I founded the "Bragging Cult" in Naruto.

Chapter 466 With the right packaging, any job can become admirable.

When the meeting ended, the Jonin all had complex expressions, their hearts filled with mixed feelings of joy and worry. On one hand, there was the hope of restoring Konoha's glory, and on the other hand, there was the threat of war.

They didn't know whether to celebrate at an izakaya tonight or to say a goodbye in advance, but they decided to go to an izakaya first.

Tatsuma did not follow the crowd and left, but stayed to continue discussing countermeasures. However, at this point, apart from escalating war preparations, there was only one other option: strengthening surveillance by various countries.

Now Konoha can't do anything. Faced with the information given by Sunagakure, they can't admit it or take a more proactive approach. Instead, they have to refute it again and again.

If you can't refute it, you can only deny it and at the same time keep these big clients you've recently won over from losing faith in Konoha because of this.

"Is there really no way to increase surveillance in Iwagakure?"

Mitomon Homura adjusted his glasses and looked at Yamanaka Ochū. Yamanaka Ochū shook his head and said, "The Land of Earth probably has the most ninjas among the five great nations, and the loss of a large number of commissioned orders has also left them with a lot of spare ninjas."

For the past year or so, these ninjas have been relentlessly investigating domestic spies. Not only can we not infiltrate our own ranks, but spies from other villages have also been largely eliminated. They can only obtain snippets of information through channels from other villages.

Hiruzen Sarutobi sighed and said, "Judging from the current situation, just as Tatsuma told me before, the Third Shinobi World War is unavoidable. We can only deal with it. What do you all think?"

"I will arrange the Chunin promotion exams, and at the same time, I will find some ninjas who are qualified to be promoted to Special Jonin and Jonin."

Akimichi Torifu directly supported the war. In fact, ninja ranks do not bring obvious improvement in strength, but each village will carry out a large number of promotion activities before the war.

Firstly, it was to boost morale and make the ninjas realize that if they could be promoted even before the battle started, wouldn't the rewards after the battle be plentiful? It also served as a boost to those ninjas who didn't get the chance to be promoted, motivating them to work harder on the battlefield.

Secondly, it was to "intimidate" the enemy. In fact, the large number of genin (lower-ranking ninja) were the main force in the war and the battlefield, and the most important guarantee for victory. Jonin (high-ranking ninja), or strong ninja, could only play a key role at certain points.

Therefore, increasing the number of genin (lower-ranking ninja) is actually beneficial to the war. However, genin do not bring deterrence, and only a very small number of people in the ninja village's upper echelons will realize the important role that genin can play.

However, the number of high-ranking ninjas in the ninja village is extremely small, and many of their ideas are not shared with lower-ranking ninjas. Therefore, before the war, the focus of propaganda should be on the "high-ranking" ninjas who have a great deterrent effect on lower-ranking ninjas and civilians, such as the names of the commanders and the number of Jonin.

The pre-battle deployment was for this purpose. For genin and civilians, the ninja army with one hundred jonin is stronger than the ninja army with one hundred and fifty jonin, and they will not consider the overall situation.

Of course, the number of Jonin cannot be promoted indefinitely. Only ninjas who truly possess the abilities of Jonin should be promoted. Otherwise, the deterrent effect of "Jonin" will be greatly reduced.

Just like Tsunade didn't really approve of Tatsuma using ninjutsu to make life easier, it is indeed very useful, but if it is promoted or discovered by ordinary people, their awe of ninjas will decrease.

Jonin must be powerful. If a Jonin is killed by any Genin or Chunin, then within that Jonin's faction, "Jonin" will become a sarcastic title rather than a deterrent.

Just like Tatsuma back then, his reputation rose so quickly that he earned his own nickname at a young age because he was a genin and killed Sunagakure jonin Sasho by defeating his superior.

When selecting ninjas for a battle, each ninja village must pay extra attention to maintaining a balance: they need both quantity and strength.

This was a difficult task, and Akimichi Torifu was under immense pressure to accept it. Hiruzen Sarutobi looked at him, nodded, and said, "Torifu, thank you for your hard work."

Then, Hiruzen Sarutobi looked at Homura Mitokado and Koharu Utatane with a deep gaze. The two of them stiffened for a moment. How many years had it been since they had been on the battlefield?

They haven't truly fought since the First Shinobi World War. Although they have been training diligently all these years, their effectiveness on the battlefield today is not even as great as it was in their youth.

However, it doesn't mean they have really degenerated; it's just that their talents have shifted from the battlefield, and Akimichi Torifu hasn't put them in a dangerous situation.

If Akimichi Torifu had just confidently declared that he would be leading the team into battle, then the two of them would be feeling uneasy now. Fortunately, it was just part of their job.

Mitomon Homura revealed a determined expression and said, "I will oversee the village's economic circulation, ensure the continuity of orders, and coordinate funds to provide sustained and strong support for the war."

Koharu Utatane nodded and said, "I will also coordinate the work of the medical department so that the medical ninjas we have trained over the years can play the greatest role on the battlefield and ensure the sustainability of Konoha's ninja strength to the greatest extent."

Although they were just stating what they were supposed to do, they displayed a heroic sense of going into battle and never returning. Hiruzen Sarutobi secretly rolled his eyes; these two had become too slick.

