I founded the "Bragging Cult" in Naruto.

Chapter 423 If conditions permit, seek the truth yourself, rather than believing the "answer".

"Explain yourself! What do you mean by 'no news'? Explain yourself!"

In the intelligence conference room of the Tsuchikage Building in Iwagakure, Onoki stood on the table, spitting at the Iwagakure ninja who was half a head taller than him.

The Iwa ninja lowered his head, unsure how to explain. Huang Tu quickly tugged at his father's sleeve and then asked the Iwa ninja in the intelligence department, "Hongzhu, what exactly happened? Was the communicator damaged? Or was the communication channel cut off?"

Hongzhu's face was grim. The excuse Huangtu had given him was useless to him. He spoke, his voice hoarse, "There were at least twenty ninjas from the communications squad at the time. It's impossible that their communications devices would have broken down at the same time by coincidence."

As for the communication channels, we have contacted our colleagues at the Land of Earth's border, and the channels are functioning normally. The only possible explanation is that everyone who was pursuing Hatake Sakumo has perished.

"In distress. In distress. In distress."

Onoki muttered it several times, then suddenly sprang up, jumped up, and flicked Hongzhu on the forehead, angrily shouting, "You're exaggerating! Those are thousands of Iwa ninja! Could they really be wiped out in an instant?!"

Seeing his father about to jump for a dunk, Huang Tu quickly gave him a bear hug and said to Hong Zhu, "Isn't there any other possibility? Like, perhaps Konoha used signal jamming equipment or something?"

"It's quite possible."

Hongzhu reluctantly said that they had already considered this possibility, but Konoha's actions were not very meaningful unless it was to interrupt their distress signal. If so, then Konoha was also planning to take action against those people.

So, it's still a tragedy, just a difference between those who have already perished and those who are currently perishing.

"That must be it!"

Huang Tu said firmly, putting down his father who seemed to have calmed down, and said, "Father! With Lao Zi and Han here, how could Konoha possibly do anything to our Iwa ninja forces in such a short time?"

They must have cut off the signal and were trying to surround our Iwa ninja force. As long as we provide immediate support, we can definitely rescue them.

Huang Tu himself didn't realize that his heart was already leaning towards tragedy. At this moment, Onoki's nose was red and swollen. He straightened his clothes and was about to speak.

"Squeak~ Squeak~ Squeak~"

Suddenly, the fax machine in the intelligence room started working, and a fax was slowly printed out. Hongzhu glanced at Onoki, and when Onoki waved, he quickly went over and picked up the fax.

"Thump~"

On his way back with the fax, Hongzhu glanced at its contents and suddenly lost his footing, knocking over a table and falling to the ground. Fortunately, a ninja beside him caught him.

"Have you forgotten how to walk?!"

Onoki reprimanded him, but soon noticed that Akane's face had turned pale and sweat was constantly seeping from his forehead. Koto also realized that something was wrong and quickly stepped forward to take the fax.

After just a couple of glances, his face turned as red as bamboo. Onoki frowned, stretched out his hand, and said, "Give it to me!"

"No!"

Almost instinctively, Huang Tu put his hands behind his back and hid the fax, just like when he brought home a disappointing report card in school and his parents asked to see it.

"Give it to me!"

Onoki spread his hands again and said loudly with anger in his voice. Seeing that there was no other way, Huang Tu could only timidly come to Onoki and hand him the fax that he had crumpled up.

Ignoring the beginning, Onoki looked directly at the crumpled text, his breathing becoming heavier as he read what was written on it.

We say, "Two underage ninjas from our village, while supporting their comrades, had a misunderstanding with the Iwa ninja and accidentally killed the entire Iwa ninja army." What do we mean by, "After reacting in time, they stopped the attack on your village's Jinchuriki, and the two Jinchuriki were fortunately only seriously injured"?

There were also phrases like "for the peace of the ninja world," "to prevent war from happening in the first place," and "I earnestly request the Land of Grass to mediate."

"Bullshit! It's all bullshit! Impossible! Absolutely impossible!"

Onoki looked at the ashen-faced Kurenai and said, "How long has the signal been cut off?!"

"Two or three hours"

Hearing Hongzhu's words, Onoki continued to shake his head and said, "In two hours, even if Konoha were to slaughter pigs, they couldn't kill a thousand! It's all fake! It's all fake!"

"Summon all the village ninja! I will personally lead the expedition to the Land of Grass to provide support! We will make Konoha pay a heavy price!"

"Dad! You can't go! What if it's a trap set by Konoha to lure you there? You're the Tsuchikage; what if something happens to you?"

"Snap!"

Huang Tu quickly tried to stop him, but Onoki, his expression agitated, slapped Huang Tu across the face in front of all the ninjas in the intelligence room, shouting, "I am the Tsuchikage! If I cannot protect the village ninjas, I might as well commit seppuku!"

Ignoring the swelling on his face, Huang Tu continued to block Onoki. Onoki struggled and roared, "Let go!"

"Click~"

Suddenly, a muffled thud of dislocated joints was heard. Onoki, whose face had been flushed red, turned deathly pale in an instant. He clutched his lower back with his right hand, which was holding the fax, and then suddenly clutched his chest with his left hand, collapsing to the side.

