I founded the "Bragging Cult" in Naruto.

Chapter 92 Your enemy may miss you more often in the dead of night than your lover.

"Damn Konoha, was all of this just a trap?!"

Three days later, at the border of the Land of Fire, Chiyo looked at the smug Tsunade and the Konoha ninja who outnumbered her by an alarming number. She gritted her teeth, her face filled with rage.

When they first gained the upper hand, Chiyo had her doubts about whether it was a scheme by Konoha. However, in the past week or so, Konoha had lost more than once, which made her feel that Orochimaru and Tsunade's leadership skills were inadequate.

She was already somewhat impatient to defeat Konoha's team, and even wanted to fight until Sakumo Hatake appeared to avenge her son and daughter-in-law. As a result, she gradually became immersed in the joy brought by each victory.

Especially since she had the equally impatient Sha Xing by her side, and it wasn't just the two of them; the entire Sand Village team, from top to bottom, felt that this war was the best opportunity for the Sand Village.

Even though more than one member of the advisory group mentioned more than once that this was very likely a conspiracy by Konoha, Chiyo and Shasei, among others, did not think it was a conspiracy.

Chiyo simply couldn't believe that Orochimaru and Tsunade, these two young men who were taking command of a war for the first time, would be so bold as to risk so many Konoha ninja lives and land to lure her into their trap.

Looking at the opposing team, Chiyo sensed something was wrong. Orochimaru and Tsunade alone were enough to negate her role on the battlefield. In addition, there were a large number of elite ninjas whose reputation and strength were not much inferior.

The group includes rising stars like Kōdō Moku, Shinku Yūhi, and Ikkaku Umino, as well as Rima and Tetsuma, two pillars of the Senju clan, and a large number of Senju clan ninjas.

Apart from Jiraiya and Sakumo Hatake, almost all of Konoha's younger generation of elites have arrived on this battlefield, intending to completely crush the Sand Ninja team from the front!

Moreover, Chiyo seemed to have noticed a large number of Byakugan ninjas. Chiyo was suddenly startled because she discovered that the Hyuga ninjas who had come to provide support had all disappeared.

Chiyo instinctively looked back, then quickly turned back to a Sand Village ninja beside her, whose face was equally grim, and said, "I'm afraid we're surrounded. The ninjas scattered throughout the Land of Rivers are probably already..."

Upon hearing this, the Sand Village ninja's expression changed, and he said, "Lord Sand Star."

Sha Xing was still in the Land of Rivers, cleaning up the Konoha ninjas who had been separated from the team, but it was likely that those ninjas were not forced to leave the team, but rather that they were intentionally separated.

If things go as expected, those scattered Konoha ninjas have probably already formed a line and completely surrounded them, which would put Sha Xing in danger!

"You should lead a thousand ninjas to retreat immediately, while searching for Sha Xing's whereabouts. Break out of the encirclement as soon as possible and then connect with the support team sent by the village."

Chiyo quickly gave the order, and the ninja looked troubled, saying, "Lady Chiyo, then you only have less than five hundred men left on your side."

"That's better than all of us staying here. Let's go!"

The Sand Ninja nodded, accepted the order, and soon the Sand Ninja ranks shifted. Seeing that most of the Sand Ninja were retreating towards the Land of Rivers, Tsunade's smug expression vanished, and she asked Orochimaru:

"Orochimaru, aren't you going to stop them? Are you just going to watch them escape?"

"They can't escape, and engaging in battle now would be disadvantageous for us. The Sand Ninja are definitely prepared for a desperate fight, while our troops have just come from a long journey and need time to catch their breath."

Orochimaru calmly analyzed that he did not mind the Sand Ninja team retreating, because a large number of Konoha ninjas had been deployed behind the Sand Ninja. He did not need to wipe out the Sand Ninja, but only to delay them.

The frontal battlefield is the most crucial. Once the support teams recover, defeating these hundreds of Sand Ninja in front of us will not be difficult. Then we can continue to advance and wipe out the Sand Ninja who have been delayed. This is the tactic with the fewest casualties and the most secure outcome.

Because of this huge trap, Konoha has already lost enough ninjas. If they can't control the number of casualties in this crucial battle, then Konoha won't be able to gain much.

In the Land of Rivers, Tatsuma's squad had completed their flanking maneuver, but they had also suffered casualties. At this moment, they were engaged in battle with a Sand Ninja squad. Facing a Sand Ninja team that outnumbered them several times over, Tatsuma's expression was grim.

He was wounded; the sleeve of his left arm was completely soaked in blood. His teammates were also injured to varying degrees, and some had even been killed.

Chenma felt the power surging within him growing stronger, but he felt no joy at all. He knew this was the effect of the [Graveyard Wanderer].

The more teammates die, the stronger he becomes in the short term, but this comes at a price.

