I founded the "Bragging Cult" in Naruto.

Chapter 471 Inconsistency Between Words and Actions is the Most Effective Way to Protect Oneself

"This is your brother! He died because of Konoha, he died because of Sakamoto Tatsuma! You must swear to avenge him!"

In the Hidden Cloud Village, within the cemetery, the Third Raikage stood before a tombstone bearing a small photograph of a young man.

Behind the Third Raikage was his son, who had already inherited the name of Ai before becoming Hokage, and his son's partner, Killer Bee, the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki of Kumogakure.

Ai nodded vigorously when he heard his father's words. Killer Bee, who had grown taller, also nodded vigorously. He and Brupi were not related by blood, but he and Ai were brothers.

Ai and Brupi are brothers, therefore, he and Brupi are also brothers!

The Third Raikage placed his hands on the tombstone, rested his head on the photograph, and said, "Brother! I swear! I will avenge you! That Sakamoto Tatsuma, I will personally remove his heart to offer as a sacrifice to you, just as I had to remove your heart!"

After saying that, the Third Raikage straightened up and made way for him. Ai stepped forward and, imitating his father's action, pressed his forehead against the photograph, saying, "Brother Brubi, I swear! I will definitely avenge you!"

Wood Release is powerful, but having inherited the strongest spear and the strongest shield, I am definitely no weaker than Sakamoto Tatsuma! Dad couldn't keep his vow to you, so I will take Sakamoto Tatsuma's heart much sooner!

Ai straightened up, bowed deeply to the tombstone, and stepped away. Just as she was about to talk to her father, she saw Killer Bee imitating them, placing his hand on the tombstone and a photo on his forehead.

Ai was about to stop him, but the Third Raikage stopped him, saying that brothers in Kumogakure didn't necessarily need to be related by blood. Since Killer Bee had this intention, then...

"Yo! Thick rice!"

But the moment Killer Bee spoke, the father and son suddenly erupted with murderous intent, their bodies crackling with lightning. A immediately flicked Killer Bee on the head, shouting angrily, "Speak properly!"

Killer Bee rubbed his forehead in frustration, then stuck the photo back on, opening and closing his mouth several times, trying to find a normal tone, and said:

"Brother! I swear! I will avenge you! I'll stake on Gyu-ki's trust, and I'll make sure Sakamoto Tatsuma is dead! This time I absolutely won't lose! There won't be any more surprises! If he wants takoyaki, I'll turn it into a snack with my drinks! Hey! Atsushi! Give me five even in the Pure Land!"

"Bang!"

A fist crackling with lightning slammed into Killer Bee's head, sending him flying. The Third Raikage withdrew his fist, looked at A, and said, "He's never allowed to come to the cemetery again!"

"Yes, Father."

Ai shook his right hand, which was a little numb after swinging it in the air. His father was indeed stronger; even his punches were a step faster than his.

Then, he frowned and asked, "Father, are we really going to let Killer Bee participate in the war this time? If the information from Iwagakure is true, then the tailed beasts and jinchūriki on the battlefield will all be in mortal danger."

"Hey! Trust your comrade! He's the one who will fight alongside you for life. Trust Killer Bee as much as you trust your own fists. Since he's decided to fight, don't hold him back!"

The Third Raikage spoke seriously, and A nodded, agreeing with his father's opinion. But then he asked, "What about the Two-Tails? It doesn't have a suitable Jinchuriki right now."

"Two-Tails... Let's talk about it later. Maybe Konoha won't last that long?"

The Third Raikage's tone was somewhat complicated. The situation of the three countries besieging the Land of Fire was now settled, and the Land of Water might even get involved later. His reason told him that with such a large disparity in military strength, Konoha could not possibly win.

But for some reason, he was always restless. After receiving the news from Iwagakure yesterday, he couldn't sleep. He smashed two more mountains in the middle of the night, but he still wasn't sleepy at all.

Like the Third Hokage or his contemporaries from other villages, he experienced the turbulent late Warring States period. Although he did not participate deeply, he still witnessed the power of Wood Release.

If he were to encounter the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju, in his prime, he would confidently still have the courage to challenge him, but he wouldn't be so sure whether he could defeat him.

While Sakamoto Tatsuma was certainly not as good as Senju Hashirama at the time, he was not even twenty years old. At twenty, Senju Hashirama was still caught up in the conflict between the Senju and Uchiha clans.

However, Sakamoto Tatsuma was already capable of stirring up trouble in the ninja world. If he could not be killed in one fell swoop at the beginning of the war, then the baptism of war would turn him into someone that no one could defeat.

If Sakamoto Tatsuma cannot be killed, then the Third Shinobi World War will be meaningless, even if Konoha is completely destroyed and the Land of Fire is divided up.

Because a living Sakamoto Tatsuma would make them vomit up everything they ate.

