I founded the "Bragging Cult" in Naruto.

"Wow, your school is huge! And the shopping street is so long! Oh, and this hot spring is so warm."

Inside the hot spring inn, the hot spring is right outside the door, and inside are rows of tables and chairs, with five people per table. The other accompanying people are also sitting in random places. Ai is holding a wine pot and wine, trying to say something, but the adjectives he uses are always so simple and unadorned.

Finally, he slammed his hand on the table and said, "I admire Konoha, and I must toast you!"

As he spoke, he picked up the wine jug and poured wine into the cup in front of Tatsuma, then stared longingly at Tatsuma.

According to the intelligence he obtained, Tatsuma is a teetotaler and has never had a second drink, no matter how important the occasion. Ai even prepared a lot of things to say.

For example, they would respond to Tatsuma's refusal with questions like, "Is it disrespectful of me not to drink?" or "Is this how you treat your guests as the host?"

But Tatsuma raised his glass and said, "Thank you for your recognition, Raikage. This shows that Konoha's efforts over the past few years have not been in vain."

After saying that, he downed the drink in one gulp. Ai squinted, "Drinking so readily? Is that it?"

"Raikage, I, as the one being toasted, have already drunk the drink. Why aren't you, the one who offered the toast, doing anything in return?"

Tatsuma put down his glass and looked at Ai with a smile. Ai snapped out of his daze, noticing the stares around him. He felt a little embarrassed and annoyed. Tatsuma made it sound like he was afraid to drink. Who did he think he was?!

"Ton ton ton~"

He simply abandoned the glass and downed the entire bottle in one gulp, saying, "Hokage, how's that for me?"

"Massive quantity".

"Tatsuma exclaimed in admiration, then gave the waiter a look. The waiter, being very sensible, opened another bottle and placed it in front of Ai. Tatsuma immediately said:"

"Looks like we haven't given him enough training. Are we just waiting for the Raikage to pour his own drinks? Or are we planning to have him constantly chugging drinks? Even someone with a huge capacity for alcohol can't drink like this, can he?"

As Tatsuma spoke, he glanced at the wine glass, which was only about the size of a small section of Ai's thumb. The waiter said somewhat nervously, "I'm sorry, Fourth Hokage, I..."

"Don't make things difficult for the men below. I've never been comfortable using a wine cup! This is how the men of Kumogakure drink!"

When the young, beautiful, and somewhat delicate waitress spoke with a pitiful expression, Ai instantly got a little tipsy. With a wave of his hand, he picked up a bottle of wine and immediately showed off another bottle.

"I see. I misunderstood. It's also my fault for not having enough time lately and not taking into account the differences between the villages. I suppose the waiters in this inn are all trained, which is why they know the Raikage's habits so well."

Chenma showed remorse and even nodded apologetically to the waiter. The waiter turned away and opened another bottle of wine, placing it in front of Ai.

Ai almost stopped breathing. He certainly had a huge capacity for alcohol, but didn't you guys know that Konoha was serving him strong liquor?!

But since he had already boasted, Ai couldn't really say anything. He could only rub his stomach and say, "This wine is really making me hotter the more I drink. I need to slow down, otherwise I'll break out in a sweat and ruin everyone's mood for eating."

"Lord Raikage, we have some chilled drinks here."

The waiter quickly opened another bottle, and Ai's eyes started twitching. It was chilled liquor; was drinking this meant to send him to his death?

His goal was clearly to get this Hokage, whose authenticity was unclear, drunk. How come he himself is about to get drunk before the banquet has even officially started?

Looking at the two bottles of wine in front of her, Ai regretted her decision. Why did she have to resort to getting drunk?

Ye Cang watched this scene with a smile. She wouldn't help Ai Shenyao. It was the honest Huang Tu who hesitated and said, "You should drink in moderation. My dad drank too much when he was young and now he has all sorts of health problems. Lord Raikage, please don't overindulge."

"Tch, how could my body compare to that old bastard Onoki?"

