I founded the "Bragging Cult" in Naruto.

Chapter 530 Where the interests lie, that's where your interests lie.

"Teacher, it's strange that no ninjas have questioned us along the way."

Walking along the riverbank, Shisui, who had fallen behind several Takigakure ninja, quietly asked Tatsuma, who rubbed his head approvingly and said, "The fact that you realized this proves that your vigilance is up to par."

However, many skills and experiences are not universal. If it were a ninja operation in one of the Five Great Nations or the Land of Rain, or an outer village, they would definitely ask questions, even if they were not in charge of the mission.

However, this is not the case in some countries, such as the Land of Hot Water. There are more foreign ninjas in the Land of Hot Water than ninjas in their own village, Yugakure, but the ninjas of Yugakure do not find it strange.

Do you know why?

Upon hearing this, Shisui pondered for a moment before saying, "The Land of Hot Water is a country that has forgotten war. Even though it has its own ninjas, it rarely makes enemies with foreign ninjas, focusing on mission assignments themselves, and has no deep connection with the Land of Hot Water."

Even during the war years, the Land of Hot Springs, which was not affected by the fighting, did not need the protection of the Hidden Hot Springs ninjas, thus gradually leading to the current situation.

Tatsuma nodded and said, "Born in hardship, die in comfort. War will kill many who resist, but peace will make people gradually forget how to resist. In fact, this is also the case in Takigakure.

Since the end of the Warring States period, ninjas have gradually settled together and formed their own circles. The geographical advantages of Taki-no-Kuni have also protected them from harassment by ninjas from other countries.

Even during the Second Shinobi World War, although the Land of Waterfall was slightly affected, the flames of war never truly burned on the land of the Land of Waterfall, so they did not feel that the war was so terrible.

That's why they don't think the "outsiders" who might bring war are scary. You should have noticed that Takesuke and the others don't think Takigakure is worse than Konoha or Iwagakure.

This arrogance born of peace is fatal; they are utterly incapable of handling any real danger that may arise.

"It seems so."

Shisui pondered for a moment, but still asked, "But isn't peace what everyone wants? Why do wars always happen?"

"You're wrong. Peace isn't what everyone wants, but rather what the majority who can't profit from war want. However, those who are ambitious and capable of profiting from war will not reject it."

"To say nothing of the distant past, take your teacher, who is myself, for example. I was also a driving force behind war, because the benefits I could gain from it are unimaginable in peacetime."

As Tatsuma spoke, he looked down at Shisui, who had his mouth agape and was filled with shock, and said, "It seems unbelievable, doesn't it? But it's the truth. Don't confuse peace with war."

Truth or falsehood, right or wrong, black or white—these seemingly obvious stances are actually the most unreliable answers. As outsiders, we can use them to criticize others, but as insiders…

We must discard these answers and instead view the pros and cons with a pragmatic perspective, because in the face of self-interest, universal beliefs, morals, and emotions are insignificant.

Shisui lowered his head deeply. What his teacher had said to him today was completely different from his previous understanding, but he didn't know how to refute it.

After all, as the teacher said, when faced with self-interest, cognition and morality are insignificant. As for right and wrong, as a member of the Konoha ninja, he was already an involved player in what the teacher called the game.

"Don't overthink it, because you haven't reached the point of deciding whether to go to war or not. I'm telling you this in advance just to broaden your horizons."

The past, present, and future seen through an individual's perspective differ from those seen through a collective perspective; you will understand this later.

As you can see now, we've arrived at our destination.

Tatsuma smiled and pointed into the distance. Shisui took a step and stood on tiptoe to look in the direction Tatsuma was pointing. At this moment, the river began to become rapid, and in the distance, a waterfall could be faintly seen.

"Have we arrived at Takigakure Village?"

"Um."

Shisui could only see a waterfall, but Tatsuma could "see" the village hidden behind it, which had a considerable number of ninjas. That was quite a unique perspective.

Takejiu and the others quickened their pace unconsciously, as if they wanted to get rid of Tatsuma. Throughout the entire day, Tatsuma had not restricted their freedom of movement.

But each of them knew that if they had any ideas, even if they tried to escape separately, Tatsuma's terrifying strength and speed would allow him to catch up with them instantly and defeat them again.

This could even anger Tatsuma, jeopardizing his personal safety.

Therefore, they were very obedient before they saw the village, after all, it would be too irrational to gamble their lives on Tatsuma's mercy.

Now that they saw the village and the hope of survival, their steps quickened involuntarily. No one told them anything, but they just felt that as long as they returned to the village, they would be saved.

The change in their speed caught Shisui's attention. He subtly tugged at Tatsuma's sleeve, but Tatsuma shook his head, seemingly unconcerned.

The role of Takesuke and the others for him was simply to guide him, and even that wasn't irreplaceable. Although there was no detailed map, Tatsuma's senses allowed him to find Takigakure Village if he was willing to spend more time.

Furthermore, whether Takesuke and the others were present or not made no difference to him. Even if they desperately tried to escape, Tatsuma wouldn't care; he would simply want to notify Takigakure of his arrival sooner.

One man cannot defeat a nation. This "nation" is not a small country like Takigakure, but one of the five great nations. Although he is somewhat arrogant, Tatsuma is not afraid of Takigakure or Takigakure Village.