Moreover, Sakamoto Tatsuma, having lost his village, would only become more terrifying, because there would be nothing left to restrain him. Just like the two attacks that Sunagakure suffered, those were done under Sakamoto Tatsuma's control.

If Tatsuma were to stop restraining himself, he could easily create a major conflict of interest between the daimyo's prefectures and ninja villages in other countries, ultimately turning the daimyo's prefectures and ninja villages, and the common people and ninjas, into adversaries.

Because Sakamoto Tatsuma attacked civilians because of ninjas, and attacked daimyo's mansions because of ninja villages, this would lead the majority of fools in the group to believe that Tatsuma would stop attacking once the ninjas and ninja villages were gone.

To stop this situation from happening, Sakamoto Tatsuma must be killed, but who can do that? In an ideal battle, the Third Raikage believes he can.

But where is such an ideal situation? It's like those jokes about vacuum spherical chickens told by the scholars supported by the Land of Lightning.

There is no need for Sakamoto Tatsuma to fight to the death, because he has no weaknesses.

Strong people are not necessarily without weaknesses. Just like Hashirama Senju back then, his weakness, or rather his Achilles' heel, was Konoha. For Konoha, he was even willing to turn against and kill Madara Uchiha, who had helped him establish the village.

Tobirama Senju also had a weakness. He entrusted the village to the young people, so he was willing to die for the future of the village. As the one who finally wiped out Kinkaku and Ginkaku and their followers, no one understood that battle better than the Third Raikage.

Tobirama Senju had countless opportunities to escape, but he chose to give them up. He chose to send his guards back to the village, take over the village, organize their forces to demonstrate their strength to the outside world, and avoid further war.

In fact, what Hiruzen Sarutobi and the others did, Tobirama Senju could have done himself. However, if Tobirama Senju had returned to the village and abandoned the "successors," the village's faith would have collapsed.

He only had two choices: one was to stay behind and keep the Gold and Silver Horn troops occupied while letting the young people go back to take charge; the other was for the young people to stay while he went back. He absolutely could not let them all go back, even if Tobirama Senju could manage that.

Since no one is involved with the Gold and Silver Brothers' forces, they can strike at the heart of the enemy's territory. Long before Tobirama Senju organizes the village's fighting force and establishes a resistance, the Gold and Silver Brothers will gain enough benefits to make the Land of Fire pay a heavy price.

The loss of the ninja village has turned into damage to the daimyo's prefecture, and the daimyo will never allow such a thing to happen, nor will he forgive the ninja village's actions.

In that case, the death of a very small number of people would turn into the death of a large number of people. Tobirama Senju, who carried the future of the entire village on his shoulders, chose the option with the least loss.

This is a vulnerability that can be exploited.

But what about Sakamoto Tatsuma? He doesn't seem to have any of those things. He's not a Kage yet, so he doesn't need to shoulder the burden of the entire village. His bonds with the other villagers also seem to be replaceable.

The only one who can be considered Minato Namikaze. Hunting Minato Namikaze as bait is no easier than directly hunting Tatsuma Sakamoto, and the cost is extremely high, making it very low cost-effectiveness.

If too many resources are devoted to capturing Minato Namikaze, a gap will inevitably appear in the situation. With Tatsuma Sakamoto's talent, he can take advantage of this gap to cause huge losses to other villages, and even force them to release Minato Namikaze.

Just thinking about it gave the Third Raikage a headache; he had absolutely no idea what to do with Sakamoto Tatsuma.

He even began to consider whether to "betray" the alliance, openly hunting down Sakamoto Tatsuma together, but actually just profiting from it, without getting too involved or incurring too many grudges.

However, such an action requires meticulous planning, and the Third Raikage slammed his fist on his head, unable to come up with a solution.

Seeing her father's strange behavior, Ai asked, "Father, what's wrong with you?"

"It's nothing, I just have a headache."

The Third Raikage shook his head, looked at Killer Bee who had gotten up from a distance and was heading this way again, and said to A: "After joining the war, you must stick to one bottom line, which is to ensure your own survival."

"The interests of the ninja village, the interests of the Land of Lightning, or even avenging Burubi, are all less valuable than your survival, understand?"

"But."

"No buts. As a shadow, one thing you must understand is that what you say and what you do don't have to be exactly the same. Choosing the smartest decision is the shadow's duty."

The Third Raikage shook his head, turned around, and rubbed his swollen eyes. Sure enough, even in middle age, one shouldn't stay up late. Smashing a few more mountains later and getting a good night's sleep is the smartest decision!

Watching her father's departing figure, Ai's inner thoughts were similar to those of the loess in Iwagakure Village; she felt that the figure was not quite what she had imagined.

The things Ying needs to do seem to be quite different from the knowledge she received in her education.

It was autumn, and Tatsuma was about to celebrate his twentieth birthday in this life, but in the busy village, no one cared about his birthday, including himself.

Inside the Jonin squad, Shikagami looked at the seemingly prepared Jonin and said, "Sunagakure has declared war."

(End of this chapter)