I founded the "Bragging Cult" in Naruto.

Chapter 547 When you're down on your luck, don't think about how things will turn around; think about cutting your losses.

"Huh?! Ah! Ah!!! Damn Konoha!!!"

It is said that good fortune never comes in pairs, but misfortunes never come singly. When Onoki thought that his experience today was bad enough, he returned to the camp and saw something even worse.

Old Purple, covered in blood, and the listless Four-Tailed Beast were fighting against a steam-swirling steed. On that strange horse's face were a pair of eyes that Onoki absolutely did not want to see at this moment.

Sharingan!

Clearly, the Five-Tails was controlled by the Sharingan, and the person capable of doing this immediately came to mind for Onoki the man who made him extremely unhappy whenever he thought of him.

He quickly banished that person's image from his mind, constantly reminding himself that the person was dead and could no longer cause trouble in the ninja world.

Then he began to think about who else among the existing Uchiha could use the Sharingan to control a tailed beast.

In his mind, he thought of Uchiha Taku and Uchiha Fugaku, father and son. After all, the two were the former and current heads of the Uchiha clan. Given the Uchiha's personality, being able to become the head of the clan was itself an affirmation of their strength by the clan members.

In particular, Uchiha Takumi awakened the three-tomoe Sharingan at a young age and demonstrated his strength and methods in the Uchiha Setsuna rebellion decades ago.

After living in Konoha for decades, it's understandable that he would have made some progress. If anyone in the Uchiha clan has awakened the legendary Mangekyou Sharingan, then Uchiha Takumi has the highest probability of doing so.

As his son, Fugaku Uchiha, who has gradually made a name for himself as "Ferocious-Eyed Fugaku" in the past year through numerous battles between the Land of Rivers and the Sand Village, is also highly likely to awaken the Mangekyou Sharingan.

However, Onoki quickly realized that these two people were probably not Tatsuma's "outside help." The most likely candidate was Uchiha Tenkaze, who was rumored to have followed Sakamoto Tatsuma deep into the Land of Lightning more than half a year ago to seal the Cloud Thunder Gorge.

After all, the uncanny ability to be killed, coupled with the highly recognizable and eye-catching giant chakra skeleton, are all symbols of the Mangekyou Sharingan.

At this moment, Onoki felt a sentiment remarkably similar to that of the Third Raikage: Why did Konoha keep producing one capable young person after another?

The two shining stars of the new era in Konoha, Gold and Silver, aside from the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki who had been hiding for several years, and any Uchiha who was previously unknown, have now become top figures in the ninja world.

It was as if everyone gathered around Sakamoto Tatsuma would be elevated, and Ōnoki's thoughts wandered again as he suddenly realized this.

According to Wenya's more detailed report after his rest, Sakamoto Tatsuma seems to have an Uchiha student. If another Uchiha's Sharingan has reached the Mangekyou level, then there would be two Uchiha with Mangekyou Sharingan.

Back then, even the Senju brothers Hashirama and Tobirama fought so hard. If other villages encountered two Mangekyou Sharingan users, who could take their place? Not to mention now there's Sakamoto Tatsuma, whose potential is in no way inferior to Hashirama's.

While he remained silent, Old Zi wiped the blood from his face and roared, "Come help! What are you all standing there for?!"

At this moment, Lao Zi had no time to think about why the main force had returned so early, since he had returned even earlier because that Nine-Tails Jinchuriki was truly impossible to deal with.

While he and the Four-Tails were gathering a Tailed Beast Ball, that woman started unleashing a barrage of attacks. Especially today, the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki seemed to have taken some kind of gunpowder, being much more irritable than during past battles.

In the past, he always felt that when he fought against the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, his opponents held back, as if they were familiarizing themselves with the power of the Tailed Beast. This is a necessary stage for Jinchuriki.

As fellow Jinchūriki, rivals can also provide great help; this is how Rōshi and Han trained together when they were young.

Although he felt resentful about becoming a whetstone for the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, in general, Rōshi could still accept it. After all, he had no interest in the war at the moment, and he could just coast along with the enemy's Jinchuriki, which was perfectly acceptable on the surface.

But today, thinking of the countless shadow clones and the Tailed Beast Balls held up by those clones, Old Purple felt the pain in his body flare up again.

If he hadn't decisively chosen to retreat, he really doubted he would have been crushed to death by the Tailed Beast Ball.

After rushing back to his camp, he originally intended to inform the front lines that the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki might join the main battlefield at any time, or go to intercept the Five-Tails and Han.

But when he returned to the camp, he found that it had been destroyed beyond recognition. There were only a few survivors left, and a large amount of food, equipment, and weapons had been destroyed.

So he had no choice but to drag his injured body along with the Four-Tails, who had been attacked by the Nine-Tails, to fight against the rampaging Five-Tails.

He had finally made it back to the main force, and he thought that his "comrades" who should have won would come to relieve his stress as soon as possible.

But what was the result? From the Tsuchikage Onoki down to any random genin, no one offered any help. In fact, most of them were dejected and looked like walking corpses.

"Did we fail?"

The thought flashed through Lao Zi's mind, and he became even more puzzled, because it seemed that the battle losses were not serious. Even if they were defeated, their combat strength should have been well preserved. There was no reason for them to be so discouraged.

After all, judging from the casualties, even if they lost, it should only be a minor defeat.

