I founded the "Bragging Cult" in Naruto.

Chapter 563 Based on my many years of experience as a man, I can say that no man is a good thing.

"It's so cold. My neck is so sore, is it a stiff neck?"

Mei Terumi slowly woke up. The chill from her chest to her back made her unconsciously curl up, but as soon as she moved, an unbearable soreness came from her neck, which restored some of her energy, and she barely managed to open her eyes.

However, unlike when I usually wake up, my vision didn't quickly clear from the double image; after a while, it remained blurry.

Even the events that happened before I went to sleep were completely chaotic and I couldn't recall them at all. I didn't even know where I was.

"Where? My room doesn't seem this cold."

Although her physical discomfort was urging Mei Terumi to wake up quickly, her confused mind was not very obedient and seemed to be still spinning.

"Takasugi Shinsuke!"

For no apparent reason, the name popped into her mind. In an instant, Mei Terumi felt her vision clear up and her chaotic mind finally began to make sense.

Her body moved faster than her brain. She sat up from the ground, trying to stand up by bracing herself against the ground, but her body only managed to get up a little bit, and her center of gravity only shifted slightly upward before she became disoriented again.

"Snap!"

She fell onto the wet floor, which made her more alert. She shook her head, which felt like it was detached from her brain and seemed to make a sound as she shook it, and Mei Terumi remembered some things.

She encountered a samurai who said he was... Sakata Gintoki? Sakamoto Tatsuma? No, his name was... Takasugi Shinsuke!

"Heh~"

"Cough cough cough~"

Mei Terumi instinctively took a breath, but inhaled some not-so-clean water, causing her to cough and gag.

"Takasugi Shinsuke!"

The name echoed in her mind again, and after coughing up most of the saliva in her mouth, Mei Terumi stood up, leaning against the wall, and began to take deep breaths.

She tightened her wet clothes, wiped the water off her face, and her sense of smell gradually returned. The fishy smell of the soil, the sour smell of the rain, and the stench of decay all began to assert their presence.

However, the most noticeable thing is a peculiar fishy smell, the smell of blood!

At this moment, she finally remembered where she was. She was in the alley next to the embassy. It was here that she was attacked by the most heinous rogue ninja in the history of the village.

The smell of blood made Mei Terumi's nostrils twitch, and then her face showed horror. It was the smell coming from inside the embassy.

She disregarded everything else and quickly climbed over the wall. There seemed to be no one in the embassy's courtyard, even though it should have been guarded by ninja and samurai.

Moreover, it seemed too quiet here; apart from the patter of rain, there was no other sound.

Terumi Mei was in a state of extreme panic as she strode toward the embassy building.

"Squeak~"

The door wasn't locked. She pushed it open and saw a pile of corpses on the floor, and strangely swollen water inside, despite being indoors.

These were all daimyo's men, samurai, and ninja from Kirigakure. Mei Terumi also noticed that several Kirigakure ninja seemed to be holding signal flares, and one Kirigakure ninja even had a signal flare in his right hand and his left hand on the fuse.

However, the left hand was not connected to the left arm, but was instead attached to the fuse.

The severed hand was charred black, and judging from the tree-like texture spreading across the skin, Mei Terumi immediately thought of the attack marks left by the Lightning Release ninjutsu that her teacher had taught her.

The interior walls of the building still bear some chisel marks, but below the chisel marks, there are no obvious wood chips or wall plaster. Instead, they are scattered irregularly in the hall. These are traces of Wind Release ninjutsu.

The other rooms were located on both sides of the hall. As Mei Terumi's gaze swept across the room, she noticed that many of the doors were open.

She rushed over to check, only to find the room filled with dead Cloud Ninja and Sand Ninja. The Cloud Ninja had marks left by Wind Release and Water Release ninjutsu, while the Sand Ninja had marks left by Lightning Release and Water Release attacks.

Inside the vast embassy, ​​apart from Terumi Mei, who had just arrived, there was no trace of any living person.

"Splash~ Splash~ Splash~"

Her own heartbeat, a heartbeat she had never paid attention to before, was now pounding loudly. Terumi Mei kept swallowing, and she ran frantically back to the hall, only to trip over a broken leg.

However, she couldn't even think of crying out in pain. Instead, she used both hands and feet to grab the nearest signal flare, since she didn't have any on her and had to use the ones here.

Picking up the signal flare, she rushed out of the house, pulled the fuse, and a ball of sparks, trailing a plume of smoke, soared into the sky.

"Bang!"

A burst of fireworks erupted, and a flash of white light suddenly streaked across the dim sky—it was lightning.

"Crack! Boom!"

The belated thunderclap seemed to strike Mei Terumi's soul; she collapsed to the ground, her eyes beginning to lose focus.

After a while, she heard footsteps and turned around to see a group of ninjas wearing Kirigakure headbands. Their expressions were extremely solemn, and as they got closer, they roughly guessed what had happened.

After all, although the smell of blood was masked by the mist and rain and was difficult for ordinary people to detect, it was extremely pungent for ninjas, especially those who frequently dealt with blood.

