I founded the "Bragging Cult" in Naruto.

Chapter 41 Sometimes, giving in is more difficult than going all out.

Sarutobi Akira didn't return until almost noon, which meant he hadn't just sent Kushina back; he must have also reported on what had happened earlier.

When he returned, Orochimaru looked at the two of them and said, "It seems your rest time is over."

At this point, both of their chakra had been restored, but their physical strength had not fully recovered. Minato was in better shape, while Tatsuma was more exhausted. However, Orochimaru was clearly not the kind person who would let them go back for a nap before returning for the assessment.

The two stood up and moved a little further away from Orochimaru. Although they didn't know what Orochimaru's test was about, it was always good to keep a distance and give themselves more time to react.

Seeing the two's reactions, Orochimaru was quite accommodating and raised his hand to form hand seals. When Tatsuma saw Orochimaru forming the seals rather slowly, his eyes lit up. It seemed that Orochimaru was going to hold back.

"Wind Release: Wind Slicing Technique!"

But Tatsuma was wrong. The moment the hand seals were completed, Tatsuma saw that the space around Orochimaru seemed to distort in several places. Upon seeing this, Tatsuma instinctively released his chakra outwards.

Although he had not systematically studied sensory chakra usage techniques, his sensory talent was enough for him to easily use chakra to sense changes in the surrounding chakra.

In Tatsuma's perception, several wind blades were hurtling towards the two of them, but Minato was still on guard and did not notice the approaching danger.

Tatsuma instantly formed the Mu-no-Hara seal, rapidly channeling his chakra to his legs. He also activated the Body Flicker Technique in an instant, delivering an Uchiha slam to Minato.

"Bang!"

"Boom boom~"

The moment the two fell to the ground, the spot where they had been standing, as well as the tree stump and boulder behind them, were all as if they had been sliced ​​through by an invisible blade.

"As expected, I wasn't wrong; it really is a talent for perception."

Orochimaru's lips curled up even more as he watched this scene. He had observed Tatsuma's apparent sensory talent during his battle with Kushina, and now that he had tested it, it was indeed true.

"Lord Orochimaru, what are you doing here?"

Seeing the destruction Orochimaru had caused, Sarutobi Akiura became restless, but he was rendered speechless by Orochimaru's stare. Orochimaru's smile faded, and he coldly said:

"Sarutobi Awaura, you are merely a witness; I am the examiner."

"Yes, Lord Orochimaru."

Sarutobi Akiura nodded helplessly, looking at the two students who had almost been injured, hoping they could hold on.

Minato, realizing what was happening, whispered, "Thank you, Tatsuma. Are you alright?"

Tatsuma shook his head and said, "Use chakra to sense the changes around you. Wind Release is not like other jutsu that you can see directly; you have to observe more carefully."

Minato nodded and said, "I understand."

Although their conversation was brief, it was enough for Orochimaru to launch multiple attacks, but he didn't move. Instead, he watched the two of them with great interest.

Seeing that the two of them were still watching him warily after getting up from the ground, especially Minato, who was imitating Tatsuma and began to release his chakra.

This piqued Orochimaru's curiosity. Could it be that Minato also possessed sensory talent? It's important to know that not everyone has sensory talent, and not every ninja can sense changes in the surrounding chakra simply by releasing their chakra.

Orochimaru wanted to give it a try, so he slowly formed hand seals once again, using the Wind Cutting Technique.

Upon seeing the order of the hand seals, the two immediately tensed up. The instant Orochimaru completed his hand seals, Tatsuma and Orochimaru instantly formed opposing hand seals. Since they could both sense each other, they no longer needed to form the "Un" hand seal to use the Body Flicker Technique more quickly.

"Boom boom~"

The two rolled around somewhat awkwardly, but both managed to dodge the wind blades. Orochimaru raised an eyelid; Minato actually had such talent, truly remarkable.

"Now let's talk about the conditions for passing the assessment."

Orochimaru's smile reappeared, and as soon as he spoke, Tatsuma and Minato realized that Orochimaru hadn't even explained the test content or how to pass it.

Seeing their reactions, Orochimaru's smile deepened. He liked the feeling of being unfathomable, even though he had indeed forgotten to explain beforehand.

"Just touch me, and any one of you will pass the test. It doesn't matter if it's your body, your ninjutsu, or your ninja tools."

Orochimaru spoke slowly, his hands forming hand seals again. However, this seal was completely unfamiliar to the two of them. Nevertheless, he mobilized his chakra to his legs, so that he could run away at any time.

"Earth Release: Earth Returns!"

"Wind Release: Gale Palm!"

Just as Tatsuma was wondering why Orochimaru had raised an earthen wall in front of him, he discovered that the wall had instantly collapsed. A powerful gust of wind swept through, and the broken earthen wall turned into sharp ninja tools that attacked him and Minato.

"Oh no, we can't escape."

Seeing the wide range of this ninjutsu, Tatsuma's eyelids twitched. There was no way to escape. In that case, Tatsuma looked at Minato and found that Minato was also looking at him. The two nodded at the same time.

"The Art of Disordering Lion's Mane!"

"Ninjutsu: Needle Jizo!"

The two formed hand seals simultaneously, and Minato's golden hair instantly grew wildly, enveloping them both, while Tatsuma's blue and white hair shot out behind him, entangled the tree stumps that had been cut down by Orochimaru's Wind Slash Technique.

"Knock knock knock~"

Chenma suddenly swung his head forward, and when the clods of earth and debris were about two meters away from the two of them, several large tree stumps blocked them like a shield.

The hand seals of Tatsuma and Minato were not finished. The moment Tatsuma completed his hand seals, he seemed to fall into the ground. The moment Minato completed his hand seals, a clone that had been cast with a transformation jutsu appeared in Tatsuma's place.

After the wooden stakes were removed, Orochimaru looked at the two unharmed people, then suddenly glanced down and stomped his leg hard on the ground.

"Bang!"

Tatsuma, who had used his mental decapitation technique to infiltrate the ground, was thrown back by the force of Orochimaru's crushing of the ground before he could even get close.

But Tatsuma in the air did not give up, and his hair attacked Orochimaru.

"Jiraiya's technique, huh? But it's too slow."

Orochimaru pulled out a kunai, condensed wind-style chakra in his mouth, and spat it towards the kunai. A long chakra sword appeared, and with a swing of the chakra sword, all the hairs that came near him were cut off.

But just then, two strands of golden hair suddenly burst through the ground and wrapped around Orochimaru's legs.

"Continuous mutual cover, what a brilliant tactic."

Looking down at his feet, which were tangled in hair, and then at the two smiling faces, Orochimaru smiled even more brightly than they did, because the next moment...

"Bang!"

Smoke rose, and Orochimaru vanished. Tatsuma and Minato's smiles froze; they hadn't realized when Orochimaru had used the Shadow Clone Technique.

"Your ninjutsu just now blocked my view, and it blocked yours as well."

At this moment, Orochimaru suddenly appeared from behind Sarutobi Akiura. Clearly, he used the taller and more robust Sarutobi Akiura to perfectly conceal his own figure.

Seeing this, Tatsuma and Minato looked helpless. Moreover, their chakra was almost depleted from trying to seize this opportunity. Orochimaru, watching the two who were at their wits' end, chuckled sinisterly:

"Is there no other way? If there is no other way..."

Before he could finish speaking, a gust of wind suddenly swept through the training ground, and the strands of hair that Orochimaru had cut off suddenly danced in the wind, one of which landed right on Orochimaru's shoulder.

Orochimaru looked at the single strand of hair that had curled up after losing its chakra, shook his head, and said, "It seems to be fate."

(End of this chapter)