I founded the "Bragging Cult" in Naruto.

Chapter 601 You can't imagine the happiness of the rich if you've never been rich.

"Is this what it feels like for Tatsuma to enter Sage Mode? It turns out I've always underestimated Sage Mode. I'm just a frog in a well, unable to see the sky."

Feeling the surging Sage Chakra within him, Minato suddenly felt a little ashamed. After all, he had already concluded that while Sage Mode was powerful, its strength was limited.

It turned out that he had never experienced the true Sage Mode. Only ninjas with chakra reserves far exceeding those of ordinary people could master the true essence of this technique.

Minato didn't like Sage Mode before because he couldn't flexibly refine chakra in Sage Mode, and the amount of chakra he could refine at one time was extremely limited. If he forced it to match the high energy consumption of Sage Mode, then he would only have one technique's lifespan.

Minato felt it wasn't worth spending so much time balancing the energy to achieve equilibrium for a single technique, because he could have done much more in that time.

No wonder Tatsuma likes Sage Mode even now. If he had that much chakra, he could squander it as he pleases after entering Sage Mode, and he would love it too!

Immortal mode is like a luxury house. When you're broke, you can live in a small apartment of about ten square meters. Trying to save up half a month's salary to rent a villa for a day just feels like a waste of money.

However, if one can easily afford a luxury villa, then the disadvantages of luxury villas become insignificant. Issues such as water and electricity consumption, cleaning costs, and inconvenient commuting are no longer problems.

Because these shortcomings can be easily solved with money, just like Sage Mode. Minato, who had exhausted all his strength before, could only get a trial card for Sage Mode. All he saw about Sage Mode were its shortcomings.

The preparation time is long, the endurance is short, and there is a possibility of being distracted during the battle. You need to be on your guard to maintain the balance of energy in your body and avoid losing control of energy while maintaining Sage Mode.

Such a Sage Mode is practically useless, but what if you had enough chakra? Long preparation time? What's a little time compared to gaining several times the power of an entire battle?

Short battery life? Minato doesn't even know how to waste his Sage Chakra to exhaust it all, use up all the techniques he knows, and still feel like he has plenty left.

As for maintaining the stability of Sage Mode? Just practice more often, right? Once you get more proficient, you won't need to be distracted, because your body will have memory and will instinctively maintain the energy balance.

Unfortunately, I don't have that much chakra.

Shaking his head, Minato was still reluctant to completely dissipate the Sage Chakra within his body, so he maintained Sage Mode and looked in Tatsuma's direction.

Tsunade had already stepped forward to examine him, but her expression wasn't good. He took a few steps closer, and before he could ask anything, Tsunade said, "The strength and rhythm of the pulse, and the frequency of breathing are all too strange."

And the skin and muscles... the texture is completely different too. Pressing it feels like pressing a buckwheat hull pillow. This isn't how a human should behave. Minato, send us back to the village immediately.

Tsunade looked up and said, "Katsura Sage, Okumura, Haeyuu, and everyone else, thank you for your hard work. I'll take Tatsuma back for a checkup."

The slug sage slowly lowered his body and said, "I'm sorry, I couldn't be of much help."

"No, without Shikkotsu Forest, Tatsuma wouldn't have been able to wait for us to arrive."

Tsunade comforted the Slug Sage, whose voice was filled with shame. The Slug Sage touched his whiskers and said, "Please let me know if you hear anything."

"It definitely will."

Tsunade nodded. At this moment, Kushina had come to her side and shared some of her chakra with Tsunade. With their chakra connected, Kushina nodded to Minato.

Minato nodded in response and formed the opposing hand seal. He only intended to mobilize his chakra to sense the surrounding situation, but the Sage Chakra spread so fast that even Minato couldn't react in time.

By the time he came to his senses, the range of his chakra perception had already spread beyond the Shikkotsu Forest, and he had even sensed the jutsu left behind in the ruins of the Land of Whirlpools. In that instant of discerning it, he even sensed the coastal border of the Land of Fire.

But his brows quickly furrowed, and he said, "The war between the Hyuga and Kirigakure ninja seems to have stalled, I..."

"Send us back, then go test your strength."

The gaunt Orochimaru saw through Minato's thoughts and added, "If possible, impersonate Tatsuma. You know, Tatsuma needs to rest for an unknown period of time, so we can't let the outside world know about his health problems."

"I see."

"I'll go with you later."

Kushina looked at Minato and said in an unyielding tone, Minato nodded. At this moment, his senses had spread to an extremely wide range, and he activated the Flying Thunder God Technique.

After only two jumps, the group returned to the Senju clan's territory. Kushina severed the chakra connection, and Minato said, "We'll be back soon."

"Let's go cause a ruckus! Who told Tatsuma to get into trouble in the Land of Water?"

Tsunade said in a cold tone, "It's true that doctors have a benevolent heart, but she is also a ninja who has taken countless lives, an older sister who loves her family, and a mature woman who judges people based on their personalities, not the issues at hand!"

She can't go looking for trouble with the Mist Ninja herself right now, because taking care of Tatsuma is much more important than dealing with those people. Let Minato take on this task.

