I founded the "Bragging Cult" in Naruto.

Chapter 619 The subtext of "I can help, I definitely will" is that I won't help you.

"Have you found the right person?"

Inside the Hokage's office, Tatsuma asked Shikamaru a question. Shikamaru nodded, placed the letter of entrustment on the desk, pushed it towards Tatsuma, and said:

"Motoya is a local merchant from the Land of Hot Water. His family has a clean record for three generations and has long been engaged in the business of bath and linen products. The route he is commissioned this time completely overlaps with the battle lines of the Cloud Ninja and the Mist Ninja, so we will definitely run into each other."

The materials also included a route map drawn by Lu Yuan. Chen Ma glanced at it and nodded in satisfaction. He knew he couldn't just go directly to the Land of Hot Springs if he wanted to cause trouble; he needed a legitimate reason.

Just like at the beginning of the war when he mobilized Konoha ninjas to occupy the Land of Rivers, there must be a reasonable and legal "commission" for him. However, the last time he acted first and then informed his superiors, and the handling was not perfect.

But this time, with ample time, Konoha naturally wanted to do its best. They found a local merchant from the Land of Hot Springs to arrange a escort mission, allowing them to swagger through the border between the two countries.

Even if the Cloud Ninja and Mist Ninja don't attack first, Tatsuma can use the excuse that "the guard team is threatened by non-friendly ninjas" to clear out the surrounding ninjas, which will eventually force the Mist Ninja to attack him.

With Chenma's fighting prowess, he didn't need to act so "despicably," but he was always a person who persuaded others with reason. He would deal with people in a fair and square manner. He wanted the benefits, but he couldn't disregard his reputation.

A greedy person will always try to have their cake and eat it too, and they will try to get everything from both sides. Besides, this whole process will cost the Fire Country Daimyo a lot more money.

If Tatsuma did everything himself, the time would be shorter and the efficiency would be higher, but the profits would be lower. He likes to work hard, but he doesn't like to be a scab.

Especially since he was about to become the Hokage, responsible for the entire village's income and expenses, how could he possibly give up the opportunity to make more money from the Daimyo?

Creating jobs in demand is what the Hokage is supposed to do. Many things that are "just something to do" are strictly categorized as commissions by the village. Even if a ninja wants to help, he must first have the commissioner issue the commission.

One person in an organization can be generous, but not everyone can be generous, otherwise the organization will not be able to function. Some strict and redundant processes are necessary.

If Tatsuma were just an ordinary Jonin, he would only need to consider how much money he had in his own pocket. But as Hokage, he had to consider the ninjas of the entire Hidden Leaf Village and whether he could obtain rewards commensurate with their efforts.

It's unacceptable for a family to support their child for six years at the ninja academy only to have the child graduate and become unemployed, right? Tatsuma could single-handedly handle over 30% of the village's military duties, but doing so wouldn't bring any additional benefits, so he wouldn't do something so foolish.

As for achieving economic self-sufficiency, one doesn't need to rely on a daimyo, or simply replace them. Military force is possible, but what about capability? Energy? Or public opinion?

If the daimyo is abruptly removed, the ninja community will only become the enemy of the people of the Land of Fire. After all, the current daimyo is not incompetent and his reputation is not bad. The Land of Fire is unwilling to lose this daimyo.

After putting down the documents, Tatsuma asked, "What goods do you need us to escort this time?"

".washing powder."

Lu Yuan hesitated for a moment, but still answered truthfully: "Yuan Gu also has concerns. Although he doesn't need to bear the commission fee this time through some special means, he still has to bear the cost of the tendered item himself."

He probably already prepared for the loss of this batch of supplies, which is why he used inexpensive laundry detergent as the marker, so that even if it were lost, he could accept it.

"washing powder"

Chenma's lips twitched. It wasn't that he disliked the value of this batch of supplies being too low, so low that it was completely insufficient to match the commission fee; it was just that the laundry detergent was too much.

