I founded the "Bragging Cult" in Naruto.

Chapter 95 A friend asking you to go up doesn't necessarily mean they're helping you, but asking you to leave definitely means they are.

Upon hearing Tatsuma's "heartless" words, Minato fell silent, but he quickly nodded in understanding, realizing that something was wrong with Tatsuma's current state.

Perhaps his staying would only hinder Tatsuma. Minato took a deep breath and said, "Tatsuma, hang in there. I will tell the others about what's going on here."

"Um."

Tatsuma nodded, and Minato was about to turn and leave when Sasori spoke up, "Leave? Did we agree to that?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Sha Xing winked at the two Sand Ninja. The two Sand Ninja understood what Sha Xing meant and rushed towards Minato. Minato gripped his kunai, about to break through, when Tatsuma's voice came.

"Go your way, no one can stop you."

Upon hearing this, Minato no longer hesitated. He activated his Body Flicker Technique and charged towards the outer perimeter. The two ninjas turned around to give chase, but white senbon needles sprouted from the ground beneath them, piercing their feet.

"When?!"

Sha Xing was somewhat taken aback when, without realizing it, a strand of Chen Ma's hair had grown extremely long and even disappeared into the ground.

The two Sand Ninjas whose feet were pierced by Tatsuma's hair reacted extremely quickly. They bent down, grabbed the hair, and pulled it off their feet with a sudden jerk, causing the hair to instantly leave the ground.

The two exerted their strength again, trying to make Tatsuma lose his balance by pulling his hair, but Tatsuma reacted faster, giving up on channeling chakra into his hair, and at the same time, he swung his chakra dagger and cut off his own hair.

Seeing this, the Sand Ninja also abandoned Tatsuma's hair, glanced at Minato who had already broken through the gap between the two and run far away, and stopped chasing.

After all, they had no grudge against Minato, and they weren't even too keen on ganging up on Tatsuma, since Tatsuma was young but surprisingly strong, and most importantly, he was indestructible.

The injuries Chenma sustained would have killed most people long ago, or at least rendered them unable to fight. Yet he remained lively and energetic, and the power he unleashed when he killed his companion was even stronger than before.

If it weren't for the requirement from their "superior," Sha Xing, the time they spent here could have been enough to snipe several Konoha squads, which would have been a significant achievement.

Originally, this Konoha squad should have been wiped out much earlier, but their superior, Sha Xing, insisted on making that brat experience the cruelty of the ninja world.

The delays not only failed to resolve the issue of the brat, but also resulted in the brat killing several of them. This alone was enough to displease the Sand Ninja.

Therefore, after another little devil appeared, no one was actually willing to take action. If it weren't for Sha Xing's prompting, no one would have been willing to step forward.

Moreover, of the three who stepped forward, one was dead and two were injured. Under these circumstances, they had even less motivation to pursue them.

They just wanted to get rid of Tatsuma as quickly as possible, and then go and wipe out the other Konoha squads. Time was tight and the task was heavy. If they waited for the reinforcements to arrive, it would be difficult for them to gain any credit.

They might even have let Minato go on purpose, because Minato made it clear before he left that he would notify the others, which meant that if they continued to delay, they might be met with Konoha's reinforcements.

This was putting pressure on Sha Xing, his superior. Sha Xing naturally sensed it, a hint of dissatisfaction flashing across his face as he said impatiently, "It's time to deal with this brat."

After saying that, he looked at Tatsuma. He had a strange feeling in his heart because the power that Tatsuma had just unleashed was somewhat beyond his expectations.

Having "fought" with Tatsuma twice, Sha Xing had a general idea of ​​Tatsuma's strength. Among his peers, Tatsuma was indeed quite good, but he was still only at the Chunin level.

But the counterattack after Tatsuma was injured made Sha Xing feel a sense of threat. It wasn't the threat of facing that strange Rasengan ninjutsu, nor the threat of being surrounded by explosive tags.

Rather, it was the real pressure and threat he felt when facing opponents of the same level, but he dismissed it as his own imagination. As for Tatsuma's sudden increase in power...

Perhaps it was because of that Sand Ninja's contempt, or perhaps it was because of Tatsuma's last stand before his death.

"Kid, don't you love praising others? Now you're getting one last chance to say it."

Sha Xing looked at Chen Ma defiantly. Chen Ma used the hilt of his chakra dagger to brush away a strand of hair, soaked with blood and clinging to his forehead, before saying:

"I really enjoy praising others because I believe everyone has something I can acknowledge, but you don't."

Chenma glanced around, taking in the corpses scattered everywhere, then looked at Shaxing and said, "Those who desecrate life do not deserve to be called human."

Whether it's my comrades or the Sand Village ninja who died, how many of them lost their lives because of your disregard for life? If it was just to kill me, you wouldn't have needed so many people to die.

However, he chose the most disgusting method, thinking that killing my companions one by one would break me down, and was even willing to let your subordinates die for it.

If you had done what you did last time and taken matters into your own hands, I wouldn't have hesitated to acknowledge you. Unfortunately, you're afraid; you don't even dare to lay a hand on me.

Tatsuma felt he was about to lose control of the negative emotions brought on by the Nine-Tails' chakra, so he simply abandoned his emotional defenses and looked at the approaching Sand Ninja, saying:

"Your loyalty to your superiors amazes me, but unfortunately, I'm going to end your loyalty here."

"You little rapper, what are you still being so stubborn about?!"

One of the Sand Ninjas said with dissatisfaction, "Although Tatsuma's evaluation of Sand Star just now suited our wishes, could this kid possibly have any way to struggle with his current state?"

Tatsuma did not answer, or rather, extreme anger, resentment and mania had filled his mind, his eyes became fierce, and a layer of red chakra gradually appeared on his body.

Even a brief moment of distraction caused him to drop the chakra dagger in his hand, his center of gravity lowered as if he were about to fall to the ground, but he ultimately did not fall.

"What is that? How can this brat have such powerful chakra?!"

Upon seeing this, the Sand Ninja were all surprised, but Sha Xing's expression changed. As a descendant of the Second Kazekage and a disciple of the Third Kazekage, he naturally knew what the Tailed Beasts were.

Tatsuma's current state is very similar to that of a berserk Jinchuriki.

But something's not right! Sha Xing quickly dismissed the idea, because the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki of Konoha hadn't deliberately hidden it. Many people knew that Mito Uzumaki, the wife of the First Hokage Hashirama Senju, was the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki.

The change of the Tailed Beast Jinchuriki signifies the death of the previous Jinchuriki, yet no news has ever been sent that Mito Uzumaki is dead, and...

If this kid really is the Nine-Tails' jinchūriki, they would probably all be dead by now. The Nine-Tails' power is unmatched by any other tailed beast.

Therefore, Sha Xing didn't believe Tatsuma was the Nine-Tails' jinchūriki. As for this strange state... who knows? He pointed in Tatsuma's direction and shouted, "Attack! He's just playing tricks!"

With Sha Xing's order, the Sand Ninja, who had been somewhat hesitant, had no choice but to calm themselves down and charge towards Tatsuma once again.

Tatsuma suddenly looked up, his vertical pupils within his red irises sweeping over the surrounding Sand Ninja. In the next instant, Tatsuma vanished from their sight.

"ah!!!"

"what!"

Screams echoed through the woods, playing a symphony of suffering.

(End of this chapter)