I founded the "Bragging Cult" in Naruto.

Chapter 668 Don't keep a diary, or you'll find how empty your days are.

"Who in their right mind keeps a diary? And can someone who keeps a diary be considered a decent person?"

"Although a significant portion of my ninja knowledge comes from other people's diaries, leaving my diaries should also benefit those who come after me."

"But as the saying goes, one's handwriting reflects one's character, and so does one's writing. What if the image I leave to posterity is ruined because of a diary?"

"After all, I don't want people to think of me as the first generation, who would shout that I am a tree all the time, nor do I want to give people the impression of racial discrimination like the second generation."

"Alright, let's start writing. Try to include as much of your insights as possible during your practice, and avoid mixing in subjective emotions or language."

"Today I'm going to study the combination of Wood Release Clone Technique and Outer Path Power. The previous Seven Treasures Fearless Body Technique was not the complete version. With reference to Buddhist scriptures, I have gradually perfected the ninjutsu system of the Eighth King of Light (crossed out) and the Vajra Yaksha King of Light."

However, applications related to other Bodhisattvas such as Vajra Tooth and Amoghasiddhi have not yet been developed. The first generation was a Bodhisattva, so there's no reason for me to be just a Vidyaraja (wisp king). With some effort, I could certainly become a Tathagata!

"I'll go practice first, and then come back tonight to supplement what I've learned from today's practice!"

"I had just started my training yesterday when I was suddenly dragged to a banquet. As the head of the Hyuga clan, I had to attend Hiashi's wedding as Hokage. I ended up overeating. I'll do some recovery training today and study Wood Release and Outer Path tomorrow."

"Yesterday's recovery training went well; the swelling in my face has gone down. Today I'm working hard to learn new techniques!"

"Why did I choose the Vajrayaksa Wisdom King system? Information on Vajra Tooth Bodhisattva and Amoghasiddhi Tathagata is too hard to find. I read books all day and all I know is that Amoghasiddhi rides Garuda."

Although I have a roc riding me, it doesn't have golden wings. Should I get a pair tattooed on it? By the way, do you have any gold paint? Never mind, I'll continue my research tomorrow!

"There's another banquet today. Lu Jiu is my right-hand man, so I can't miss it."

"Are all the pigs, deer, and butterflies getting married in droves? Before getting married, they were all afraid of marriage and women, how come they're all getting married in such a row? I don't want to go to any more wedding banquets!"

"Although we don't have much contact with the Aburame clan, the Uchiha, Hyuga, and Ino-Shika-Cho clans all went, so it would be impolite not to go. I was really ashamed that I didn't even notice when the groom was toasting at the banquet today."

"Attend the banquet!"

"Sakamoto Tatsuma, Sakamoto Tatsuma, how could you fall so low?! Have you forgotten the training plan you made before?! This can't go on! Today you must finish reading the 'Sutra of the Complete Realm of All Buddhas'!"

"Attend the banquet."

"I'm not writing in my diary anymore. In such a short time, all that's recorded in the notebook is my ugliness! If future generations see this, won't they think that my most important job as Hokage is to eat at banquets?"

It's all the war's fault! The emotions suppressed by war need a new battlefield to vent, which has made my dearest friends forget the benefits of being single!

Suddenly I feel so cheated. I gave away so much money as a wedding gift. How am I going to get it back someday? I should get married too, and take back the money. At worst, I can split it 70/30 with the woman. That way, I can at least recoup some of the cost.

"Forget it. I'm already struggling on my own, there's no need to burden others. I'll just consider the gift money as money for meals."

In the Senju clan's territory, in Tatsuma's study, Tatsuma put down his pen, looked at the diary on the table, and considered whether to burn it, since he didn't plan to write in it anymore.

Before he started writing in his diary, he never felt that his days were so empty and absurd. He used to think that his life was actually quite fulfilling, but now it seems that was an illusion.

Once the ink had dried, Chenma thought for a moment, then closed the notebook, sealed it in a scroll, and placed it on the bookshelf in his study. He then opened another book, the Buddhist scripture he had been reading for more than half a year but had not yet finished.

"Knock knock knock~"

"teacher."

There was a knock at the door, and Tatsuma said, "Come in."

A small figure appeared, and before it even entered, Chenma asked, "Who's getting married today?"

"No, it's not a wedding invitation."

Shisui shook his head, and Tatsuma breathed a sigh of relief. He was now terrified at the mere mention of the wedding, not just because of the monetary gifts, but also because of the atmosphere, since the wedding day was supposed to be a day of happiness.