"Fine, let's just consider it a chance to showcase Konoha's capabilities to this Mr. Motoya, and try our best to take on all his future requests."

Chenma nodded and continued, "Issue the mission. You can arrange the personnel as you see fit. Don't be too high-profile. The mission's difficulty level should match the personnel's abilities, and they should be able to hold out until I arrive if necessary."

If Konoha were to send Tatsuma or a team of Jonin directly to handle a request to transport laundry detergent, it would be blatantly announcing to the world that Konoha was up to something.

All these preparations were made to prevent other ninja villages from attacking Konoha through public opinion, so the personnel to carry out the commission had to be carefully selected.

When they encountered the enemy, they had no choice but to ask the village for help, and Tatsuma's arrival to rescue them was therefore beyond reproach.

As a strategist who had followed Hiruzen Sarutobi for decades, Lu Yuan's abilities were beyond doubt. After Tatsuma finished speaking, he nodded and said, "The team will be led by Santoku, a special Jonin from the Analysis Team. He is skilled in battlefield communication and has a strong ability to judge the situation."

Also, what do you think of equipping the team with Genin Seikosuke, Might Guy, and young Chunin Aoba Yamashiro?

Tatsuma nodded. This team was well-organized and capable, but it lacked a specialized sensory ninja. However, both Santoku, who came from the analysis team, and Maruboshi Kosuke, who had rich mission experience, could make up for the sensory deficiency.

This arrangement also reflects Konoha's consistent style of mentoring newcomers, and there is nothing wrong with it. The team's survivability far exceeds the intelligence level on paper, making them very suitable for this mission.

"No problem, go and talk to them. Remember, during the mission, you must show the spirit of Konoha, emphasize Konoha's respect for the mission, and highlight the spirit of mutual assistance among Konoha comrades."

To sum it up in three points: Don't be a coward, go for it even if there are enemies, and call for backup if you can't win. There's no need to think twice. Lu Yuan understood Chen Ma's unspoken meaning and nodded, saying:

"I will convey the message accurately."

He could easily extract this information, but others might not be able to grasp its meaning accurately, so he still had to adapt it when conveying it.

Lu Yuan's work ability and efficiency are beyond question. The plan that was finalized in the morning was implemented by Lu Yuan in the afternoon with the client, the recipient and the implementing unit.

"Please sit down, no need to be polite."

Inside the Hokage's office, Tatsuma received Santoku and the others. Seeing that they were still somewhat reserved, Tatsuma smiled and said, "Senior Santoku, I owe a great debt to you and Lord Yingzhong for your preferential treatment in intelligence matters. I am able to live to this day unharmed, and you deserve all the credit."

San De quickly smiled and agreed, but he didn't take such words seriously at all. No matter how much information the analysis team provided, it couldn't stop Tatsuma's style of action. The fact that Tatsuma had survived to this day was entirely due to his incredible luck.

Tatsuma then looked at Might Guy and Maruboshi Kosuke and said, "You two seem so distant from me, which makes me wonder if I have offended you in some way."

Brother Dai, you always mentored me, taught me, and supervised my training before I became a ninja. How come you don't even have this much teacher-student relationship now?

And there's also Senior Kosuke. When Lord Torifu introduced you to me, he said you were a senior worthy of my respect, and I am well aware of your deeds, often mentioning them to my students and juniors."

Upon hearing Tatsuma's words, Dai and Kosuke both revealed their simple and honest smiles. Dai had not interacted with Tatsuma for a long time, but he did not expect that Tatsuma would still remember the insignificant help he had given him back then.

Kosuke's appreciation grew even stronger. As an unofficial student of the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju, Kosuke had always regarded Tatsuma as a descendant of his teacher. Now it seemed that Tatsuma had indeed lived up to the family tradition.

Finally, Tatsuma's gaze fell on the most reserved Yamashiro Aoba, and he said, "Aoba, you don't need to be nervous. You may not even know it, but before the Chunin Exams, the Third Hokage strongly recommended you to become my student."

