I founded the "Bragging Cult" in Naruto.

Chapter 429 When did you start talking about current affairs and the world situation after just a couple of drinks?

"Kosuke, it's been a long time."

Akimichi Toriyoshi, a middle-aged ninja, waved his hand, then looked at the people beside him and introduced, "This is Maruboshi Kosuke, also known as Lord Tobirama."

"Eh! Just an insignificant genin."

Maruhoshi Kosuke interrupted Akimichi Torifu's introduction, squinting his one eye at the group, his gaze lingering longest on Tatsuma.

"Haha~ You're not some insignificant genin. Sakumo, Jiraiya, and the others—weren't they all mentored by you? I don't need to introduce these kids, do I?"

Sensing that Maruboshi Kosuke was reluctant to let him introduce himself, Akimichi Torifu still made it clear that he was actually quite remarkable. Tatsuma and the others nodded to Maruboshi Kosuke and greeted him, "Maruboshi Kosuke-senpai."

The others were all of higher ninja rank than Maruboshi Kosuke, so they could only address him as "senpai" (senior). Maruboshi Kosuke didn't mind, and once again slightly hunched his back to match the curve of the iron pot he was carrying on his back, saying:

"Don't listen to Lord Feng's nonsense. I'm just following White Fang and the others, and I'm in charge of cooking."

Tatsuma smiled and said, "Senior Kosuke, Brother Dai learned from you, right?"

"Wear it? Does Matt wear it?"

Kosuke smiled, knowing that Tatsuma had easily seen through his "disguise," but still said habitually, "Dai is a good kid. I went on a mission with him before, and he wouldn't even let me help him gather firewood; he took care of everything."

At this moment, Minato, Sento, and Tenka also roughly understood Kosuke's importance. They were not familiar with Maruboshi Kosuke, but they were quite familiar with Might Guy, especially Sento, who always trained with Might Guy when he was not on a mission.

Tianfeng would occasionally run over to observe the training and copy some practical techniques, of course, with Matt Dai's permission.

Seeing that they had already met, Akimichi Torifu waved his hand and said, "Let's go, I was just about to treat these kids to barbecue. Kosuke, and Sakumo, you all come along!"

Sakumo Hatake looked troubled and said, "Lord Torifu, I am still on duty."

"You little brat, do you want people to say I was just a lazy bum when I was the garrison squad leader? Let me tell you, you have to skip work and slack off too!"

Akimichi Torifu put his arm around Hatake Sakumo and looked at Maruboshi Kosuke. Maruboshi Kosuke knew Akimichi Torifu's temperament and did not refuse again. He nodded, and the group set off for yakiniku Q.

This time, Tatsuma didn't bring up the game of who ate more. Akimichi Torifu was very satisfied. He ate until he was full, but not to the point of feeling unwell, and was in a great mood.

After the meal, the group did not leave immediately, but chatted idly. Akimichi Torifu looked at Maruboshi Kosuke, then at Tatsuma, and said, "Kosuke's skill in Water Release is the highest among our generation."

"Your talent is amazing, but you might lack experience. When you have time, you should ask Kosuke for some pointers, understand?"

Tatsuma nodded, while Kosuke humbly said, "I've only lived a few decades longer, and none of my peers specialize in Water Release. In terms of talent and skill, I'm no match for Tatsuma. I've seen his Water Release; he already has the flair of the Second Hokage."

"Senior Kosuke, you flatter me. I am merely standing on the shoulders of giants. I cannot claim any real expertise and am still learning from the knowledge left by my predecessors."

"Alright, if you two keep being so modest, Kirigakure will be crying."

Akimichi Torifu interrupted with a laugh, and Minato and the other two laughed even more happily. After all, they had personally accompanied Tatsuma to the Land of Water to cause trouble. Tatsuma, with his Water Release technique, had made the entire Land of Water run wild.

If the truth is revealed, Kirigakure might really cry.

Akimichi Torifu looked at Hatake Sakumo and asked, "By the way, Sakumo, you've already withdrawn from the Anbu, so why does it feel like the Anbu hasn't made any moves?"

Such a topic should have been avoided when discussing it with Maruboshi Kosuke, but everyone present felt it was fine to talk about it in front of him, including Kosuke himself, who was also quite curious.

"I'm not sure. Maybe the number of casualties was too high and the Third Hokage wanted to replenish the numbers first. Also, I heard that the original seats are intended to be used to create separate functional teams: medical, sealing, perception, and logistics."

Hatake Sakumo shook his head. He didn't know much either. In the past, the functional teams were scattered among the sub-teams. When needed, they would join other teams to act together. When there was no special need, they would carry out general ANBU missions.

Just like the squad that Minato and his group are in now, before Tatsuma joined, when Sarutobi Seisuke led the team, the squad was mainly responsible for logistics, such as handling corpses and traces, but they would also carry out escort, infiltration, and assassination missions for other ANBU squads.

Team positioning needs to be registered, but this is only to facilitate the allocation by superiors and to coordinate with other teams to carry out tasks; it is not an independent functional team.

However, according to Hatake Sakumo, the village plans to build completely independent functional teams, just like the sealing team and perception team, which only handle matters within their own functional categories.

Tatsuma frowned slightly and said, "Won't doing this make the Anbu bloated as well? The Anbu is streamlined to its current size because each member is multi-skilled. If we add functional squads..."

"It's just an idea that the Third Hokage told me about. The functional teams will be concentrated into the same squad, and the functions of the original three squads will remain unchanged."

"I suddenly had a bad feeling. The third generation is obviously just filling positions for the sake of filling positions. The functions of these single-function teams can be borrowed from other departments."