Happiness is contagious, and Chenma sometimes even wonders if marriage is actually a good thing.

Coming to his senses, Chenma asked, "Have you encountered any problems in your cultivation?"

Although he felt he was an unqualified teacher, Tatsuma would still try his best to answer his students' questions, whether they were about spiritual practice or about personal conduct.

Of course, in any aspect, his answers generally differ from the mainstream, and some are even completely contrary to it.

Shisui shook his head again, and finally said, "There are private letters from you."

Tatsuma was taken aback, then nodded. Shisui then walked over and placed a letter on Tatsuma's desk. Tatsuma opened it and began to read, then quickly smiled and shook his head, saying:

"This Onoki actually dared to ask me to mediate the relationship. I'm only good at stirring up trouble, not mediating."

The letter was sent by Onoki, also in the name of the Shadow, but its contents were not suitable to be sent through the village's channels because they concerned ending the war, or at least reducing its level.

The gist of the letter was an invitation to Konoha to join a theatrical troupe. They could fight, but not actually fight; they would put on a good show for the daimyo of the five great nations.

If it were just a request for Konoha to do this, Tatsuma would most likely not refuse. However, Onoki also requested that Tatsuma go and persuade Kumogakure, which Tatsuma was unwilling to do.

After all, Kumogakure is not Konoha's enemy. Helping to mediate would benefit other villages, but would not bring any benefit to Konoha.

Furthermore, since the ninja villages are inherently in competition with each other, reducing the losses of other villages is equivalent to increasing the losses of Konoha, a situation that Tatsuma is not happy to see.

Shisui also peeked out and looked at the contents of the letter, but he did not express his own opinion. Although he had followed Tatsuma and had been influenced by him, he had some similar thoughts and perspectives to Tatsuma, but they were not mature.

Shisui should focus on learning more and speaking less. Unless Tatsuma asks him to speak or tests him, Shisui will not speak voluntarily.

Tatsuma was happy to give him a chance and asked Shisui, "What do you think should be done about this?"

"We cannot agree to that."

Shisui shook his head and said, "Putting aside the fact that the Tsuchikage's demands are not in the interests of Konoha, as the Kage of Konoha, you cannot agree to them, not even tacitly approve them."

You once taught me that everything we do leaves a trace. If you get involved, it will be like Rasa of Sunagakure colluding with the Cloud and Mist ninjas, leaving behind a lot of ammunition for gossip.

Regardless of whether the evidence is sufficient or not, this is a disaster for you and for Konoha. There is no need for conviction; as long as the Daimyo learns of this, he will harbor resentment.

If this message is passed down, you might even be branded as someone who treats the lives of your fellow villagers like toys, so we not only cannot agree to it, but we must also explicitly refuse.

However, refusing might provoke hostility from other villages. After all, according to your theory of ninja relativity, if others lose, it's equivalent to Konoha gaining.

If Konoha refuses this, it's tantamount to harming ninjas from other villages, and this hatred will even extend to all Konoha ninjas.

As he spoke, Zhishui stopped, because he didn't know what to do next.

However, this already satisfied Tatsuma. Shisui already possessed keen insight and analytical skills. The reason he couldn't propose a solution was due to insufficient experience and a lack of sufficient samples for training before integrating solutions.

"You're absolutely right. We absolutely cannot agree to this, and we must unequivocally refuse."

Tatsuma agreed with what Shisui said, and then continued, "However, how to refuse is an art. Replying to Onoki and refusing him would be too low-level, because by doing so, we are only expressing our stance to Onoki and Iwagakure."

And the message must be clear. The purpose of a message is to tell "everyone," so our attitude cannot be conveyed only to Onoki.

"Does that mean we should publish Onoki's letters?"

Zhi Shui asked with some doubt. He himself felt that the plan he proposed would not work, after all, it was too simple and too crude, not in line with his teacher's style.

Tatsuma shook his head and said, "The contents of this letter cannot be made public. After all, it involves our ninja village's plans for the daimyo, and you know that these things cannot be made public."

We can just approach the other side directly to express our stance. After all, Onoki's show requires five ninja villages to participate. My relationship with Onoki only involves two villages, which is too few. We need at least more than half.

Therefore, we need to drag another village into this mess. Who do you think is the most suitable target?

Upon hearing this, Shisui frowned and thought for a moment before saying, "We have a non-aggression pact with the Cloud Ninja. If we don't circumvent this point, our statement won't be powerful enough."

As for Sunagakure, we didn't have any further plans with them. In fact, we had already reached an agreement with Sunagakure before you went to the Daimyo's residence. So, the only one left is Kirigakure.

