I founded the "Bragging Cult" in Naruto.

Chapter 539's devastating blow to friendship might have been simply a mundane "Are you there?"

"How did it go? Did you appease her?"

Late at night, Chenma was grilling fish by the campfire. This behavior is prohibited when traveling in a small group or alone, but it is not prohibited in the camp, since a campfire is lit every night.

The biggest impact is that it may cause a small number of people to have trouble sleeping, such as the Akimichi family ninjas.

Minato approached from a distance. Hearing Tatsuma's question, he didn't answer immediately. Instead, he sat cross-legged beside Tatsuma, placing the skewered but ungrilled fish beside the campfire, and said:

"Tatsuma, when a girl tells you that you've changed, that you weren't like this before, how should you respond? And... have I really changed?"

Is it possible that I'm still single and haven't encountered this problem?

Tatsuma glanced sideways at Minato, who shrugged and said, "I think you'll understand. You always give me answers."

"Sigh~" Tatsuma sighed and said, "If I were to answer, I would say that the only constant in this universe is the constant change of everything within it."

Even for people who seem to remain unchanged, most of the cells in their body are actually renewed every year. So, do you think this has actually changed or not?

Even the soul can change with the accumulation of knowledge, just like a blank sheet of paper. You can't expect it to remain a flawless sheet of paper after countless erasures.

Then I would say, "But what will never change is my love for you, how disgusting."

Tatsuma felt disgusted with himself and got goosebumps all over, but Minato smiled and said, "You're lying. Don't you think that the love you have for others won't change, but mine won't?"

Next time, I'll tell Kushina your answer, and then add my previous sentence. What do you think?

"roll!"

Tatsuma flipped the grilled fish over and then said, "If Kushina can't figure it out right now, so be it. Anyway, at this stage of the war, we're not in a position where we can't do without her, so you don't need to say anything more."

"Um."

Minato nodded and flipped the grilled fish over. Although the side of the fish that was originally facing the fire in his hand was not yet cooked, he often did this when chatting, following the actions of the person he was talking to.

"By the way, if Onoki really comes, what are your plans? Are you really going to fight him?"

After a moment of silence, Minato asked again. Tatsuma looked up at the direction of the Land of Earth and said, "We will definitely have to fight, but I believe that Onoki will only fight because he has no other choice."

"If you want that old guy to risk his life, unless something truly threatens the survival of Iwagakure, he'll never do it. His life is even more valuable than if he were to die with me."

"Is this blatant theater of war being staged in front of both armies?"

Minato lowered his voice, but his eyes were very bright. Tatsuma smiled and nodded, saying, "Without a script or rehearsal, relying purely on tacit understanding and acting skills, this scene will be difficult to perform."

"That scroll you asked Zhishui for this afternoon, it's very important, isn't it?"

"Yes, I will subtly reveal the ceasefire signal to Onoki. Then, the best outcome would be a fierce battle until we are both exhausted, he takes the scroll, I injure him, and then the Iwa ninja, with more people, force back the Konoha's advance."

Then, both sides settled into a stalemate to their satisfaction, allowing the war to continue. Of course, it's possible that Onoki might rather lose his reputation than be severely damaged by me, thus ending the war here prematurely.

After all, the activities of the Cloud Ninja are becoming more and more active. According to the report from the Hyuga ninja stationed at the ruins of the Land of Whirlpools, the Cloud Ninja has already sent a team to the Land of Water.

Clearly, they're not satisfied with a subtle, infiltrative message relay; they'd rather sacrifice some ninjas than let my scandal spread to the final piece of the ninja puzzle. That's when the real chaos begins.

As Chenma spoke, his expression gradually became serious. Given the temperament of the Yunren, even without the guidance of others, they had spontaneously accumulated a lot of resentment over the course of half a year.

Now is the time to release them. The person Kirigakure hates the most is "Takasugi Shinsuke". Once they find out that "Takasugi Shinsuke" is actually Sakamoto Tatsuma, they will definitely come from afar to attack the Land of Fire.

However, Takasugi Shinsuke is not the only enemy of Kirigakure. Five years ago, the Cloud Ninja, who swaggered into the Land of Water by colluding with the rogue ninja of Kirigakure, is also an enemy of Kirigakure.

Now it remains to be seen whether Kirigakure will choose to fight on two fronts. If they do, the pressure on Konoha will be much less, and it will also be more in line with Tatsuma's vision for the war.

Chaos is what Tatsuma wants, but it's not even what he wants most. What Tatsuma wants most is indiscriminate war, but the current conflicts are not enough to provoke a war of that magnitude.

Moreover, he lacks the ability to lead such a war. If any country tries to take advantage of the situation, he cannot resolve it. Therefore, the current situation of infighting is the optimal solution.

Minato remained silent for a while. He understood Tatsuma's thoughts and actions, and was even willing to support him. However, he always felt that it was unfair to talk about war in just a few words.

Because they have taken the position of Tatsuma or the Five Kage, a single word from them is enough to make countless people risk their lives and die far from home.

