I founded the "Bragging Cult" in Naruto.

Chapter 608 A son may not be able to make his father proud, but he should try his best not to embarrass him.

"That boy just now, he said his name was Naruto?"

Inside a tall building, the sound of water gates was somewhat strange. Through the glass window, a boy with orange hair was talking to a girl in red.

Tatsuma, standing next to Minato, let out a series of strange laughs. Even though they were both wearing masks, he could imagine how interesting Minato's expression must be.

Although Minato didn't answer Tatsuma's question about the child's name, how could Tatsuma not know? It was precisely because he had only thought about that name in his mind that he was so surprised to hear it now.

"Is this name funny? Or does it have some other meaning?"

Ding asked, puzzled. After all, Tatsuma's laughter sounded just like the villain in a storybook. It couldn't be that bad just because it was a name, could it?

Isn't it just the name of a ramen topping? Is it really that funny? Or is Tatsuma thinking about that ramen shop again?

"No, it's just that the main character in Jiraiya's works has this name."

Tatsuma waved his hand and said, and Choza said "Oh" without asking any further questions. Although he still didn't find the name funny, he thought that since both of them were Jiraiya's students, it might be a unique joke between teacher and student.

Minato glanced at Tatsuma. Although neither of them said anything, Minato felt as if Tatsuma knew what name he would give his son, otherwise he wouldn't be smiling so distortedly.

Also, there are indeed strange things everywhere. Could this boy named Naruto really be his future child?

Trying to break free from his own preconceived notions, Minato used his most common method of analyzing things: putting himself in Tatsuma's shoes. In an instant, something seemed to become clear.

It had a more intense yellow-orange hair, an enormous amount of chakra, and a slender Nine-Tails inside it?

What happened to this child when he was born? Could it be that he split the Nine-Tails inside Kushina into two and sealed them into his son, making his son a Jinchūriki as well?

It didn't seem like something he would do, especially since he himself wasn't clear about the consequences of splitting the Nine-Tails. He couldn't possibly do it so rashly.

As for Kushina's accident, which was insufficient to withstand the erosion of the entire Nine-Tails, Minato clenched his fist, "He would never do that."

If Kushina truly couldn't withstand the corruption of the entire Nine-Tails, then she would rather bear half the pain herself than transfer it to her child.

Minato suddenly felt an urge to rush down and ask the boy why he had become the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, and whether his mother had experienced some kind of accident in his past or in the present future.

However, after taking several deep breaths, Minato suppressed his impulse. Time was not to be trifled with, and even if he had the opportunity to know some things about the future, as a ninja, he had to restrain his personal desires.

A ninja must endure what ordinary people cannot. His teacher's words echoed in Minato's mind. He calmed down and said:

"This boy looks like a Konoha ninja, but he may not be from our time or even our timeline. His mission objectives may not be the same as ours, so we cannot involve him in our operations."

"Should I detain him temporarily?"

Tatsuma asked sarcastically, but Minato remained silent and did not answer, because he did not want to do it, even if it was "for the good of the child," he could not do it lightly.

Choza leaned closer to the glass, not understanding Tatsuma's sarcastic tone, and said, "He seems like a good kid, just a bit impulsive. Judging from his appearance, he should be a genin, which makes sense."

Young ninjas generally lack experience, but this kid named Naruto below has a bigger problem.

Dingza glanced around and said, "His Jonin team leader is so irresponsible. How can he let a Genin of this age carry out a mission independently?"

"Genin."

Upon hearing this keyword, Minato couldn't help but look at Naruto again, his eyes filled with even more doubt, because Naruto looked to be about fifteen or sixteen years old.

A fifteen or sixteen-year-old still a genin? That doesn't make sense.

After all, this is his and Kushina's child. Minato had overlooked this issue and even subconsciously assumed that Naruto was a Jonin who had the freedom to dress as he pleased. He never expected that Naruto was actually a Genin who didn't even have the authority to wear a vest.

Minato wanted to cover his face, but his hand touched the mask instead. However, this did not stop him from blaming himself in his heart.

How much he must have neglected his child to allow Naruto to remain a genin at such a young age? It must be because he, as the father, failed in his son's upbringing.

Unbeknownst to him, Minato had already decided that Naruto was his future child, and even viewed Naruto from the perspective of a father.

Then, upon closer inspection, I realized how awful I was. Naruto's clothes, while not exactly old, had loose threads, unwashed stains on the collar and underarms, and his pants were too short to even cover his ankles.

What will I be doing in the future?!

"Bang bang bang~"

Below, Naruto resumed his battle with the puppets amidst the conversation. Minato frowned, observing Naruto; his movements were unorthodox, he made too many small, unorthodox gestures, and his fighting strategy was too simplistic.

Minato felt that even with this performance, he was not as good as he was at ten years old. Apart from not having Naruto's huge amount of chakra and physical strength, he could have crushed Naruto at ten years old.

Even in direct combat, he has no fewer than five ways to take down his son within fifteen rounds.

"It seems he needs help."

Seeing Naruto's disheveled appearance, Tatsuma also dropped his sarcastic tone. He had to admit that, judging from Naruto's current perspective, he was speechless.

