I founded the "Bragging Cult" in Naruto.

Chapter 561: He brought flowers home the day after Valentine's Day; he probably didn't go home the night before.

How long is a moment? The moment before death is long enough for one to look back on a lifetime, and there is even room for reflection.

A single moment is enough to traverse vast oceans and mountains; thinking of a particular person can also...

"Ugh~"

Yekura collapsed to her knees on the desert, retching repeatedly. In an instant, she had gone from a misty island to the heart of a windswept desert. The feeling of her body and soul being torn apart by the space, and the sense of disconnect between her brain's perception and the changing reality, made Yekura extremely uncomfortable.

"Let's rinse our mouths."

Just as Ye Cang's eyes were beginning to focus, a glass of water was handed to her. Ye Cang instinctively took it, looked at the clear water, glanced around, and asked, "Where did this water come from?"

The surrounding area is clearly desert, so where did this clear water come from, and where did this cup, which still exudes the life force of plants, come from? These are things that shouldn't exist in the desert.

Tatsuma said, "Don't actually drink the water made from chakra, or it will disrupt the chakra within your body."

Chakra can create water and even simulate various physical properties of water, but its essence is still chakra. Once it is out of control, it will quickly turn into chakra and disappear without a trace.

However, few ninjas would train in the art of creating water with chakra, because creating too little water wouldn't be of much use to ninjutsu, and if they wanted to create a lot of water, they wouldn't have enough chakra to support it.

Therefore, this skill is of little use to most ninjas, and very few people master it. Even if they can create water, it is difficult to do it like Tatsuma, whose water is so well-known that even ninjas cannot distinguish it.

Yekura gently shook the cup. Even she couldn't tell whether it was chakra-generated water or clear distilled water.

She took a small sip of the water, which even contained mountain spring water that cascaded down the cliff and splashed onto the bluestone, turning into countless tiny droplets that drifted with the mountain breeze, exuding a clear and refreshing fragrance.

Yekura had a deep memory of this scent, after all, she only had the opportunity to leave the Land of Wind for a very short time, and in her short life, she had only smelled this scent a few times.

People in other countries may not realize it, but for the people of the Land of Wind, water is indeed a delicious treat worth remembering.

Yekura really wanted to swallow the delicious water, but it would indeed disrupt her chakra. Reluctantly, she spat the water onto the desert, watching it flow into a trickle and be swallowed by the desert. She felt a little sad.

"Alright, that's all I'll take you this far. You'd better get back to the public eye as soon as possible. If you wait any longer, Luo Sha will probably announce that you were killed for trying to collude with other villages."

Chenma looked at Yecang, who seemed to gaze at the flowing water with a melancholy and reluctance that seemed to stretch back a thousand years. He simply couldn't understand it. After saying something, he didn't wait for Yecang's reply before turning into a silver stream of light and disappearing.

Ye Cang sat on the quicksand, feeling no discomfort, after all, this was her past. She looked at the spot where Chenma had disappeared, feeling somewhat lost.

The events of the past few hours had overwhelmed her brain, including the village and the explosive information about her personally, to the point that she was almost mentally impaired.

That slight sense of security she felt had vanished without a trace, even though Yekura knew it was all fake; Sakamoto Tatsuma would never truly give her that kind of security.

"That damned guy!"

Supported by the quicksand that was constantly draining her strength, Yecang barely managed to stand up, looked up at the moonlight, and barely managed to discern her direction before beginning to move forward.

The wooden cup in his hand was hanging from his waist.

After walking for a while, Ye Cang suddenly kicked the quicksand under her feet in a fit of impotent rage, and tried to smooth her hair, which had been ruffled by the night wind. She felt her face was a little wet and wiped it haphazardly.

After venting her emotions, she could only continue walking. Suddenly, she remembered some strange women she had seen in her childhood.

As dawn broke, when she went out for training, she would always see those women, their faces exhausted, their makeup disheveled, their hair messy, and their clothes showing signs of wrinkles and tears.

Often, those women also had tears in their eyes, and they carried their shoes in their hands, as if afraid that the sound of their footsteps would attract the attention of others.

Sometimes on the way to the training ground, Yekura would brush past these women, and they would unconsciously cover their faces.

These women had a terrible reputation; they were seen as criminals and laughingstocks. Yekura vowed then that she would never become one of them.

But today, she suddenly understood what those women were feeling on their way home.

It's unclear who she was trying to impress, but Yekura managed an awkward smile and wiped away tears that had welled up in her eyes.

"Damn it! I won't become a laughing stock."

Talking to herself, or perhaps making a vow, she straightened her back and strode toward the camp.

In the Land of Water, Tatsuma let out a long breath. Although he had long since adapted to the Flying Thunder God Technique, the sudden change in climate still gave him goosebumps and made him feel a little dazed.

But in just a moment, he came to his senses and looked at Tianfeng in front of him, and the two brothers, Hyuga Hiashi and Hyuga Hizashi, who had arrived at some unknown time.

"Tianfeng, what kind of look is that?"

It's one thing for the Hyuga brothers to roll their eyes, but what's with Uchiha Tenka's eye-rolling?

