Satoshi was an honest man. He didn't know how to trick Tsunade to make it sound even slightly reasonable.
"Um... actually, I picked up this sword, do you believe me?"
Tsunade sneered, she naturally wouldn't believe Satoshi's nonsense.
Why don't you say it fell from the sky?
But she had just won a million, so she was in a good mood and couldn't be bothered to argue with Satoshi so much.
She threw the sword back to Satoshi and said, "Come find me when you want to play again. I'm always ready."
Satoshi turned and left, tears of unwillingness flowing.
Bastard!
Too much bullying!
I've actually fallen to the point of being ridiculed by the Ninja World's biggest whale.
If this gets out, how will I ever hold my head up again?
Also, damn it, all my money is gone. Where will I buy a house now?
He quietly returned to his room.
Both Kakashi and Tenzo were already asleep but Satoshi just couldn't sleep.
No, I have to find a way to get the money back. Now it's no longer a matter of missions, now it's a matter of dignity.
In the next room, Tsunade was happily counting money.
"See, I told you, I'd win big today. In a few days, we'll go to a bigger casino and win back everything we've lost over the past few years."
But as she counted, Tsunade suddenly stopped what she was doing.
Her luck at gambling was terrible. Every time she won, something unexpected would happen.
She earned so much today, surely nothing strange would happen, right?
Tsunade burrowed under the covers, her mind constantly replaying some memories she didn't want to recall. She didn't fall into a deep sleep until dawn.
The next morning, several people came downstairs for breakfast.
Shizune, holding Tonton, noticed Satoshi was nowhere to be seen.
"Where's Satoshi?"
Tenzo brought over two plates of steamed buns and a dish of pickles and said, "He seems to have not slept much last night and is catching up on sleep. Hasn't Tsunade-sama woken up either?"
Shizune nodded. "She might have played too late with Satoshi. Besides, Tsunade-sama hasn't woken up before noon in years, so you'll get used to it."
All three of them found it very strange how Satoshi and Tsunade ended up playing together.
And when Kakashi and Tenzo heard that Satoshi had lost all night, their eyes nearly popped out.
So a big whale met a big pig, huh?
Aside from the rumors of Hashirama losing to Tsunade, this was the first time they had heard of Tsunade winning so thoroughly.
While the few of them were chatting, Satoshi darted down from upstairs. He didn't say a word, just grabbed a steamed bun and started devouring it.
The three shivered at the sight.
"Satoshi, are you eating this bun or murdering it? What's with the hatred?"
"Yeah, Satoshi, it wasn't the bun that won your money, you..."
Tenzo stopped mid-sentence, feeling a palpable killing intent.
"Tha-that's right, I'll go pay the bill. Breakfast this morning is on me."
After speaking, he quickly fled, fearing Satoshi would pull out a sword and challenge him to a duel.
Satoshi gritted his teeth and said, "Shizune-senpai."
"Hmm?"
"Where's a ninja tool shop here?"
"Turn left outside, it's the third shop."
Satoshi finished his meat bun and said, "Ninja tools are important items for a ninja, and the same goes for Orochimaru. I'll go see if there's any news."
Shizune and Kakashi exchanged glances.
"I thought Satoshi would be immersed in the pain of losing money, but I didn't expect him to recover so quickly."
"Only the five of us and Tonton know about this. Don't tell anyone else."
"Okay."
—
Ninja tool shop.
There wasn't much business early in the morning, so the owner was leaning back in his reclining chair, catching up on sleep.
Satoshi slowly walked in. "Wake up."
The owner was startled by Satoshi's sharp gaze. "Ninja-sama, please speak."
Satoshi closed the door and stared intently at the owner for a long time.
The owner's face was pale.
'Think, you idiot, did I offend any ninja recently?'
Satoshi slowly reached into his ninja tool pouch and pulled out a thick stack of explosive tags.
'It's over.'
The owner knew the power of explosive tags. This was going to blow him to pieces, wasn't it?
"Do you recognize this?"
"Re-recognize?"
"Is it valuable?"
"Huh?"
"Huh my ass, is it valuable?"
"Valuable, valuable. If you buy it, it's over two thousand ryo per tag. But my small shop doesn't have this. If ninja-sama wants it, take anything from the shop, I just beg you to spare my life."
Hmm?
Satoshi felt something was off.
"When did I say I wanted your things? Are our Konoha ninjas so undisciplined?"
The owner plopped down and kowtowed to Satoshi.
It was completely over, he really wanted his life.
The owner knew that in the eyes of these ninjas, their lives were worthless. Especially in this no-man's-land border area where people died every day.
He just didn't expect it to finally be his turn today.
'Ayaka, Yui, Mari, see you in the next life.'
The owner slowly closed his eyes. "I beg ninja-sama for one thing, be quick when you do it, I'm afraid of pain."
"Are you crazy?"
Satoshi threw the explosive tags onto the counter and said, "Give me some money for these."
Owner: ?
Half an hour later.
Satoshi came out with two hundred thousand ryo.
The owner had changed into new pants and waved enthusiastically.
"Welcome back next time."
Satoshi suddenly turned his head, scaring the owner who zipped back inside.
Oh no, did I say something wrong again?
Noon.
Tsunade woke up, and the five of them gathered for lunch. They also exchanged information about Orochimaru.
But Tsunade was clearly not interested in these matters. She just wanted to earn an even bigger sum tonight.
"Since there's no news of Orochimaru, let's head to the next place."
Tsunade took out a warm banknote and slipped it into Satoshi's hand. "This is a lesson for you. Don't gamble again, okay?"
Tsunade's voice was soft, yet it pierced Satoshi's heart like a knife.
"You!"
Tsunade rested her chin on one hand and said, "An IOU is fine too. I trust the Uchiha clan's reputation very much."
Satoshi felt like his Sharingan was about to upgrade to Mangekyo.
He hardened his heart. Forget it, no more playing. He'd just get this money back from Danzo with interest later.
Just as he was about to get up and leave, he suddenly felt a Chakra fluctuation.
Satoshi frowned.
It wasn't Obito, it wasn't Zetsu, so who was it?
Ah, I know.
Satoshi suddenly came up with a good idea.
The mission only required him to win against Tsunade, it didn't say it had to be gambling, did it?
He came to Tsunade's side. "Tsunade-sama, would you like to make another bet with me?"
Tsunade laughed, stirring up many waves, making Satoshi stare intently.
She said, "Don't just say one bet, several bets are fine."
Satoshi leaned in close, whispering in a voice only the two of them could hear, "Let's bet on who finds Orochimaru first, me or Jiraiya-sama."
Tsunade pondered for a moment and said, "Kid, actually, I've wanted to say this for a while, Orochimaru isn't someone you three can handle."
She tapped Satoshi's forehead protector and said, "Chunin, just obediently carry out lower-difficulty missions."
Satoshi, however, just repeated, "Bet or not?"
"Sigh, I'll play along with you then."
"If you win, I'll give you a gift. If you lose, give me five hundred thousand ryo in banknotes."
Tsunade naturally believed Jiraiya would find Orochimaru first. No matter how unreliable he was, he was still the renowned Toad Sage.
And the three of them were, after all, a little lacking. Moreover, she felt an unsettling feeling for some reason.
"I'm tired, going back to rest."
Tsunade got up and left, completely unaware of the corner of Satoshi's lips curling upward.
Finally, she fell for it!
(End of Chapter)
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