"Wind Release: Wind Slicing Technique!"

Tatsuma formed hand seals, no longer conserving his chakra excessively as before. An invisible wind blade struck two Sand Ninja who were about to attack his teammates. He immediately teleported to their side to protect them.

"Seniors, we'll have to ask you to stop the bleeding yourselves."

Tatsuma didn't turn around and said directly that he couldn't be distracted by treating his teammates right now. The two Konoha ninjas nodded and each took out bandages and medicine.

"Kid, are you going to stop us all by yourself?"

At this moment, two Sand Ninja landed in front of Tatsuma and looked at him. Tatsuma tightened his grip on his short sword and said, "You may seem stronger because of your numerical advantage, but I will not surrender easily."

"As expected of the talkative Tobirama! Even at a time like this, he still manages to say such nice things."

The Sand Ninja with tattoos on his face grinned, and the Sand Ninja next to him, wrapped in bandages like a mummy, also chuckled. Tatsuma remained expressionless and continued to stand in front of his teammates.

"Be careful in your next life!"

After the tattooed Sand Ninja finished speaking loudly, she pounced on Tatsuma, while the mummy Sand Ninja began to form hand seals. Tatsuma watched the mummy ninja's hand seals and realized that it was just a major breakthrough, so he turned his attention to the tattooed Sand Ninja.

The tattooed Sand Ninja suddenly stopped in front of Tatsuma, misleading him, and then suddenly thrust his kunai downwards towards Tatsuma's left shoulder.

Seeing the enemy aiming at his left shoulder again, Tatsuma's brow twitched. He felt that the debuff brought by the White Demon was really hard to describe. He hadn't been injured anywhere else these past few days, but his left shoulder hadn't healed at all.

But Tatsuma was not afraid. Although his center of gravity was tricked and he swayed for a moment, he was small and light, so he quickly regained his balance, lowered his center of gravity, and lifted the right hand of the ninja with the outer tattoo with his left hand.

Then, with a swift movement of his left hand, he wrapped it around the tattooed ninja's right hand, binding him tightly, and pulled him down at the same time. The tattooed ninja's expression changed instantly.

He hadn't expected Tatsuma to be so strong, completely exceeding his expectations, to the point that his center of gravity was disrupted and he was about to fall forward.

Chenma seized the opportunity and thrust his right-hand chakra dagger toward the tattooed Sand Ninja's stomach.

The tattooed ninja hurriedly reached out to grab Tatsuma's right wrist, but due to his loss of balance, he couldn't keep up with Tatsuma's speed at all.

"Pfft~"

The chakra dagger was thrust straight into the tattooed ninja's stomach, and then Tatsuma pulled it out. At the same time, Tatsuma released the tattooed ninja's left hand. Seeing the tattooed ninja's wide-open defenses, Tatsuma did not hesitate to deliver a forward-moving elbow strike to the waist.

"Boom!"

The tattooed ninja was sent flying and crashed to the ground. Tatsuma did not pursue him, but quickly formed hand seals, and a stone slab in front of him lifted up.

"Earth Release! Earth Returns!"

"Knock knock knock~"

The mummy Sunagakure's powerful breakthrough, combined with the shuriken he threw, all embedded themselves in the stone slab—a scene that clearly took him somewhat by surprise.

Moreover, he hesitated for a second between continuing the attack and saving the tattooed ninja. In that one second, Tatsuma seized the opportunity, used the Body Flicker Technique, and appeared in front of the mummy ninja.

The mummy ninja hurriedly retreated, but Tatsuma's chakra dagger had somehow been covered in wind-style chakra, and the wind-attack blade extended the attack range of the chakra dagger.

"Sizzle~"

The wind blade ripped a large gash in the mummy ninja's chest, leaving deep cuts even on his exposed ribs.

"Ding~ [Speed ​​+10], [Energy +10]."

Noticing the system announcement, Chenma quickly returned to his two injured teammates. The fact that the system announcement came so quickly indicated that, according to the system's assessment, the two had already lost the ability to continue fighting.

"Senior, are you alright?"

Tatsuma looked at the two people who were bandaging their wounds and asked them a question. The two shook their heads and were about to answer when they noticed that Tatsuma's expression changed, and Inuzuka Shin, who was fighting with other ninjas in the distance, also frowned.

As another pair of Sand Ninja arrived, Inuzuka Makoto quickened his pace to try and eliminate as many ninja as possible. Tatsuma also said, "Senpai, new enemies are coming."

Upon hearing this, the two teammates also showed anxious expressions, and they quickened their bandaging movements.

"Sakamoto Tatsuma!"

A moment later, several figures landed. Upon seeing the leader, Chenma's expression became extremely solemn, for the person leading the group was none other than Shaxing, whom he had been "thinking about day and night."

(End of this chapter)