That's how it is when you're drinking. No matter how much others try to persuade you, it will turn into a provocation. Under Huang Tu's genuinely caring gaze, Ai stubbornly downed more than half a bottle.

Unable to finish it in one gulp, he put down the bottle and took deep breaths, his forehead covered in sweat more than the walls of a humid, damp place. But he still stubbornly insisted, "This wine is too chilled; it hurts my teeth to drink it."

Seeing this, Huang Tu, the honest man, stopped trying to persuade him and turned to Chen Ma, asking, "Lord Hokage, regarding the next phase of cooperation between our two villages, do you have any plans?"

What are your thoughts?

"We have an idea. Iwagakure has an experienced infrastructure team, and Konoha has mentors. We can cooperate to develop targeted infrastructure and industrial upgrading, using border towns or small countries as pilot projects to try out new development possibilities."

Upon hearing this, Chenma nodded. The core of the Yellow Earth is actually just one thing: the Iwa ninja can no longer stay in Konoha. Even if they can't return to Iwagakure, they should head northwest. The closer they get to the Land of Earth, the less restriction Konoha can provide.

This was a reasonable request, since Tatsuma couldn't really imprison those Iwa ninja. He thought for a moment and said, "I don't know about the situation in the Land of Earth, but I can't make decisions about economic reforms in the Land of Fire either."

Furthermore, the Land of Fire is currently in an awkward situation where there is both a huge surplus and a shortage at its ports of entry and exit. Why don't we connect with the surrounding smaller countries, cultivate their industries, and increase their purchasing power, thus creating a third market and resource transfer station besides Earth and Fire? What do you think?

Huang Tu pondered for a moment, and Ye Cang put down his chopsticks and said, "Hokage, when it comes to developing cooperation, we can't just look at small countries. Our Sunagakure Village also has the intention and ability to cooperate."

The windy and sandy climate, in particular, has resulted in the lack of an integrated entertainment capital in the Land of Wind. I believe we are the ones who urgently need to simultaneously develop both industry and market.

Tatsuma suddenly thought of a city from his previous life, a city whose industries could be used as a reference, but Tsunade's visits must be restricted.

"Great! Triangles are stable, and I believe the same applies to tripartite cooperation. What do you think, Huang Tu?"

Tatsuma looked at Hiroto, who hesitated for a moment. After all, the connection between Sunagakure and Konoha was too deep now, and there wasn't much difference between entering the Land of Wind and staying in Konoha.

The only difference is that the pursuit force of Sunagakure is definitely weaker than that of Konoha. If it really comes down to escaping, it will indeed be easier to run away. However, the terrain of the Land of Wind also increases the danger of being pursued.

While hesitating, Huang Tu suddenly had a flash of inspiration: why treat this cooperation as a bad thing? If viewed from a positive perspective, this cooperation, if handled properly, would not result in any losses for Iwagakure.

With proper execution, there might even be additional revenue. Thinking of this, Huang Tu's brows relaxed, and he said, "I also think it's feasible, but we're relatively unfamiliar with desert terrain."

"What's this about being unfamiliar or not? We've been fighting for so many years, I don't believe you don't have any intelligence about the desert."

Tatsuma waved his hand, stating the obvious directly. Koto looked embarrassed for a moment, and Yekura intervened, steering the conversation deeper. The three of them gradually became more animated in their discussion.

The conversation ended when a boy with a rolling eye ran in and said something to Tatsuma. Tatsuma then looked at Ai, who hadn't said a word since finishing his drink.

At this moment, Ai was holding a wine bottle with water droplets gradually forming on its surface, nodding his head repeatedly like a wooden fish hammer.

"Raikage. Raikage"

"Huh!? I'm not drunk, I was just thinking."

Ai shuddered, then looked at Tatsuma with glazed eyes and asked, "Hokage, what did you say?"

Tatsuma leaned forward, a smile on his face, and said, "Raikage, your Cloud Village's ninja leader died mysteriously in our Konoha. Don't you have an explanation for this? At least apologize to me first!"

"Bang!" (End of Chapter)