"Bang!"

Before they could figure it out or ask any questions, the Five-Tails charged at them headfirst. Old Purple and the Four-Tails were sent flying backward at the same time. Amidst the spray of blood mist, the bloodstains that Old Purple had just wiped off his face were now layered and speckled again.

"Waaah~"

The steam whistling sound rang out again, and the five tails reared up and charged towards the fallen Old Purple once more. At this moment, some light returned to Onoki's eyes, but his raised hands seemed somewhat at a loss.

Having just faced Tatsuma, Onoki raised his hand, intending to use Dust Release, as it was the only way to potentially kill Sakamoto Tatsuma.

But after raising his hand, he realized that his opponent was no longer that hateful young man, Chenma, but the village's assets, assets that needed to be protected.

Overwhelmed by physical and mental exhaustion, Onoki suddenly lost his composure and didn't know what to do.

Needless to say, the other Iwa ninja were even more desperate, especially those thousand or so whose lives had just been decided by Tatsuma, and who didn't even have the right to know the outcome of their fates. Their eyes were filled with gloom at that moment.

At the critical moment, Huang Tu, whose thinking was purer, reacted. Dragging his body, which felt like it was falling apart and aching all over, he used his hands, which had just been stitched up and had not yet begun to heal, to form hand seals and rushed towards the Five-Tails.

"Earth Release! Mountain Earth Technique!"

Standing in front of Old Purple, Huang Tu poured the last of his chakra into the ground, because he knew that only by using all his strength could he possibly change the situation, and even then, it was only a possibility.

"Boom!"

Two hemispherical clods of earth rose from the ground, and the charging Five-Tails was stuck in the middle. It kept stomping on the ground, trying to break free of its restraints.

Huang Tu raised his hands, ignoring his torn wounds, and forcefully formed the Si Seal. Blood gushed from the burst wounds, staining his hands red. The viscous blood dripped onto the ground, seemingly amplifying the power of the technique.

The mountain soil, which had been constantly crumbling as the Five-Tails struggled, has become stable again and even shows a tendency to further compress the Five-Tails.

However, Huang Tu knew he had no chakra left. Unless he was willing to die and forcibly squeezed out more chakra, it wouldn't be enough.

He gritted his teeth, turned to look at the still-stunned Iwa ninja force, and roared, "Sealing Team! Sealing Team! Sealing Team!!"

Amid his mournful cries, the Iwa ninja seemed to come back to life, but in a state of utter chaos. In the midst of their movements, some of the sealing squad ninjas tried to rush toward the Five-Tails, but were crushed to the ground by the crowd.

The crowds jostling each other were simply making room for the sealing squad's ninjas to head towards the Five-Tails.

Seeing his son's flushed face and throbbing veins, Onoki finally regained full consciousness and shouted, "Everyone, don't panic! Sealing team, prepare!"

After saying that, he formed hand seals and flew towards the Five-Tails, while the ground trembled and rocks were continuously dug up from the ground.

"Earth Release! Steel Armor Technique!"

A giant earth giant landed on the Five-Tails, restraining its limbs and preventing it from struggling. At the same time, Onoki landed on the giant earth giant's head.

"Earth Release: Super Weight Rock Technique!"

"Bang!"

In an instant, the Five-Tails was crushed to the ground by the Earth Giant. Even though steam kept rising from its body, this directionless steam not only failed to help the Five-Tails escape, but also exacerbated its crushing situation.

Onoki breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, the Five-Tails, controlled by the Sharingan, lacked the battle wisdom it possessed when it was conscious and was unable to effectively utilize its Boil Release ability.

At this point, the Five-Tails was just a beast with ridiculously great strength, and his old bones could still control it.

After the initial chaos, the members of the sealing team managed to regroup and used sealing techniques they had practiced countless times to deal with the rampaging tailed beast jinchūriki, thus restraining the Five-Tails.

"Earth Release! Rock Fist!"

"Earth Release: Weighted Rock Technique!"

At this moment, Onoki also flew to the front of the Five-Tails and punched it repeatedly. Meanwhile, the sealing team ninjas continuously poured chakra into it, trying to disrupt the genjutsu chakra within the Five-Tails' body.

However, the Five-Tails was too large. As the sealing team began to exhaust themselves, the bloodshot color in the Five-Tails' eyes gradually faded, returning to its clear, foolish state.

"Bang!"

"Click~"

"Ah! My back!"

As Onoki threw another punch, the Five-Tails suddenly disappeared, or rather, shrank. Onoki, whose punch missed, was like Minato catching a Flying Thunder God kunai that had been used to enhance the weight of the rock, and crashed directly to the ground.

This dramatic scene somewhat revitalized the lifeless Iwa ninja. Ōnoki, supporting his aching back, suddenly felt it was all worthwhile upon witnessing this.

"How did I get here?"

Han looked down at the sealing spells binding his body, then looked at the twisted and alluring Onoki, the blood-soaked Huangtu, and the old man, who was slowly getting up from the ground, his face full of confusion.

Old Purple then said, "I also want to ask, what happened to you guys today? It couldn't have been Sakamoto Tatsuma who defeated you all by himself, could it?"

Old Zi never expected that his casual question would provoke such grief and indignation from all his companions, or even to look at him with sorrow and anger.

(End of this chapter)