I founded the "Bragging Cult" in Naruto.

Chapter 73 Might or Reason: You Have to Choose One

As spring deepened and summer faded, just as the ninja world fell into a false peace and even prices began to fall, a piece of news, like a stone thrown into a still lake, stirred up turbulent waves.

Chiyo, the advisor of Sunagakure Village, had her son and daughter-in-law murdered near the border. That night, a white light streaked across the night sky at the border between the two countries of Wind and Fire, illuminating the night as bright as day before disappearing without a trace.

Actually, saying it's the border between the lands of wind and fire isn't accurate. To be precise, it's the border between the land of rivers and the land of rain. Both of these countries serve as buffers between the lands of wind and fire, but people subconsciously tend to overlook the smaller countries.

Even with dozens of elites from Sunagakure mobilized, and despite searching for the culprit across vast distances, they ultimately only learned the killer's identity.

Sakumo Hatake, an Anbu ninja from Konohagakure and the bodyguard of the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi.

In a very short time, Sunagakure issued three diplomatic statements, protesting, condemning, and demanding the handover of the murderer. Before Konoha could respond, more diplomatic statements followed.

The Hidden Cloud Village of the Land of Lightning, the Hidden Mist Village of the Land of Water, and the Hidden Stone Village of the Land of Earth all condemned Konoha for sending ninjas to assassinate their village's elites, and the culprit turned out to be the same person.

Overnight, Hatake Sakumo became the most popular ninja in the ninja world. He even earned a nickname, "Konoha's White Fang," because of the strange phenomena that occurred on the night he assassinated Chiyo's son and daughter-in-law.

Amidst widespread condemnation of Sakumo Hatake, the White Fang of Konoha, for his senseless killings and the Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi for attempting to provoke a war, Konoha also issued a diplomatic statement.

The truth and information about the Land of Whirlpools that Hatake Sakumo, Jiraiya, and other Jonin from the village had been investigating for over a year were sent directly to the Daimyo and Kage of the other four great nations. The people that Hatake Sakumo assassinated were the people in charge of the destruction of the Land of Whirlpools in each village.

Upon hearing this statement, the Hidden Cloud Village, Hidden Mist Village, and Hidden Stone Village, which had been loudly clamoring alongside the Hidden Sand Village, instantly fell silent, as if they had never uttered a sound.

In truth, Konoha's reason was hardly a reason. After all, it was the Land of Whirlpools that was destroyed. Although the Land of Fire was an ally of the Land of Whirlpools, the term of this alliance had expired the moment the Land of Whirlpools was destroyed.

In other words, whatever Konoha does is the work of Konoha Village and the Land of Fire, and the Land of Whirlpools and the Whirlpool Village cannot be used as a reason or excuse.

The reason why the three villages did not respond is simple: this matter is disgraceful, and a wrong response could very likely harm the interests of the country and the villages.

The village's economy mainly comes from two sources: one is the daimyo's grants, and the other is commissions. These commissions come from individuals, daimyo, and other countries.

Especially for small countries that lack the power to establish their own ninja villages, they spend a large amount of their finances every year to hire large ninja villages to protect them.

If their scandals involving the destruction of other countries were to become public, they would lose the trust of these smaller nations and lose a large number of commissioned tasks every year.

This time, Konoha actually gave them a lot of face, issuing diplomatic statements only to the five major powers and not making them public yet. If they dare to cause trouble, then Konoha will dare to make it public.

The wisest thing to do at this point is to shut up, let this matter pass, and continue to make money from these small countries. No one needs one or two elite soldiers; if they die, they die.

Therefore, the three villages tacitly chose to forget, exchanging one or two of their elites for their profits in the Whirlpool Hidden Village—a worthwhile deal!

The only village that refused was Sunagakure, after all, Chiyo's status in Sunagakure was too high. Although she had intentionally retired a few years ago to make way for the Third Kazekage, no one in Sunagakure dared to forget her.

Therefore, Sunagakure ignored Konoha's hints and stationed the Sunagakure elites who were pursuing Hatake Sakumo directly at the border between the two countries of Wind and Fire.

Furthermore, news has spread that Chiyo has finally appeared in Sunagakure, and the Third Kazekage has been sending reinforcements to the border, clearly not wanting the matter to end so easily.