Tianfeng looked at Chenma and spat, "The way you look at a scumbag."

"Scumbag? Where is he?"

Chenma looked around, and Tianfeng snorted before saying, "Did you trade your feelings for this talent? Ugh~ I wanted to punch you after hearing what you said to Yecang."

"Wow! Why are you always thinking about beating up your comrades? A few days ago you said you were going to beat up Qian Dou, and now you're saying you're going to beat me up. You dare to talk now, but in a few years are you really going to take action?"

"Rogue ninja! He must be added to the list of rogue ninjas! I'll have the Third Hokage issue an arrest warrant when I get back!"

Tatsuma looked at Tenka with a pained expression. Tenka gave Tatsuma a disdainful look and said, "Don't think that just becoming a rogue ninja is enough. Even if I end up in the Pure Land, I will be reborn and curse you as a scumbag!"

"Is what you're saying even human? It's only because you were once my captain that I could have smashed you to pieces with a single Susanoo, turning you into a complete scumbag."

The Hyuga brothers were completely bewildered. What were these two talking about? What kind of outrageous thing had Tatsuma said before they even arrived?

It's worth noting that when Tianfeng was in the camp, he didn't get this angry when he heard some Hyuga clansmen subtly implying that the Uchiha were inferior to the Hyuga.

No, I have to go back and gossip about it, I have to find out what Tatsuma said!

What? Gossip isn't something ninjas should do?! They're Hyuga ninjas, what's wrong with gossiping?!

Noticing the strange look in the two brothers' eyes, Tatsuma quickly changed the subject, asking, "Alright, let's not talk about these trivial matters anymore. Have you dealt with those Mist Ninja?"

Tenka took a deep breath, suppressing his anger that was about to erupt at Tatsuma again, and said, "It's all taken care of. They all think their operation was a success and have already gone back to report. Hiashi and Hizashi are here to report."

Tatsuma looked at Hiashi, who suppressed his gossip and said, "According to Hyuga's surveillance, the news of Yekura's death should have been reported to Kirigakure, because a large number of Kirigakure ninja have started to operate on the west coast."

Perhaps after the Kirigakure ninjas have assembled, they will launch an invasion. Judging from the reserve ships in the ports along the coast, the number of Kirigakure ninjas they will send out should only be around two to three thousand.

After all, they need to carry a lot of supplies for transoceanic operations, so we estimate that over 60% of the capacity of the Hidden Mist Village's ships will be used to carry various supplies.

Tatsuma nodded. This number was within his expectations. He even predicted that the number of ninjas dispatched by Kirigakure would be even smaller, since no matter how impulsive Kirigakure was, it was impossible for them to use all the available manpower and resources.

Although the information obtained from the Cloud Ninja and Sand Ninja was enough to reduce the number of probing actions by the Mist Ninja, the Mist Village still needed to verify the authenticity of this information. Therefore, the Leaf Village did not face much pressure in the first round of battles.

However, once Kirigakure confirms Konoha's defensive strength, they will likely launch a large-scale invasion, especially since Konoha has planned two battlefields in advance: the ruins of the Land of Whirlpools and the eastern coast of the Land of Fire, both of which are extremely advantageous for Kirigakure ninja.

The main force against the Mist Ninja is still the Hyuga, who are skilled in close-to-mid-range combat. If the number of Mist Ninja increases, Konoha will likely fall into trouble again.

Even Tatsuma found the combined power of the entire ocean somewhat challenging.

Seeing Tatsuma frowning in thought, Hiashi didn't dare to ask the question about whether they could retreat. Tatsuma's appearance reminded Hiashi of the feeling he had when he was a child facing his father.

Fearing that speaking would anger him and invite unwarranted scolding, he chose to remain silent with Chenma, which was, after all, one of his best skills.

In the silence, Tatsuma suddenly spoke up: "Has the diplomatic mission from Kumogakure and Sunagakure, led by Rasa, returned?"

"Not yet. After all, the negotiations between the three parties are not over until Ye Cang dies."

This time it was Hizashi who answered. He was in charge of the work here and was more familiar with it than Hiashi. Tatsuma pursed his lips and said, "There are still some things to do before leaving."

By this time, Tianfeng's anger had subsided. While the Hyuga brothers were still somewhat confused, he had caught up with Tatsuma's pace and asked, "Should we attack the foreign missions?"

"Hmm, they might see through our Konoha's frame-up, but we still have to give it a try."

"I've mastered some Wind Release techniques, although they'll be less effective in the Land of Water, but killing a few Cloud Ninja or Mist Ninja shouldn't be a problem."

Tenka nodded, and Tatsuma nodded, saying, "Hiashi, Hizashi, you will cooperate with Tenka and assist him in killing the people from Kirigakure who are receiving the delegation. If there are no unforeseen circumstances, you can only use Wind Release."

"Leave the Cloud and Sand Ninja to me. The rest of you continue monitoring the Mist Ninja's movements and prepare for a regrouping retreat. Is that alright?"

"no problem."

Tenka nodded, and the Hyuga brothers exchanged a glance before quickly adding, "We're fine with that too."

(End of this chapter)