So what we need to do next is to drag Kirigakure into this. As invaders, Kirigakure is also a good candidate for us to make a statement, such as declaring war on them and expressing our stance firmly.

"Pretty much, but declaring war would be too hasty and would seem like an attempt to cover up the truth."

Tatsuma offered his comments before saying, "As you said, Kirigakure was an invader, and a defeated one at that, so..."

As he spoke, he looked at Zhishui, who finally realized what he meant and said, "Demand compensation from them! And a compensation that they are currently completely unable to pay, and that they will definitely strongly oppose!"

"That's right, what do you think the compensation should include?"

"It seems that Kirigakure has nothing to offer in terms of compensation. The seven most suitable ninja swords are already in our hands in Konoha. Money and supplies are far from enough to achieve this effect, and the tailed beasts are the foundation of the village."

Moreover, it's the distribution system established by the First Hokage. If we demand the Tailed Beasts, we're essentially opposing the First Hokage's decision back then, so we can't do that."

Seeing Shisui's conflicted expression, Tatsuma said, "Actually, you already gave the answer from the beginning."

"Seven ninja swords? But we already have seven ninja swords in our hands. How can we make compensation? But if we don't repay them, that would be too weak."

If Hiruzen Sarutobi heard Shisui's words at this moment, he would definitely think that Shisui was too radical. If it were Hiruzen Sarutobi, he would at most ask for some symbolic monetary compensation before agreeing to the exchange of the seven ninja swords.

However, in Shisui's hands, not returning the ninja sword was a sign of weakness, which is something he learned from Tatsuma.

Tatsuma ruffled his curly hair and said, "Is there a conflict between having seven ninja swords and demanding that Kirigakure compensate us with seven ninja swords?"

The ninja swords were spoils of war that we seized; they have nothing to do with compensation or the Hidden Mist Village. Our demand is that they return the seven ninja swords to us as compensation.

"I understand that I strongly oppose and absolutely cannot agree to this compensation."

Shisui's eyes seemed to light up more as he smiled and said, "Actually, we're just asking Kirigakure to compensate us for the Water Flower and the Moon in the Mirror. They don't even have those things, so how can they compensate us?"

On the other hand, the ninja swords did exist in Kirigakure, but they are no longer there. So we can demand compensation, but they can never produce them.

Therefore, they have no recourse but to oppose our demands! And once they oppose us, they give us an excuse to travel to the Land of Water to demand compensation. In this process, it is only natural that some legitimate self-defense incidents may occur.

In this way, we can start the next phase of the war with a legitimate reason, and under such circumstances, Kirigakure will have no choice but to wage a real war against us.

After all, they had just received money from the Daimyo of the Land of Water. If they dared to have any fundamental problems in defending their territory, they would have no place to stand.

"Killing someone! And destroying their spirit too!"

"That's right."

Tatsuma nodded approvingly and said, "So what do we do now?"

"Integrate the ninja force... no... a delegation of over three thousand people, and send them to the Land of Water! And quickly, before the plan in Iwagakure moves to the next stage, our delegation must depart!"

As he spoke, Shisui gave a sincere and infectious smile. Tatsuma ruffled his curly hair again and asked, "So, would you like to become a member of the delegation?"

Shisui nodded excitedly and said, "I haven't had any real combat for a long time. No matter how bad the training environment is, the subconscious relaxation still makes it difficult for me to improve."

Teacher, I hope to be a member of the mission, and not in the logistics department.

"Well, your development direction for the Body Flicker Technique is different from mine, so I can't give you much guidance. Also, your swordsmanship and illusion techniques are things I'm not good at, so you'll definitely need to develop them yourself."

It's time for you to go out and make your own way. After all, your teacher already has a reputation at your age.

Although it was a reputation that I somewhat resisted.

Shisui nodded. In terms of ninja skills and style, he did not choose to follow the path taken by Tatsuma, because Shisui felt that it was not suitable for him. He believed that his talents lay in the techniques of body sleight of hand, swordsmanship, and genjutsu.

My teacher had titles that were acknowledged by enemies such as "Slaying the Jewel" and "Talkative Tobirama," so I should also try to earn nicknames like "Slaying the Jewel" and "Black-haired Tatsuma."

"It's getting late today, let's make the arrangements tomorrow."

Tatsuma closed the Buddhist scripture he had read countless times but never had the heart to continue reading, and murmured, "This ninja world has been quiet long enough."

My college roommate called me early this morning, saying he'd just finished a business trip to my area and wanted to meet up. It's a short, daunting day trip, only 4k.

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(End of this chapter)