In the Hokage Building, the Third Hokage was having a meeting with a group of advisors. Sakumo Hatake, who had just returned from a mission and was hailed as a hero by many, was dozing off in a chair outside the mission hall.

He traveled thousands of miles to kill two elite members of Sunagakure, and then escaped back to the village while being pursued by the village's elite troops. To be honest, all he wanted to do now was sleep.

Unfortunately, it wasn't that simple. The first thing he did upon returning was to report on his duties. Then, Hiruzen Sarutobi held a meeting with the advisors, which was probably going to be a Jonin meeting soon, and he couldn't be absent.

Now I can only take a nap in a corner to catch my breath and avoid falling asleep in the meeting later.

Meanwhile, Tatsuma, having finished his mission, arrived at the mission hall to hand over the duties. Originally, these tasks should have been done by Tsunade, but as soon as the master and apprentice entered the village, Tsunade was called away.

However, the ninjas in the mission hall were not stubborn and agreed to let Tatsuma, a genin, hand over the mission. A few minutes later, Tatsuma, who had received the commission completion receipt and reward, was about to leave.

As he stepped out of the mission hall, he saw Hatake Sakumo not far away. He slowly walked over and asked, "Lord Sakumo?"

"what!"

Sakumo Hatake shuddered, his right hand instinctively reaching for the short sword hanging on his back. Seeing it was Tatsuma, he breathed a sigh of relief and lowered his hand, forcing a smile. He glanced at him and asked:

"Just finished a mission?"

"Hmm, a C-level escort mission, narrowly escaped unscathed."

"I was pretty much the same, but it was a close call."

Sakumo Hatake scratched his head, yawned, and said, "Sakumo-sama, I've heard about it too. You probably don't even know you have the nickname 'Konoha's White Fang,' do you?"

"Konoha's White Fang?"

Hearing this nickname, Hatake Sakumo was a little confused. He hadn't dared to stop along the way, so how could he have had time to find out if he had been given a nickname?

Tatsuma nodded and sat down next to Sakumo Hatake, saying, "Yes, everyone says that you used your chakra dagger that night to create a white light that illuminated the entire night sky, like white fangs piercing the darkness."

"ah"

Hatake Sakumo opened his mouth, unsure how to react. Tatsuma moved closer and asked in a low voice, "Lord Sakumo, tell me honestly, is it because you can't control the new chakra blade that you're like this?"

With your abilities, there's no reason for you to cause such a commotion during an assassination attempt, is there?

"Ahem. Well, that's mainly... um... anyway, that's it."

Sakumo Hatake's right hand seemed to have no end in sight, scratching his head, touching his nose, wiping his face, and saying things that didn't sound like human speech.

Tatsuma, however, broke into a bright smile, thinking he had guessed the truth. But after seeing the slightly threatening look in Hatake Sakumo's eyes, his expression suddenly changed, and he said:

"Lord Sakumo used a flash of light as a signal of ending the mission, declaring the matter of the Land of Whirlpools to be over, while simultaneously showcasing the glory of Konoha and intimidating the ninja world. He is truly admirable!"

"Um?"

Sakumo Hatake's eyes widened slightly as he looked at Tatsuma's sudden change in expression. He pondered the reason Tatsuma had given him. After a moment, a smile appeared on his face, and he patted Tatsuma on the back of the neck, saying:

"Haha~ You understand my good intentions; you truly deserve to be called a genius among the new generation of Konoha!"

Tatsuma could only force a smile, but his tone quickly changed as he said, "However, I'm afraid I won't have much of a chance to use the sword that Sakumo-senpai gave me."

Why?

Sakumo Hatake blinked. The continuous all-nighters had severely slowed his brain's processing speed. Tatsuma said with some melancholy, "You've made such a great name for yourself. If I were to use your sword, wouldn't that be beneath your dignity?"

Moreover, I am not skilled in swordsmanship. If I were to carelessly wield the dagger you gifted me, it might attract unwanted attention. If I were to die easily, it would further tarnish your reputation.

Upon hearing this, Hatake Sakumo pursed his lips and said, "It was my oversight. However, I don't want you to treat my sword as a collectible. How about this, I'll summarize some techniques and experiences I've learned for you, so you can study them carefully."

If there's anything you don't understand, feel free to ask me. Don't be too reserved.

"Really? Lord Sakumo?!"

"How could it be fake?"

(End of this chapter)