I founded the "Bragging Cult" in Naruto.

Chapter 460 Be fearful when others are greedy, and greedy when others are fearful.

For a period of time afterward, the entire ninja world was in chaos. Diplomatic letters from the four nations of Fire, Wind, Earth, and Lightning flew around, and the fax machines in the Kage buildings of the ninja villages were practically smoking from all the calls.

Many staff members remarked that the fax machine's ink cartridges really did run out one day. In the past, only one or two ninjas could operate the fax machine, but during this period, countless ninjas received intensive training to send or receive diplomatic letters at any time.

Moreover, these four countries have begun to flex their muscles, indicating that Iwagakure has amassed more than 20,000 Iwagakure ninja and is constantly taking action on the border, occasionally blowing up a mountain or building a peak.

The Hidden Cloud Village was not to be outdone. The Daimyo of the Land of Lightning announced an increase in war funding, providing all the Hidden Cloud Village ninja with the latest equipment. They also began to follow the example of the Hidden Stone Village and started holding military exercises on the border.

Having just repaid its government loan, Sunagakure once again requested a loan from the Daimyo of the Land of Wind. This time, the Daimyo was quite generous, not mentioning a loan, but directly providing financial assistance.

The Third Kazekage negotiated with the Third Tsuchikage multiple times to discuss a peaceful resolution, but neither side seemed satisfied. The sounds of vandalism and destruction could be heard daily from the Tsuchikage Building and the newly renovated Kazekage Building.

In contrast, the Land of Fire acted much more civilly. Konoha announced that it was entering a state of war reserves, and all the ninja villages were operating at full capacity, striving to achieve the KPI set by Hiruzen Sarutobi to increase the production of war supplies by 200%.

As for personnel deployment, Konoha was not as aggressive as Iwagakure and Kumogakure. Instead, it increased the deployment of border ninja and took over the commissioned orders that had been interrupted by the other three ninja villages.

As things stand, Konoha's economy has not only been unaffected by the war crisis, but for every day that the shadow of war hangs over the ninja world, Konoha earns a large amount of commission money.

Konoha's opportunistic behavior undoubtedly aroused the dissatisfaction of the other three ninja villages. However, before the Jinchuriki issue was resolved, they did not have the energy to pursue Konoha in any real way, and could only send more diplomatic letters.

Inside Konoha Village, Tatsuma, who had already begun the retirement review process for the Anbu, was currently in the Hokage's office, processing documents, mostly responses to diplomatic letters, which he handled with great ease.

Besides being a soon-to-retire ANBU squad leader, he is also a member of Konoha's administrative department. Although everyone else is handling documents in their own offices, he is in the Hokage's office, but no one says a word about it.

Everyone could see that the Fourth Hokage's seat had been cleaned up and was just waiting for Tatsuma to change his clothes and sit down. Working in the Hokage's office was a way for him to get used to his work environment in advance.

By the window of the Hokage's office, Hiruzen Sarutobi was gazing into the distance. The recent events had been so intense that even he, as the Hokage, felt a bit overwhelmed.

From the handling of Lao Zi and Han to the various responses and preparatory measures, it was actually Tatsuma who made the decisions, while Hiruzen Sarutobi tried his best to be an observer during this period.

I wanted to see how Tatsuma would handle it, but every single one of his responses hit his sensitive spots.

As someone who hoped for peace in the ninja world, Tatsuma's decision was hard for Hiruzen Sarutobi to accept. Every decision Tatsuma made seemed to be intentionally provoking war.

However, judging from past experience, those who provoke war never have a good ending. Yet, in this short period of time, under Tatsuma's management, Konoha has indeed shown hope for further development.

Even Hiruzen Sarutobi, who had always advocated for peace, suddenly had a desire to make the war clouds hang even tighter. After all, Konoha's recent large income had made him fantasize about the Land of Fire becoming the sole superpower.

If Konoha were given more time, and they could lock in the client base that had grown during that period, turning them from temporary clients into long-term clients, then Konoha's revenue would far surpass that of other major ninja villages, by more than one level.

When this money is channeled back into Konoha's education, healthcare, and ninja-related industries, in ten or twenty years, the ninja world may no longer have five great nations, but rather one superpower, four great nations, and a host of smaller nations.

Because he had envisioned this scenario, Hiruzen Sarutobi gritted his teeth and passed through all the decisions Tatsuma made, no matter how unbelievable they seemed.

Hearing the sound of writing behind him stop, Hiruzen Sarutobi did not turn around. Instead, he continued to gaze at the streets of Konoha and said with emotion, "I have been here for decades, looking at the same scenery. Only today have I discovered that Konoha has such a fresh and new charm."

"Given the same subject matter, unless it's a copy, no two painters will create the same painting, right?"

As Tatsuma replied, he organized the replies in his hand. Hiruzen Sarutobi patted the windowsill and laughed, "You're right. Besides, those who can only copy are called craftsmen, not painters."

