"Lord Kazekage, after investigation, we've found someone running an illegal gambling operation. The amount of money involved is considerable, enough to constitute a serious criminal offense."
"Oh? Someone actually dares to open a casino here without permission? They're not afraid of getting caught?"
Rasa raised an eyebrow at the Suna-nin in front of him, then thought for a moment.
"Is this one of Tsunade from Konoha's betting rings? Hah… why is she so set on sabotaging herself?"
Was she jealous of how easily Jiraiya was making money? Planning to lose all of it for him—and maybe even leave him drowning in debt?
However—
"No. It's not Princess Tsunade of the Three Legendary Sannin," the Suna-nin shook his head. "According to the registration records, it's being run privately by the missing-nin Kakuzu. Because the odds are high and the house fee is low, it's attracted a huge number of gamblers—even Tsunade has already placed a bet on herself to win. And because the matter also involves missing-nin from other villages… we're worried that taking action rashly might cause unnecessary trouble. So I was sent to ask, Lord Kazekage… should we order his arrest?"
"Kakuzu…"
Rasa was momentarily speechless.
He hadn't expected that man to show up here to compete—much less to set up a gambling operation inside Sunagakure.
After thinking for a moment, his lips curved into a faint smile. His voice was calm, but carried a certain edge.
"No, leave him for now. The year-end is approaching—let him fatten up a bit first. Oh, and… make sure to help spread the word about his casino. Keep a close watch on him, and when the time comes, don't let him slip away."
"…Understood!"
...
"Achoo! Achoo!"
Kakuzu suddenly felt a chill, sneezed twice, and pulled his cloak tighter around him before gathering up the betting slips from the table.
He already knew every trick in the gambling book. No matter what happened, the house never truly lost—and if by some freak chance it did lose… well, if Kakuzu decided to run, who could possibly catch him?
Did they think he'd managed to live this long just by relying on Earth Grudge Fear?
Don't be ridiculous. Even the so-called God of Shinobi had died of illness—there was no such thing as living forever just by being strong. Push your luck too far, and you'd end up buried in a pit sooner or later.
That was why, in his decades of fleeing across the shinobi world, he'd learned exactly how to dodge danger and conceal his identity. Catching him was never going to be easy.
Even if all five Kage showed up in person—so long as he didn't stand there and fight to the death—he'd still get away.
Still…
"This blasted Sunagakure weather is freezing!"
He patted the thick, well-stuffed ninja pouch at his waist.
"Good thing I've made a tidy profit. I'll grab a big meal later… maybe buy a couple of new outfits."
As for the rest of the money… he'd keep saving it up.
If not for the tournament's 100 million first prize, he wouldn't have come to this hellhole at all—baking like a dog in the daytime, freezing like a dog at night, with never a comfortable moment.
Of course, now that he'd earned this much, even without taking the championship, this trip was already worth it.
He gave a silent nod of thanks to Konoha—truly worthy of being the number one shinobi village. When they spent, they spent big.
Once everything was tidied away, he remembered the group of tour guides at the village entrance.
"'God Tree BBB'? A century-old establishment, secret family recipe… guess I'll try it out."
As he spoke—
Creak.
The door opened suddenly, and in walked a familiar white-haired man with a lecherous grin.
Kakuzu knew him well—it was this guy who had brought that generous, free-spending female companion. The man himself was straightforward, easy to deal with, and clearly rich.
What was his name again?
Right—Jiraiya.
One of Konoha's Three Legendary Sannin.
Kakuzu would never forget a customer like that.
His face lit up in a welcoming smile—though, wrapped as it was up to the chin, the furtive Jiraiya probably couldn't see it.
"Welcome back. Here to raise the stakes?"
Still… why was he sneaking around like that?
...
"This is my good friend from Sunagakure—Gaara!" Naruto said happily, throwing an arm around Gaara's small shoulders as he addressed his teammates. "He's super strong—last time, he took second place in the Four-Wheel Drive Race!"
Children's friendships were always simple.
Before long, Gaara had become fast friends with the group of Konoha kids, even treating them all to free rides on the kiddie rides—one turn each.
Most of the money Shukaku had earned last time had been spent on arcade tokens. Unfortunately, just a few days later, Shukaku had left the village with Adviser Ebizō to work a job outside. That meant the unused tokens were still with him—plenty of them.
He'd probably be back in a few days. Then they could get more tokens, and there'd be no way to use them all up—so Gaara decided to let his new friends enjoy them now.
His generosity left the Konoha kids stunned. They'd all treated friends before, but usually just one or two people—not like Gaara, who was…
…picking up the tab for everyone.
"Eh? Where's Shukaku?"
Seeing his friend so generous made little Naruto beam with pride. He even shot a smug glance at a certain black-haired, spiky-headed stoic… only to have his confidence falter when he noticed all the girls around that guy—including a certain pink-haired girl he liked. His heart twinged as if he'd just lost again.
But—
Naruto still had a "secret weapon" he hadn't used yet. He was not going to give up on his goddess.
"Ehem~"
Imitating Pervy Sage, he coughed twice to draw everyone's attention.
"Gaara, where's Shukaku? Why haven't I seen him today?"
"Uh… he's gone out to work. If Grandpa Ebizō comes back in a few days, he'll probably be back too."
"Huh? He can work?"
Naruto's big blue eyes blinked in disbelief, then lit up with admiration.
"That's amazing~"
"Mm. He's also the spokesperson for the 'Gold Panner Gift Pack.' All he has to do is take a few photos, and he gets paid a ton of money."
"Gold Panner?"
"Oh, I know that one! It's some kind of gambling thing—there's gold inside."
"Yeah, my dad bought one and got loads of gold! That night he took me to eat at the Grand Sail and told me not to tell Mom—it was a secret!"
"Eh? Then why did my mom's just have sand in it? Isn't that a scam?"
The group of kids behind them immediately started chattering noisily.
Only Nara Shikamaru walked over curiously, looking at Gaara. "So Shukaku is that tanuki on the Gold Panner pack?"
"Shukaku says he's not a tanuki. If he hears someone call him that, he'll get mad."
"That's right~" Naruto nodded seriously. "Shukaku might look like a tanuki, but he's super strong, really funny, and he can even put coins into the kiddie rides himself."
"Can talk? So he's a summon?"
As for the whole "can put coins in himself" thing, Shikamaru dismissed it out of hand. That wasn't much of a skill.
From Naruto's gestures—
That small? Probably not very strong either.
"No, he's not a summon. Shukaku, he…" Gaara stopped mid-sentence, shook his head, and said calmly, "He's just very strong."
"Heh~"
As a mature little brat, Shikamaru knew exactly what kids meant by "strong."
Like… being able to put coins in rides by themselves.
So he didn't take Gaara's words seriously, just rolled his eyes—and then remembered something.
"I heard you're competing too?"