I founded the "Bragging Cult" in Naruto.

Chapter 48 The best hunters often disguise themselves as prey.

"It's that Murata Yuko. Her brother is the little bastard who tried to assassinate you a few days ago, but we caught him."

Yusuke looked at Yuko Murata, who was sitting on the ground looking somewhat lost, and said to Nakagaki, who nodded and said, "Next time, do it more cleanly."

Now that she's alive, she's ruining my business. What's the meaning of this?

"I understand. I'll take care of her later too." Yusuke nodded, then asked, "What about the guest?"

"If they dare to cause trouble at my place, they can pay up and get lost."

Zhong Sheng shook his head and went into the room next door. Yu Jie walked towards Tatsuma and the other two. When no one was paying attention, Minato poured some wine on the madam and some wine on himself.

Before Yusuke could even speak, Minato, having shaken off his earlier discomfort, pointed to the wine stain on his chest, looked at Yusuke, and demanded, "Are you in charge?"

"I'm in charge, you two."

"It's good that you're in charge, but what's wrong with your shop? One person is clumsy pouring drinks, and the other acts like they're above the customers?!"

Minato interrupted Yusuke. Yusuke glanced at the unconscious madam, whose body was covered in wine stains, and guessed that the madam had spilled wine on a customer and was knocked unconscious by the angry customer.

However, this made Yusuke even more unhappy. He put his hand on the long sword at his waist and said, "Hand over your money and leave here, and we will forgive you for causing trouble in the store."

"Money? Which eye of yours saw that we have money?"

Tatsuma said nonchalantly, which startled Yusuke. It was the first time he had seen someone even more arrogant than himself. He then said angrily, "So you guys came here on purpose to cause trouble today?"

"Hahaha~"

With a villainous grin, Tatsuma said, "You're only finding out now? I declare that from today onwards, Hakusen Village belongs to me, Sakata Gintoki, and my brother Hattori Zenzo. Now, hand over the money!"

Yusuke's face darkened completely, and he reached out to grab Tatsuma's chest, but Tatsuma's hand was unusually fast. He picked up a wine bottle from the table and smashed it hard on Yusuke's head.

"Bang!"

Broken glass and spilled wine everywhere. Yusuke staggered, but before he could recover, Tatsuma kicked him, and Yusuke fell to the ground next to Yuko Murata, unconscious.

In the dim light, Yuko Murata, completely unaware of how things had developed to this point, looked at Tatsuma, only to see him wink at her.

Yuko Murata looked at the unconscious Yusuke beside her, touched the short sword hidden in her bosom, and she understood what Tatsuma meant.

At this moment, the surrounding guests and bar girls all ran outside, while the ronin surrounded them. However, Tatsuma and Minato remained calm and instead scanned the people around them.

Soon, the two exchanged a glance and nodded. Chenma had figured out Zhong Sheng's influence in Baiquan Village. It was these people in front of him who had coincidentally gathered together.

Tatsuma looked in the direction of the room Nakagatsu had entered and said to Minato, "Zenzo, go easy on them, don't scare them."

Minato nodded upon hearing Tatsuma's words. Their intention was to disguise themselves as thugs and ruffians to cause trouble, so they couldn't unleash their true strength now and had to make these people believe that they had a chance of winning.

If we appear too strong from the start, Zhong Sheng might sense something is wrong and leave. What we need now is to defeat these people inefficiently and provoke Zhong Sheng to make a move against them.

"Swoosh~"

Just then, a knife swept past Minato. He quickly dodged, because if he were hit, the effect of his transformation technique might disappear.

He snatched the ronin's long sword from the back of his hand and stabbed him through the neck. Minato mimicked Tatsuma's earlier nonsensical remark, saying, "If you want to draw your sword, be prepared to die."

Tatsuma was taken aback, not expecting Minato to also possess the talent of a show-off. No! Minato did indeed possess the talent of a show-off, but he didn't flaunt it in an overtly conspicuous way like Sasuke later did; instead, he was more subtle.

For example, before a fight, he might change into the Hokage's clothes and say, "I'll be right back," or "Bearing the name of the Hokage, I cannot lose." Or he might say, "I'm not good at Sage Mode," but instantly activate the Myoboku Sage Mode with almost no frog-like transformation.

Moreover, it wasn't just his talent as a cool guy; Tatsuma was also surprised that Minato had just stabbed through the enemy with a blank expression. Sure enough, the so-called "little sun" was the image of Minato in the eyes of his own people.

To outsiders, Minato was the one who could instantly kill fifty Jonin, traverse countless battlefields, and made Iwagakure say, "It is not a crime to abandon a mission when you encounter the Yellow Flash." He was also the most outstanding ninja handpicked by Jiraiya.

Having already lost two companions in quick succession, the ronin, who were not exactly known for their courage or loyalty, hesitated. Although they still surrounded the two with their swords drawn, none of them dared to launch an attack.

Two of them even turned around and ran towards the room where Zhong Sheng was. Seeing this, Chen Ma picked up another wine bottle and smashed it at the two of them.

"Bang!"

One man fell, and another scrambled to his feet. Chenma withdrew his gaze with satisfaction. He had no intention of actually stopping the ronin from seeking help; he was just putting on a show.

Soon, Zhong Sheng emerged from the room. Seeing his dozen or so men surrounding two men and hesitant to attack, he angrily shouted, "What are you doing?! Are you waiting for them to starve to death?! Attack!"

With Chu Sheng's order, the ronin, though looking hesitant, finally moved closer to the two men, and the two closest ones even swung their swords directly at them.

Minato restrained himself, refraining from using the taijutsu he learned at the Ninja Academy. He dodged the attack somewhat awkwardly, then used the taijutsu Tatsuma had taught him to strike the wrist and elbow, knocking the ronin who attacked him unconscious.

Tatsuma was even less elegant, grabbing the ronin's wrist as he swung his sword, throwing him over his shoulder, then kicking him in the armpit and knocking him unconscious.

As Zhong Sheng watched this scene, he felt increasingly angry, but also relieved. He was angry because the two men had attacked his subordinates, but relieved because the two men seemed to be ordinary people and showed no signs of being ninjas.

He strode forward and said angrily, "You two, you'll regret this in hell!"

As he spoke, he suddenly formed the Mukbang (Seal of the Unknown) on his hand and vanished from his spot in an instant. Seeing their leader use ninja techniques, the ronin's faces lit up with joy.

In their view, ordinary people could never defeat ninjas, and these two troublemakers would die at the hands of their boss.

Tatsuma and Minato also showed expressions of shock, seemingly unaware that Nakanoki had already arrived behind them.

The reappearing Zhong Sheng, holding a kunai in each hand, thrust it toward the necks of the two men.

"Be careful!"

At this moment, Yuko Murata, who was ignored by everyone, hurriedly shouted.

(End of this chapter)