And the lives of these people will only be folded into a corner of the speaker's resume by time, and they won't even be worthy of being mentioned. Just thinking about it makes one feel powerless and helpless.

Perhaps a hundred years from now, a sentence in a textbook stating that during the Third Shinobi World War, Konoha paid the price of tens of thousands of ninja lives and, after years of fierce fighting, finally achieved victory will be the only trace they left in history.

If these are ninjas, what about ordinary people? Perhaps in the eyes of the compilers, they are simply not worth mentioning.

"I still remember the promise I made to you when I entered the Konoha Ninja Academy: to make the number of war orphans like you and me decrease."

Minato turned his head and looked at Tatsuma. Tatsuma was momentarily dazed; he had forgotten about the incident. It was only after Minato reminded him that his memory gradually returned.

"You're right, you won't change, and I don't believe anything is unchanging."

Tatsuma flipped the grilled fish again, his interest in chatting vanishing instantly. He said, "Let's go back and get some rest. I wonder when Onoki will arrive."

"Let's wait a bit."

Minato flipped the grilled fish over and said, "I'm a little hungry too. I'll go back after I finish eating."

"Those are my fish, I caught them myself, I didn't prepare any for you."

You're lying.

The campfire burned, and the crackling sound of wood splitting echoed from time to time. The two remained silent, savoring the tranquil night and enjoying a time they hadn't experienced in a long time—a time of simply sitting in silence without discussing anything serious.

Friendships are mostly like this: from the beginning when you can talk about anything, to the later stages when you feel fulfilled just by being in the same space, and then when you meet and talk, you always have a purpose.

If there's nothing going on repeatedly, there's no point in contacting friends. Often, the change begins after a long period of no contact, and then when you need a friend's help, it starts with a simple "Are you there?"

The two, who had said they would go back to rest early, sat quietly until dawn, using the fish skewers in their hands to poke at the extinguished, wispy, and easily broken pieces of grayish-white charcoal.

Bells began to ring in the camp, and some ninjas on night watch yawned as they walked toward their tents. The two people sitting quietly by the campfire began to stand out.

Chenma rubbed his face, which looked oily from not sleeping all night and which occasionally stung his eyes. He wiped his hands on his knees and said, "It's dawn. After washing up, it should be time for breakfast."

"Perfect timing, I'm getting a little hungry again."

Minato rubbed his dull blond hair, stretched, and said, "I'm going back now."

Chenma also felt the cold, numbness in his legs, then carefully got up and staggered towards his tent.

Because the time was too short and the battle lines had not yet been fully stabilized, he only used Wood Release to build a wooden house for command and discussion, while the rest of the camp remained tents that were easy to disassemble and move.

If the Iwa ninja don't make any big moves today, or if they can reorganize and stabilize the defensive line, Tatsuma will have to do some manual labor again and build some barracks for the camp.

Orochimaru used all his methods to secure comfortable barracks, and within just two days, a new defensive line was established, and the Iwa ninja's attempts to probe the enemy were all thwarted.

With nearly two hundred Iwa ninja prisoners in Konoha's hands, Iwagakure dared not take any drastic action and could only watch helplessly as Konoha set up its defensive formation.

Chenma also worked as a laborer for two days, building over a thousand wooden huts. Although they lacked water and electricity, such a setup was considered luxurious on the battlefield.

However, just two days later, Konoha faced a counterattack from the Iwa ninja.

Inside the command center, Orochimaru smiled as he looked at the sand table and said, "Onoki must have arrived, otherwise they wouldn't dare to make such a big move."

If it were more than half a year ago, when Tatsuma was trapped in the Land of Lightning, Orochimaru would not have had this attitude if he heard that Onoki had come to the front line, because Onoki was on the front line at that time and was putting pressure on Konoha time and time again.

This caused Konoha's front line to extend from deep into the Land of Earth, then to the Land of Grass, and finally even to retreat into the Land of Fire.

But things are different now. With Tatsuma there, even though the difference in numbers is still huge, Orochimaru has enough confidence because Tatsuma alone can deal with Onoki, who has air superiority, and withstand the thousands of troops of Iwagakure.

If Orochimaru hadn't gradually fallen below Tatsuma in status and importance within the village, he would have even asked the village to allow Tatsuma to stay permanently. After all, who wouldn't want to win?

Orochimaru looked at Tatsuma, who was also studying the sand table, and said, "What do you plan to do? Directly confront Onoki? Or..."

"No rush. Onoki probably doesn't know that I also have the ability to fly, which is why he dared to come to the front line. Let's give him a little hope first, and then scare him a little."

Tatsuma looked at Minato and asked, "Haven't we used the Flying Thunder God Technique together in a long time?"

Minato narrowed his eyes, instantly understanding what Tatsuma wanted to do. He nodded and said, "It's been a long time since we've worked together. How about we give Onoki an appetizer first, and scare him with the Flying Thunder God Technique?"

"Um."

Tatsuma touched his ninja tool bag. He hadn't used the Flying Thunder God Kunai in combat for a long time. He took off his ninja tool bag and threw it to Minato, catching the bag as Minato threw it.

"Set off."

(End of this chapter)