I founded the "Bragging Cult" in Naruto.

Chapter 511 The person or thing you need to pursue with all your might may be readily available to others.

As dawn broke and the sun rose from the horizon, a ray of sunlight pierced through the dense mountains and shone directly onto the mountain.

Looking at the figure standing in the sunlight, the Konoha ninja was suddenly overwhelmed with excitement and emotion; it was the feeling of having found a powerful ally.

"Jonin Shikaku, are you alright?"

More and more people gathered on the mountain. Nonou, carrying her medicine bag, came to Shikaku's side. Shikaku shook his head and said, "Just give me some disinfectant. We're still fighting."

"it is good."

Seeing the two hideous scars on Shikaku's face, Nonou frowned, but respected Shikaku's choice, and still asked, "Do you need painkillers?"

"No need, it will interfere with my thinking."

Shikaku refused outright, and Nono stopped trying to persuade him. She took out a bottle of disinfectant produced in Kumogakure and handed it to Shikaku before turning to check on the other injured ninjas.

The Two-Tails gripped the ground with all four claws, extending from its paw pads. Sensing the chakra above its head, which seemed even more powerful than its own, it suddenly wondered, who exactly was the Tailed Beast?

Such a quantity of chakra, such water-style techniques, and such a manner of speaking—without a doubt, this is the same person as those humans from Kumogakure, and the Konoha monster that the Eight-Tails had mentioned to him more than once—Sakamoto Tatsuma!

Two-Tailed suddenly shook itself, rapidly moving its body. The eerie blue flames covering its body transformed into sharp spears, piercing anything that approached it.

Tatsuma, standing atop its head, also leaped high, dodging the attack of the flaming spear. Just as it leaped into the air, the two tails exerted force with their hind legs, straightening their entire body and clawing at Tatsuma with their two claws forming a cross.

"Wood Release: Exploding Tree Gun!"

Tatsuma formed hand seals in mid-air, and vines sprouted from his shoulders, intertwining to form two enormous spearheads, which pierced towards the cat claws that Two-Tailed Fox was slapping at him.

The growth rate of the Exploding Spear Tree was faster than the speed at which the Two-Tailed Fox swung its claws. Combined, the wooden spearhead pierced directly through the cat's claw.

But Tatsuma frowned because he didn't feel any force returning from the wooden spear. Since force is reciprocal, this could only mean that he hadn't hit the Two-Tails at all.

Meanwhile, the two-tailed cat's paws, not its forelimbs, had been slashed by the wooden spear. Tatsuma narrowed his eyes, took out a shuriken, and threw it at the two-tailed cat's paws that were swinging towards him.

The sword in his hand sank into the cat's claws, turning into specks of molten iron that splashed down, but Tatsuma had already seen what he wanted to see.

"As expected of a chakra aggregate, its use of chakra is truly powerful."

When necessary, it can transform its body into intangible flames, but it seems to have a limited range, similar to the technique used by Shukaku, though the flames seem to be more deceptive.

But after this probing, the two-tailed cat's paw was already in front of Tatsuma, but Tatsuma did not exclaim in surprise, and continued to form hand seals.

"Wood Release! Wood Escape!"

Like a wooden clone, the flesh on Chenma's back surged, and another head, shoulders, and hands were generated. The hands of the Chenma behind him pushed against the back of the person in front of him, and the waist and legs also quickly split and separated.

The fully split Chenma behind him also formed hand seals, and then pushed a palm onto the back of the Chenma in front of him.

"Wood Release: Tree Binding Explosion Burial!"

The cat's claws slammed into Tatsuma's body in front of it, and Tatsuma exploded at that moment, turning into a tree. In the blink of an eye, it became a giant tree tens of meters tall, with intertwined branches that wrapped around the two-tailed beast's entire body.

Tatsuma landed steadily behind him. The Wood Escape Technique he had just used was one of the techniques he developed by combining the [Wrist Regeneration] talent he obtained from the Eight-Tails with Wood Release.

He can transform his main body into a wood clone, and the wood clone into his main body. At the same time, he can use the original main body as "raw material" to perform a Wood Release technique that binds the enemy. This technique has made countless Cloud Ninjas who have finally managed to get close to Tatsuma over the past few months despair.

"That guy is getting stronger and stronger. It seems like he didn't even use Sage Mode this time, right?"

Hai glanced at Lu Jiu, who had just finished treating his wounds, and said, "Actually, haven't we all been increasing our strength exponentially over the past few months?"

However, Tatsuma's starting point is just too large, so even though we're all growing, his progress is far greater than ours.

Hai nodded. In the past few months, he had fully integrated his family's secret techniques into his combat instincts. His growth in strength and chakra might not have been particularly high, but his overall combat power was enough to crush four or five of his own three months ago.

This is the "allure" of war: once you've been bathed in blood and fire, everyone will experience unimaginable growth, and the speed of that growth is positively correlated with the degree of danger in the war.

