I founded the "Bragging Cult" in Naruto.

Chapter 546 One way to cover up one's own defeat is to praise the strength of one's opponent.

"Ding~ [Spirit +21], [Ninjutsu +17], [Speed ​​+11]. Special Talent [Tail-Drawing Earth (Third Tsuchikage Onoki Limited Edition) +100%], Pick up?"

Because the praise was genuinely given to Onoki alone, the talent gained was only taken from Onoki; the talent of the Iwa ninja bound by the Flower Tree World was not lost.

However, this was enough to move Tatsuma, because Onoki had also dropped an extraordinary special talent. Before even checking the details of the special talent, Tatsuma knew that it was another powerful talent.

This talent is named after the mythical legend of the Yellow Dragon. The Yellow Dragon is the central dragon, also called Yinglong, which governs the earth. Legend has it that when Yu the Great was controlling the floods, the Yellow Dragon dragged its tail in front of him and drew a river on the ground.

It has the ability to easily change the terrain. Although the name is a bit exaggerated, even the strongest earth-遁 (earth-遁 is a type of magic that can be used to change the terrain) cannot reach the feat of the Yellow Dragon in mythology. But it still gives us a glimpse of its power.

When Tatsuma checked the talent details, just like the Third Raikage's [Lightning Control], the descriptions were all prefixed with various large numbers.

After just one glance, Tatsuma no longer hesitated, even urgently shouting in his mind, "Pick it up!"

The moment he picked it up, Tatsuma's chakra showed signs of imbalance, and a thin layer of rock and soil condensed on his body. However, this imbalance was only momentary, and he quickly recovered.

With the slightest movement, the thin, cicada-wing-like shell of rock and soil detached and fluttered to the ground. Almost no one noticed Tatsuma's change, not even Onoki, who was facing him, but looked dejected.

Only Orochimaru, watching Tatsuma from afar, eagerly anticipated the moment Tatsuma would suddenly produce a semi-transparent chakra box in his hand.

If Shikaku hadn't been there, Orochimaru would have believed that the kid was just like him.

However, Orochimaru noticed the falling dust. He frowned, unsure whether it was a "change" or just some rock fragments that Tatsuma had accidentally come into contact with when he shattered the rock fist.

Tatsuma looked at Onoki, his mood calmed down, and said, "Lord Tsuchikage, I accept the victory. You may take the person."

Onoki simply nodded blankly. Seeing that he didn't react, Tatsuma shook his head, knowing that even with Onoki's decades of rule, he was powerless to change the current situation.

Moreover, this time Onoki can't find anyone else to take the blame, because he is the one who has to take the blame.

Tatsuma took out a scroll from his lower back. This was the reason why Onoki had come to the battlefield, and it was also a prop that Tatsuma had planned to use if he were to put on a show with Onoki.

"I'll return the living to you, and I'll return the dead to you too."

As Tatsuma spoke, he tossed the scroll in his hand with a technique so ordinary that even a child, let alone Onoki, could easily catch it.

"Thump~"

Onoki's forehead was hit by the wooden shaft of the scroll, instantly leaving a red mark. The scroll was not caught and fell towards the Tree World.

Tatsuma's lips twitched. Today's blow seemed incredibly significant to the old man. He didn't want to say more and was about to regroup with Orochimaru and the others to retreat when Onoki spoke up:

"Why make this choice?! Why choose this option to destroy a ninja village?!"

There are many ways to defeat a ninja village. With Tatsuma's strength and talent, he could easily defeat it by force and win fair and square. There is no need to humiliate Iwagakure in this way.

Although it's ridiculous for the loser to ask the winner for a reason, Onoki just wanted to know what deep-seated hatred Tatsuma had for Iwagakure that required this method.

Tatsuma paused, then smiled and said, "You chose him, idol."

Upon hearing this answer, Onoki remained silent. Yes, it was his choice, not only today's decision, but also the entire battle, and even the war itself.

Was he wrong? He just didn't want the village's descendants to face an invincible opponent like Sakamoto Tatsuma, and he only wanted to nip Sakamoto Tatsuma in the bud before he could reach the top. Was he wrong?

There's nothing wrong with that, but to have fallen to this state is a mistake, a mistake in failure.

The countries that produce the most war criminals are always the defeated nations. No matter how noble their intentions in launching or participating in a war, if they fail, they will inevitably be guilty of countless crimes.

Although the war between Konoha and Iwagakure is still undecided, it's only a matter of time before it ends. If Tatsuma wanted, he could even decide the outcome now.

Since this battle, the war has been completely under Konoha's control, and now it remains to be seen how far Konoha intends to fight before ending it.

Tatsuma landed beside Orochimaru and the others and said, "Prepare to retreat."

"Are we just going to retreat like this? Didn't you say you were going to make the Iwa ninja pay an even greater price?"

Tsunade stopped halfway through her sentence, then lowered her voice. What she really wanted to say was that she wanted more Iwa ninja to die, but it was obviously not a good idea to say it directly.

"Grief is the best weapon; adding any other means would be superfluous."

Tatsuma turned around and looked towards the Tree World, saying, "I don't want to lead the first war of annihilation and destruction after the establishment of the ninja village system."

"If we continue fighting now, it will no longer be a war, but an venting of a blood feud. At that time, Iwagakure will be willing to disregard the peace and future of the village and the country to take revenge on Konoha."

Minato nodded and said, "Let them process their grief for a while longer. This is enough to erode their morale to the core."

Tsunade was reluctantly persuaded and nodded, then suddenly said somewhat listlessly, "I haven't even joined the war yet."