Orochimaru let out a cold laugh, Tsunade leaned back in her chair with one leg propped on the table, making a loud noise, and even Jiraiya, the most peaceful of the three Sannin, started winking at the others.

Seeing that the situation was a bit awkward, Shikamaru quickly looked at Akimichi Torifu and said, "Lord Torifu, speaking of ninja promotion, I have a few candidates to recommend."

Akimichi Torifu withdrew his gaze from his two former teammates and asked, "Who is it?"

He had already guessed who Lu Yuan wanted to recommend; he was simply following Lu Yuan's plan. Lu Yuan scratched his receding hairline, looked at his two teammates, and only after they nodded did he say:

"Our three families' incompetent heirs, although they have no actual achievements in foreign wars, are definitely capable and strong enough. In these special times, it wouldn't hurt to give them a special promotion."

Akimichi Torifu nodded and said, "I've heard some things too. Shikaku improved and innovated your family's shadow technique, and Inoichi has even highly integrated the mountain technique with the perception technique, which can now directly connect to the perception barrier. And there's Choza..."

At this point, Akimichi Torifu paused, because he had been the one guiding Choza all these years, and for a moment he couldn't quite put his finger on Choza's good points. After all, the most Choza had done during the years he had been with him was eat and drink.

Could it be that Choza has gotten fat enough by following him? That's obviously not going to work. Just as Akimichi Torifu was struggling with this, Tatsuma took over the conversation and said, "I heard from Lord Sakumo that Choza is extremely talented in defensive formations and has achieved quite a bit."

I think this will be very helpful for Konoha in the upcoming situation where they are likely to face multiple enemies. If he becomes a Jonin, he will also be able to better allocate ninja resources and establish defensive lines. What do you all think?

Sakumo Hatake nodded and said, "That's true. I've also sparred with Choza a few times, and he's certainly qualified in terms of skill."

Seeing that Tatsuma and Hatake Sakumo were trying to make amends, Akimichi Torifu quickly nodded and said, "Since you all recommend them, I can't stop you anymore. However, the recommenders of these three..."

In Konoha, ninja promotion is not a simple selection process. To be promoted to Chunin, one is recommended by the team leader to participate in the selection, while to be promoted to Jonin, one is recommended by other Jonin and then participates in the assessment.

The Chunin stage is fine, but the recommender for Jonin promotion is very significant. It could be a matter of mentorship, nepotism, or even interests and factions.

Nara Shikaku, Yamanaka Inoichi, and Akimichi Choza, as the fourteenth generation successors of the Ino-Shika-Cho trio, also hold extraordinary significance. Generally speaking, the recommender should be a witness to the Ino-Shika-Cho trio, namely Sarutobi.

If Akimichi Torifu hadn't specifically mentioned it, then the recommender for these three would inevitably have fallen to Sarutobi Hiruzen. But since Akimichi Torifu had said so, Sarutobi Hiruzen understood what his old friend meant.

He looked at Tatsuma and said, "Tatsuma, you should handle this matter. You have worked with Shikaku for quite some time and have also coordinated with Inoichi many times. In addition, you know Choza very well. No one is more suitable than you."

After a moment's thought, Tatsuma understood Akimichi Torifu and Sarutobi Hiruzen's intentions, nodded, and said, "Alright."

There were no unnecessary words. It wasn't appropriate to express gratitude openly at this time; simply acknowledging their kindness was sufficient. Lu Yuan nodded in agreement. It was a good thing that their successor could strengthen their connection with Chen Ma.

However, only Hiruzen Sarutobi could say this. If Hiruzen Sarutobi didn't have this idea, Shikagami wouldn't say anything, but now it's obviously a happy ending for everyone.

Shika looked at Tatsuma, pondered for a moment, and said, "Tatsuma, there's a question I still need to ask you, about your Wood Release. I want to know how your Wood Release compares to that of the First Hokage back then?"

Everyone knows the answer is definitely not as good as, or far less good than, otherwise Tatsuma wouldn't need to be so cautious. But they still want to know what level Tatsuma can achieve.

Even Minato showed curiosity, after all, it had been over a year since he last witnessed Tatsuma's Wood Release, given Tatsuma's terrifying growth rate.

Tatsuma pondered for a moment. If we're talking about Wood Release techniques, he has mastered all of them except for three that he hasn't fully mastered: Flower Tree World Advent, Top Transformation Buddha, and True Several Thousand Hands, as well as Myojinmon, which he still doesn't understand.

Of course, in terms of the scope, intensity, and endurance of the technique, it is definitely not as good as Hashirama Senju. After all, Hashirama Senju's Hashirama cells were almost all over his body and fully developed, which is something that Tatsuma, whose number of Divine Tree cells is only slightly more than half and most of them are not fully developed, cannot compare to.

But Tatsuma raised his head and said firmly, "Tailed beasts will never become weapons to attack Konoha, not even fully transformed or free-formed tailed beasts."

Upon hearing this news, the remaining people in the meeting room exchanged glances, and then breathed a sigh of relief. With the tailed beasts of the other villages rendered ineffective, the Nine-Tails became the only major weapon in this war.

(End of this chapter)