I founded the "Bragging Cult" in Naruto.

Chapter 540 People on the same road may have different destinations.

"They've started converging on the center. They've clearly realized that trying to destroy our entire defensive formation is too time-consuming and energy-intensive. Concentrating our forces on one point is just foolish."

Inside the command room, Tatsuma rested his hands on the edge of the sand table. As intelligence was updated, the situation on the sand table kept changing. Seeing the Iwa ninja's attack path forming a V-shape, Jiraiya shook his head and said with some disdain.

However, Tatsuma, Orochimaru, and the others didn't speak up so quickly. Tsunade, without giving her teammates any face, bluntly said, "If you can see the situation clearly, how could Onoki not see it?"

"Doesn't this prove that my technical and tactical skills are superior to Onoki's? Don't you think so, Minato?"

Jiraiya looked at his disciple, trying to gain his support, but Minato just smiled awkwardly and didn't answer. After all, he was his teacher, and it wouldn't be good to hurt his feelings.

Seeing that even his most "beloved" disciple did not support him, Jiraiya's face fell, and he said, "There are only so many Iwa ninja, where do you get so many strange and unpredictable formations?"

I think Onoki has just gotten senile, or maybe he's trying to fight a desperate battle, which is why he's chosen such a gamble. It's impossible for the Iwa ninja to magically produce extra ninja to coordinate with the formation change, is it?

"It doesn't have to be a ninja unit. There are a very few individuals who, with their own strength, can single-handedly change the course of a formation. Tatsuma, for example, has that ability, doesn't he?"

As Orochimaru spoke, he placed his hands on the other two corners of the sand table. With the infusion and manipulation of earth-style chakra, the sand table changed again, and the V-shaped attack line of the Iwa ninja instantly turned into an M-shape.

Orochimaru also sculpted the two tails on either side, with four tails and five tails respectively.

Orochimaru spoke again, saying, "The main force will attack from the front, while the Four-Tails and Five-Tails will flank us from both sides, aiming straight for our flanks. With the help of the tailed beasts' power, our prior defenses will be useless."

Tatsuma nodded, channeling his chakra into the sand table and evolving it based on Orochimaru's work. He said, "They could flank us, outflank us from behind, or attack us from both sides to break our formation."

Although the Iwagakure ninja did not receive help from the Seven-Tails of Takigakure, the Four-Tails Jinchuriki, the Five-Tails Jinchuriki, and Onoki—three super-sized combat units—were enough to overwhelm us.

Even if Kushina were willing to join the battle today, the situation would be that I, Minato, and Kushina would each deal with one of them, while the remaining main force would fight each other. The Iwa ninja's numerical advantage is too obvious.

Besides, we didn't ask Kushina to fight today.

Tatsuma spoke with a pessimistic tone. Although the Iwa ninja had dispersed some of their forces to the eastern coast to prevent the Kumo ninja from invading, the Kumo ninja were not actively active, and there were not many people needed there.

In addition, Konoha has been working hard to select ninjas over the past year, and other ninja villages have not fallen behind. Therefore, the number of Iwa ninjas who are fighting against Konoha ninjas is still more than twice that of Konoha ninjas.

Even if the three legendary Sannin are incredibly strong, they can't bridge this gap. The only one who might be able to close it is Tatsuma, but that means he has to give up one of Rōshi, Han, or Ōnoki to deal with the Iwa ninja forces.

However, letting any one of these three go would pose a significant threat to the Konoha ninja forces, especially since Konoha was already forced to abandon one of them.

The three legendary Sannin were very strong, but their fighting styles were not suitable for fighting against the Tailed Beasts. As for Onoki, he was always stronger than them, so they were destined to fight on the front lines of the army, rather than directly confronting the enemy's powerful generals.

With Tatsuma and Orochimaru's explanations and demonstrations, Jiraiya and Tsunade's expressions both became serious. Tsunade touched the diamond-shaped mark on her forehead, which was much dimmer than before, and asked:

"What should we do then?"

"We need one, or preferably two, people who can deal with the Jinchuriki of Iwagakure to participate in the battle."

Minato pursed his lips and said, while Jiraiya asked in confusion, "You invited the old man over? But there's only one of him, and besides, the village can't do without him right now."

"I will join the war!"

"Bang!"

The door was suddenly pushed open, and Kushina, who wasn't in a very good state, stood in the doorway. Ever since Tatsuma and the others revealed the true purpose of the war, she hadn't participated in any meetings.

Kushina wasn't included in the plans for this battle, but she came on her own. Minato looked at Kushina, didn't try to stop her, but nodded and said:

"Then I'll leave it to you, Kushina."

As he expected, Kushina was a powerful and resilient ninja. A momentary emotional shock would not change her ninja way, which is why he only offered comfort and did not try to persuade her otherwise.

Because Kushina herself could figure it out. Kushina glared at Minato, then looked at the Sannin, Tatsuma, and Shikaku, and said, "I'm not fighting for someone's ambitions, I just don't want to watch my comrades sacrifice themselves in vain."

Whatever dirty tricks someone tries to pull, it's none of my business. I will only defeat my opponents and protect those I can protect!

Everyone present knew who "someone" was, and "someone" himself didn't seem to care, simply nodding, but his gaze quickly returned to the sand table. Shikaku then spoke:

"If Kushina joins the war, the gap in elite combat power will indeed be filled, but the shortage of personnel in the middle and lower ranks will still not be made up. In addition, it will be difficult to take care of the main battlefield when she has to fight independently."

"Bring Tianfeng over. Among the available personnel, he has the greatest advantage against the Tailed Beasts."

