I founded the "Bragging Cult" in Naruto.

Chapter 362 Forcing yourself to interact with people you dislike will only make you feel worse.

Tatsuma never expected, or even imagined, that Yekura would appear in this place. After all, she was from Sunagakure. In fact, this was the first time the two had met.

Yekura is a genius female ninja who has only risen to fame in Sunagakure in the last year or so. Like Rasa, Karura, and others before her, she was almost unknown for the first ten years or so, and only rose to prominence in the last year or so.

Tatsuma suspected that this was some kind of talent cultivation policy of Sunagakure, secretly training them until they had the ability to stand on their own before revealing the information and making them Sunagakure ninjas in the open.

It's estimated that Yekura, Rasa, and Karura were all from the same batch, which is why they were revealed together after Rasa and Karura's information was leaked, and they achieved two promotions within a year, becoming Jonin.

As for Yekura's movements, they stopped three months ago. No one knows where she went. Initially, the intelligence department's assessment was that Yekura might have returned to the Sunagakure Anbu.

But now it seems that's not the case. Although we don't know how Yekura infiltrated the Land of Water, it's clear that she did it, and like Tatsuma, she brought her own team with her.

Yekura was also staring intently at Tatsuma. Three months ago, she received a mission. The initial purpose of this mission was not to infiltrate the Land of Water, but to investigate the Hidden Cloud Village.

After all, more than a year ago, the Hidden Cloud Village attacked the Land of Wind. The Hidden Sand Village, which was at a standstill, paid a heavy price to drive the Cloud Ninja forces out of the Land of Wind, which greatly angered the Daimyo of the Land of Wind.

Furthermore, by threatening the future military expenditures of Sunagakure, they demanded that Sunagakure take countermeasures against Kumogakure. Pakura was the leader of this mission, and she first led her squad to infiltrate the Land of Lightning.

After several investigations, evidence of collusion between Kumogakure and Kirigakure was discovered. After the intelligence was relayed back, the Sunagakure leadership instructed to continue the investigation, collect enough "scandals," and then disclose them to damage Kumogakure's reputation and credibility.

So she eventually arrived in the Land of Water. She was very lucky; when she infiltrated the Land of Water, she happened to encounter the Hidden Mist Village's main attack on the Zhuping Group located on the north bank, while the south bank had almost no defenses.

She and her team successfully infiltrated the area, and only after learning this intelligence did she realize just how lucky she was.

Afterwards, Yekura tried to establish herself in the Land of Water. The legend of "Takasugi Shinsuke" inspired her, and she disguised herself as a rogue ninja who had defected from the Hidden Mist Village's ANBU, gaining the trust of a small rogue ninja organization on the south bank.

In subsequent battles, the leader and former high-ranking members of this small rogue ninja organization died one after another. Later, Yekura and others took over and became the new core of the organization.

Just a week ago, she received an invitation from the Zhu Ping organization. With her abilities, she naturally understood Zhu Ping's implication and knew that the Hidden Cloud Village was also involved. Therefore, she accepted the alliance request without hesitation.

But Yekura never expected that she would meet her "senior" from the Hidden Mist Village's Anbu here, the famous S-rank rogue ninja "Takasugi Shinsuke".

Looking at that face that every Sand Village ninja hated to the core, Yekura almost lost control of her emotions several times. Just thinking about what Tatsuma had done to the Land of Wind made her chakra surge uncontrollably.

Although he didn't actually attack Tatsuma, the uncontrollable killing intent he exuded still drew the attention of those around him.

Tatsuma also exuded a murderous aura, resisting Yekura's aura—or rather, rendering Yekura's aura ineffective. Yekura's aura was child's play to Tatsuma.

He didn't dwell on it too much at the time, mainly because of the lack of intelligence. The information sent back by the spies did not include any information related to Yecang. After all, the number of spies was small and their actions were restricted, so they could only collect information that could be circulated on the west bank.

Therefore, Tatsuma is unaware of Yekura's purpose in infiltrating the Land of Water, the number of people she has infiltrated, or the size of the interest group she currently represents. Thus, there is no need for him to be arrogant; he only needs to be as strong as possible.

At this moment, the door to the reception room opened, and a man with a simple, honest smile and bluish skin walked in. However, his smile quickly froze because the tense atmosphere in the reception room was too obvious.

The man walked to the head seat and sat down, forcibly diffusing the awkwardness, saying, "My name is Zhuping, and you two must be Takasugi Shinsuke and Rakuda, right?"

Tatsuma and Yekura nodded simultaneously, but neither of them looked away, their gazes filled with aggression and defensiveness. Zhu Ping said, "You two know each other before? Is there some... misunderstanding?"

Zhu Ping knew that both of them were ninjas who had defected from the "Hidden Mist Village Anbu," so it was normal that they had interacted before.

Yekura smirked and said sarcastically, "The person I know isn't named Takasugi Shinsuke."

Upon hearing this, Minato and the others beside Tatsuma became alert, but Shuhei remained calm. After all, everyone knew that Takasugi Shinsuke was a name he changed after defecting, and that he used code names more often in the Anbu, right?

Tatsuma remained calm and said, "There was some conflict, but what can you do when Miss Rakuda is a bloodline limit ninja?"

As soon as she finished speaking, Ye Cang straightened up, and her teammates also assumed a defensive posture. Even Zhu Ping looked astonished, since he hadn't known this information before.

