I founded the "Bragging Cult" in Naruto.

Chapter 57 Even well-intentioned deception is still deception, and it can still hurt people.

There were no fish left in the basket, only flat stones. A hint of embarrassment flashed across Chenma's face, after all, he had been so confident in his Illusion Dispel.

But unknowingly, he fell under a spell, mistaking a pile of stones for plump fish. If it weren't for Jiraiya's reminder, he might have become even more deeply entangled.

"Let's go buy some fish together."

Jiraiya suddenly rubbed his stomach and spoke in a louder voice than usual.

Tatsuma felt that Jiraiya was trying to cover up his mistake, but as someone who had just been tricked, he was too embarrassed to say anything.

The three of them slowly squeezed towards where Moyu was. After a while, Jiraiya arrived at the stall, squatted down, and started picking and choosing among the stones, occasionally looking like he couldn't hold onto them.

To be fair, Jiraiya's acting skills are indeed superb. Even though it was just a stone, he made it feel like a lively, jumping fish.

With a warm smile, Moyu introduced the types and prices of fish to Jiraiya, while Tatsuma and Minato observed Moyu.

Then Tatsuma came to the conclusion that Moyu himself didn't even know he was selling stones. His sincere and proud smile clearly showed that he was very satisfied with the quality of his fish.

"There are only one adult and two children on us, so these fish should be enough for us. How much do you think it costs?"

Jiraiya picked out a few larger stones and placed them on the scale. Moyu checked the weight and then said, "It's ten and a half catties in total. I'll give you ten catties, so sixty taels will do."

"So cheap?"

Even Jiraiya was a little stunned by this price, after all, sea fish would cost at least twenty taels per catty in Konoha. Moyu picked up a chipped fish knife and said with a smile:

"This place is by the sea, everyone can go out to fish. You're only patronizing me to help out the neighbors. It would be really inhuman of me to charge too much. Sir, would you like me to clean your fish?"

Jiraiya took out his wallet, nodded, and said, "Help me kill him."

Then, the three watched as Moyu used a blunt knife to scrape the stone for a while, then put the stone in a bag, took the money Jiraiya handed over, and said, "Sir, if you like it, I'll give you a discount next time you come."

"Then it's settled."

Jiraiya smiled broadly, and as he was about to stand up, supporting himself on his knees, he casually asked, "Boss, how many people have you hired to help you fish? I bet you've made quite a bit today!"

Mao You smiled shyly and said, "I only have one helper. He's very good at fishing and catches more fish than he can sell every day."

Jiraiya feigned curiosity and asked, "Is it that amazing? I'd really like to meet you if I had the chance."

Hearing Jiraiya praise his helper, Moyu also smiled with pride and said, "You've come at a bad time. If I've sold almost all of my fish, he'll come and deliver them."

Jiraiya had now fully stood up. He looked regretful and said, "That's a real shame. I don't know how long I'll be staying in the village. I still have two students to teach."

"I won't disturb you doing business anymore, boss, and I won't bother everyone buying fish anymore, so I'll be leaving now."

When Jiraiya turned around, he observed the people queuing behind him and found that they didn't show any dissatisfaction on their faces, and were even somewhat blank.

It seems their purpose was simply to buy fish, and they were determined to buy fish. If they couldn't, they would wait, and they wouldn't get angry or anything because someone was delaying them.

Frowning, Jiraiya looked at Tatsuma and the other two, gesturing for them to follow him away.

The three quickly bypassed the crowd and arrived outside the gathering area. Jiraiya threw the stone in his hand directly to the ground and then said, "You should have seen the situation. Staying inside Awa will not yield any more information."

All the fishermen have been controlled, and even if we talk to them, we can't get any clues. This has changed their perception.

As Jiraiya spoke, a solemn expression appeared on his face. This was the first time he had ever encountered such a bizarre illusion.

Moreover, the strength of this illusion exceeded his expectations. He originally thought that being able to control thousands of ordinary people was already quite remarkable, but Tatsuma and Minato had unknowingly fallen into it as well.

Although these two kids are young, Jiraiya knew very well that they were not particularly weak among Chunin.

He finally understood why the previous waves of Konoha ninja who came to investigate left Apo in a daze, leaving behind only a few notes without any core information.

"Next, I will try to make contact with that ninja beast. You all should stay away and try to stay close to Mao You. If necessary, you can restrain the ninja beast by limiting Mao You."

After thinking for a while, Jiraiya gave the order. Upon hearing this order, Tatsuma and Minato both pursed their lips. As ninjas, they actually had to resort to threatening civilians to force the mission target to comply.

Jiraiya noticed their hesitation and said, "I know what you're thinking. Ninjas shouldn't attack civilians without reason, but this is different. That ninja beast was unsealed by Moyu."

Restricting his freedom only does not violate the code of conduct for ninjas.

But just as the two were thinking about whether there was a better way to replace Jiraiya's orders, a series of wails suddenly came from within Awa.

"Let's go take a look first."

As soon as Jiraiya finished speaking, he rushed towards Awa, with Tatsuma and Minato following closely behind.

"Ash! Ash! Please, save my son!"

Rushing into Apo, they found a woman holding a four or five-year-old child, frantically pleading for help from passersby.

However, the expressions of the people around them did not change at all. They either carried their bags home or headed towards Maoyou's fish stall, completely ignoring the wailing woman.

Jiraiya instantly appeared in front of the woman, took the child from her, and asked, "What's wrong?"

"Eat fish! Eat fish! I'm stuck! I'm stuck!"

Although the woman was nervous and sad, a look of bewilderment appeared in her eyes when the topic of eating fish came up.

Jiraiya ignored him and instead checked on the child. At that moment, the child's whole body was convulsing, a lot of saliva was spilling from the corners of his mouth, and his chest and abdomen were heaving irregularly.

"He's suffocating."

Seeing this, Chenma quickly pried the boy's hands off his neck, turned him over, and then lifted him up from behind to perform the Heimlich maneuver.

"Ugh~ Ugh~ Ugh~ Pfft~ Gag~"

In just a few seconds, the boy suddenly opened his mouth and spat out a stone the size of two thumbs, and then he began to breathe rapidly.

Tatsuma quickly released him and breathed a sigh of relief, but before he could say a word to Jiraiya and Minato, the boy, who had just regained his breath, suddenly lunged at the stones on the ground.

At the same time, his hands reached for the rocks, his mouth open, as if he had been starving for days and had finally seen food.

Jiraiya swiftly kicked out, sending the rock flying into the sky. The three—teacher, student, and teacher—exchanged glances, and Jiraiya said in a deep voice, "There's no time to wait any longer. We must stop this before it causes more serious damage."

Just then, Minato pointed to a boy carrying a fish basket and wearing a straw hat far away on the street and said, "Over there!"

(End of this chapter)