I founded the "Bragging Cult" in Naruto.

Chapter 683 When playing mahjong, the loser usually doesn't want the winner to end the game.

"Bang!"

Inside the Mizukage's office, Yagura's chakra suddenly erupted, instantly tearing the paper in his hand into powder, and his face turned extremely grim.

Even in the rage of the past, he could maintain his composure, but now he was completely devoid of it, like a demon crawling out of a pure land, venting his negative emotions.

"Damn it! This Konoha is going too far! They come and go as they please, what do they think of our Land of Water?! A public toilet?!"

Everyone else in the office remained silent. Qing supported Yuan Shi and dispersed some of her chakra to help Yuan Shi withstand the impact of Yagura's chakra.

Yesterday, the Konoha ninja suddenly assembled, and the entire Kirigakure village unanimously believed that Konoha was about to launch a large-scale battle, which actually fit Kirigakure's plan very well.

After all, ever since the Konoha ninjas advanced into the Land of Water, the Hidden Mist Village sent ninjas to destroy the Konoha delegation's fleet and blockade the coast. It can be said that even if Konoha wanted to provide support, it would be extremely difficult.

Of course, Konoha possessed the Flying Thunder God Technique, and Kirigakure did not expect to be able to completely annihilate the thousands of Konoha ninja who came to invade, but reaping more than half of them would certainly not be a problem.

However, Konoha's consistent practice of fighting in small groups, coupled with the reconnaissance capabilities of the Byakugan ninjas, has made it difficult for Kirigakure to launch large-scale attacks against Konoha ninjas.

So when the Konoha ninjas gathered yesterday, Kirigakure was actually quite happy, because in this way, in a direct confrontation, Kirigakure had plenty of ways to weaken the power of other ninjutsu.

Then, using even more sophisticated Water Release ninjutsu, they would kill Konoha troops. At yesterday's meeting, the high-ranking officials of Kirigakure could even discuss how many Konoha ninjas to capture and how much compensation to demand from Konoha.

First, the seven ninja swords must be returned. Second, the damage Konoha has caused to the Land of Water during this period must also be compensated by Konoha.

If they could even capture people like Uchiha Shisui, Nawaki, and Hyuga Sento, they could use them as leverage to obtain Konoha's sealing techniques, thus resolving the current awkward situation where the two tailed beasts are disobeying orders.

To ensure things went in this direction, Yagura even secretly ordered the Mist Ninja who were blocking the Konoha ninja to hold back as much as possible so that they could return to their headquarters.

Meanwhile, all departments in Kirigakure have sprung into action in preparation for the upcoming major battle—a battle to reverse Kirigakure's decline.

But after waiting a whole day, the Konoha ninjas took no further action. In fact, until this morning, the entire Kirigakure village remained relatively calm.

After all, large-scale battles require a considerable amount of preparation time, including the preparation of personnel, the formulation of combat tactics, and matters such as supplies, logistics, and medical care. It is normal to prepare for ten days or half a month, let alone one day.

Of course, Kirigakure did not intend to give Konoha that much time. They were even prepared to wait a day or two before launching a surprise attack. The personnel reshuffle was already completed, and they were just waiting for Yagura's order to launch the attack.

But before the Mist Ninja could take action, they received a letter from Konoha that morning.

What about "feeling the harm that war brings to innocent civilians," what about "valuing peace," what about "peace is the common cause of all mankind in the ninja world"?

There are a whole bunch of reasons, but they can all be summed up in four words: "I don't want to play anymore."

Upon receiving the letter from Konoha, the Kirigakure Analysis Team's first reaction was that their intelligence system had been hacked; otherwise, how could they have received such bizarre and outrageous information?

No one believed that this message could have come from Konoha. They even conducted an internal check to ensure that the entire communication system was working properly before submitting the letter.

The higher-ups didn't believe it either, but they still ordered the Mist Ninja stationed outside the Konoha camp to conduct reconnaissance.

The Mist Ninja did not monitor the Konoha headquarters, not because they didn't want to, but because they simply couldn't do so before. If they got too close, they would be killed immediately. After all, the Hyuga ninjas' reconnaissance abilities were far superior to the Mist Ninjas' sensory abilities.

But today, the reconnaissance team did not encounter any attacks when they approached the Konoha headquarters. When the Konoha headquarters came into their perception range, they were also stunned because the camp was empty.

Not only were there no people left, but there were also no supplies. Even the temporary camp that had been set up was completely destroyed, leaving only ruins.

After several hours of travel, the news that the Konoha ninja had truly disappeared, along with the diplomatic letter from Konoha, was finally delivered to the Mizukage, Yagura.

After learning the details of the incident, Yagura's rationality vanished instantly; he felt that Kirigakure was like a whack-a-mole machine in an amusement park.

Konoha was the player; Konoha inserted a coin, and Kirigakure began to emerge one after another, with Konoha repeatedly striking down the emerging Kirigakure.

Halfway through the game, Konoha, the player, waved his hand and said he didn't want to play anymore, even though the game time he had bought with game coins hadn't ended yet, and Konoha turned around and left.

The Hidden Mist Village remains, fulfilling its duty as a proper whack-a-mole machine, constantly popping up even after the player has left, waiting for the player to swing their hammer.

Yagura's chest heaved violently with anger. Even though he tried to take deep breaths to suppress his rage, it was no use. With each inhale, it felt like his lungs were about to burst.

