I founded the "Bragging Cult" in Naruto.

Chapter 481 Sometimes, it's better to take the blame than to defend yourself; at least the latter earns you a reputation for being responsible.

In Tatsuma's house, the bedroom, which was so empty it looked like a bare shell, was now filled with yellowish-green chakra. The dense chakra was like smoke; an ordinary ninja might not even be able to do that by simply covering their body with a layer of it, but Tatsuma managed to fill the entire bedroom with his chakra.

Moreover, Tatsuma seemed to be handling it with ease; the only difficulty was keeping the chakra under his control and preventing it from escaping.

Tatsuma raised his hand, and a sealing technique appeared in the air three or four meters in front of him. Apart from chakra, the technique had no medium supporting it.

This is one of Shukaku's talents: the ability to convert chakra into sealing chakra at any time. For ordinary people, this requires the help of hand seals or bloodlines, and the process of using it also requires the help of a medium "entrusted" to it.

It could be one's own body, the body of the recipient, or a stable medium like the earth, but Shukaku doesn't need any of those; all it needs is chakra.

In other words, Tatsuma, who possesses the talent of Shukaku, can even apply a sealing effect to any technique.

However, his chakra is still different from that of the One-Tailed Beast. Before he fully understands and utilizes Shukaku's talent, he cannot achieve the same sealing effect by stirring up sandstorms as Shukaku.

However, with this talent, Tatsuma can almost effortlessly unleash sealing techniques wherever his chakra is present, like a spider web appearing out of thin air, waiting for the enemy to run into it.

Of course, this is a very low-cost-performance method. After all, the deployment of sealing techniques requires the addition or reduction of chakra based on the effect, scale, and intensity. To seal a powerful enemy, one must have enough chakra.

In other words, at least for now, the chakra concentration in the bedroom is still some distance from being able to be used in actual combat. Tatsuma just wanted to test whether he could do it.

With a wave of his hand, he dispelled the sealing technique in the air. Tatsuma clasped his hands together, and the Wood Release chakra within his body was refined and synthesized, transforming him into a queen bee that attracted the surrounding chakra back into his body.

After testing his talent in sealing techniques, Tatsuma synthesized another type of chakra within his body.

"Shhh~"

As the chakra spread, grains of sand began to jump excitedly in the bedroom. Under Tatsuma's control, these lively grains of sand gathered in front of him, seemingly cheering.

It was a very strange feeling. Tatsuma felt as if he could control the sand and dust as if he were controlling his own body, like having an external prosthetic limb.

Moreover, he can manipulate not only this sand and dust, but also other objects as long as they are covered with this special chakra. However, his bedroom is too empty, and he can't find anything else to experiment with.

"I never imagined it would be this dirty."

Tatsuma sighed, stretched out his hand, and water-style chakra condensed in his hand. Sand and dust merged into the water, which instantly became murky. He stood up, held the water sphere, and walked all over the house before flushing the water down the toilet.

"That feels so good!"

Touching the smooth desktop, which had a suction effect due to positive pressure or van der Waals force, Tatsuma smiled with satisfaction.

Although the feel wasn't pleasant, and it even caused a slight stinging sensation on my skin, all my dissatisfaction turned into happiness as soon as I thought about how clean it was.

Chenma is a clean person, and regular cleaning is unlikely to remove all dust from the house, but now it seems to be able to completely remove dust. He doesn't know how effective it is in practice, but it's a huge help in his daily life!

"Knock knock knock~"

Just then, there was a knock at the door. Tatsuma went to open it and found Hiruzen Sarutobi standing there. He quickly stepped aside and asked, "Hokage-sama, what brings you to my house? Is there something wrong with Minato's report?"

Upon returning to the village, Tatsuma did not go to report for duty, but instead handed the job over to Minato, whose current abilities made him no less capable than Tatsuma in this regard.

As for himself, after obtaining Shukaku's talent, he underwent some changes, just like when he obtained the Four-Tails and Five-Tails' talents, and needed to find a place to adapt.

Hiruzen Sarutobi entered the house, and his first impression was that the house was too clean, making it feel a little strange to breathe. After all, places where you can't usually smell something don't necessarily have no smell at all.

Instead, it's because the smells are too common and have no positive or negative impact on the body that the brain directly blocks them out. When you come to a place that is truly odorless, your brain will feel uncomfortable.

Fortunately, Hiruzen Sarutobi's nasal passages naturally carried the smell of stale cigarette smoke, so he quickly adapted. Without waiting for Tatsuma to greet him, he found a sofa to sit on, then looked Tatsuma over and asked with concern, "Are you alright?"

Tatsuma: .?

But he quickly recovered, shook his head, and said, "Thank you for your concern, Hokage-sama, I am not injured."

"Really not?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi's gaze grew increasingly strange. Tatsuma nodded firmly, and a few seconds later, Hiruzen Sarutobi let out a long sigh and said, "I never expected that you would be able to kill a Kage so easily now."