Tatsuma nodded. Although he knew Hiruzen Sarutobi hadn't turned to look at him, he also knew Hiruzen would notice his movement. Tatsuma asked, "Hokage-sama, would you like to review it again?"

"No need, you can arrange it directly."

After this period of time, Hiruzen Sarutobi had come to fully trust Tatsuma's decisions, which were made entirely according to his own will, and besides, he was somewhat afraid to look at them.

Because every glance was a huge test for his heart, which had been pacing for over fifty years, rather than suppressing the urge to object after seeing it, he decided to let go and let Tatsuma operate it.

Seeing that Hiruzen Sarutobi was so at ease, Tatsuma waved to Shinnosuke in the darkness. Shinnosuke immediately appeared and bowed to Tatsuma, seemingly already regarding him as his superior.

"Xiao, take these to Lord Lu Yuan and ask him to check them. If there are no problems, send them over directly."

"yes!"

Shinnosuke quickly stepped forward, took the documents from Tatsuma with both hands, and hurriedly turned and left. Hiruzen Sarutobi looked at his son's positive and motivated appearance, not knowing whether to be proud or disappointed.

Shaking his head, Hiruzen Sarutobi walked to his desk, sat in the seat that Tatsuma had just vacated, and began to take out his pipe and tobacco, enjoying a satisfying smoke.

Sure enough, the first cigarette after starting work tasted exceptionally mellow, even though he wasn't actually doing any work, the flavor was just as wonderful.

This time, it was Tatsuma's turn to come to the window. Although secondhand smoke was nothing to harm his body, he simply didn't like it and there was no need to force himself to endure it.

Hiruzen Sarutobi, puffing on his cigarette, asked, "Tatsuma, I actually have a question that I've been pondering for days. Could you answer it for me?"

"Please speak, Hokage."

"Aren't you afraid that our recent aggressive actions in Konoha, which have harmed other ninja villages, might push them to the brink and trigger a war?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi looked at Tatsuma. He knew that Tatsuma must know this, but why wasn't Tatsuma worried?

Tatsuma shrugged and said calmly, "Actually, my goal is to instigate a war."

Hiruzen Sarutobi's expression changed, and he almost questioned her, but he held back and continued to look at Tatsuma. Tatsuma then explained:

"Human beings' desire for war is actually like water in a reservoir. With the high water season and the low water season, the water level in the reservoir keeps rising and falling, which seems to be very controllable."

However, one of the laws of nature is that nature has no laws. An unexpected typhoon and heavy rain can cause the water level in a reservoir to rise to a dangerous level.

The solutions are simply to build higher dams or to open the floodgates to release water; both have their advantages and disadvantages.

Building high dams allows the water level to rise more, preventing it from overflowing. However, the water will also increase, and once it overflows, its power will be greater, potentially even destroying the entire downstream area.

While releasing floodwaters may pose some threats to downstream areas in the short term, these threats are manageable and ensure that water levels remain within a safe range.

I dislike the feeling of being heavily in debt, and the same applies to war. My capabilities are only sufficient to manage the water in the existing reservoir. If the dam is raised, causing more water to accumulate, I will be unable to handle it. Therefore, I will avoid such a situation.

After Tatsuma finished speaking, Hiruzen Sarutobi nodded. However, after Tatsuma's explanation, he suddenly felt that his previous thoughts seemed to be somewhat wrong.

After all, he is the kind of person who advocates building high dams. As long as war does not break out at present, even a compromise seems acceptable. But when did he come to this idea?

It seems that he wasn't like this ten years ago. Ten years ago, he was like Tatsuma, having the desire to initiate war. Has ten years been enough for him to grow old?

Suddenly realizing this, Hiruzen Sarutobi felt that Tatsuma's decisions during this period were not so difficult to understand. Although he was more radical than he was when he was young, Tatsuma now had the confidence to be even more radical in Konoha.

"What you say makes sense. The conflicts between the nations of the ninja world are increasing day by day. Perhaps it would be a better choice to start this war sooner, before each nation and ninja village has completed its full preparations for war."

Surprisingly, Hiruzen Sarutobi agreed with Tatsuma's radical idea, but he still advised, "However, there's no need for others to know about our conversation today."

"I understand, Hokage-sama. But I shouldn't need to hold anything back or hide anything from you anymore, right?"

Tatsuma smiled and said, and Hiruzen Sarutobi also smiled. Favoritism is very unfair to others, but perhaps only favoritism can earn Tatsuma's trust.

It's worth it.

Tatsuma also looked into the distance like Hiruzen Sarutobi, but what he was thinking was different from what Hiruzen Sarutobi was thinking from this position. Hiruzen Sarutobi was looking at the changes in Konoha, while Tatsuma was looking at the future of the ninja world.

There was no way to avoid the Third Shinobi World War, and the sooner the fuse that would ignite the war was lit, the better. If Sasori couldn't light the fuse, Tatsuma was wondering if he should become the arsonist himself.

(End of this chapter)