I founded the "Bragging Cult" in Naruto.

Chapter 500: Many of the costs only revealed their trap-like fangs after the benefits had been accepted.

"Lord Tsuchikage! The Konoha forces have advanced another ten kilometers and have already set up camp, entering the buffer zone between us and the Land of Grass!"

Inside the Iwagakure medical camp, an Iwagakure ninja rushed over, watching the Third Tsuchikage, Onoki, who was heading to the front lines from the rear, anxiously giving a report.

"Outrageous! Absolutely outrageous!"

Onoki slammed his fist on the bedside table, making a deafening noise. Huang Tu, lying on the sickbed, opened his eyes and weakly looked at his father. Despite his severe injuries, he still asked with deep concern:

"Father, could it be that Konoha possesses methods we are unaware of, which is why they are so arrogant?"

The Land of Fire should clearly be the one being besieged, but what have the Land of Fire and Konoha done since the start of the war?

Faced with the Sand Village's initial attack, Konoha dispatched a "ninja squad" that killed the Third Kazekage and created a large-scale exhibition forest at the border of Kaze and Kaze.

Then came the only war since the start of the conflict to take place within the Land of Fire, where the Raikage's successor, the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki, led a force that encountered the Konoha ninja forces led by Sakamoto Tatsuma.

And what was the result? If the Third Raikage hadn't arrived in person, it's questionable whether these Cloud Ninja who invaded the Land of Fire could have escaped at all. Moreover, even with the Third Raikage's presence, they were still defeated.

Then it was Iwagakure's turn. They were truly frustrated because, due to the "exemplary" role of Sunagakure and Kumogakure, they hadn't stepped out of the country and had only been preparing around the border.

But that Minato Namikaze harassed and attacked them every day, making their lives miserable. That was bad enough. But when Huang Tu recalled the battle a few days ago when five thousand Konoha troops suddenly descended on the camp, his face turned ashen.

More than 10,000 people were defeated by 5,000. The Four-Tails Jinchuriki who came to help was also toyed with and beaten by the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki of Konoha and Minato Namikaze. Now his injuries are more serious than the yellow earth.

And what about Konoha? Just when the Iwa ninja had finally adjusted to their optimal combat state, and had just resolved the issues of mentality and formation after being ambushed, and were preparing for a full-scale battle, they packed up and left again.

The Iwa ninja camp was left in ruins, littered with corpses. The Konoha ninja took away not only the victory, but also all the camp's supplies.

Some supplies were destroyed, some were looted, and over three thousand wounded Iwa ninja could only wait for reinforcements from the village. In the process, it is unknown how many more Iwa ninja combatants were lost.

Onoki arrived yesterday with more Iwa ninja and supplies, and it wasn't until late last night that he finally managed to settle the wounded and cook for the Cloud ninja who had been starving for several days.

This battle has made Iwagakure the biggest joke in the ninja world. There are even reports that Sunagakure is using the Kumogakure incident to boost morale.

Hearing his son's worries, Onoki rubbed his greasy old face and said, "Impossible. The Daimyo Prefecture's annual expenditures are impossible to hide."

Unless Konoha can create something out of nothing or achieve economic self-sufficiency, they cannot possibly have the means and resources to cope with an attack from other major ninja villages. This is definitely true.

In the end, Onoki didn't dare to make a definitive judgment. After all, it was too strange, too strange. Where did Konoha get the courage?

Konoha now seems to have no fear of war at all, and even looks forward to the outbreak of war. No, not now, but much earlier, when the Third Kazekage declared war? Or even earlier?

As early as a year ago, the Cloud Ninja, Rock Ninja, and Sand Ninja joined forces to launch a retaliatory operation against civilian towns in the Land of Fire.

It seems that it was indeed around that time that Konoha made up its mind to wage war, sending Rōshi and Han to Kumogakure and Sunagakure to break the alliance between the three villages. Then, taking advantage of the friction and negotiations between the three villages, Konoha made a large-scale profit.

Konoha showed absolutely no intention of mediating the war. This was not a decision that could be made by a leadership like Hiruzen Sarutobi. It seemed to be made by someone even more radical, someone even more radical than the young Hiruzen Sarutobi who triggered the Second Shinobi World War.

But on what grounds?

Where does Konoha's confidence come from? Konoha was indeed a victorious nation in the Second Shinobi World War, but it was not the one that benefited the most.

Because after the war, Konoha spent too much money and resources to quell the charge of "starting a war," aiding the Land of Rain and assisting in its reconstruction. At the same time, the reconstruction projects of several small countries in the north were almost entirely undertaken by Konoha and the Land of Fire.

Moreover, Konoha lost too many people in the Second Shinobi World War, including an entire generation of Senju warriors, the Uchiha who died in the northeastern battlefield, not to mention countless civilian ninjas. Konoha paid almost the maximum amount of compensation for the souls of these heroes.

In contrast, the Land of Earth and the Hidden Stone Village, and the Land of Lightning and the Hidden Cloud Village were the real beneficiaries of the Second Shinobi World War, because they did not directly participate in the war, but instead reaped countless benefits from the years of conflict.

