I founded the "Bragging Cult" in Naruto.

Chapter 431 Making things difficult for others is also a way to find happiness, just be careful not to get beaten up.

Happy New Year! Hope you're back from your holiday and feeling settled in?

At the ANBU base, Tatsuma was handing out red envelopes to the ANBU members he encountered. Although the amounts were small, the ANBU members who received the red envelopes all smiled.

Arriving at his office, Tatsuma took out the most generous red envelope, pushed open the door, and said, "Shikaku, Happy New Year! I'd like to ask for your help in the new year as well. This is just a small token of my appreciation."

Lu Jiu took the red envelope, squeezed it between his fingers through the envelope, and said with a speechless expression, "Two thousand taels? So you're that poor? Two thousand taels as a start-of-work red envelope? What a small token of my appreciation."

Chenma's lips twitched. He gave everyone else five hundred taels, but he gave Lu Jiu a full two thousand taels, and Lu Jiu still looked dissatisfied. He was really greedy!

"Just wishing for good luck. Nothing major has happened these past few days, has it?"

Tatsuma sat opposite Shikaku, casually picking up a pile of documents and flipping through them. Shikaku pulled one out of the pile and said, "Take a look at this."

Tatsuma took it, opened it, and started looking through it. Shikaku explained in unison, "This is intelligence sent from the Land of Water. I feel something is amiss."

Genmi recovered from his injury more than a year ago, and the Land of Water had long since returned to its closed state. However, the intelligence network that Konoha had established was still in operation. After Tatsuma and Minato transported some intelligence personnel there, it resumed functioning.

Although their operations may be somewhat hampered, Konoha is still able to reliably obtain some intelligence from the Land of Water compared to other villages.

Shikaku continued, "Yagura Karatachi has been operating outside the village for over a year. During the Lunar New Year this year, he returned to Kirigakure and met with the Third Mizukage. After that, he has been constantly visiting the village's high-ranking officials."

At yesterday's meeting, Yagura directly opposed Genmi's new policy, and there are quite a few people who agree with Yagura. Do you think we should investigate this further?

Tatsuma had also finished reading the materials, which were more detailed and even listed information about some of the people who had opposed Genmei alongside Yagura. These people were the most supporters of Genmei in the past.

You could also say they are die-hard fans of Blood Mist Village.

Clearly, Genmi's "weakness" in the past two years has sparked their discontent, turning them from Genmi supporters into opponents, which is quite an interesting situation.

After putting down the documents, Tatsuma asked, "Is there anything else that's important?"

"Yes, Iwagakure's application to enter the Land of Rain to search for Rōshi and Han was rejected. Afterwards, Ōnoki contacted Hanzō directly, but the results of the discussion were kept secret, and we couldn't find out."

Because of Sakumo Hatake's actions, Konoha spies withdrew from Iwagakure, and Iwagakure also conducted an internal investigation, Konoha was unable to obtain sufficient intelligence directly or indirectly from other villages in a short period of time.

Information about the higher-ups in the Land of Rain is also extremely difficult to penetrate and obtain. After all, in the small ninja village, Hanzo, as the leader, has achieved complete centralization of power. He does not leak information directly related to him, and it is very difficult for outsiders to find out.

Tatsuma nodded and asked, "Any news from Sunagakure and Kumogakure?"

Compared to Iwagakure, Tatsuma was actually more concerned about news from Sunagakure and Kumogakure, because the five great nations were now constantly clashing, Iwagakure had lost over a thousand ninjas, and their two Jinchuriki had not yet been found, so they wouldn't be making any big moves for the time being.

However, the situation in Sunagakure and Kumogakure is uncertain. Since the incident in the Land of Water, the AB brothers seem to have disappeared, and Burubi has been unable to find any new information. This has led Tatsuma to have a vague suspicion.

That means the Hidden Cloud Village would be heartless enough to give up on Burubi, or rather, if Burubi could regain his senses, he might also ask the village to replace his Jinchūriki without hesitation.

Two years ago, Tatsuma believed that the AB combination was much stronger when separated than when combined. However, if Killer Bee becomes the new Jinchūriki, things might change, given the power of the Tailed Beast combined with the ninjutsu of Kumogakure.

As for Sunagakure, it goes without saying that the Third Shinobi World War broke out because of the disappearance of the Third Kazekage of Sunagakure.

Tatsuma also knew the truth behind the Third Kazekage's disappearance: it was because of Sasori of the Red Sand. However, the reason Sasori chose to target the Third Kazekage was because he was unable to avenge the real killer who murdered his parents.

Because Sakumo Hatake had already committed suicide at that time, Sasori chose to target the Third Kazekage instead.

In the original story, Sakumo Hatake committed suicide when Kakashi was seven years old, which was last year. Given the efficiency of information dissemination in the ninja world, it wouldn't have been too difficult for Sunagakure to receive this news.

Even if the process of distributing the intelligence takes some time, Sasori wouldn't be long in learning about it. In other words, in the original story, around this time, Sasori is already preparing to kill the Third Kazekage.

However, due to Tatsuma's intervention, Sakumo Hatake survived. Therefore, Tatsuma had no answer as to what Sasori would do or how the Shinobi World War would begin. He could only ask Shikaku to keep a close eye on things.

Unfortunately, Shikaku shook his head and said, "There's nothing special about it. Kumogakure is reflecting on its defeats against the Land of Wind and the Land of Water."

As for Sunagakure, having just repaid its financial loan to the Daimyo, it was able to resume normal development this year, albeit with limited activity, mainly focusing on trying to win back lost commissions.

