I founded the "Bragging Cult" in Naruto.

Chapter 408: As a rebellious generation, they will also feel that the next generation will be rebellious when they grow up.

Sitting in his chair, Master Yuan raised his head slightly and looked at the not-so-tall Yagura Karatachi. He remembered that a similar scene seemed to have occurred more than ten years ago.

At that time, he was still in his prime, his back wasn't so hunched, and he could stand for a long time. At that time, he also slightly raised his head to look at the young man.

At that time, the Second Mizukage, Hozuki Gengetsu, had just died in battle, and the village urgently needed a new Mizukage to stabilize the situation. The most competitive candidates at the time were Hozuki Gengetsu from the Hozuki clan and another.

That was the current Third Mizukage, Genmi. At that time, there were constant disputes between the higher-ups and various clans. Genmi was obviously the more outstanding one, but because of his background, his support rate among the ninja clans was far lower than that of Hozuki Gengetsu.

However, the higher-ups favored Genmi more, and the people also hoped that Genmi would become their new Mizukage. Unable to make a decision, Genji, who had actually planned to retire at the time, was reluctantly invited to make the final decision.

He asked the two of them a question: what did they think of the Second Mizukage, Gengetsu Hozuki, as he ruled?

Genmi said the Second Mizukage was too weak. That was the Second Mizukage, known for his warlike nature, who ultimately died in battle. Genmi's face at that time showed the same expression as Yagura Karatachi.

At the time, Genmi's reasoning was that Hozuki Gengetsu only knew how to imitate Konoha, but lacked the methods of the Second Hokage. He said that his decisions on education, people's livelihood, finance, and control of the village were merely copying others.

Moreover, they used constant external wars to divert attention from internal conflicts in the village, but the result was that the Land of Water became impoverished for many years due to the continuous warfare, and the various ninja clans became arrogant and self-important, especially the bloodline ninjas, who became extremely rampant.

Genmi's proposed solution was to completely seal off the country's borders, resolve internal conflicts internally, and simultaneously crack down on ninja clans and bloodline limit ninjas while supporting civilian ninjas. This would eliminate unstable factors without lowering the overall combat strength of the village.

Such remarks were almost incomprehensible to the Yuan Master at the time, since the Ninja Village was established by the Ninja Clan, and the implementation of various policies could not have been separated from the assistance of the Ninja Clan.

Furthermore, bloodline limit ninjas serve as a deterrent force for the village, playing a crucial role in ensuring that the Land of Water is not invaded by external enemies.

However, Genmi's answer at the time convinced Hozuki Gengetsu, who gave up his struggle for the position of Mizukage. Later, Genmi even helped him take action against clans and other ninja clans that shared his interests.

The method that Genji thought wouldn't work did indeed stabilize Kirigakure within a few years, but after that, Genmi and Hozuki Gengetsu parted ways due to their differing ideologies.

The younger generation in Kirigakure today are the ones most directly influenced by Genmi, including Yagura, who was once an absolute follower of Genmi's will.

But now he suddenly says that the current Mizukage is weak.

Genji's face, already wrinkled from age, was now contorted in pain. In fact, he had long noticed Yagura's subtle dissatisfaction with Genmi.

After all, the Yagura of the past would never have questioned Genmei's decision, so why is that?

Genji couldn't understand. Could it be that the moderate governance strategy that Genmi Tetsugu had developed was so unacceptable in Yagura's eyes?

Yuan Shi really wanted to have a deep conversation with Yagura, but Yagura's current status wasn't right. If it were before Genmi recovered his health, Yuan Shi wouldn't mind talking to him, but now, the Mizukage was still Genmi.

"Yagura, be careful what you say. Perhaps you don't yet understand the deeper meaning behind Genmi's decision."

"The deeper meaning? It's nothing more than being afraid of death. He's afraid that another Takasugi Shinsuke will appear in the village, and then his life will be more than just threatened."

After Yagura finished speaking, he suddenly frowned and his eyes twitched a few times. How could he say such treasonous words?

Yuan Shi's expression turned completely somber. He said, "Yagura, I am old and hard of hearing. Today we only discussed the departure of the Konoha envoy. I don't think we talked about anything else, did we?"

"I'm sorry, Elder Yuan, I just have some..."

Yagura didn't know how to describe it, and he also wondered if what he had just said was his true inner thought.

But Master Yuan didn't pursue the matter. He simply waved his hand and said, "You mentioned earlier that Sakamoto Tatsuma mastered the Second Hokage's Flying Thunder God Technique. Go and check along the path he came from."

"Check carefully. Lord Genmi has now fully recovered and no longer needs you to manage village affairs. I will notify you to return whenever the village needs you."

"Yes, Elder Yuan."

Yagura showed no resistance to the punishment from the master, which made the master look at him even more intently.

Hopefully, this kid can understand. He made Yagura leave not just as punishment, but also as protection.

The brown rice has indeed become milder, but that's in comparison to the previous brown rice. In just one week, the brown rice has cleared out more than a batch of unruly elements.

When Genmi was working hard to restore order and revive the Wuyin Sect, he would absolutely not allow anyone to stop him, even if that person tried to refute him with his previous will.

If Genmi knew what Yagura was thinking at this moment, he would not hesitate to kill this talented person from Kirigakure, because Genmi, who was in his prime and had recovered his health, did not need to choose a successor so early.