Upon hearing this, Tatsuma realized why Hiruzen Sarutobi had come and vaguely guessed Hiruzen Sarutobi's thoughts.

Hiruzen Sarutobi, as a senior, was undoubtedly pleased and appreciative that his junior, Tatsuma, had grown to the point of surpassing the Kage level. However, at the same time, he also felt a sense of crisis, creating a complex mix of emotions.

Sitting down opposite Hiruzen Sarutobi, Tatsuma explained, "It's my fault for not explaining things clearly to Minato. He must have overrated me during his performance review."

Hiruzen Sarutobi was taken aback, then asked, "Could it be that the Kazekage isn't dead?"

"He died, but in a sense, I didn't kill him; he was already dead before I did."

"Do you think I can understand that?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi looked at Tatsuma with a resentful gaze. Tatsuma explained, "It's unbelievable, but the Third Kazekage I encountered was already a living dead. He was a human puppet, an unprecedented puppet creation."

"Hmm?! A human puppet... I seem to have heard of that before, but if the Kazekage had become a human puppet, would Sunagakure have failed to detect a single person?"

"That's why I say it's an unprecedented puppet creation. It's different from the anthropomorphic or human-modified puppetry of Sandstar. Instead, it directly controls a living person, a living person whose consciousness has been erased."

Moreover, it does not require traditional chakra threads or more primitive wire manipulation; it can be directly controlled with chakra, and any action or speech is within the "movement" of the puppet itself.

The Third Kazekage, whom I fought, was like that; he attacked me under someone else's control, and the method I used to defeat him wasn't particularly powerful—I simply severed the connection.

After Tatsuma finished speaking, Hiruzen Sarutobi felt much more at ease. If Tatsuma had simply defeated a puppet by severing the connection, it wouldn't seem so shocking.

However, Hiruzen Sarutobi asked, "Who developed this puppetry technique? Chiyo? Ebizo? Or is it a technique left behind by the monk or Monzaemon?"

"No, it's a young man named Scorpion."

"A new disciple of Sasori Kazekage?"

"I have reason to suspect that the Third Hokage's sealing of him as a disciple, the release of my information, and the initiation of the war were all Sasori's wishes. After all, he is Chiyo's only grandson."

At this time, Sasori was not so conspicuous. Tatsuma was one of the very few people who understood Sasori. Therefore, the possibilities he deduced could not be deduced by others who lacked understanding of Sasori.

Hiruzen Sarutobi frowned, instinctively reaching for his pipe before realizing he hadn't brought it. He smacked his lips and said, "What do you think should be done about this?"

Should we reveal Sasori's existence and methods? After all, the death of a Kage has a huge impact on the ninja world.

"Unfortunately, we won't find any evidence, including the body of the third generation. Although I didn't bring it back, I did examine it, and there was no trace of puppetry on him."

If we were to release this information, no one would believe it, and it might even become an excuse for other ninja villages to attack Konoha, since it's said that a teenager could control all the actions of a Kage.

"If it weren't for your extraordinary trust in me, I think you would also find this absurd, wouldn't you?"

Upon hearing this, Hiruzen Sarutobi nodded subconsciously, but quickly realized that he was once again trapped in Tatsuma's thought process. He asked, "But do you really want to take on this responsibility?"

If you accept this, the guilt you bear and the hatred you face will be far greater than Sakumo's, and perhaps no less than that of the Second Hokage.

"Lord Hokage, this war is a must. Even if Sunagakure didn't have a reason to start a war now, I would have created one. And what a great mobilization speech this is!"

Tatsuma smiled, while Hiruzen Sarutobi was speechless. He then sighed, waved his hand, and said, "I understand what you mean. Just go ahead and do it."

Lu Yuan is also awaiting orders on how to respond. If you have time, go and give those instructions. Also, visit the commanders on each battlefield as well, understand their strengths and weaknesses, and then make a decision.

Whether it's speaking out in the village's voice or deciding on the commanders on the battlefield, these are the responsibilities of a Kage. Clearly, Hiruzen Sarutobi has become somewhat addicted to delegating authority.

Or rather, he has almost no way of working with Tatsuma. His current ideas are too far removed from Tatsuma's. If they were to participate in each other's activities, resulting in two conflicting opinions, it would be extremely detrimental to the village.

It would be better to bring forward the inevitable power transfer and let Tatsuma take full responsibility. This way, Tatsuma can fully utilize his abilities, and he won't have to worry about things like "What will Tatsuma do?" or "Will this conflict with Tatsuma's ideals?" every day.

Tatsuma was silent for a moment, then nodded and said, "Thank you, Hokage-sama. I will finish it as soon as possible."

"Well, Tatsuma, I have only one request."

"Please speak."

"Don't force the village to change the fourth generation leader."

(End of this chapter)