The ninja searched the interior of the embassy, ​​his face turning extremely grim as he went in and out.

A moment later, a Kirigakure ninja dressed in a Jonin uniform approached Mei Terumi, sized her up, and then asked, "You're Eigoro's subordinate, aren't you?"

Mei Terumi nodded subconsciously. Her team leader, who was also her teacher, was named Goro. The Kirigakure Jonin nodded and asked, "Could you tell me what happened here?"

"My corpse came in."

The Kirigakure Jonin frowned. Mei Terumi's words offered no useful information. After listening for a while, he roughly understood what she meant: Mei Terumi had acted this way from the moment she entered.

Completely useless information.

Just as the Kirigakure Jonin was about to ask something, Mei Terumi suddenly stood up, looking around anxiously, with a bad feeling in her heart.

Her teacher led and was in charge of the mission's talks and alliance negotiations. If problems arose within the mission, her teacher should also be held directly responsible.

Although the nearby Mist Ninja might arrive first due to the distance, it shouldn't have taken this long for his teacher to still not appear.

Mei Terumi suddenly took off running towards the outside of the embassy. The Kirigakure Jonin frowned even more, and a Kirigakure ninja next to him asked if they should stop Mei Terumi, but the Kirigakure Jonin shook his head.

It's perfectly normal for a ninja who hasn't gone through the Blood Mist Selection to be terrified upon seeing such a scene.

I don't know why the Fourth Hokage selected such ninjas. This year's graduates are probably the worst in Kirigakure's history. Even with war imminent, they shouldn't have been so lenient.

After all, what kind of ninja could possibly be on the battlefield? They might even drag their comrades down.

Mei Terumi ran wildly down the road, knocking over countless pedestrians along the way, but she was in no mood to stop and apologize, and continued on her way.

The embassy is for foreign missions to stay in. Although her teacher was in charge of this meeting, he was staying at a post in Kirigakure in Daimyo Prefecture.

When she rushed back, her unease intensified because she smelled a similar odor to that of the embassy.

Rushing into the house, her face grew even paler. Her teacher was now a corpse, with a jumbled but sharp wound on his throat and bloodstains splattered on the surrounding walls. It was another Wind Release ninjutsu.

A few steps in front of her teacher, there was a corpse lying on the ground. Although it was face down, it appeared to be a Sand Ninja based on its clothing.

The various traces here, when put together, can easily conjure up a scene: her teacher clashed with a Sand Ninja, who used Wind Release ninjutsu to slash her teacher's neck, but her teacher, in her dying moments, used Water Release ninjutsu to kill the Sand Ninja.

It appears to be a simple, unadorned crime scene.

But that's not how it is, that's not how it is.

Mei Terumi shook her head. What she saw was not the truth. The truth was that Takasugi Shinsuke, that rogue ninja, was the one who orchestrated all of this.

Did she intend to provoke a war between the three countries by having the delegations from Sunagakure and Kumogakure die in the Land of Water and also killing her teacher, Takasugi Shinsuke?

The image of the wandering samurai kept flashing through her mind, and Mei Terumi's gaze wandered aimlessly around her. Suddenly, a letter caught her attention.

She moved stiffly, like a puppet on a string, to the envelope. On it was written, "To Alice, I'm sorry, this is to Terumi Mei," written clearly and distinctly.

Before she could even think about who Alice was, Mei Terumi picked up the envelope and, with trembling hands, tried to open it. However, the sealing wax was as solid as steel, and no matter how many times she tried, she couldn't open the envelope.

"Rip~"

In the end, she tore open the envelope and took out the letter inside, which was still attached to the envelope.

"Hello, Mei Terumi. My name is Tatsuma Sakamoto. Of course, you should be more familiar with my other name, Shinsuke Takasugi."

I am the very, very bad rogue ninja from Kirigakure that you mentioned. Of course, I am not actually that. You will find out my true identity in the near future.

The story you want to know about me is yours to discover. The main purpose of this letter is to make a deal with you: please keep my existence a secret.

As a bargaining chip, I will also continue to hide one—no, two—secrets from you, and you should know what I mean.

Finally, I wish you good health. By the way, don't get too close to men you're interested in in the future, because men are more adept at bringing misfortune to women than at finding a partner. This is my experience after being a man for decades.

——Tatsuma Sakamoto"

Mei Terumi stared blankly at the casually formatted letter in her hand until she faintly heard footsteps. In her panic, a viscous liquid seemed to flow from her hand, and the letter turned into strands of white light, completely corroding away.

"Mei Terumi, right? Here."

The sound suddenly stopped, and Mei Terumi turned around, her pale face and bewildered, helpless eyes falling on the ninja who had come here.

Looking at this pitiful little girl, even though she was used to seeing blood and death, the Mist Ninja couldn't help but soften. She stepped forward, gently pulled down Mei Terumi's headband, and covered her eyes. Then she gently held her head and said:

"I'm sorry to have you see all this, but this is the world of ninjas. If you want to cry, cry your heart out before you go to the battlefield."

"Waaaaah~"

(End of this chapter)