Seeing this, Huang Tu didn't dare delay. He quickly picked up Onoki and rushed outside, saying, "Dad, I'll call a doctor right away. Are you alright?!"

Onoki gritted his teeth and didn't say anything, looking like a critically ill patient in urgent need of emergency care. Huangtu carried him into Onoki's lounge in the Tsuchikage building, put him on the bed, and then turned to find a medical ninja.

"stop!"

"Dad, not now."

Huang Tu turned his head and found that his father had already sat up in bed. The paleness on his face had disappeared, and his face was gloomy. His hand holding the fax was trembling.

"Dad"

"I'm fine."

Onoki waved his hand, looked at the fax in his hand, and said, "This matter is most likely true. In just two hours, Konoha actually managed to annihilate more than a thousand Iwa ninja and severely injure Rōshi and Han."

"Father?"

Huang Tu looked completely bewildered. Just moments ago, his father had been indignant and wanted to personally lead the expedition to provide support, and he had even flared up his old ailment from anger.

How could his father have recovered so quickly and become so much calmer? Did he just outrun time by carrying his father?

Lost in thought, Onoki saw his son's simple-minded expression and became furious, saying, "Don't you understand yet?"

Huang Tu came to his senses, his eyes dark and unfathomable. After a while, his tone became low and dejected as he said, "I understand, Father. You were just putting on an act for everyone to see."

Onoki was so angry he jumped out of bed, smacked Koto on the head, and said, "Do you think I'm the kind of person who's afraid of death?! In your eyes, your father is such a scoundrel?!"

"That?"

A glimmer of color returned to Huang Tu's eyes. Could it be that there was a deeper meaning he couldn't understand?

Catching his breath, Onoki snorted at his disappointing son before explaining, "Our Iwagakure village absolutely cannot afford to clash with the Konoha ninjas in the Land of Grass at this time."

In a long and detailed explanation, Ōnoki finished explaining to his son why they couldn't go to provide support or fight right now, from the reasons for their mission to the prevailing opinion in the ninja world, the relative strengths of both sides, and the urgent needs of Iwagakure.

After a long while, Huang Tu finally understood that if Iwagakure were to launch a war, it would either lose on the battlefield or in terms of public opinion, or even lose both. After calming down, he asked:

"Then Father, what should we do now? Are we just going to sit by and watch Konoha kill our Iwa ninja?"

"Of course not!"

Onoki shook his head, glanced at the fax in his hand, and said, "The most urgent task is to find out the truth, to find out what methods Konoha used to annihilate the Iwa ninja force and seriously injure Rōshi and Han in such a short time."

"Weren't they said to be two underage ninjas? Father, do you think Konoha is lying?"

Huang Tu asked in confusion, and Onoki shook his head and said, "Konoha has no reason to lie about this. The one who wiped out more than a thousand Iwa ninjas was most likely two underage ninjas, and you should know who they are."

It could be either Sakamoto Tatsuma and Namikaze Minato, or Sakamoto Tatsuma and Konoha's new Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, but regardless of the outcome, Konoha has conveyed a message.

That is, their younger generation has the ability to restrain the tailed beasts of other countries. What we need to find out is what methods Sakamoto Tatsuma used to restrain and even seriously injure the tailed beast Jinchuriki!

Furthermore, whether such methods are unique to Sakamoto Tatsuma, or were they passed down and taught to Sakamoto Tatsuma and others by the previous generation, concerns how our Iwagakure, not other ninja villages possessing tailed beasts, will face future challenges.

Upon hearing this, Huang Tu nodded as if he understood, and then asked, "So what exactly should we do?"

"Sigh~"

Onoki suddenly sighed, glanced at his son with disappointment, and thought of the Konoha ninja he had once praised to the point of ruin, who had now grown into a Konoha ninja who exceeded his expectations. He found his son even more displeasing.

Shaking his head, Onoki said, "I cannot appear. I am so angry that I have suffered a relapse of my old injury and need to stay in bed to recuperate. As for you, my son, the inheritor of the Will of Stone."

You have been entrusted with this critical mission at this critical juncture, leading a team to the Land of Grass to rescue our two Jinchūriki from Iwagakure, and at the same time, to investigate the truth of the matter and bring justice to the loyalists of Iwagakure!

Huang Tu: "Huh?"

"I can't show my face, so you go and resolve everything for me!"

Onoki, annoyed, flicked him on the forehead again. Huang Tu shook his head, realizing what was happening, and asked, "But, Father, if we handle this so 'calmly,' won't it cause great dissatisfaction among the villagers?"

Onoki nodded in satisfaction. It seemed that his son was not yet truly beyond cure. He said, "You don't need to worry. From now on, it will be inconvenient for me to appear in person. You will exercise the authority of the Tsuchikage in my stead and convene the Jonin meeting."

First, follow the suggestion I just made in the intelligence room: summon all the village's ninjas to go to the Land of Grass to provide support, or to avenge our comrades!

I will arrange for several of my political enemies to prevent you from exercising my authority. You will only be acting as my proxy and will have no say. The plan will have to come to nothing. But you are unwilling to let Iwagakure be humiliated.

Therefore, you proposed to lead the team to the Land of Grass, at least to give an explanation to your fellow Iwa ninja who are fighting abroad!

Do you understand?

"I understand."

The loess soil once again looked dejected.

(End of this chapter)