"I am also Fukasaku and Shima. I'm sorry to have made you come all this way for nothing."

Jiraiya, somewhat embarrassed, spoke to the two toad sages on his shoulders. The two sages remained silent, while Fukasaku stared intently at Tatsuma for a long while before finally saying:

"Actually, the Great Toad Sage's prophecy is quite accurate, so don't take it lightly."

These words were clearly directed at Jiraiya, who also recalled the Great Toad Sage's prophecy about Tatsuma, which said that Tatsuma was a calamity.

At least for other ninja villages, Tatsuma seemed to have earned the title without question, but he still defended his half-disciple, saying, "Tatsuma did everything for the village, and he was very sensible."

Before Fukasaku could say anything more, Shima suddenly spoke up, "Father of the child! Why are you, a toad, meddling so much in human affairs?"

After saying that, Master Shima waved to Tatsuma, who was looking over, then quickly turned his gaze to Minato and said, "Minato, you should come to Mount Myōboku often when you have time!"

"Oh?! Okay. I'll definitely do it next time."

Minato forced a smile and agreed. Seeing that the topic had been steered away, Shima quickly added, "Then we'll head back now. The kids are waiting for us to cook. Honey, let's go!"

After saying this, the two toad sages ended the summoning and returned to Mount Myōboku. Jiraiya scratched his head, and the mask on his face gradually disappeared, while his big nose gradually returned to normal.

Orochimaru had already ordered the Konoha ninja to abandon their encirclement of the Iwa ninja, and the Konoha ninja gradually retreated. During this process, not a single Iwa ninja considered counterattacking.

At least for now, they no longer have the courage or the will to fight. Whether they can participate in the battle again depends on what efforts Onoki, the Tsuchikage, can make to rebuild morale.

This is perhaps the fastest battle to end since the two ninja villages began fighting. In fact, some previous skirmishes between small teams have probably been longer than today's battle.

However, the combined effects of a whole year's war might not have been as good as what we have today.

The only difference from the past year is that there is a new ninja named Sakamoto Tatsuma in Konoha's team.

On the battlefield, even the strongest person can only play a very limited role; this is almost a theorem. But Tatsuma seems to have overturned this theorem.

He proved that he alone could match, or even surpass, the role that a complete ninja unit could play.

As Onoki looked at Tatsuma's back, which had already turned away, on the ground, he suddenly remembered another theorem that now seemed a bit ridiculous.

Every ninja has weaknesses, and the battle between ninjas is an intelligence war. As long as you know your opponent's weaknesses, you can win.

But what is Tatsuma's weakness?! Does this person even have a weakness?!

Even setting aside weaknesses, just focusing on shortcomings, what are Tatsuma's shortcomings? Is it that Onoki firmly believed Tatsuma was not good at Lightning Release, so he couldn't be very effective against Iwa ninjas who were good at Earth Release?

Obviously not. Even without using Lightning Release techniques, Tatsuma has other methods to easily defeat Iwa ninja. Moreover, judging from the Lightning Release ninjutsu he used to defeat Yotsuchi, how could Tatsuma not be proficient in Lightning Release?!

Although Tatsuma's Lightning Release technique wasn't the powerful Lightning Release that people were familiar with—in fact, it could be considered rather simple—judging from its proficiency and the ease with which it pierced through the rock fist, how could he not be skilled in Lightning Release?!

And what about his Lightning Release? It seems that in the more than ten years since his "debut," Tatsuma has only lacked the ability to use genjutsu, right? Is genjutsu a weakness of his?

Before today, Onoki might have dared to think that way, but starting today, he won't. He won't think that way anymore, not only because he's worried that Tatsuma might be hiding something, but also for a completely obvious reason.

That is, although Tatsuma is not known for his genjutsu, in the past ten years, no ninja has ever said that Tatsuma has fallen victim to his genjutsu. Tatsuma may be good at it, but he has never used it on his own initiative.

After all, Tatsuma's arsenal is well-organized, and there are simply too many ways to deal with enemies. Perhaps illusion magic, a thankless and laborious method, has never been a priority for Tatsuma?

Everyone says Tatsuma's Water Release techniques are powerful, but he didn't use them today, did he? And the Flying Thunder God Technique—Tatsuma only used it as a means, not as the core of his battle system like Minato Namikaze did.

Although he only had a short ninja career of a little over ten years, Tatsuma's skills had already surpassed those of any other ninja in the ninja world, and no one knew what else he was hiding.

They slowly descended and landed, dejected. At this time, the few Iwa ninjas skilled in Wind Release had already blown away the pollen within the Tree World, while continuously rescuing the Iwa ninjas trapped within the Flower Tree World.

Huang Tu slowly regained consciousness with the help of his companions. Looking at his father's gloomy face and the large bump on his forehead, Huang Tu asked, "Father... how... how is he?"

Onoki remained silent for a long time before looking up and addressing the Iwa ninja busy in the forest: "From now on, any Iwa ninja undertaking any mission may abandon the mission immediately if they encounter Konoha's Sakamoto Tatsuma or Namikaze Minato!"

One way to cover up one's own failures is to exaggerate the strength of one's opponents.

Over time, this can create the illusion that failure is not due to the weakness of the losers, but rather the strength of the victors.

Now, burdened with too many "blames," Onoki is unable to move forward, let alone lead the Iwa ninja to regain their morale. Therefore, he can only endure the pain and disgust, and go against his conscience to praise the village's enemies.

It's not that Onoki is too weak, it's just that Sakamoto Tatsuma is too strong. If anyone disagrees, go find Sakamoto Tatsuma and have a go.

(End of this chapter)