"Tatsuma said," Orochimaru said, and the three Sannin exchanged a glance. Then Orochimaru spoke up, "The Mangekyou Sharingan?"

"Well, although he's not as impressive as Madara Uchiha was back then, he can easily hold off either Rōshi or Han."

Tatsuma nodded and said, "Shikaku, have someone contact the camp in the land of rivers. I think Tenka has been there long enough and is probably eager to join the war."

"I'll go right away."

Shikaku was also transferred from the camp in the Land of Rivers. For the past six months, Tatsuma had been on duty with Fugaku Uchiha, temporarily taking over the command position, and he brought his own team with him.

Ino-Shika-Cho, Tenka, Sento, Nono, and others are all there, but the pressure is less there. So when Tatsuma takes a break, Shikaku, the most readily available strategist, is seconded over here.

As for Haiyi and the others, they remained there, and contacting them was quite easy. Shikaku left and returned shortly after, saying, "Haiyi went to inform Tianfeng, and they should be able to prepare to depart soon. When are you going over there?"

It's obviously unrealistic to expect Tianfeng to come here on his own. Even if he's fast enough, it would take him at least a day and a half to get here from the Land of Rivers. If he encounters any problems along the way, it would take even longer.

Tatsuma couldn't wait that long, so either Tatsuma or Minato had to go to pick them up. Minato volunteered, "I'll go. I'm more skilled than you at using the Flying Thunder God Technique to move people."

As Minato spoke, he even made a joke, and Tatsuma nodded with a smile. The collaboration between Minato and Kushina had allowed Minato to surpass Tatsuma in proficiency with the Flying Thunder God Technique.

After all, Tatsuma had too many choices. The Flying Thunder God Technique was just an ordinary move in his arsenal. Therefore, it was normal that he couldn't match Minato in terms of specialization, since Minato's talent in this area was no less than Tatsuma's.

Thanks to their constant travels in the ninja world over the past few years, it wouldn't be difficult for Minato to travel to the Land of Rivers. Although there was no direct Flying Thunder God Technique, with the help of space-time ninjutsu, it wouldn't take much time.

Minato vanished in a golden flash, and Kushina turned around and said, "Then I'll go prepare too. Give me the exact location as soon as possible. Before the main force sets off, find me first, and I'll share the Nine-Tails' chakra with everyone."

"Um."

Tatsuma nodded, and Kushina took a step to leave. After taking only two steps, Tatsuma suddenly remembered something, looked up, and said, "Kushina."

"What?"

"I hope to meet with Kurama when the war is less urgent."

"No! No! No!"

Within Kushina's mental world, alarm bells rang loudly in Kurama's heart. Even through Kushina as a "medium," Kurama could feel the overwhelming malice emanating from Tatsuma.

However, this malice was different from the real, or rather, naked malice it had sensed before. The malice that Chenma brought it now was invisible, but extremely swift.

It's like a hidden, eerie undercurrent lurking beneath a calm surface. Though invisible, if you let your guard down and jump in because of the calmness of the water, you'll die without a burial place.

The intensity of the malice was unprecedented in the life of the Nine-Tailed Fox. It was far more evil than that of Madara Uchiha back then, and the malice was far, far more evil!

However, it couldn't convey this malice to Kushina so that she could empathize with it, so it could only roar in its mental world, trying to make Kushina believe it.

Fortunately, Kushina harbored a deep prejudice against Tatsuma, so she didn't agree to his request. Instead, she looked at him warily and asked, "What do you want to do?"

"Let's have a chat, clear up any misunderstandings, and hopefully we can learn something from it."

Tatsuma spoke casually, but for some reason, Kurama felt an even more chilling malice approaching. It roared in resistance, and Kushina narrowed her eyes, saying:

"Let's talk about it later. Anyway, your misunderstanding can't be cleared up with just a simple talk."

Tatsuma didn't expect Kushina to agree to his request directly. He nodded and said nothing more. After she left, Tatsuma and Orochimaru refined the plan and devised several contingency plans.

"Report! The main force of the Iwa ninja has advanced into the high-threat zone."

A ninja from a reconnaissance squad came to report, and Tatsuma and the others stopped their discussion. Orochimaru, as the camp commander, nodded and said, "I understand. Shikaku, go and arrange the assembly."

"it is good."

Just as Shikaku stood up to leave, a golden light suddenly appeared, and Minato appeared carrying Tenka, whose eyes were rolling back, lips were pale, and who was trembling.

Although it wasn't the first time I'd experienced the Flying Thunder God Technique, as a teammate of Minato and Tatsuma for many years, it had been a long time since I'd experienced such a long-distance transfer.

Tianfeng, hands on his knees, half-squatted and panting for a while before daring to straighten up. He took out a fruit that looked like an orange from his pocket, put it in his mouth and chewed it, saying in a somewhat weak tone:

"I'm not late, am I?"

Before Tatsuma could speak, Tsunade looked Tenfu up and down, then turned to Tatsuma and asked, "Is he really capable?"

Tsunade was afraid that Tianfeng would faint, but upon hearing this, Tianfeng's ears burned, and he pounded his chest, saying, "Fine! There's no one in the Uchiha clan who can't do it!"

Tsunade raised an eyebrow and said, "If the Uchiha clan were so capable, the First Hokage wouldn't be my great-grandfather."

"Um... um..."

Tianfeng looked embarrassed, but he quickly found an excuse, declaring righteously, "Uchiha Madara is a rogue ninja, unworthy of the name Uchiha! His incompetence doesn't mean the Uchiha clan is incompetent!"

Inside a cave in the mountain graveyard, Madara Uchiha: "Achoo!"

(End of this chapter)