For example, Iwagakure (Hidden Stone Village) acquired countless riches from the Land of Rain and several surrounding small countries by selling ninja tools and providing security.

As the biggest beneficiary, Onoki didn't even dare to say he had the ability to deal with a joint attack from other ninja villages. So what exactly did Konoha rely on?

It's only been a few years since the Second Shinobi World War ended? Less than ten years. In fact, border incursions and internal infiltrations by various countries and ninja villages have never stopped. In just these few years, Konoha may not have even had time to recover, let alone develop further.

Especially in terms of combat strength, the training of ninjas is quite time-consuming. Even though each village will relax the selection and promotion standards for ninjas because of the approaching war, the training period for a ninja, even a genin, is close to four years on average.

The manpower and resources spent are difficult to quantify, not to mention, with that much money, does Konoha have that many children?

Rubbing his greasy face, Onoki looked at the person who came to report and said, "Send a letter to Konoha to question them. Say that the area where the Konoha troops are currently located has always been our Land of Earth's inherent territory, and demand that they withdraw immediately and provide compensation."

This was merely a harmless diplomatic maneuver, and Onoki didn't expect Konoha to back down because of it. However, with the morale of the Iwa ninja low, he needed a reason to provoke them if he wanted to start another war.

For example, when the war is about external expansion, the reason can be used to justify the war to defend the country. When the war is won, the reason can be used to justify the war. When the war is lost, the reason can be flexibly changed to the reason to defend the country. This way, the morale of the troops can be kept at a certain level and will not fall.

"Yes, Lord Tsuchikage!"

As Iwa turned and left, Onoki sat in his seat, deep in thought, occasionally sighing. Yotsuchi watched this with growing anxiety, unsure how to help his father and the village.

"Old man."

On another hospital bed, Old Zi, whose face was completely wrapped in bandages and unrecognizable, suddenly spoke up and asked, "What crimes did Han and I commit?"

"Nonsense! You are heroes of Iwagakure, what crime have you committed?"

Onoki frowned and said righteously, while Old Purple snorted and said, "Besides you and me, only your son is left here. Do you think Huangtu shouldn't even know these things?"

Huang Tu's lips twitched. He understood what was happening, but he found it hard to accept and stopped arguing with his father. After all, his father always thought of the village.

Onoki's face showed displeasure, and he said, "What are you trying to say?"

"Let the Han go to the battlefield too. The village really needs us now, doesn't it?"

"He failed the psychological assessment and cannot go to the battlefield."

"He was just telling the truth. Actually, I don't want to be a ninja anymore. Are you going to take me back?"

Hearing Old Purple's words, Onoki's face darkened, and he asked, "Are you trying to drive me crazy?! I told you your mission the day you became Jinchūriki!"

"But what about before becoming a Jinchūriki?"

Old Purple struggled to turn his head and look at Onoki. Onoki's expression froze. Before becoming a Jinchūriki, how could he have known which child would succeed? Moreover, once the truth was revealed, those children from back then would inevitably develop a resistant mentality.

Even the slightest thing could ruin the village's plans. If everything had been revealed beforehand, perhaps Rōshi and Han wouldn't have become Jinchūriki.

Onoki suddenly lowered his head, avoiding Rōshi's gaze, and simply said, "You must also understand the village's difficulties; the village cannot do without you."

"They can't live without us? They can't live without the Tailed Beasts, can they? If there were more suitable Jinchuriki candidates, we'd probably be 'Burubi' by now."

"Nonsense! How could an old man like me do such a thing?"

"Haha~ cough cough cough. Don't fool yourself. Old man, before the tailed beast power within Han and me was restored, can you swear you never had such thoughts?"

The atmosphere in the ward was even more tense than when the situation of the Konoha troops had just been reported. Huang Tu simply closed his eyes, unwilling to get involved, since he couldn't change anything.

Old Zi remained silent for a long time before saying, "Release Han. And once the war is over, I will leave the village. At that time, you can punish me as you please."

Of course, perhaps I would have died on the battlefield before then, but that's fine too, it saves you from having to make one more choice. How about it, old man?

Onoki, clutching the yellow earthen sheet, clenched his teeth repeatedly. Under Omurashi's watchful gaze, he said, "I agree. But you cannot do anything to harm the village, or I will personally arrest you!"

"Um."

Old Purple turned his head, looked at the ceiling, and then said, "Before I die, I will return the Four-Tails to you, or to your successor. Speaking of which, Konoha is about to give up, how much longer do you intend to remain in the position of Tsuchikage?"

"Let's wait for Sakamoto Tatsuma of Iwagakure to appear, otherwise I don't know who can do better than me. Damn Konoha! How come so many geniuses are emerging?!"

Hearing Onoki's impotent rage and furious words, Old Purple teased, "Is this your true thought? Or is it just an excuse for not wanting to step down? After all, you seem like someone who craves power."

"You brat! Are you trying to drive me crazy?! If you had the talent of Sakamoto Tatsuma, I'd resign today!"

"Heh~"

Enraged, Onoki jumped onto the stool, rolled up his sleeves, and brandished his fists, saying, "Don't think that just because you're lying in a hospital bed, I won't dare to teach you a lesson!"

"Click~"

"Ah! My back!"

(End of this chapter)