I founded the "Bragging Cult" in Naruto.

Chapter 406 Some people's casual creations are more outstanding than others' painstaking efforts.

Yagura left, and Tatsuma, feeling the pain return, actually breathed a sigh of relief. Perhaps this was his advantage—being able to make more accurate judgments about certain situations.

For example, at this moment, an ordinary person would probably remain vigilant or risk going out to investigate, but Chenma could directly determine that he had already disengaged from the battle.

However, after disengaging from the battle, the delayed onset of his injuries caused Tatsuma's breathing to become rapid. He turned on the room light, and at this moment, his clothes were covered in a dark red stain on his chest.

He ripped open his clothes, revealing a bloody mess on the left side of his chest. Gritting his teeth, he gathered chakra in his right hand and used a scalpel to remove the excess flesh and bone fragments.

These can affect the quality of treatment and may even leave some hidden health problems, so it's better to just remove them altogether.

After the removal, a corner of his constantly beating heart was exposed. Tatsuma gently touched his heart with his fingers, carefully sensing it, fearing that his heart might also be implanted with some kind of curse mark.

The good news is that it's unclear whether Madara Uchiha, who was using Yagura's body, was unable to implant cursed seals in others, or whether his reaction was so fast that Madara simply didn't have time to implant the cursed seals.

After confirming that there were no traces of cursed seals or other chakra, Tatsuma slumped into a chair, not even bothering to treat his injuries further.

He hadn't expected to encounter Madara Uchiha at this time and place. His defenses against Yagura were insufficient because he hadn't anticipated that Yagura would already be transformed into a pawn at this point.

Tatsuma was indeed on guard when Yagura revealed that he was Takasugi Shinsuke, but he never expected that he would run into the Sharingan. The Sharingan's genjutsu rendered all his defenses useless.

Fortunately, after his battle with Mizukage Genmi a few months ago, his resistance to illusion magic had finally received an extra boost. If he had been a fraction slower, even just a little bit slower, Yagura's fingers would have pierced his heart.

Madara Uchiha probably doesn't consider what changes the ninja world will undergo after Tatsuma dies in the Land of Water. Or perhaps, this kind of ninja world situation, which could very likely ignite a war between the two countries and then escalate further, is what he hopes to see.

Having lived in the ninja world for ten years, Tatsuma had almost forgotten about this enemy who still lived in the shadows, and he never expected that he would become a thorn in the side of Uchiha Madara.

Madara Uchiha was definitely determined to kill Tatsuma during the surprise attack. However, Madara controlled Yagura to leave because he knew he couldn't kill Tatsuma this time and there was no need to engage in any pointless entanglement.

Before Tatsuma regained consciousness, Madara failed to kill him, and Madara already knew that his impromptu plan had failed. However, this did not mean he suffered any loss.

Tatsuma understood this as well; it wouldn't matter who he told.

Making trouble for Kirigakure? Useless. Tatsuma can't explain why Yagura wanted to kill him. Even if he finds evidence of Yagura's failed attempt, what then? Incite war? Madara would love that. Besides, if he does that, Tatsuma, Konoha, or Kirigakure will all only lose.

As for making the whole thing public? Letting the ninja world know that Madara Uchiha is still alive? Tatsuma has no evidence; he can't convince many people to believe him, and even if some do, where would he even begin to investigate?

Therefore, in his first encounter with Madara Uchiha, Tatsuma knew that he had suffered a great loss, a loss that was like swallowing a bitter pill.

Madara Uchiha wasn't the only one who wanted to kill Sakamoto Tatsuma. Many people from other villages and forces also wanted to kill him. However, unlike Madara, they couldn't harm Tatsuma in the slightest, no matter how hard they tried.

Madara Uchiha's attempt was perhaps just a spur-of-the-moment thing, and he almost succeeded.

I wonder how others would feel if they knew? Would they feel powerless? Or would they feel admiration?

"Squeak~ Bang!"

The evening breeze rustled the door that hadn't been closed. Chenma pursed his lips, looking utterly depressed, like a late-night, melancholic teenager.

Next door, a tipsy Tsunade opened her eyes. Although she had drunk quite a bit, the obvious commotion still sobered her up.

Upon waking, she smelled blood. As a ninja, and a medical ninja at that, her sensitivity to blood quickly dispelled the drowsiness in Tsunade's mind. She sat up and sniffed.

His expression changed immediately, and he punched the wall against which the bed was against.

"Bang!"

The wooden wall shattered instantly. Tsunade rushed through the ruins and saw Tatsuma covered in blood with a gruesome hole in his chest. After cautiously looking around to make sure there were no enemies, Tsunade asked:

"What happened?! Is it a Kirigakure ninja?!"

Tatsuma, who had been deep in thought, didn't expect Tsunade to appear in this way. He shook his head and said, "Since she's not a Kirigakure, it's not convenient to say."

After Chenma finished speaking, he remembered that he needed to trigger the curse seal in his body. At the same time, he put his hands together and absorbed natural energy. Under the combined effect of Yin Healing and Extinction and the Shigu Forest Immortal Technique, the wound on his chest healed at a speed visible to the naked eye.

