Chapter 244: Playing with Tsunade, Making Her Reluctant to Leave
As soon as Tsunade, with the character for "Gamble" written on her back, appeared, she caused a sensation in Tanzaku Town. Countless gamblers swarmed towards her, treating her as their chance to turn their luck around, and clustered around her as they entered the casino.
And the current Tsunade was indeed quite wealthy.
She had just earned 30 million Ryō from a noble in the Land of Fire using her medical ninjutsu, enough for her to squander for a while.
Akiyama Makoto also followed. Because there were so many people watching the commotion, and he was considered a regular customer, he didn't stand out. Under his witness, Tsunade turned all her money into chips and began to play dice with a group of gamblers.
They even started fighting over the chance to gamble with her.
Seeing that the situation was about to get out of control, he stepped forward. "How about we share the love? The winners give up their seats, and the losers continue to gamble with this lady. How about it?"
His words immediately drew dissatisfaction from many gamblers. Winners naturally wanted to keep winning; how could they easily give up their seats?
But that was the thinking of those at the table. Those not at the table immediately supported his idea and gathered around him.
Seeing a large group of people treating him as their leader, the expressions of those at the table changed slightly.
Tsunade watched this scene with a smile. She knew very well the mindset of this group of people: to put it bluntly, they wanted to make money off of her, the "Legendary Sucker."
Having been a "fat sheep" for so many years, she was used to all of this and wasn't angry. She just enjoyed the feeling of being surrounded by people.
Of course, looking at the handsome Makoto was also a form of enjoyment. She hadn't expected to see a man in Tanzaku Town who was so outstanding in both temperament and figure.
Soon, under the negotiation of the group of gamblers, everyone agreed to his suggestion.
After all, so many people here wanted to make money, and the people at the table weren't from any major power. Forcibly occupying a seat would only provoke resentment from others.
Then the gambling began. Everyone had a dice cup in front of them, shaking the dice to compare numbers.
This was a very simple way of gambling, even appearing overly crude compared to the slot machines next door.
But under the gaze and cheers of dozens of people, the process of everyone repeatedly revealing their dice cups gave a strong sense of participation, and the atmosphere soon heated up.
Tsunade roared again and again, sighed again and again, and the chips in her hand decreased one by one.
She changed opponents at the table one by one. Although those who had won money didn't want to leave, they could only be pushed away by the crowd to make way for new people.
Soon, it was Makoto's turn.
He calmly took out a large pile of chips. Although not comparable to Tsunade's, it was still several million Ryō.
This made the hot-blooded Tsunade take a second look at him. She hadn't expected him to be quite wealthy!
Then, she shook the dice. Amidst the cheers of the gamblers, she lifted the cup. Inside was 3, 3, 4—ten points.
This number was neither big nor small, giving her hope of winning.
However, the next few people rolled 11, 13, and 17. Everyone was higher than her.
Except for Makoto. 3, 3, 2—eight points. Amidst the frenzied cheers of everyone else, the winners began to divide the money, and he became the biggest loser.
Tsunade didn't win, but she hadn't expected someone to have such bad luck as to lose to her. She couldn't help but laugh and pat his shoulder. "Little brother, your luck is terrible! Hahaha!"
He rolled his eyes at her. "Does a gambler who loses dozens of times in a row have the nerve to say my luck is bad?"
"Hey! I was comforting you, and you dare glare at me? Watch, I'll definitely beat you once! Take this!"
Then, she rolled the dice again. This time, her bad luck exploded and she came in last place. But he didn't win either; he was just slightly higher than her.
Although the chips in front of him had decreased, he still couldn't help but look at her triumphantly. This made her clench her fists in anger, really wanting to punch him.
And so, the gambling continued.
His and Tsunade's luck was about the same. Although they didn't lose all their chips, they didn't win much either. In the end, they fought together for several hours.
On her side, after losing a full ten million Ryō in chips, her eyes began to turn red.
"I'm not playing anymore! Bad luck today! Let's go drink!"
She pushed away the dice cup in front of her and was about to leave when she suddenly thought of something. She grabbed his wrist. "Little brother, want to have a drink with me? You lost so much, you must be angry too, right?"
He put on a bitter expression and said through gritted teeth, "Fine. I won't go home until I'm drunk."
"Hahaha! Shizune, help us exchange the remaining chips for money. Little brother and I are going drinking."
With that, she wrapped her arm around his neck and swaggered towards the izakaya.
As they walked, she chatted enthusiastically with him, asking where he was from, how old he was, and who was in his family, looking for all the world like a strange big sister trying to abduct him.
But he knew that she was already suspicious of him.
Her own luck was terrible. This had been verified by so many years of gambling that it was practically a rule of nature; she had even given up struggling against it.
But on his side, his losses seemed a bit deliberate.
In fact, he had lost deliberately, in order to become familiar with her at the gambling table. Otherwise, breaking the ice with her wouldn't be so easy.
