry.

The scale, impact, duration, scope, and number of participants of the Third Shinobi World War were all greater than those of the Second Shinobi World War.

Some say that the Third Shinobi World War was a continuation of the Second Shinobi World War, but in Tatsuma's opinion, this is not quite accurate. Tatsuma personally feels that it was more like a war launched by various parties to reorganize the resources of the Shinobi World.

With the Land of Lightning and the Land of Earth increasing their funding year after year, the ninja village is thriving and its growing strength is fueling their ambitions.

After all, the ninja world today no longer has anyone capable of making plans, and the funds allocated by their respective daimyo are not intended to create a bunch of redundant people, but are bound to seek better development.

The division of internal resources is coming to an end, and has even mortgaged part of the future, resulting in a large number of ninja groups that are not very useful in peacetime. The thoughts of the various daimyo are easy to guess.

Moreover, the ninja world now has a stage for them to perform. The Sand Village's continuous losses and the Daimyo's distrust and lack of reliance on it have made the Sand Village's overall strength fall behind that of the Fire, Earth, and Lightning Kingdoms.

However, the international standing of the Land of Wind in the ninja world has not changed much. Many small countries or large caravans still choose to trust the Sand Village and pay high commission fees every year.

If the international status of the Land of Wind declines, or even falls out of the ranks of the five great nations, then Sunagakure will no longer have the same status as Konoha, Iwagakure, Kumogakure, and others.

At that time, a large amount of entrusted funds will flow out and into the pockets of other major powers and great ninja villages.

Meanwhile, the Land of Fire did not enter a period of rapid development in the years following the Second Shinobi World War. Although the Daimyo of the Land of Fire allocated a large amount of funds, these funds were not used for war reserves.

Over the years, the Land of Fire has not made any breakthrough progress in population, economy, or technology. The areas where progress has been made are in pathology, medical care, and people's livelihood, which are not of great help in war.

In other words, on the surface, the overall combat strength of the Land of Fire, or rather, Konoha Village, remains at the level of the Second Shinobi World War.

Although Konoha won victories on all fronts in the Second Shinobi World War, it was not an easy victory. Moreover, among the major powers that actually participated in the Second Shinobi World War, only the Land of Fire and the Land of Wind were truly involved.

The only major ninja village Konoha faces is Sunagakure. As for Amegakure, while Hanzo is strong, Amegakure is not, making them a medium-strength enemy.

However, even with just these two enemies, plus the disturbances from Iwagakure and Kumogakure, Konoha was already showing signs of fatigue, which may have given these two ninja villages a signal.

That means that once they actually get involved, even Konoha might not be without the possibility of being defeated.

As for the Land of Water's policy of blockade, the villages are largely unaware of their intelligence. However, the goodwill shown by the Hidden Cloud Village towards the rogue ninjas of the Hidden Mist Village in the past two years, and the series of collaborations they have achieved, actually illustrate a point.

The Hidden Cloud Village is also eager to know the situation inside the Land of Water. If the new AB combination and Suzuyui really go to the Land of Water with the group of rogue ninja from the Hidden Mist Village, it may be a reconnaissance mission.

Regarding the Kirigakure rogue ninja group's counterattack against Kirigakure, Tatsuma probably thinks that Kumogakure's mentality is similar to Konoha's: watching from the sidelines while seeing if they can take advantage of the chaos, or even become arsonists.

This is also why Tatsuma previously suggested proactively redirecting the "cooperation" with the rogue ninja group from Kirigakure to the Land of Lightning.

However, when Tatsuma was planning, he didn't foresee the arrival of another great war so early. Although he knew there would be a third Shinobi World War and knew the approximate time, he was still faced with the current situation.

There was a real sense of impending doom, like dark clouds looming over the city, as if the ninja world was hanging on a tightrope. All five great nations were walking on that tightrope, and if any one of them collapsed first, the other four nations would not hesitate to take action.

Moreover, Tatsuma was one of the main culprits behind all of this.

Tatsuma rubbed his temples, reflecting on whether he had been too reckless in the past few years. He had already provoked Kumogakure and Sunagakure for Konoha, and was about to provoke Kirigakure.

If his identity as "Takasugi Shinsuke" is revealed, will the Third Shinobi World War turn into a campaign against him, Sakamoto Tatsuma?

