I founded the "Bragging Cult" in Naruto.

Chapter 377 Never be a middleman; trying to please both sides will only offend them both.

Tatsuma felt like he had become Barry Allen, getting hungry after just a little activity. Although his talent of "Inexhaustible" allowed his body cells to hold more energy, fat was still the most important energy storage "device".

Excessive fat loss has caused his body fat percentage to drop below the safe limit. Until his fat cells return to their original size, Chenma will likely have to carry this weakness debuff for the rest of his life.

Even without fighting or training, as long as Tatsuma's brain keeps thinking, his body consumes far more energy than ordinary people. Even he himself is not quite sure how many things he can think about at the same time.

Fortunately, the human brain has a powerful liquid cooling system, and nearly half of the heart's blood supply circulates in the brain; otherwise, Chenma suspected he would be constantly in a state of high fever.

In theory, Chenma's current state is not difficult to handle, because [Unceasing] will digest the nutrients from the food he ingests very quickly. In theory, as long as he keeps eating, he can return to his original state.

Losing weight again is simple: just enter the imperfect immortal mode, and all kinds of fluids in the body, whether water or fat, will be quickly expelled.

In other words, Tatsuma is essentially a rubber man, while Tsunade is free to live and die, and Tatsuma is free to be fat or thin.

But all of this is "theoretical." Even with something as simple as "eating," the body will resist if you eat too much. Even if Tatsuma subjectively confirms that he has not yet reached a state of saturation, the brain that came up with all this is a two-faced guy.

On one hand, it tells Chenma that his body still needs to take in nutrients and should continue eating; on the other hand, it tells his esophagus and stomach that he is full and cannot eat anymore.

It might even incite these organs to protest and rebel as long as Chenma continues to eat; that's the amazing thing about the brain.

As for losing weight, the body certainly won't intervene, but it has no ability to do so. During the process of bodily fluids being expelled, Tatsuma also becomes increasingly weak. If there is even the slightest mistake, the entire process could get out of control, and Tatsuma would be left with only a withered shell.

unless

Back home, Tatsuma rubbed his hands together. His Wood Release technique was still not up to par. In theory, Wood Release has the ability to attract all kinds of energy. Tatsuma had used Wood Release to absorb the Nine-Tails' chakra and to attract natural energy.

It has even converted this energy, meaning that even without ingesting it through swallowing or injection, Chenma can still replenish its body's energy.

However, there is simply too much energy in the world. Tatsuma's Wood Release training is still at the initial stage of "taking" energy. His application of absorbed energy is either direct application or mixed use, but he is unable to transform it.

The saying "life is short" means that we encounter countless problems in life, but we don't have enough time to think about and find practical solutions.

Chenma rubbed his hands, pondering whether he should continue trying to absorb and transform external energy in this weakened state.

Tatsuma's choice was to try, after all, he was never one to back down from a challenge, and that was the result.

Around noon, Minato, who was making lunch for himself and Kushina, turned around on a whim and saw Tatsuma, who was on the verge of death, in Kushina's kitchen.

"Help me!"

Seeing Tatsuma's miserable state, Minato wondered what could have happened to make him so disheveled. After all, he hadn't been in such a sorry state even after fighting the Mizukage one-on-one. Could it be that he had gone to "gang up" on the Five Kage?

A short while later, Minato gathered the empty bowls, plates, and basins in the kitchen and said apologetically to Kushina, "I'm sorry, I'll make you another one."

"Hmph~"

Kushina snorted and glared at Tatsuma, who had suddenly come over to freeload a meal without any awareness of the consequences and had devoured all the food.

This guy first tricked me into letting Minato leave, and then in the blink of an eye he took Minato to dye his hair. What decent person would dye their hair for no reason?

After finally bringing Minato back from his mischief, this guy showed up again to get in the way, and even ate my lunch, as well as Minato's lunch, which he had specially prepared.

Even after finishing their meal, they still looked like they wanted more.

But ironically, this guy also had an air of impending doom, making Kushina realize that getting angry was going too far.

The meal took two hours to finish, not because the three of them ate slowly, but because the rice cooker couldn't keep up with their eating speed. Minato aside, Kushina was also a big eater.

Moreover, the thought that if she didn't eat more, Tatsuma would eat her up, made Kushina perform exceptionally well today.

The rice cooker, carrying a heavy load, barely kept the three of them from getting hungry. Minato, still maintaining his sunny and gentle demeanor, asked Tatsuma, the guest, "Are you full?"

"Burp~ I'm full."

"Is the taste alright?"

"Hmm, it tastes pretty good, just a bit too salty."

Hearing Tatsuma's words, Kushina couldn't hold back any longer and blurted out, "Salty? Then how come you haven't been pickled into a mute? Minato, don't listen to his nonsense, you made it delicious, I love it!"

Minato could only force a smile. He couldn't bear to watch Tatsuma go hungry, nor could he let Kushina eat food she didn't like. So, ensuring Tatsuma was well-fed and Kushina was well-fed was his plan all along.