Moreover, Yagura is not the best candidate to succeed the Mizukage, at least not now.

Long after Yagura left, Genji, leaning on his cane, shakily got up, sighed, and slowly walked outside. He still had to find Genmi to help Yagura resolve some troubles.

In Konoha, Tatsuma and Tsunade had already returned to the Senju clan's territory. Tsunade rubbed her temples, swallowing hard to resist the urge to vomit. After a while, she finally spoke:

"What's going on? I'm definitely not dizzy anymore, not even after flying to the Thunder God."

Over the past few years, Tsunade has had Tatsuma use the Flying Thunder God Technique to take her to various places, and she has gradually gotten used to the feeling after the Flying Thunder God Technique teleports her, but today she suddenly started feeling dizzy again.

Chenma helped her sit down on a chair, poured her a glass of water, and said, "Perhaps you haven't recovered from being drunk yet, teacher. Why don't you go and rest first?"

What he wouldn't tell Tsunade was that her dizziness was intentional; he had just practically taken her on a tour of the Land of Fire.

The frequent use of the Flying Thunder God Technique made even Tatsuma feel nauseous, let alone Tsunade. However, Tsunade did not suspect his reason, since her mental state was already somewhat poor.

Nodding, Tsunade said, "Then, about the report on my duties..."

"I can do it, teacher."

Tatsuma smiled and helped Tsunade up as she tried to get up. After taking her back to her room, the smile on Tatsuma's face disappeared again. He took a deep breath and relaxed his unconsciously furrowed brows before using Flying Thunder God Technique again.

"Lord Hokage."

Inside the Hokage's office, Hiruzen Sarutobi glared at his son, who had impatiently emerged from the darkness, then looked at Tatsuma, who had climbed in through the window, and asked with a smile, "You're back? Did everything go smoothly?"

"It went very smoothly. Kirigakure did not make things difficult for us. We can now arrange for Lord Shikagami to discuss the follow-up matters with them. This is the case report for this mission. If you have any questions after reading it, please let me know at any time."

Tatsuma placed a scroll on the table. From their departure to the surgery and the rehabilitation work in the following days, Tatsuma had made detailed records. Apart from the unexpected situation last night, the information in this scroll was already very complete.

Hiruzen Sarutobi didn't look at the scroll. If Tatsuma said there was no problem, then there must be no problem. After all, Tatsuma was capable and never embellished anything.

Last time, when he made such a big blunder, Chenma reported the truth and did not intend to deceive him.

As the Hokage, he had seen how much preparation Tatsuma had made for this remedial work.

Hiruzen Sarutobi nodded, looking at Tatsuma who seemed absent-minded and somewhat tired, and said, "You and Tsunade have both had a tough time this time, going deep into Kirigakure. I'm sure you faced immense pressure."

"Go back and rest first; I'll take care of the rest."

"Thank you, Hokage."

Tatsuma's thanks this time were very sincere. After all, he really needed to rest. The pressure that had been weighing on him all night had eased a lot after he returned to the village, but he was also feeling sleepy.

After Tatsuma left, Hiruzen Sarutobi waved to the corner and said, "Stop looking. If you want to meet, find an opportunity to visit me yourself."

"I want to, Father, but you've assigned too many tasks to Senior Tatsuma, and I can't even find an opportunity to visit him."

Shinnosuke emerged from the darkness, looking somewhat helpless. Hiruzen Sarutobi glared at him, picked up a scroll from the table, gestured for Shinnosuke to come over, and said:

"Take this back and take a good look at it. Learn how Tatsuma handles things. You've been following me for several months now, and the political advice you're giving is still a complete mess. If this continues, you won't even be qualified to catch up with Tatsuma."

Hearing his father use his idol to provoke him, Shinnosuke didn't hesitate to jump into the trap, grabbing the scroll and declaring, "I'll definitely study hard!"

Looking at his son's appearance, Hiruzen Sarutobi couldn't help but sigh. With his son's current abilities, he was still far from being able to gain Tatsuma's favor.

Even though Hiruzen Sarutobi didn't realize it on the spot, he soon figured it out.

Having Shinnosuke as his bodyguard is not the best option. What would be most beneficial for Shinnosuke is to have him join the same squad that Tatsuma used to be in, and have Tatsuma continue to lead him after becoming the squad leader.

But Tatsuma didn't do that. Instead, he sent Shinnosuke back to his father's side and then took Shikaku away from him. Why? It was because he valued Shikaku's talent.

Although Hiruzen Sarutobi no longer fantasized about Shinnosuke becoming Hokage, as his son, he should also become a pillar of the village in the future.

Given Tatsuma's current "disdain" for Shinnosuke, it's pitiful that Shinnosuke is still completely clueless. His father has been teaching him for months, but there's still no improvement.

So much so that, despite not being very happy, Hiruzen Sarutobi decided to educate Shinnosuke in the way that would most likely provoke him.

Needless to say, if Shinnosuke could learn half of Tatsuma's political skills, and with the Sarutobi clan as his support, Shinnosuke's future position in the village would be guaranteed.

If there's even a chance, Shinnosuke's descendants could become Tatsuma's disciples, so that when he's truly old, he shouldn't have to worry about anything anymore.

Looking at his silly son holding the scroll as if it were a treasure, Hiruzen Sarutobi sighed again. He still had to see if his son could live up to his expectations.

(End of this chapter)