Kiyoshi possessed all three: strength, talent, and looks. Yet, he maintained a modest demeanor.
"Kiyoshi is a bit like Uncle, isn't he?" Shizune thought privately.
When her uncle, Dan Kato, was still alive, he was just as gentle and exceptionally talented. It was a pity that heaven was jealous of heroic talent; he died young on the battlefield.
Even his famous technique, the [Spirit Transformation Jutsu], was something she couldn't master. Since her uncle's death, that kind of jutsu had been buried in Hidden Leaf, with no one left capable of learning it.
It was just like the space-time ninjutsu left by the Second Hokage, the [Flying Raijin Jutsu]—if not for a successor like Minato Namikaze, there likely wouldn't be a second person in all of Leaf who could learn it.
"Puyu~ puyu~~ puppuyu~~"
A small pink pig wearing a red top and a pearl necklace made a sound.
"It's not what you think, Tonton!" Shizune hurriedly picked up the little pig from the ground, telling her that she wasn't thinking that way.
"Puyu?" Tonton tilted her neck, her silver-white pearl necklace rolling with the movement. Seeing her obviously skeptical expression, Shizune felt a flash of embarrassed annoyance and quickened her pace.
"Wait until the day Lady Tsunade's creditors come to collect again—I'll use you as collateral!" Shizune put on a fierce face.
"Puyu..." Tonton's voice immediately grew much smaller, as if saying "don't do that."
...
Kiyoshi walked down the street for a while and soon found a small alleyway. Several flags were placed outside the alley with a large character for "Gamble" written on them. Needless to say, this was the so-called gambling parlor.
Kiyoshi lifted the outer cloth curtain; the light inside was dim. The air was filled with a faint smell of tobacco and alcohol blended together, making it quite pungent. As he stepped inside, he heard the noisy clamor coming from within.
Some people were shouting loudly, others were cursing in low voices, and chips clicked against the gambling tables, occasionally mixed with the dull thud of rolling dice. Gamblers sat around their respective tables with burning eyes, their hands tightly gripping their last chips.
This was Kiyoshi's first time in such a place. He scanned the room, and with his terrifying powers of observation, he soon found Tsunade's location. A circle of people gathered around that table, and the atmosphere was particularly heated.
Kiyoshi didn't head over immediately. Instead, he used his Sharingan to observe the gamblers. One of the Sharingan's abilities was [Copy]! The higher the ocular power, the higher the efficiency.
Before long, Kiyoshi touched one of the gambling tables, observing its internal structure. Once he was certain enough, he walked over to Tsunade's table.
Tsunade looked furious, her fists clenched tight. "Are you guys cheating? How can I keep losing?!"
"Oh, Lady Tsunade, who would dare deceive you?" The gambler opposite her broke into a cold sweat upon seeing her clenched fists.
The Legendary Sucker was indeed a sucker. She had lost hundreds of thousands of ryo as soon as she showed up, and it was visible to the naked eye that they would keep winning if she continued.
This sucker's temper wasn't very good; if she got angry, she might actually punch someone to death! Although there had been no such precedent so far, no one wanted to gamble their lives on a Sannin's restraint.
"Hmph, again!" Tsunade took out new chips and placed them down. She had already made up her mind: if she lost too embarrassingly, she would just run straight to the meeting point at noon and head off on the mission to dodge her debts.
"Fine." The gambler opposite also placed new chips on the table.
"Count me in." Kiyoshi took a chip from Tsunade's side of the table and placed it in a slot to the left.
The game was simple: they were playing roulette. Generally, there are 37 or 38 numbers. The dealer is responsible for spinning the ball along the edge of the rotating wheel, and whichever slot the ball lands in becomes the winning number.
"Kid, you..." Tsunade was about to scold whoever was bold enough to take her chip. Moreover, that was her very last chip! But when she looked up, she saw Kiyoshi's handsome face.
"There's still a while before the noon gathering. I'll give you a cut of the winnings afterward, Lady Tsunade."
"...A kid like you who knows nothing about gambling techniques shouldn't even think about it." Tsunade's anger subsided instantly. Higher ups had informed her of the mission yesterday, explaining the objectives and details clearly. They had agreed to meet at noon, yet she was still here gambling. Her momentum was undeniably weakened.