Tatsuma frowned. He could predict the reaction from Kumogakure, but the reaction from Sunagakure was hard to say. After all, Sasori wasn't someone who would consider the big picture, or rather, he wouldn't care about anyone.

The Hidden Cloud Village will reflect on its two defeats and train its troops, but if Sasori wants to take action against the Third Kazekage or anyone else, he will not tolerate it for the sake of the Hidden Sand Village's situation.

Even the poverty of Sunagakure and the shortage of ninjas would actually make Sasori's actions smoother, but Tatsuma couldn't make any more changes.

He rubbed his temples and said, "Keep monitoring it. Tell Haiyi to send over any new information, big or small, whether confirmed or not."

"Should we get involved in what's happening in the Land of Water?"

Shikaku nodded. He could coordinate with others to complete other tasks, but if Tatsuma didn't participate in the investigation of the Land of Water, there would be basically no one to conduct an in-depth investigation.

After thinking for a moment, Tatsuma said, "Alright, there's nothing else important anyway. Let Minato and the others get ready. I might have to go to the Jonin class in a couple of days to make a show of it, and then I'll set off."

"You're trying to escape this hellhole?! No way, drag me down with you, you can't run away!"

Shikaku suddenly became agitated. Tatsuma raised his hands and then lowered them, saying, "It's just a formality. I can't run away yet, and neither can Minato."

"Oh, and if you see me outside in the future, remember to call me 'Master,' after all, I am now a noble Jonin of Konoha."

"roll!"

"This is my office, don't go too far."

"Then I'll get out?"

"Fine, I'll just leave. You stay put."

Tatsuma escaped from his office. Shikaku has a terrible temper; he can't even joke around during work hours.

"Senior Yaksha!"

Before even leaving the ANBU base, Tatsuma was suddenly surrounded by some ANBU members. Tatsuma frowned and asked, "Isn't there anything you all doing?!"

"Um, that's right, I'm just bored and there aren't any suitable tasks for me to do, so I wanted to ask if you have any suitable arrangements?"

A representative stepped forward and said somewhat embarrassedly that they were not part of the ANBU unit under Tatsuma's command, and they did not have a squad leader or someone like Shikaku who could help them contact various departments and take on missions.

Tatsuma understood their intentions at this point. He didn't want to get involved, but then he had a sudden idea. He pointed in the direction of his office and said, "Go inside and find Banlong. Tell them it's the Hokage and Lord Shikagawa's idea."

Banlong is Lu Jiu's code name in the Anbu, but Lu Jiu basically doesn't use it. After all, he doesn't go on field missions, and his true identity is no secret within the Anbu. When it was mentioned now, many people were stunned for a moment before they realized it.

"Okay!"

These ANBU members went to find Shikaku with great joy, not because they enjoyed the high-risk life of the ANBU, but because that was their value. Besides, ninjas also had to support their families.

Before they saw Shikaku, Tatsuma quickened his pace and slipped away.

As for whether he will let Shikaku down, he is Konoha's future strategist and Jonin squad leader, the person who is responsible for controlling and coordinating the entire village's actions. The more training he receives now, the easier it will be for him to take over later.

After leaving the Anbu base, Tatsuma found Minato and together they submitted some documents for his promotion to Jonin, while also making some changes to the resume provided by the village.

Some actions have been confirmed by outsiders as those carried out by Tatsuma and Minato, and can be considered public records. However, some actions involving secrets or even top secrets, or those that contradict previous village reports, cannot be disclosed.

For example, the fact that the two of them annihilated thousands of Iwagakure ninjas can be made public, but the operation in the Land of Water needs to remain secret. The operation in Kumogakure, which the village denied, also cannot be made public.

Even if we only select a portion of the publicly available resumes, they are more than qualified to serve as evidence for the two individuals' promotions. As for assessment and review, there is no need for that.

The process was completed in just one day. On the third day, as the two went to report to the upper ninja class, information about the new ninja identification cards also spread like wildfire, and the two instantly became the center of attention.

Promoting a Jonin at the age of eighteen is not too early, but no Jonin has ever had such an impressive resume when he was promoted to Jonin. Moreover, everyone knows that this is only a small part of their achievements.

Kakashi, who had just returned to the village after completing a mission and hadn't even had a chance to submit his mission report, clenched his fists as he listened to the discussions inside the Hokage Building.

He failed. He could never be promoted before Tatsuma-sensei. No, there's still a chance: to become Hokage!

But that guy actually completed so many missions, doesn't he ever rest? Is he on missions 24 hours a day, 365 days a year? He must be, he's probably working hard on a mission right now!

"No, I can't rest!"

Kakashi made up his mind and began searching for missions he could currently accept, while Tatsuma, whom he imagined was diligently carrying out a mission, remained a mystery.

"Tony, after you straighten it, could you cut it a little shorter, about one centimeter shorter?"

Inside the barbershop, Tatsuma, Minato, and two others were getting their hair cut. Tony, the barber in charge of Tatsuma, nodded and said, "Cut it to one centimeter."

"It means shorten it by one centimeter, not cut it to one centimeter!"

"Actually, your head shape is very good. You would look great with a one-centimeter buzz cut."

"Just cut it one centimeter shorter!"

"Are you sure you don't want to give it a try? Short hair will be more popular this year, and if you cut it to one centimeter, you won't need to straighten it."

"Cut it shorter by one centimeter. If you don't know how, let Kevin do it."

Seeing that Chenma's fists were clenched, Tony decided to respect the client's opinion this time, but unfortunately, he couldn't perform at his true level.

(End of this chapter)