When Tatsuma first learned that Naruto's chakra had appeared, he was thinking of praising the kid and getting some benefits out of him, but now he suddenly realized that he really couldn't bring himself to do it.

"boom!"

Suddenly, as he used several times his normal strength and chakra to smash through the wall and dodge the puppet's attack, Tatsuma's lips twitched beneath his mask, and he said, "This kid is stupid, but he's really strong."

"Hahaha"

Minato's laughter was forced, and he later said, "He's not qualified for this level of mission. I'll go and make him withdraw."

Although he knew it would hurt the boy's pride, Minato was unwilling to believe that Naruto could do so well, so for Naruto's safety, he decided to let him withdraw from the mission.

He will handle the turmoil in Loulan anyway.

"Choza, you help Minato then. I'll go see the other passengers."

Tatsuma shrugged, Minato nodded, and there was even a hint of gratitude in his eyes. Choza clearly didn't recognize Naruto, and his judgment wasn't as discerning as Tatsuma's.

Even if Tatsuma didn't mean to belittle Naruto, given his perspective, he would definitely look down on Naruto. Minato didn't want Tatsuma to actually look down on Naruto, since he had planned to make Tatsuma the godfather of his child.

Seeing the embarrassment and gratitude in Minato's eyes, Tatsuma waved and vanished in an instant.

This place is a kind of spacetime turbulence. Although Tatsuma can use the Flying Thunder God Technique thanks to his stronger perception, he can't say for sure that he won't have any accidents. If he accidentally travels to other timelines, that would be too unpleasant.

After leaving the high-rise building, Chenma moved through Loulan without alerting the puppets' surveillance. Soon, he arrived at an underground space where various puppet parts were placed.

Unlike the puppets used on the ground, these are more like byproducts of the research and development process, and also some visions for the future. Many of the components are quite interesting to Chenma, but they have not yet reached the standard for application.

But this was not Tatsuma's purpose. Although Tatsuma used the sealing scroll to collect these creations, his eyes were fixed on a corner.

Once Tatsuma had put away the things that interested him, he got up and walked to that corner. It was quiet there, with no signs of recent changes, and even the dust had settled so naturally.

But Tatsuma knew that there was someone there who was of great interest to him.

He reached out towards a puppet's mask, and his fingers were almost probing into the puppet's eye sockets when suddenly there was movement.

A white line shot out like an arrow. Chenma felt a slight pain and numbness in his fingers, which then spread to his palm, wrist, and quickly to his elbow.

"Lord Orochimaru, I didn't expect you to be so skilled with poison. Were you secretly practicing when I wasn't looking?"

Chenma withdrew his hand, and a white snake was pulled out of the puppet's hollow cavity. The white snake opened its mouth, trying to pull out its teeth, but it couldn't. The white teeth were stuck in Chenma's fingers.

Only after completely bringing the white snake out did Chenma release his control over the flesh of his fingers. The white snake broke free instantly and landed on the ground, but instead of escaping, it coiled up and kept flicking its tongue.

"Hiss hiss hiss~ hiss hiss hiss~"

Tatsuma looked down and said, "Lord Orochimaru, you didn't teach me snake language, and I don't have a lightning bolt scar on my forehead, so I don't understand what you're saying."

"Hiss~ Hiss~"

The white snake opened its mouth wide, almost like a door opening. Suddenly, a sticky hand emerged from its mouth. The arm was even thicker than its white body, and it was unclear how it managed to fit inside.

Then came the shoulders and the body. A moment later, Orochimaru emerged from the snake's mouth, gently brushing aside the sticky, drooping hair in front of him with a strange smile.

The golden snake eyes sized up the unfamiliar yet incredibly powerful ninja before it. Its tongue, which didn't resemble a human's, licked its lips, and it spoke in a hoarse voice, "You seem to know me quite well?"

"Yes, although we don't have a formal master-disciple relationship, you've taught me a lot. However, I haven't learned how to use poison, but fortunately, my teacher taught me how to detoxify."

As he spoke, Tatsuma shook his arm, which had turned bluish-purple and black. Orochimaru also looked at the arm, and then the bluish-black color suddenly contracted and gathered at the wrist. A chakra scalpel appeared in Tatsuma's other hand.

"Sizzle~"

A stream of dark, viscous fluid spurted from the wound. Orochimaru squinted, seeing clearly how Tatsuma had used the technique—without employing any jutsu or hand seals—to extract the venom from the cells using the Fine Extraction Technique. Such medical ninjutsu prowess was truly remarkable.

Who is your teacher?

"He's your teammate, it's not appropriate for me to call him by his first name."

"Tsunade?"

Orochimaru nodded, though he sounded puzzled. It seemed understandable that Tsunade had taught such a student. But he quickly frowned because the wounds were healing too quickly.

Forcibly averting his gaze from Tatsuma's wound, Orochimaru looked at Tatsuma and asked, "Can we talk? I..."

He pointed to himself and said, "Unlike the Orochimaru you know, I long to understand you, and the me you know."

I attended a wedding these past few days and helped the groom for several days. Plus, I was stuck in traffic for several hours on the way back, so I fell asleep as soon as I got home. That's why I updated late yesterday. Sorry, I was in such a rush yesterday that I forgot to explain.

(End of this chapter)