As long as one doesn't die or suffer any serious physical injuries, the higher the level of danger in the wars one experiences, the greater the growth potential will be.

For the past three months, they have hardly stopped, either fighting against the Cloud Ninja or trying to escape their pursuit, and each time they have faced enemies several times their number.

As a result, they lost one comrade after another in battle, and after three months, they had less than half of their original number left.

This number was only barely maintained thanks to the medical team led by Nono and the help of Tatsuma's slugs. Without this quality of medical assistance, the number would probably be less than half again.

However, this brutal war also allowed everyone who survived to make significant progress, especially "second-generation ninjas" like Shikaku and Inoichi who had little combat experience, who were forced to grow to a level that even they themselves could not believe.

However, the one who has made the most progress is still Tatsuma, that monster.

This was the first time Shikaku had spent such a long time accompanying Tatsuma on a field mission, and for the first time, he felt sympathy for Minato, Sento, and Tenkazu—teammates who seemed to grow stronger with every battle, or even during battle itself.

That must have really hurt their self-confidence. They've been able to stick with Chenma for so many years; their mental fortitude is truly remarkable.

Fortunately, Shikaku had no ambition in terms of strength, so he didn't feel much imbalance; he just lamented the unevenness of the ninja world.

Some people's growth is like grinding an iron rod into a needle, taking years to see even a little change. Others are like rowing against the current, not only failing to move forward but also being swept back by wave after wave.

Some people are like pigs on the wind, able to catch a boat and ride the waves, hoisting their sails to cross the vast ocean.

Undoubtedly, in Shikaku's eyes, Tatsuma was just such a pig. However, unlike ordinary pigs who wait for the right opportunity, Tatsuma didn't need to wait. Wherever he was, that place was the opportunity.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

Suddenly, the mountain shook again, and the two-tailed beast, imprisoned by the giant tree, breathed fire, melting the ground where the tree was rooted, and barely managed to break free.

With its four limbs on the ground, the two tails twisted nimbly and turned to run towards Tatsuma. With a lunge, its claws wrapped around Tatsuma, and its mouth opened wide, flames gathering inside.

Tatsuma swung a kunai upwards toward the Two-Tailed Beast, and just as the cat's paw was about to touch it, he activated the Flying Thunder God Technique.

Silver light shone and the dawn shone brightly as Tatsuma appeared above the head of Nibi.

"Painful Heavenly Kick!"

With a burst of superhuman strength, Tatsuma stomped on the top of Two-Tails' head, causing Two-Tails' entire head to crash into the ground, forcing it to close its open mouth.

The flames in his mouth could only explode inside his mouth.

"boom!"

Amidst the sea of ​​fire, the two-tailed creature's body writhed and its belly rolled over, seemingly unable to bear the pain. Its limbs and two tails attacked the surrounding air indiscriminately, seeking only a chance to touch Tatsuma.

"Splash splash splash~"

And emanating from the sea of ​​fire were not only the roar of exploding flames and the heart-wrenching howl of the two-tailed beast, but also the clanging of chains.

At the same time, the natural energy in the surrounding air, land, and water is constantly being extracted.

"Pfft pfft~"

The chain with its menacing barbs pierced the two-tailed beast's body. This time, it failed to complete the transformation of its body into fire, and after being hooked by the Vajra Seal, it lost this ability.

Not only the flesh and blood formed from chakra, but the Two-Tails also felt its own chakra and soul being bound and locked. When its newly formed head looked at Tatsuma with its heterochromatic eyes, it was filled with indescribable fear.

It sensed that its chakra was being drawn out of its body little by little through the vines wrapped around the Adamantine Seal, just like a human or animal having its blood drawn.

And at the other end of the vine is Tatsuma's body.

"My cat can scratch and bite me occasionally, but you seem to be a little less so than my cat."

Tatsuma stretched out his right hand, and Wood Release chakra wrapped around his arm, from which countless vines grew and intertwined to form a large hand. In the center of the palm of the large hand was engraved the character "座" (seat).

"Sage Art! Wood Release! Hokage-style Ear-Clearing Technique! Kouan Enters the Palace and Drops Hands!"

The enormous hand enveloped the two-tailed creature's head, and the eerie blue flames burning on its body failed to harm the hand in the slightest.

Meanwhile, the Wood Release chakra was continuously assembled in a sealing technique structure, and at the same time invaded the Two-Tails' body, causing its bright heterochromatic eyes to gradually dim.

The Konoha ninjas around him had already started cheering, but the sealing technique was not yet fully completed, so Tatsuma did not relax and continued to output chakra.

Meanwhile, in another part of the Cloud Thunder Gorge, in a magnificent palace, Killer Bee, the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki, who was sitting cross-legged, suddenly opened his eyes and looked in a direction blocked by a wall.

"Damn it! Idiot! The sun is shining brightly today, the trilogy battle is about to begin!"

(End of this chapter)