Minato looked at Kushina, just as they were about to set off, and Tenka said, "I'll go with you. After all, I'm more familiar with it, and I was the one who had the least fun in the Land of Water."

"Let's go then."

A flash of golden light, and the three disappeared. Tsunade said to the Nara brothers, "This is a top secret matter. You stay here until the Anbu arrive. Shisui, take good care of our guests."

Shisui lived in the Senju clan's territory for quite some time. As Tatsuma's student, he was practically a host, so it was only right that he entertained his guest.

Finally, Tsunade looked at Orochimaru and said, "To the hospital or the Wood Release research institute?"

These two places have the most complete facilities; only these two places can meet the requirements for examining Tatsuma's body. Orochimaru, having finally regained some strength with the help of the Nine-Tails' chakra, stood up and said:

"The research institute, as you yourself said, this is a top-secret incident."

It wasn't specified who should inform Hiruzen Sarutobi, because both Tsunade and Orochimaru knew that Hiruzen Sarutobi was also concerned about the situation. Perhaps when they appeared in the village, Hiruzen Sarutobi would already know and take action.

Extra notifications or waiting are unnecessary; every little bit of time saved is valuable. Besides, it doesn't matter if Hiruzen Sarutobi misses out now, since that old guy isn't of much use anyway.

Tsunade picked up Tatsuma and muttered, "He's so tall, it's hard to lift him."

After complaining, the two quickly headed towards the Wood Release research institute located in the back mountain. Fortunately, Orochimaru had recently obtained access to the institute and could use all the equipment without needing to crack it.

When the two arrived with Tatsuma, three people were already waiting. Hiruzen Sarutobi was standing at the entrance smoking, while Biwako and Jabami had started up all the equipment they might need.

While Tsunade went to change her clothes, Tatsuma had already been taken by Biwako and Orochimaru for some basic check-ups. Hiruzen Sarutobi grabbed Orochimaru and began to ask what had happened.

Soon after, Nara Shikamaru and Yamanaka Ochū also arrived to discuss countermeasures. Fortunately, according to the information Orochimaru obtained from Tenka, the Kirigakure ninja were unaware that Tatsuma was in trouble.

If even the Mist Ninja didn't know, then others were even less aware. This was good news for Konoha, as they no longer needed to worry about news of Tatsuma's "serious injury" leaking out and triggering probing or counterattacks from various parties.

The inspections proceeded step by step, and by the time Minato and the others returned, the inspections were still not finished, but some new things did arrive.

"A diplomatic letter from Kirigakure."

When Yamanaka Ei-chū returned from the analysis class, he had several more documents in his hand. He handed them to a few people who were not involved in the medical project. He had never heard of Hiruzen Sarutobi's cigarette, and Minato also had a deep frown on his face.

The diplomatic letter was simple: it was an accountability statement. It held Tatsuma accountable for infiltrating the Land of Water and endangering the Hidden Mist Village's tailed beasts, as well as for Minato disguising himself as Tatsuma and "massacring" the Hyuga and Hidden Mist ninja on the battlefield that afternoon.

"Delay or denial?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi asked, but no one answered. Even Shikamaru remained silent, offering no analysis of the pros and cons of the two options. Just as Hiruzen was about to ask again, Minato suddenly spoke up:

"admit."

"Admit it?!" Hiruzen Sarutobi frowned and said, "But if Kirigakure uses force to threaten us, without Tatsuma..."

"Tatsuma has always been here."

Minato looked up and said, "Third Hokage, we cannot exclude Tatsuma from the game just because we know he cannot participate in the battle in the short term. We are not the kind of people who can proactively reveal Tatsuma's current situation."

Therefore, all our responses should be based on how the village would react if Tatsuma were present and made the decision.

Lu Yuan nodded and said, "Minato is right. If it were Tatsuma, he would admit to these things and then firmly reply that all of this was just a routine and reasonable armed operation."

They might even throw in a few slogans. The difficulty in our response lies in what Tatsuma will say.

"His words would directly satirize Yagura, saying things like, 'What Konoha did was merely repeating the same tricks used by Kirigakure; it was nothing more than a fleeting illusion.'"

Minato tentatively suggested, and Lu Yuan gave an approving reply, saying, "Exactly, of course he'll be more obvious, more arrogant, and more forceful in his mockery."

Hiruzen Sarutobi was silent for a while, then nodded. He really couldn't keep up. But Minato was right. Konoha had to "forget" that Tatsuma had an accident and respond as if Tatsuma was still alive.

"Execute as you have instructed. At the same time, there must be no oversights on other battlefields. Yingzhong, you personally oversee this matter. I will not allow anyone else to know anything about this situation. Do you understand?"

"Yes! Lord Sandaime."

Seeing the others nod, Hiruzen Sarutobi continued, "Good luck, everyone. Don't let Tatsuma wake up complaining that we have to clean up his mess again."

Upon hearing this, the group smiled politely, but they were not at ease.

Before they knew it, it seemed that this village could not function without Sakamoto Tatsuma.

(End of this chapter)