His hands trembled slightly uncontrollably, and he said through gritted teeth, "This can't end like this. Regroup the team, let's go to the Land of Fire and demand an explanation!"

Even though he knew that if he went to fight in the Land of Fire, the Kirigakure would ultimately lose, Yagura just couldn't swallow his pride. He was willing to perish together with his enemies!

Even if we can't achieve mutual destruction and perish together, we must tear off a piece of Konoha's flesh before we die!

When he spoke, no one agreed or dared to oppose him. After all, emotionally, they also wanted to support Yagura's decision. They were all ninja villages of the five great nations, so why should Konoha humiliate them like this?

From a rational standpoint, Yagura is unlikely to go to the battlefield; at most, he will be dismissed from his position as Mizukage. However, the others will definitely be sent to the battlefield.

Given Konoha's strength, this trip would certainly be a one-way trip.

No matter how angry they are, they know that life is more important. Perhaps a qualified ninja is not afraid of death, but no ninja with a normal mind wants to die.

The high-ranking officials exchanged glances, seemingly exchanging information, before finally focusing their attention on Master Yuan.

The original master's body, already weighed down by Yagura's chakra, felt even heavier when he noticed the gazes of these "junior colleagues," as if his back was being crushed so hard he couldn't lift his head.

But apart from him, it seems that no one else can voice their opposition to Yagura's decision at this time.

Yuan Shi was equally furious about Konoha's actions, but having lived long enough, he wasn't as hot-tempered as a young man, and thus managed to remain rational.

He looked at Yagura and said, "The Fourth Hokage."

"I don't want to hear any dissenting opinions!"

Yagura interrupted him abruptly, bloodshot eyes making him look even more deranged. Genji's long, messy eyebrows twitched as he said, "Fourth Hokage, I am not against Kirigakure's revenge."

Upon hearing this, the murderous intent in Yagura's eyes lessened slightly, and Master Yuan continued, "However, in my humble opinion, our Hidden Mist Village does not currently have the confidence to be an enemy of Konoha."

"Um?"

Yagura's chakra surged again, and his already hunched back bent even more. If he hadn't been leaning on his long staff and supported by Ao, he might already be lying on the ground. Yet he still said:

"Fourth Hokage, unless we can harness the power of the Tailed Beasts, no matter how many troops we have, we have no chance of winning against Konoha. Therefore, the most urgent task is to reintroduce the power of the Tailed Beasts into the battlefield."

"Those two beasts, I even threatened them with their lives, but they still refused to fight. Tell me, what other options do you have?!"

Speaking of the tailed beasts, Yagura was furious again. He even said that he could just kill them since they could always be resurrected.

They even mocked them, saying that they had endless lifespans and could die as many times as they wanted, but they didn't know how many times Yagura's lifespan could support him to see them die.

Master Yuan spoke up: "I was referring to the power of the tailed beasts, not the tailed beasts themselves. Now that all the villages have proven the advantages of Jinchūriki, we should also vigorously develop them."

"Our predecessors failed so many times, do you really think we can immediately find a good way to cultivate Jinchūriki who can unleash the power of the Tailed Beasts?"

"We don't necessarily have to bury ourselves in development. We should also learn from the experiences of other villages. If we can't learn sealing techniques and Jinchuriki training methods from Konoha, can't we learn from other villages?"

As Yuanshi spoke, he gave Yagura a look through his cloudy eyes. Yagura frowned and said, "Yuanshi, just say it."

"The Cloud Village is currently on a westward expedition to the Land of Earth, and the Land of Lightning is being invaded by the Sand Village. The Cloud Village is extremely weak now. If we send troops to the Land of Lightning, we can not only avenge our previous grievances and appease the people, but also conduct a firsthand investigation into the Cloud Village's training of Jinchuriki."

Genji knew that it was impossible to persuade Yagura not to go to war, but there was a lot of room for maneuver in deciding who to fight against.

Rather than fighting Konoha, against whom they had no chance of winning, it would be better to fight the Cloud Ninja, who were already in a state of chaos. After all, both Konoha and Cloud Village were enemies of Kirigakure.

No matter who you hit, as long as you hit them, you can feel relieved. If you win, the joy washes away the anger, and if you lose, the pain can also calm you down.

Even though Master Yuan had a vague idea that his suggestion might be exactly what Konoha wanted, he had no choice but to jump into the trap because there was still a glimmer of hope.

If they continue to fight Konoha relentlessly, then not only will they be unable to resolve Yagura's anger and the internal conflicts within Kirigakure, but the very existence of Kirigakure itself will be uncertain.

At this moment, Qing also spoke up: "Yes, Fourth Hokage, don't forget that Kumogakure still has a large amount of compensation that has not been handed over to Kirigakure. They previously used the war situation, competition, and shortage of supplies as excuses to avoid it."

"But over the past year, they clearly received a large amount of supplies and funds from the Daimyo of the Land of Lightning, yet they still refuse to hand them over. They're obviously planning to renege on their debt. Perhaps we should collect this debt first."

The others chimed in, trying to divert Yagura's anger. Blinded by rage, Yagura lost his composure and, persuaded by the crowd, nodded and said:

"What you say makes sense. Let's settle our old scores with Kumogakure first, and then take revenge on Konoha once we've trained a Jinchūriki for Kirigakure!"

"The Yondaime Hideaki!"

(End of this chapter)