However, if we establish our own functional teams, and then need more combat personnel, these functional team members will likely seamlessly transition into peripheral personnel, assisting the covert operations in carrying out missions.

Although it wasn't explicitly stated, Minato, Akimichi Torifu, and Maruboshi Kosuke, who had been listening attentively, all understood Tatsuma's meaning: Sarutobi Hiruzen intended to retain the personnel of a squad, but for whom it would be retained...

"Hi!"

Akimichi Torifu waved his hand and said, "It will probably take several years for Sarutobi's idea to come to fruition. Maybe he just thought about it casually?"

However, the appointment of a new minister and the appointment of squad leaders cannot be delayed any longer. Even with its many skilled members, the Dark Guard is certainly not functioning smoothly in its current state.

Sakumo Hatake nodded and said, "The Third Hokage also mentioned this to me. However, there aren't many people left in the Anbu right now. I guess we'll skip the candidate competition and promote or even parachute in people directly."

As he spoke, he gave Tatsuma a resentful look. If Tatsuma were willing to take over as head of the Anbu, the Anbu wouldn't need to wait for Hiruzen Sarutobi to come up with a solution.

With Tatsuma's abilities, he could definitely solve the current personnel shortage and chaotic management problem of the Anbu quickly, but Tatsuma slightly turned his head to avoid Hatake Sakumo's gaze.

If he were just a squad leader, he could delegate administrative tasks to Shikaku. But if Shikaku were to go on strike, that would be a different story.

Moreover, he had already made an agreement with Hiruzen Sarutobi. Hiruzen was about to retire from the Anbu, so promoting him now would only make things more complicated as he wouldn't be able to hold the position for long.

Tenkaze and Sento exchanged glances. Tenkaze held his head high, convinced that he was right. Hatake Sakumo's sinister look at Tatsuma definitely indicated a conspiracy!

Seeing that the topic was getting a bit dull, Akimichi Torifu steered the conversation to the middle-aged man's domain: the situation in the ninja world.

He and Tatsuma kept talking, Minato was able to speak occasionally, but the others were clueless and could only listen, while the thought "There is such a connection" kept flashing through their minds.

After the meal, Akimichi Torifu and Maruboshi Kosuke's liking for Tatsuma increased dramatically. After the meal, Hatake Sakumo left in a bit of a panic. For him, being away from his post for a few hours did not make him feel relaxed.

Akimichi Torifu then took Maruboshi Kosuke and reminisced about the past, while Tatsuma, Minato, and the others returned to the Anbu base to hand over their missions.

This mission handover was very easy; there was hardly any need to write an execution report. All that was required was to submit a receipt confirming that the mission was carried out jointly with non-Anbu ninjas. As for the execution report...

Akimichi Torifu charged in and wiped out the enemy team. Over.

With the Anbu currently unsupervised, Sakamoto Tatsuma, a mere nobody, is now the highest-ranking person in the Anbu. The information he submitted quickly reached Sarutobi Hiruzen's hands.

The middleman does nothing more than forward the message.

In the Hokage's office, looking at the report in his hand, Hiruzen Sarutobi couldn't tell whether he was happy or worried.

I'm happy that my longtime friend has finally emerged from the shadows and returned to the ninja world stage. I'm worried because Akimichi Torifu's joining the elders will inevitably bring many changes.

Years ago, Hiruzen Sarutobi repeatedly invited Akimichi Torifu to attend the council of elders, but he refused each time. Now, however, just when Hiruzen Sarutobi thought that Akimichi Torifu might never try again in his life, he has decided to try.

Today's mission proves that Akimichi Torifu still has enough strength to enter the Elder Council; his resume alone—being a member of the Second Hokage Tobirama Senju's direct subordinate team—is enough.

Not to mention that during Akimichi Torifu's decades-long tenure as the garrison leader, Konoha only experienced one instance of foreign invasion, and that incident was specifically planned and orchestrated by Akimichi Torifu and Uzumaki Mito.

After frowning and pondering for a long time, Hiruzen Sarutobi said, "Go and invite Tofu over."

A figure flickered in the darkness, and after a while, Akimichi Torifu arrived slowly. Looking at his old friend, who had regained much of his radiance but had lost a considerable amount of weight, Sarutobi Hiruzen went straight to the point, asking:

"Qu Feng, as an elder, what is the thing you most want to do?"

Akimichi Torifu revealed a straightforward smile and said, "I'm here to protect people. I've only ever learned how to be a bodyguard. I wasn't very good at it before, so I want to try again."

It was already the end of the year. Apart from the numerous affairs in the Land of Grass, the other ninjas had enjoyed a good New Year's holiday. After returning from their holiday, Konoha held its first Jonin meeting of the new year.

At Hiruzen Sarutobi's request, almost all the available Jonin came to the Hokage Building. Even Tatsuma, who was currently only a Chunin but happened to be the highest-ranking member of the Anbu, temporarily filled in for the original head of the department and attended the meeting.

There were still four seats at the top, but one person had been replaced. Hiruzen Sarutobi looked at Akimichi Torifu, who had suddenly gained weight back during the New Year holiday, and said:

"Today, I am announcing that, due to personal reasons, Konoha Jonin Shimura Danzo is stepping down from his position as Hokage's assistant. At the same time, former squad leader and Konoha Jonin Akimichi Torifu is also stepping down."

He has stepped down as squad leader of the garrison and will be appointed as Hokage advisor, vice minister of administration, and minister of education. Please welcome him!

"Clap clap clap~"

"Clap clap clap~"

(End of this chapter)