The sage mask on his face hadn't even fully manifested before it quickly faded away. Tatsuma looked at Tsunade and said, "Sensei, let's rest first. We'll leave as early as possible tomorrow."

Seeing that her disciple was unwilling to reveal the enemy's name and information, Tsunade frowned. It wasn't that she was dissatisfied with Tatsuma, though of course, she was somewhat dissatisfied.

After all, Tatsuma was too opinionated. In many cases, things that should have been handled by the teacher would be dealt with by Tatsuma before she, as the teacher, would even find out.

But the main reason was her worry for Tatsuma, as well as her anger and contemplation about the enemy; she was wondering who the enemy might be.

As to the extent of Tatsuma's strength, it's likely that no one in the entire ninja world except Tatsuma himself knows the answer. However, based on what Tsunade knows, it's enough for Tatsuma to defeat most ninjas.

Moreover, Tatsuma is not the kind of person who would be careless and get successfully ambushed. As his teacher, she doesn't care, but Tatsuma, as his disciple, strictly abides by the three ninja prohibitions and hasn't had a drop of alcohol at tonight's banquet.

It was because of this disciple that Tsunade dared to drink freely in other villages and surrounded by other ninjas, because she knew that Tatsuma would not let anything happen to her.

She was indeed unharmed, but Tatsuma was. To inflict such severe injuries on Tatsuma with almost no one else noticing was no small feat, not something just any ninja could accomplish.

When the number of filters is reduced, there should be very few left that haven't been filtered out, meaning it's easier to make comparisons. But Tsunade really has no clue about Tatsuma's situation.

The only people capable of hurting Tatsuma so badly would be herself and her two teammates, even with the added advantage of being "one of their own." If it were an outsider, the expectations would be even higher.

Such candidates are few and far between even among the five great nations and five great ninja villages. Apart from the Kage, there are only the elders and the ninjas who occupy high positions in various departments.

Tsunade was unsure whether Tatsuma's denial of being the work of the Mist Ninja was genuine, or whether he simply chose to remain silent to prevent the situation from escalating.

If it were someone else, like herself, she certainly wouldn't have protected the enemy in such a situation, but Tsunade was different. She had never seen Tsunade express her grievances to anyone.

After thinking for a long time without finding an answer, Tsunade looked at Tatsuma and said, "Then be careful. If you can't solve it, come find me anytime."

"Yes, I will."

Tatsuma nodded, but Tsunade still didn't quite believe him. However, since he had already expressed his opinion, she couldn't say anything more. After feeling frustrated for a while, she said, "You should rest first. I'll keep an eye on things for you."

"No need, there will be no danger, not in the short term."

Hearing Tatsuma's confident tone, Tsunade became even more suspicious. If it were anyone else, she could throw a tantrum and demand the truth, but that approach wouldn't work on Tatsuma.

"Then I'll inform them to change rooms."

As Tsunade spoke, she was about to walk towards the door when Tatsuma refused again, saying, "No need, it's not easy to explain."

As he spoke, Chenma clasped his hands together again, forming the Si Mudra. Roots sprouted from the broken part of the wooden wall, pulling the broken pieces of wood on the ground and then piecing them back together.

The shattered wooden wall was repaired in an instant. Even the joints, thanks to the vitality of life, allowed these trees, which had been felled for who knows how long, to regain their life and reconnect smoothly as if they were alive.

Tsunade looked at Tatsuma, as if she wanted to say something, but in the end she shook her head and left, returning to her room.

Tatsuma carefully cleaned the bloodstains off his body and clothes, changed his clothes, and lay back down on the bed. Although he was convinced that Madara Uchiha could not return in a short time, Tatsuma still dared not fall asleep.

His mind kept going over the recent events. For example, the Genmi he encountered under the identity of Sakamoto Tatsuma was different from the Genmi he encountered under the identity of Takasugi Shinsuke. The current Genmi was more gentle and had the magnanimity of a village chief.

Similarly, the rumored gentlemanly and polite Yagura Karatachi is actually a mean and extreme person; his so-called gentlemanly demeanor is more like a habit of dealing with people.

Furthermore, the fact that Yagura had been controlled by Madara Uchiha made Tatsuma wonder if Genmi's previous decisions had also been influenced by Madara Uchiha.

However, Madara Uchiha recently gave up on Genmi, or rather, Genmi can no longer be controlled by him?

Furthermore, Tatsuma also connected it to earlier events, such as the vague sense of unease that began two years ago, and the possibility that Kushina might have been "attacked" by Black Zetsu.

If his guess is correct, he might have already been targeted by Madara Uchiha.

Why?

Tatsuma pursed his lips. He felt that he should not have posed a threat to Madara Uchiha's so-called plan yet. Madara at this time should not want others to know that he was still alive, but he still showed up.

This more or less proves that Madara Uchiha harbored malice towards him. No, not malice, because he himself did not sense any malice from Yagura at the time.

It wasn't until Tatsuma revealed Madara Uchiha's identity that the malice truly struck. But before that malice, what was it? Interest? I've never heard of Madara Uchiha being a ninja who acted out of interest.

Recalling the words spoken by Yagura under Madara Uchiha's control, Tatsuma suddenly had an absurd guess.

Could Madara Uchiha really think he's a descendant of Tobirama Senju?!

(End of this chapter)