However, Zhu Ping quickly came to terms with it and even understood why "Lecoda" had defected from the Anbu. After all, the village couldn't tolerate a bloodline limit ninja.

Zhu Ping smiled again and said, "Miss Lekuda, there's no need to be nervous. In fact, among my many allies and subordinates, there are quite a few bloodline limit ninjas."

Yekura gritted her teeth, stared at Tatsuma, and said, "I am indeed a bloodline limit ninja, but I have never told anyone in Kirigakure about this. I wonder how you, Takasugi Shinsuke, found out?"

Aside from her classmates and instructors in that special class in Sunagakure, her superior, the Third Kazekage, and a few of her teammates, no one else knew that she was a bloodline limit ninja.

Moreover, in the past year, since she left the Anbu, she has never shown her bloodline limit techniques. Where did Tatsuma get his information from?

Could it be that what Rasa reported back then—that Konoha had planted a spy among the high-ranking officials of Sunagakure—was true?

Tatsuma gave a strange smile and said, "Of course, it was someone closest to Miss Lekuda who told me. After all, a ninja like you used to be my main target."

To Zhu Ping, an outsider, the verbal exchange between the two made it sound as if "Takasugi Shinsuke" had previously carried out missions to eliminate bloodline limit ninjas when he was an ANBU member of Kirigakure.

"Lecoo" was betrayed by his own family, which is a textbook tragedy of Kirigakure.

Zhu Ping's face showed sadness and emotion as he said, "I think Takasugi Shinsuke had his own reasons back then. These misfortunes were all imposed on him by the village's higher-ups. We cannot blame every single person who carried them out."

"Rakuta, Takasugi Shinsuke, I hope you can put aside your past grudges and work together for the sake of Kirigakure, so as to prevent more tragedies like yours from happening in the future."

As a leader, even though he was the leader of a rogue ninja group, Zhuping knew how to seize every opportunity to strengthen his forces.

Yekura remained silent, while Tatsuma raised the corners of his mouth and said, "I'm not interested in anything about purifying Kirigakure or rebuilding its glory. I just want to know, when will I be able to fight those scum?"

"If nothing unexpected happens, a large-scale war will break out within five days. However, in order not to harm the people of the Land of Water, I have decided to carry out the battle at the port of the North Sea."

I have already ordered the gradual evacuation of the civilians from that area. Do you two have any other opinions?

"Five days? Then I'll wait for good news."

Tatsuma stood up, then looked at the still somewhat dazed Usamaru, and said, "Have your men compile a plan regarding the West Coast and give it to Lord Shuhei. I believe that with your abilities, you know how to deal with any potential redeployment of ninja forces from the West Coast, don't you?"

Chenma's words were tantamount to relinquishing command. Zhu Ping's face lit up with joy, and he nodded, saying, "I will certainly not disappoint you. Please stay in the mansion for the time being."

"No need. I have no interest in your noisy gatherings, nor do I expect to gain anything from you. So, aside from fighting, please do not disturb me."

With that slightly neurotic aura in mind, Tatsuma finished speaking and headed towards the door. Minato and the others quickly followed. Usamaru stayed behind to coordinate with the people from the chopped-up group, so he remained where he was.

Watching Tatsuma leave, Yekura also stood up and said, "Our side is in the same boat as 'Takasugi Shinsuke'."

After saying that, she left in a hurry. Several of her teammates wanted to follow, but Zhu Ping came up to them and chatted with them enthusiastically. In order not to reveal anything, they could only watch Ye Cang leave with worry.

Not long after leaving the mansion, the four were intercepted by Yekura. Minato and the others looked wary, while Tatsuma waved his hand, looked at Yekura, and asked, "Yakura, wouldn't it be better if we all kept to ourselves and completed our own tasks?"

"Ha~ You dare to talk about keeping to your own interests? Don't forget what you did to the Land of Wind!"

Yekura lowered his voice and said through gritted teeth. Tatsuma smiled and said, "Of course I'm qualified to say that. After all, what I poured out in the Land of Wind was seawater, not well water or river water."

"you!"

Seeing such a massive disaster in the Land of Wind become a topic of banter in Tatsuma's mouth, Yekura's chest heaved with anger. She pulled out a kunai, almost pressing it against Tatsuma's neck, before saying:

"For the sake of the mission, I won't stop you this time. I'm not afraid to tell you, my target is the Cloud Ninja who's cooperating with Zhu Ping. If you dare to stop me, I think it would be quite interesting if Kirigakure found out that their S-rank rogue ninja is actually a Konoha ninja, wouldn't it?"

Upon hearing this, Tatsuma narrowed his eyes and threatened, "If you say that, can I take it as you doing it if my identity is exposed? You haven't forgotten the price of offending me, have you?"

Or is a little over a year enough time for you to complete the basic infrastructure for flood control and drainage?

"I didn't say that!"

That's just how I understand it.

"That's completely unreasonable!"

"Ms. Yekura, it's a pleasure to meet you. I hope you'll take care of me in the future."

Tatsuma avoided Yokura's last words. This omission would put even more psychological pressure on her. Such hints and misdirection are not something a teenage girl can handle perfectly.

Yekura watched as Tatsuma slightly turned his head and took a step, his neck almost touching the blade of the kunai as he passed by. It was such a good opportunity, but Yekura could only hold the kunai tightly and couldn't actually make a move.

"You'll get your comeuppance!!!"

Turning around, Yekura glared at Tatsuma's retreating figure and roared. Tatsuma waved his hand and left without a trace.

(End of this chapter)