I founded the "Bragging Cult" in Naruto.

Chapter 616 A friend's friend is not your friend; don't waste your energy on people you're too distant from.

"Kannabi Bridge is under the control of Iwa ninja, so we need to infiltrate it. The number of people should not be too large; a small team is enough. If I lead the team, I will break away from my team at the border between the Land of Rain and the Land of Grass."

I stayed behind to help Jonin Mimura fight against the Iwa ninja forces, while my squad, led by Kakashi, headed northwest to destroy the Kannabi Bridge and cut off the Iwa ninja's supplies.

Minato's thoughts were very clear, and Tenka, curious, tilted his head and asked, "Aren't you going to act with Kushina?"

Before Minato could answer, Kushina said, "We've already discussed it. I plan to go to the southeastern battlefield, originally to fight against the Kirigakure ninja, but now I've decided to personally visit the ruins of the Land of Whirlpools."

Although she has completely become a citizen of the Land of Fire and a member of Konoha, Kushina has always harbored resentment towards the Land of Whirlpools. More than a decade ago, she was unable to fight for her homeland, so how could she give up now that she finally has the opportunity?

Tatsuma nodded and said, "Okay, then Minato, you'll be responsible for conveying the ideas from this meeting to the Grass Country, as well as coordinating and executing the tasks."

Kushina, you, Tenka, Nonou, and Shikaku will lead the team to the southeastern battlefield. Shikaku will be in charge of the overall arrangements.

"Chito, return to the Uchiha unit and assist in their evacuation. Make sure nothing goes wrong. As for the Land of Hot Springs, I'll handle that."

In just a few words, he arranged all the issues for this mission. His efficiency was so fast that Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado were a little overwhelmed. Homura Mitokado was even wiping her glasses, which had fogged up after taking a sip of hot tea.

According to past meetings, the discussion should have just begun by now, and it wouldn't have been his turn as the Hokage advisor to speak yet. How come the layout has already been decided today?

Tatsuma ignored the older generation who were a step behind, and smiled as he looked at the few who nodded.

Upon hearing that Minato was going to carry out the mission at Kannabi Bridge, he was neither worried nor tried to stop him; in fact, he was quite looking forward to it.

He was never a very emotional person. Although many people in the ninja world had become special to him over the past decade or so, such as Minato and Tsunade, Obito was not one of them.

When Tatsuma thought about everything that happened at Kannabi Bridge, he didn't think of Kakashi who lost his eyes, nor Obito whose life tragedy began, but rather that he seemed to have a chance to come into contact with Madara Uchiha.

Obito's tragedy meant nothing to him. As a war profiteer who orchestrated the war, causing countless people to die far from home and countless families to be displaced, he didn't care about anything Obito might encounter.

"A friend of a friend is not my friend." Chenma is that kind of person; he won't bother with people he's too distant from.

Shuimen's students are not his students, and Tianfeng's cousin is not his cousin.

He could do things that required a lot of effort for Minato and Tenka, but that was all. Because these were his friends, and he was willing to give them his energy and feelings.

No one could understand Tatsuma's smile at that moment; even Minato took it as encouragement.

Hiruzen Sarutobi sat up straighter and looked at Tatsuma, asking, "In the Land of Hot Springs, the Cloud Ninja team has been led by the AB combination. You'd better be careful."

Although he didn't want Tatsuma to leave the village at this critical juncture, Hiruzen Sarutobi thought about it and decided not to force Tatsuma to stay.

On one hand, he couldn't keep him; on the other hand, he could see that Tatsuma wasn't actually happy as the handover ceremony drew closer.

It was only after serving as Hokage for countless years that Hiruzen Sarutobi suddenly realized that the Hokage's office was his prison, but Tatsuma was a much more outstanding young man, and perhaps he had already come to his senses.

Therefore, Hiruzen Sarutobi does not intend to stop Tatsuma from going out to "have some fun" before taking over, as long as the accident that happened in the Land of Water a year ago does not occur again.

Tatsuma nodded and said, "It's just a meeting between us as Kage before we take office. I'll be careful to keep things in check."

His original target wasn't the Cloud Ninja, since the Cloud Ninja had been relatively "well-behaved" lately. His main goal was to strike at the Mist Ninja.

Balancing the power of the five great nations. Due to the unexpected events of the past year, he had less time to deal with the Mist Ninja, so he could only work harder in the short term.

He wanted to annihilate the entire Land of Fire, but that wasn't enough. So he also wanted to wipe out the Mist Ninja who were fighting the Cloud Ninja in one fell swoop.

Although the Blood Mist Village policy meant that even if Kirigakure retained the most fighting force after the war, it would be unable to influence the situation in the ninja world, Tatsuma was the kind of person who couldn't stand seeing others do better than him.

Even if this other person is a good person, they can't threaten him, but Chenma is still unhappy, so he wants to drag this person down with him, at least to the point where they are complicit with him.

"Want to discuss it some more?"

Mitokado Homura finally managed to clean his glasses, then asked in a somewhat strange tone, "He's the Hokage's advisor!"

Although Tatsuma has not yet taken office, he is undoubtedly the Fourth Hokage. So, can the Fourth Hokage consult him on any matters? Otherwise, what is he doing as an advisor?

Tatsuma looked at Mitokado Homura with a puzzled expression and asked, "Lord Homura, is there anything we still need to discuss?"

"Specific arrangements? Detailed plans? And contingency plans?"

Mitokado Homura mentioned the steps that were usually included in meetings but were omitted today, but Tatsuma shook his head and said, "No need. I believe that Minato, the Sannin, and Shikaku can all make arrangements on the spot."