Kushina looked at Tatsuma, who was sprawled out in his chair like a king after finishing his meal, and said irritably, "Do you have anything else to do? If not, then hurry up and leave."

Generally speaking, when faced with such a host, let alone waiting for them to speak, Chenma would know to read the room and leave without staying to make a fool of himself.

However, Kushina and Tsunade share some similarities in personality. They may say things that are impolite, but they are generous hosts, at least to Tatsuma. After all, given Kushina's personality, she wouldn't hesitate to kick out a guest directly.

Having known each other for so many years, and considering recent events, Kushina's attitude towards Tatsuma has improved a lot. However, some habits cannot be changed overnight, and besides, Kushina may not be willing to change.

After all, Tatsuma's attitude towards her wasn't exactly good, especially since Tatsuma wasn't someone who treated everyone equally. He was polite to others, but he never treated her well.

"Yes, there are some."

Tatsuma raised his eyelids slightly and said, "I haven't handed over the mission to Minato yet, and the matter of renting that building hasn't been formalized in the paperwork. These should all be considered important matters, right?"

"snort!"

Kushina wanted to turn around and leave, but after getting up, she remembered something, sat back down, and said, "Oh right, we haven't talked about the rent yet."

Upon hearing this, Tatsuma instantly understood Kushina's intention. She simply wanted to provoke him with the high rent or hoped that he would "beg" her. Given Kushina's cunning and methods, even a hundred of her combined wouldn't be enough to deal with Tatsuma.

Tatsuma didn't answer directly, but instead said in a lazy tone typical of people after a meal, "I forgot to tell you something. The village plans to turn the Death Forest into your training ground."

"With the help of that training ground, you can temporarily break the seal and freely use the Nine-Tails' power, helping you to better and faster control over it. You should know what controlling the Nine-Tails' power means, right?"

Freedom. The thought flashed through Kushina's mind, and Tatsuma unconsciously took control of the conversation. Kushina looked at Tatsuma and asked, "What are you trying to say?"

"I am indispensable in building that training ground. Only I have the ability to create a training ground where you can give full play to your abilities."

Damn it! He tricked me again!

Kushina also realized that Tatsuma was blackmailing her, just like she planned to make things difficult for him by threatening him with rent. However, the Uzumaki Tower was just icing on the cake for Tatsuma, since Minato had told her about the mission last night.

In fact, Tatsuma is already able to enter a controlled Sage Mode without the help of the tower, so the Whirlpool Tower is not a necessity for him.

However, mastering the Nine-Tails' power was something Kushina absolutely had to do, and the sooner the better.

"What exactly are you trying to say?"

Although she had already realized what was going on, Kushina still stubbornly argued as usual. Tatsuma shrugged and said, "It's nothing, I was just giving you a sneak peek at the village's plans. By the way, what were you trying to say just now?"

rent?"

"Um"

Kushina glared at Tatsuma through gritted teeth, but her prepared words turned out to be: "After all, that's the property left behind by the Uzumaki clan. Although I own the property now, I can't just let you use it as you please."

"I understand, I will pay some maintenance fees appropriately."

The initiative regarding how much to give was transferred from Kushina to Tatsuma, and Kushina could only grit her teeth and accept it.

In the kitchen, Mizuto, who was washing dishes, glanced back, then shook his head. It wasn't that he didn't protect Kushina, but...

Why did you have to be so foolish as to fight with Tatsuma? Ichimura Ichikage never had a good ending fighting with Tatsuma, and it was only today that Tatsuma, having eaten someone else's food, didn't hold it against Kushina.

Otherwise, Minato thought that, given Tatsuma's wicked temperament, it would be quite normal for him to turn around and extort money from Kushina.

Thinking it over, Minato sped up his dishwashing. He quickly cleaned up the dishes, stove, and dining table. After washing and drying his hands, Minato walked towards the living room, taking out a scroll with him.

"Tatsuma, this is my execution log from last night. It hasn't been compiled into a report yet, so please take a look."

Minato was clearly there to change the subject, and Tatsuma, being very considerate of his close friend, took the money, stuffed it into his pocket without even looking at it, and said, "I trust your abilities. If there's nothing else, I'm off to report for duty."

He hadn't left just now because he didn't want to be "kicked out." He wasn't a third wheel, someone who enjoyed shining brightly beside others. Seeing that he was about to leave, Minato hesitated for a moment and said:

"There's one more thing."

"Um?"

"I only found out last night that there are fewer people protecting Kushina lately."

"Has it decreased?"

Tatsuma frowned and looked outwards, but there were still two ANBU members; the number hadn't decreased. Minato explained, "Kushina told me that after we left the village, the village sent more people to protect Kushina."

But just two days ago, the number of personnel decreased again to two. I suspect there have been some changes in the Dark Division or Root.

(End of this chapter)