Therefore, he didn't bother to stop them. He let Zhu Jiu and the others walk faster and faster, while he maintained his own pace, occasionally sharing some skills and experience with Zhi Shui, as if they were on a spring outing.

"Lord Yasunari!"

On the other side, Takejiu had completely left Tatsuma behind, and even left several of his subordinates far behind, heading straight for the core building of the village, an office area built in the mountains.

As he burst into a meeting room, a middle-aged man frowned and demanded, "Bamboo Wine?! Why aren't you on the border guard post? What are you doing back in the village?!"

There were still a few people in the meeting room. Judging from their ninja uniforms and headbands, it was easy to tell that they were ninjas from Iwagakure.

Before Zhu Jiu could even tidy herself up, she exclaimed, "There's an intruder!"

"Who? How many people?"

Kang Cheng frowned, looking at Zhu Jiu with displeasure. He was discussing an important cooperation with Iwagakure, and Zhu Jiu's behavior was making Takigakure look bad. In this way, Takigakure would be at a disadvantage at the negotiating table later.

Among the Iwa ninja, a spiky-haired ninja's face darkened slightly, a sudden sense of dissatisfaction welling up inside him. He looked at the flustered Takejiu, also wanting to know the news.

"Two or two people, one named Sakamoto Tatsuma, and the other..."

"Squeak~"

Before Takeji could finish speaking, the spiky-haired Iwa ninja stood up abruptly, looking incredulous. Takeji was interrupted by his action, since the remaining person was just a child, and it didn't matter whether he spoke or not.

Kang Cheng then looked at the spiky-haired man and asked, "Lord Shou, do you know this person?"

The spiky-haired Iwa ninja nodded and said, "The Dragon of Konoha, Sakamoto Tatsuma, is the Konoha ninja I told you about before, the one who plotted against the tailed beasts of the other hidden villages."

Kang Cheng's expression hardened. In the past two days, when he was discussing with Kari, he thought that this was just a "story" that Iwagakure was using to deceive him and make him pay more attention to the threat from Konoha. But now it seems that this is not the case.

Moreover, Kang Cheng suddenly felt that the name Sakamoto Tatsuma was somewhat familiar, especially when paired with the nickname "Dragon of Konoha," and some earlier memories seemed to be awakening.

I remember now, it was that Konoha ninja who did what even the "Three Legendary Sannin" couldn't do, and wounded Hanzo, the leader of the Rain Country ninjas. That was about ten years ago, wasn't it?

If Hanzo, the leader of the ninjas of the Land of Rain, could injure him, then perhaps Sakamoto Tatsuma, who is also the leader of a ninja from the same country, has the strength to injure him as well.

However, generalizations cannot be made. After all, Takigakure is not like the Land of Rain, which rose to prominence solely because of Hanzo. Takigakure has quite a few trump cards up its sleeve.

Just as Kang Cheng's thoughts were wandering, Kari asked in a very serious tone, "You're Takezake-sama, right? You just mentioned two people. Is the other one Minato Namikaze?"

If we're talking about the strongest duo in the history of the ninja world, then Sakamoto Tatsuma and Namikaze Minato might not be the strongest. But if we limit the timeframe to the present, then this duo could come and go freely in any hidden village.

There is no exaggeration at all; after all, these two have already done it.

Takeji shook his head, and Kari breathed a sigh of relief, but still dared not relax. After all, of the duo of Sakamoto Tatsuma and Namikaze Minato, the one who was more dreaded was Sakamoto Tatsuma.

After trying to recall, Takeji said, "It's a child named Uchiha Shisui. I find the surname somewhat familiar, but I can't quite place it. He must be from a ninja clan in Konoha, right?"

"Uchiha?!"

Kari frowned. He couldn't help but think of the Uchiha mentioned in the battle report disclosed by Kumogakure, the one who could block the Third Raikage's strongest spear, Hell Thrust.

However, that Uchiha wasn't a child, nor was he named Shisui. As for this child...

Hunt had no relevant information whatsoever. He even looked at the people around him, and the Iwa ninja next to him shook their heads, having never heard of this person before.

"Perhaps he's a rising star of the Uchiha clan? After all, Konoha graduated quite a few ninjas half a year ago; Uchiha Shisui is probably one of them."

After considering this idea, Kari didn't care much about it anymore. After all, among the Uchiha clan today, the only one worthy of praise was Uchiha Tenkaze, who could make the Third Raikage return empty-handed and make their Tsuchikage fall into memories.

The others are insignificant. This Uchiha Shisui is probably just a child of about ten years old. What threat could he possibly pose?

Kari looked at Yasunari and said, "Lord Yasunari, this Sakamoto Tatsuma is extremely brutal. Why don't I immediately request reinforcements from the village, while we cooperate with your village's ninjas to restrain him until Iwagakure's reinforcements arrive?"

Although he lacked confidence, the thought of the cooperation being discussed made him realize that he had to show sincerity, even if it meant getting injured. As long as the cooperation could be achieved, it would be worth it.

Kang Cheng waved his hand and said, "He's just a Konoha ninja. If it weren't for the betrayal of the village's Jonin and their abandonment of the assassination attempt on the First Hokage, Konoha would probably have perished with just one generation. Sakamoto Tatsuma is nothing. I'll personally take him on!"

Hunting: (O_o)

All the Iwa ninja: (O_o)

(End of this chapter)