It wasn't that Tatsuma was unaware of the procedures that should be followed in previous meetings, after all, he had been personally involved in them for many years; it was just that, in his opinion, they were originally redundant and useless.

In the past, he couldn't omit certain points because he wasn't the real leader of the meeting. But now that he's in charge, he can just talk about the parts he finds useful.

Like Watergate, it's enough to just explain the idea; the specific plan still needs to be communicated with the front lines, and an entire afternoon might not be enough.

Not to mention there are other battlefields and other missions that need to be arranged. If we follow this process, we'll have to spend all of tomorrow in the meeting room, and we'll have to squeeze in time to deal with the backlog of work.

Anyway, the people present were the ones who came up with a feasible solution. Both Minato and Shikaku were capable enough, and with their plans in mind, everything else went pretty much as expected.

As for contingency plans, there are countless situations that may arise on the spot. Discussing them here may not cover exactly which one, unless we exhaustively list them all. However, in that case, the time required would be immeasurable.

Therefore, let those with sufficient ability perform on the spot. Moreover, when reviewing the task reports, you might even see some surprises instead of seeing a plot that has already been spoiled.

Mitokado Homura opened his mouth, not knowing how to refute Tatsuma, so he could only look at Utatane Koharu. Utatane Koharu, however, kept her eyes downcast. She had long seen that the future Konoha did not need them to speak up.

They only need to do their jobs well. For example, she should manage administrative and personnel changes, Yan should manage finances, and Qufeng should manage education. As for Rizan, he should manage Danzo.

When it comes to the village's external communications or internal discussions, the young people should be the ones to speak. After all, these old folks can't come up with anything new in their rigid minds.

That's good. I'm already at an age where I get tired easily. If I'm busy all day, I might make a mistake. Taking it easy will allow me to do my job better.

Seeing Koharu Utatane's reaction, Homura Mitokado thought for a moment and gave up trying to persuade Tatsuma. He nodded and said, "Alright, let's keep things simple and quick, so as not to give the enemy any time to react."

"Thank you for your understanding, Lord Yan."

Chenma nodded and said, "Everyone has heard Lord Yan's suggestion. From now on, meetings should be simplified and expedited. If you have any ideas, please prepare them before the meeting begins."

Let's try to make this meeting a problem-solving forum, not a forum for raising problems. Any objections?

Mitokado Homura's face turned somewhat green, feeling as if he had been unfairly blamed. He said to keep things simple and quick, wasn't that to comply with the wishes of the Fourth Hokage? How did it become his own request for the meeting?

"Ahem~ I agree with Yan's idea. Let's follow Yan's suggestion from now on."

Akimichi Torifu suppressed a laugh as he spoke, and the others quickly followed suit, expressing their approval of Mitokado Homura's suggestion. Mitokado Homura's face grew increasingly green, but he still had to maintain a smile.

In contrast, Tatsuma's smile was much more genuine. After everyone else had finished praising Mitokado Homura, Tatsuma finally spoke up, saying, "That concludes today's meeting. I hope it doesn't take up any more of your time."

For those of you carrying out the task, if you need any collaboration with other departments, please contact them directly one-on-one and then compile the information into the report.

To the departments that have been asked to cooperate, I hope you will cooperate actively. Please do not waste time on procedures that can be omitted. If you cannot make a decision, please leave it to me or the Third Generation Lord to make the decision.

The meeting is adjourned. Thank you all for your hard work.

Hiruzen Sarutobi clapped lightly. Although Tatsuma said in the end that it would be up to him and Tatsuma to make the decision, Hiruzen Sarutobi knew that the decision would only be made by Tatsuma. He was only not mentioning him because he had not yet stepped down, which would be disrespectful.

He also knew that the heads of other departments couldn't possibly miss it, so all he needed to do at this point was acknowledge Tatsuma.

After the meeting, Tatsuma returned to the Hokage's office, enjoying the tea brewed by Hiruzen Sarutobi and enduring the cigarettes Hiruzen Sarutobi smoked, before starting his afternoon work, reviewing document after document.

In the afternoon, Minato arrived with some documents and paperwork that required his approval. As Tatsuma looked at the documents, he casually remarked:

"I'm thinking, should I leave the Flying Thunder God Technique seal on Kakashi and the others? That way, if they encounter any accidents, I should be able to get there in time."

Tatsuma frowned, but quickly relaxed and said, "It's up to you. After all, students need to go through trials to grow. Leaving behind the Flying Thunder God Technique just for protection is not advisable in my opinion."

Actually, it doesn't matter whether he stays or not, because if Madara takes a liking to Obito, even if he has the Flying Thunder God Technique, Madara will probably take it away.

Others may not have this ability, but it's hard to say about Uchiha Madara Tatsuma.

After hearing this, Minato thought for a moment and said, "You're right. I'll think about it some more. How about we have dinner together tonight? Kushina is preparing a big meal."

Are you sure she'd want me to come over?

Tatsuma gave Minato a strange look, and Minato quickly explained, "Actually, Kushina already knows that she misunderstood you, but you've been lying in a hospital bed for the past year and haven't had much of a chance to talk things out."

Moreover, she did feel more secure and belonging after marriage, and she no longer had any complaints about you.

"It's just a meal, nothing more. I'll have Kakashi and the others come too, if you feel awkward."

"I'll go there. It wouldn't be bad to call more people."

Tatsuma nodded, not refusing. Minato smiled and said, "Okay, I'll go buy groceries after I submit the information. Is there anything you'd like to eat?"

Strawberry ice cream.

"I'll try to bring a few boxes; it's impossible to have Kushina make them."

(End of this chapter)