I founded the "Bragging Cult" in Naruto.

Chapter 442 When it comes to children's education, the concessions parents can make are unimaginably large.

"Senior Shouyi, since you represent the other seniors, I'll be frank with you. To be honest, I'm short of money and probably can't afford to hire an intelligence squad."

In a tea room, Tatsuma wore an apologetic expression. In front of him was a ninja who was about fifty years old. A ninja of this age could be considered very old, and of course, he was also at the age of retirement.

He was one of the personnel listed in the intelligence report provided by Hiruzen Sarutobi, and also the person who came to negotiate with Tatsuma as a representative.

This time, Tatsuma was able to take on a total of six retired intelligence ninjas, all of whom had retired after years of infiltration work in Iwagakure. If there were only six people, Tatsuma could still afford to hire them if he was frugal.

The problem is that people do not live in the world independently, and these six retired ninjas are no exception. They have their own families, which means that they also have to consider whether their earnings can support their families.

In particular, the descendants of ninjas are very likely to follow the path of ninjas, and the cost of training each ninja is extremely high. Tatsuma had taken this into consideration, so he could not ask these retired ninjas to lower their commissions.

Not to mention, there are intelligence agents down the same level who need to be supported, an expense that even if Chenma were to be completely drained, he still couldn't afford.

Upon hearing Tatsuma's words, Tei took a sip of tea and said, "Lord Tatsuma, in your eyes, are we such short-sighted people?"

Regardless of whether he had retired from ninja or not, it was not an exaggeration for him to call Tatsuma "sama" at this moment. When he was active, his ninja rank was only Chunin, and after retiring, he was just an ordinary civilian. Tatsuma deserved this title.

Of course, Chenma would also address them as "senpai" (senior) in return, which is a sign of mutual respect.

Upon hearing Tei's words, Tatsuma looked puzzled and said, "It was my own shortsightedness; I don't understand what you mean, senpai."

"Haha~ That's true. You're still young. People say you don't even have time to find a partner, let alone children."

Shouyi said in a relaxed tone, "Young people only need to think about themselves. People with families need to think about their families, especially their children. Any kind of learning or training is actually just exchanging money for a future."

We are prepared to serve you without charging commission.

Chenma grew increasingly puzzled. He had saved these people's lives, but it didn't warrant them trading money for their future.

A fleeting thought was seized upon by Tatsuma, whose face also showed a look of understanding. He poured more tea for Tatsuma and said, "It seems you have understood. Money can be given away or taken back."

"Being your subordinates will provide our children with significant extra assistance, from class assignments upon enrollment to placement as mentors after graduation. This is something we can't buy with our own money."

Tatsuma frowned and said, "It doesn't affect me in that respect."

As Tatsuma spoke, he stopped and Tei said with a smile, "When we first decided to retire, Lord Torifu asked Lord Sakumo to contact us, and we had a pleasant conversation with Lord Torifu."

Finally, through Lord Torifu's introduction, our information was passed from the Hokage to you. If it were just for money, we would have contacted you directly or another Jonin.

Upon hearing this, Chenma finally realized what was happening. He had thought he was there to discuss things with Tei, but in fact, someone had already made arrangements for him. Behind the scenes, without his knowledge, there were people working tirelessly for him.

Tatsuma rarely experienced this feeling. The last time was when Mito Uzumaki was alive. As long as he returned home, he didn't need to worry about anything else; someone would take care of everything.

After Mito Uzumaki passed away, he returned to the life where he had to do everything himself, since his teacher didn't know how to take care of people and instead needed others to take care of him.

Unexpectedly, after meeting Akimichi Torifu, that feeling of having someone solve everything returned. With a sigh of感慨, Tatsuma took a sip of tea and said:

"What the seniors are talking about are actually hidden benefits, but life requires more tangible money, and I can't offer much in that regard."

"It's normal for young people not to have savings. I only gradually understood the importance of saving money after I started my own family. The money we've saved over the years is enough to raise our children to be independent."

Tei waved his hand, still a little embarrassed. Tei added, "You don't need to give us commissions on a fixed schedule. If you really want to, you can give us a reward after we have obtained the information you need."

As for how much to give, you can refer to the village's mission rewards and give according to the difficulty. Or it's okay to give less, after all, we've already retired, so lower benefits are fine.

"Alright, then I'll have to trouble you seniors. If you have any other needs, please feel free to let me know, and I will do my best to accommodate them."

Since things had come to this point, it would seem a bit like he was taking advantage of someone and then acting innocent if he didn't accept this kindness. Tei nodded and said, "Then let's discuss the division of labor among us."

Are you more interested in internal intelligence, or intelligence from outside the village? Or perhaps from other countries? Or ninja villages?

Tatsuma doesn't have a particularly urgent need for intelligence right now, or rather, the intelligence he needs is just a rudimentary intelligence network that can't be sustained yet.