Waiting for her to drink and then confessing to her was another method, but right now, he had to focus on the Chūnin Exams. He didn't have time to pay attention to this side for a while, so he could only try this method first.
It seemed to have succeeded, but now he had to pass her inspection.
"Hey, Big Sister is asking you a question."
She pulled him into a corner with few people, the mischievous smile on her face becoming more obvious.
He wasn't nervous, but smiled and asked back, "Big Sister... are you very old?"
Her breath caught. Without thinking, she said directly, "Of course I'm just older than you! I'm 24!"
"Ah, that's good. I thought you were some big shot who had mastered the art of eternal youth."
"What are you saying? I'm young! Truly young! Is there anywhere on me that isn't young?"
To prove her youth, she even let go of him, letting him examine her entire body carefully.
He looked at her without any shyness, until she felt her body faintly heat up. She grabbed his collar again. "You still haven't answered my question. You're strange. A person of your age appearing alone in a place like this... aren't you afraid of being robbed?"
Public security in Tanzaku Town was not good. Bumping into someone on the street could result in a demand for 100,000 Ryō in compensation, let alone someone like him who clearly carried a huge sum of money.
"About that... don't worry, Big Sister. I have some strength."
He smiled faintly. Then, Lightning chakra flowed over his body, finally condensing into a small blade of lightning chakra at his fingertip.
This move surprised her.
Mastering the nature and shape transformation of Lightning chakra at such a young age... was this guy some little genius from the Cloud Village?
"Are you from the Land of Lightning?"
She frowned. If he was from the Land of Lightning, it was better for her to stay away from him.
The enmity between the Land of Earth, the Land of Lightning, and the Land of Fire ran too deep. Establishing a friendship would only make everyone unhappy.
He shook his head. "I am from the Land of Fire. Of course, you could also say I'm from the Land of Waves."
This strange answer made her even more suspicious. She wanted to ask more, but he smiled and said, "I've answered a lot of questions. It's your turn to answer mine, Big Sister."
"Where are you from, Big Sister? Why do you keep gambling even though you know your luck is bad? Won't you have problems with your finances and life?"
She was speechless for a moment. She really hadn't thought about what to do if he asked her, nor did she know how to answer such a question.
She could only clench her fist roughly. "Why should I tell you about my affairs? This is a girl's secret. Are you trying to pursue me?"
"Yes."
His calm answer stunned her.
"Pfft, hahaha!"
As if she had heard the funniest joke, she pointed at his nose, wanting to say that he was fearless because of his ignorance.
But just as she was about to tell him her identity, the words stopped at her lips, because she was still pretending to be a twenty-something big sister.
"Anyway, it's impossible between us. Although you're handsome and strong, you're not my type."
"Thanks for keeping me company all night. Let's part ways here."
She strode away, not even realizing that her pace was a little quick.
Only after she walked out of the alley and saw that he hadn't followed did she breathe a sigh of relief.
"Huh? Lady Tsunade, where is that young man? Here's his one million Ryō or so. We should give it back to him."
If it were anyone else, she might have just pocketed it.
After all, the other party was a gambler too, and she didn't have a good impression of fellow gamblers.
But thinking of that young man who had accompanied her all night just to pursue her and had lost more than three million Ryō, she felt her cheeks burn slightly.
It didn't matter if she had already given up on herself for a lifetime, but she couldn't really lead a young man astray. What if he could still be saved?
At this thought, she took his share, turned back to find him, but couldn't find a trace of him anywhere.
Just as she was considering whether to give up, his voice suddenly came from above.
"Big Sister, you really came back. Want to have a drink together?"
Seeing this, she stepped onto the wall and walked up to the roof, only to be surprised to see that he had already laid out a picnic blanket with all kinds of food and drinks, and was eating skewers alone while looking at the moon.
She suddenly found it interesting. "Did you know I would come back?"
"No. But I bet you would, because I guessed you were actually a good person, Big Sister, just stuck in gambling because of some troubles you haven't gotten over."
"Now that you're back, it means I won the bet this time."
She really wanted to retort, but thinking of her miserable luck, she could only say grumpily, "Don't gamble on me. Here's your money back. Let's not meet again after this."
At this time, Shizune also walked up. Seeing so much food, she couldn't help but lick her lips.
He and Tsunade had been immersed in gambling and lost track of time, but she and Tonton had been hungry for a long time.
Just as Shizune was preparing to leave with Tsunade, a muffled groan sounded.
Tsunade and Shizune immediately turned around, only to see his face pale, his aura visibly weakening.
He struggled to pick up the food beside him and began to gorge himself, but no matter how much he ate, it couldn't compare to the power of the Cell Activation outburst.
Tsunade immediately jumped to his side and placed her hand on his wrist. The next second, the chakra in her body began to flow uncontrollably into his.
Her expression changed drastically. "This is—"
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