He had never provoked Iwagakure, although he also loathed Onoki, who had started to flatter him when he was still in obscurity, but he never seemed to have any opportunity to cause trouble.

Suddenly, Tatsuma remembered Sakumo Hatake's mission, which concerned the destination of the additional funds allocated to Iwagakure and information about the two tailed beasts.

Whether this mission succeeds or fails, it can serve as an excuse for Iwagakure to attack Konoha.

Tatsuma seems to have already seen that the ninja world he's involved in is the "excuse" that will ignite the Third Shinobi World War. He, Sakamoto Tatsuma, is the real culprit!

Tatsuma doesn't know if the cause of the Third Shinobi World War will change, but even if it doesn't, Tatsuma, who unleashed natural disasters on the Land of Wind after the Third Kazekage was killed by Sasori, is definitely the best suspect.

The thought of his Bright Peak being besieged by the six major sects made Chenma stop thinking. He shuddered. Damn it, should I retire from the ninja world starting today?

But when he thought about the strange, impulsive feelings that had occurred several times over the past two years, Chenma's sense of crisis resurfaced. He feared that if he wanted to retire from the life of crime, someone would prevent him from doing so.

After lying on the table and thinking for a moment, Chenma stood up, flicked his wrist, rolled up the scroll, put it in his pocket, and then disappeared in a flash of silver light.

Inside the Hokage's office, Hiruzen Sarutobi pulled the cotton swab out of his pipe, tapped the pipe on the table, then set it aside. He checked the time, looked at the sky outside, and smiled kindly.

The weather is lovely today, with the warm spring sun shining. Going out for a walk at this time makes it easy to reconnect with villagers who rarely venture out during the winter.

And it's lunchtime right now, so it's decided! Let's go visit the villagers and have a simple meal while we're at it!

"Lord Hokage."

Just then, a figure climbed in through the window. When Hiruzen Sarutobi saw that it was Tatsuma, his mood didn't exactly turn sour, but his enthusiasm waned considerably.

Tatsuma was no idle person; in fact, he was always one of the busiest ninjas in the village. He certainly didn't come to the Hokage's office just to chat idly.

The thought of having to work during mealtimes is enough to put anyone in a bad mood.

"What is it?"

But Hiruzen Sarutobi maintained his polite smile and asked Tatsuma.

Tatsuma didn't say much. He simply took out the scroll, placed it on Hiruzen Sarutobi's desk, pushed it towards Hiruzen, and then stood still and waited.

Hiruzen Sarutobi opened the scroll, glanced at it twice, and then looked away. He had received the information that morning and was already familiar with its contents, so there was no need to read any further.

Furthermore, he already knew the purpose of Tatsuma's arrival; it certainly wasn't to deliver intelligence, but rather...

"Tatsuma, do you want to continue in charge of this project?"

Upon hearing this, Tatsuma didn't hide anything, nodded, and said, "Yes, Hokage-sama, I've been following this mission for over a year. No one knows the situation in the Land of Water better than me, so it's most appropriate for me to lead the team there."

Hiruzen Sarutobi's expression turned serious as he said, "Tatsuma, you should also know that the village's top priority is to ensure that Kushina's condition is under control, and at the same time, to establish a training ground that will allow Kushina to control the power of the Nine-Tails."

How could I possibly do without you? Compared to that, the internal rebellion in the Land of Water is, after all, an external matter. You must be able to distinguish which is more important.”

"Lord Hokage, the Hidden Cloud Village may also be involved. In other words, this is not just an internal matter of the Land of Water, but an international incident. We must take it seriously."

"I've heard about it too, but isn't that still unconfirmed?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi still didn't want Tatsuma to get involved, but Tatsuma insisted, "That's precisely why I should go. If Kumogakure is really involved, then we should find out their purpose."

If Kumogakure (Hidden Cloud Village) wasn't involved, it would eliminate one option for the village, allowing them to focus their search for the new AB combination's whereabouts and intelligence more effectively.

Upon hearing this, Hiruzen Sarutobi fell into deep thought. Looking at the determination on Tatsuma's face, he hesitated before saying, "But what about Kushina?"

"I have a way to ensure that the Nine-Tails will not go berserk for a short period of time."

(End of this chapter)