Tatsuma is currently most interested in two things: the whereabouts of Uchiha Madara and the real-time schedule of the Third Kazekage. However, even if the entire village's intelligence system were mobilized, it would be difficult to gather information on these two matters, let alone his makeshift team.

Therefore, Tatsuma only sent Tei to the western and northwestern borders to establish an intelligence network. Specific arrangements would be made after the intelligence network was completed.

Tei was more familiar with these preliminary tasks than Tatsuma, so Tatsuma didn't make detailed arrangements and ended the meeting after setting the direction.

"That's settled for now. We'll report back to you once we've made the arrangements."

Tei stood up, said goodbye to Tatsuma, and left. The moment he disappeared into the crowd, Tatsuma could hardly find Tei's figure. This was the skill of an old intelligence ninja.

After the meeting, Tatsuma returned to the Anbu base. Although he had already reported to Hiruzen Sarutobi yesterday, he still needed to submit a paper report for filing.

However, as soon as he returned to the Anbu base and opened the door to his office, Tatsuma sensed something was wrong. Inside the Anbu base, two overwhelming malices rushed towards him.

The chakra within his body became highly active. Tatsuma looked toward the source of the malice, where Shikaku was one of the people, and Kushina was another.

Good afternoon.

Tatsuma forced a greeting and approached Shikaku and Kuzu, asking, "What are you busy with?"

"The village has decided to establish four teams: sealing, medical, sensory, and logistics, forming the fourth squad. As you entrusted, the Hokage has put me in charge of establishing them."

Shikaku said through gritted teeth. Tatsuma nodded, finally understanding the reason for Shikaku's overwhelming malice.

However, Tatsuma looked at Kushina and said, "You're welcome. I've secured another opportunity for you in the assessment."

"Bang!"

Kushina showed no gratitude whatsoever. She slammed her hand on the table and said, "Hmph! Who asked you to fight for it?! Of the few of us who were eliminated in yesterday's assessment, I was the only one who got a second chance. Do you know what they were saying about me?!"

"You might not know, but the person who was eliminated yesterday was genuinely eliminated because of a lack of ability. And you were specifically instructed by the Third Hokage not to pass, Shikaku, am I right?"

Tatsuma shrugged, indicating that he wouldn't take the blame. Instantly, he felt Kushina's malice rapidly decrease, returning to its previous average level.

Lu Jiu, on the other hand, felt instantly targeted by an ancient behemoth, just like when his mother called him by his full name.

"Gurgle~"

Swallowing hard, Shikaku was too frightened to harbor any ill will towards Tatsuma. He explained, "That... was the Hokage's arrangement. I couldn't do anything about it. Besides, this was something that should have been Tatsuma's responsibility as the highest-ranking member of the Anbu!"

Kushina's malice instantly shifted to Tatsuma, and also to Hiruzen Sarutobi, who wasn't even there. Seeing Shikaku shift the blame, Tatsuma continued:

"I was away on a mission before this happened, and I only found out about it after I returned. It's clear that Shikaku's abilities impressed the Third Hokage, leading him to entrust him with this important task."

Kushina's gaze returned to Shikaku, who shuddered. This time, not only was Kushina staring intently at him, but Tatsuma was too, his crimson eyes flashing with warning. Shikaku quickly said:

"Ultimately, it was Hokage-sama's decision to make this arrangement. Personally, I really hope everyone can undergo a fair assessment, including Tatsuma. Otherwise, he wouldn't have given you a second chance, right?"

Kushina turned her head and glanced at Tatsuma a few times. Her subconscious, and even the Nine-Tails within her, suggested that Tatsuma had ulterior motives. She snorted and said, "I didn't ask for his help!"

Tatsuma nodded and said, "Of course, I wasn't that kind of person, was I?"

Upon hearing this, Kushina instinctively nodded, but feeling herself being led astray by Tatsuma again, anger reappeared on her face. Tatsuma then picked up the conversation, saying:

"The reason I did this is because I didn't want your relationship with Minato to have problems. You see, because of the Third Hokage's unreasonable arrangements, you and Minato had a little bit of conflict, didn't you?"

"If it weren't for the Third Hokage, why would you have treated Minato that way yesterday? You can't be the kind of person who deliberately embarrasses their partner in front of others, can you?"

What should I do? Although I hate this jerk, what he said makes a lot of sense!

Kushina hesitated for a moment, then nodded and said, "It's all Sarutobi's fault!"

He hindered her progress and even sowed discord between her and Minato. That old man Sarutobi is truly despicable!

From then on, Kushina's malice was completely directed at Hiruzen Sarutobi, who was not present. Tatsuma and Shikaku exchanged a glance and both breathed a sigh of relief.

Inside the Hokage's office, Hiruzen Sarutobi sneezed, then pulled his collar tighter and muttered, "This spring seems particularly cold."

(End of this chapter)