Unfortunately, I'm not good at teaching, and my energy is really limited, so I'm unable to grow alongside you.

Upon hearing this, Yamashiro Aoba was both excited and regretful. What a wonderful opportunity it was for the Fourth Hokage's disciple! It was a pity that he had missed it.

He had no doubt about Tatsuma's excuses, partly because of his admiration for Tatsuma, and partly because Tatsuma didn't seem to have taken on any other students.

He was truly disappointed to miss such an opportunity; perhaps he wasn't good enough, not good enough to impress Tatsuma.

After all, Tatsuma's only student, Uchiha Shisui, possessed a talent that Yamashiro Aoba could only dream of, and only Kakashi could be compared to Shisui.

Both became genin at five and chunin at six. It all depends on Shisui's pace of pursuit. Can he keep going until he's twelve and catch up with or even break Kakashi's record as the youngest jonin?

Seeing that Aoba Yamashiro was too excited to speak, Tatsuma gave him an affirmative look and said, "If you have time, you can come to the Senju clan's territory. Although I am not destined to be your teacher and mentor Jonin, I hope to guide a genius like you and participate in your growth."

"Really?"

Yamashiro Aoba's voice trembled slightly. Tatsuma nodded and said, "Yes, if you have any problems in your cultivation, feel free to come to me. I will do my best to help you."

The subtext was that you shouldn't come to him unless you have a "problem," but Yamashiro Aoba couldn't understand that at the moment. He just nodded excitedly, almost throwing off his sunglasses.

After greeting the group, Chenma got to the point, saying, "I believe Lu Yuan has already told you all about the importance of this mission. It is a difficult mission, and you are the people the village unanimously believes are most likely to be able to shoulder this heavy responsibility."

I hope you can work together, overcome difficulties, and bring the war to a stalemate or even a final outcome as soon as possible. Gentlemen, I implore you.

As he spoke, Tatsuma took out his Flying Thunder God kunai, placed it on the table, and pushed it toward the group. Neither Santoku nor Might Guy moved. Kosuke quickly patted Yamashiro Aoba on the back, signaling him to go and take it.

After Yamashiro Aoba received the Flying Thunder God Kunai, Santoku finally spoke, saying, "Fourth Hokage, let's meet on the battlefield."

"Yes, we'll meet on the battlefield."

A week later, news arrived that could change the entire course of the Ninja War: the Third Raikage personally led the Cloud Ninja forces across the sea to launch an attack on the Land of Earth, but they were surrounded by the Iwa Ninja.

Frontline estimates suggest that over 10,000 Iwa ninja participated in this operation.

Almost simultaneously, the Sannin led their forces to attack the Iwa ninja forces stationed in the Land of Grass, advancing in large numbers. Minato's squad also sent back news that they were about to cut off the supply line to Kannabi Bridge.

In the Land of Hot Water, the Mist Ninja also launched an attack, attempting to hold back the Cloud Ninja forces led by the new generation AB combination. However, another Mist Ninja force, the Fire Country invading squad, was surrounded by Konoha ninja.

Kushina led her team to break the control of the Mist Ninja over the ruins of the Land of Whirlpools, cutting off the Mist Ninja's supply and retreat routes. The new Ino-Shika-Cho team, together with the Hyuga team, launched a simultaneous encirclement and annihilation operation against the Mist Ninja forces.

Inside the Hokage's office, Yamanaka Eiji abandoned his other work and came to the Hokage's office, saying, "Fourth Hokage, the Santoku Team requests reinforcements."

Tatsuma stood up, casually hooked a white lab coat and an Ulster overcoat—a hybrid style—that were draped over the back of his chair, and with a light turn, draped them over his shoulders. The words "Fourth Hokage" swung wildly behind him. He nodded and said, "I'll set off immediately."

(End of this chapter)