"You don't mind if I join in, do you?" Kiyoshi gave a slight smile and looked at the gamblers gathered there.
"It's... an Uchiha. That family crest on his back."
"Another ninja, huh? Aside from Lady Tsunade, it seems other ninjas from Lead rarely come here. Don't they have some kind of Three Ninja Inhibitions or something?"
"What do you care about that? As if you could manage the affairs of the ninja lords."
The gamblers whispered among themselves, not objecting to Kiyoshi's participation. In any case, Tsunade was the main source of "gold drops" here. One more person taking a piece of the pie didn't matter.
They had already earned more than enough. Later, they could take this money and try other gambling games. The developed gambling industry wasn't limited to just roulette; there were cards, dice, and even electronic gambling devices like slot machines.
Back when the two groups led by Orochimaru and Jiraiya went to Tanzaku Quarters to find Tsunade, she had won several baskets of money using slot machines. That was one of the few times Tsunade had actually won money.
Seeing this, the croupier started the machine. As the roulette wheel on the table spun slowly, the ball jumped and slid within it, reflecting the dim yellow light and making one's eyes dizzy.
Simultaneously, Kiyoshi's fingertips twitched slightly. A chakra thread so fine it was difficult to see extended from his finger. The transparent chakra thread touched the underside of the table.
No one noticed this subtle movement. Even Tsunade failed to catch it. The chakra fluctuations from that transparent line were extremely minute.
This technique of condensing a [Chakra Thread] was a skill he had learned from puppetry. The puppetry he had extracted from Sasori using Sharingan genjutsu was a secret of the Hidden Sand. Naturally, his technique for condensing [Chakra Threads] was far superior to that of other villages.
Once it touched the bottom of the table, the chakra permeated through the wood grain like flowing water, reaching the mechanism at the bottom of the roulette wheel. Then, under Kiyoshi's minute control, the chakra vibrated exquisitely, lightly influencing the trajectory of the wheel.
The ball's landing point should have been random, but at this moment, it shifted under Kiyoshi's interference, finally coming to a steady halt in the slot where Kiyoshi had placed his bet.
The noisy clamor in the parlor seemed to pause for a heartbeat before a burst of exclamations erupted.
"A hit?!" Tsunade's eyes widened. A kid who just arrived to gamble hit it on the first try? Such good luck?
"Let's continue." Kiyoshi pushed all the winning chips forward.
The dealer looked at Tsunade, then at the other gamblers, and began the next round. The surrounding gamblers only thought Kiyoshi was a newcomer with good luck. They all excitedly placed new chips down.
"Kid, give me back the chips you took!" Tsunade reached out her hand. She was afraid Kiyoshi would lose all the chips this time. One chip required quite a bit of cash to exchange, after all. It was enough for her to have several drinks.
"I'll give them to you in a moment." Kiyoshi shook his head. He then looked at the result on the table. The wheel spun continuously, eventually pointing to Kiyoshi's slot. Kiyoshi took all the winnings again and bet them all on a single slot.
Once... twice... three times...
Every time, Kiyoshi bet everything, using it to win even more wealth. Before long, his side of the table was piled high with chips of various colors.
"This Uchiha... is not simple."
"Is he cheating?!"
"I don't believe someone can have such good luck!"
"It's definitely because he has done deep research into roulette probabilities. Reflect on yourselves first."
Some people marveled at Kiyoshi's luck, while others were convinced it was because of his superior gambling skills. Still others believed Kiyoshi was cheating. In fact, he was indeed cheating.
Once he had won a certain amount, Kiyoshi stopped. Winning too much would be too conspicuous; it was inevitable that ninjas specialized in detection would come. Kiyoshi's success this time was mainly due to the element of surprise, as well as his own chakra control and his skill in creating chakra threads.
For other ninjas to replicate Kiyoshi's actions, they would have to be very powerful puppeteers. Even Gaara's brother, Kankuro, might not be able to do this, unless it was the Kankuro in his thirties from "Boruto"—then he might be able to try.
"Exchange it all for cash." Kiyoshi pointed at the chips and instructed the dealer.
"Uh... yes." The dealer was sweating profusely, quickly bowing and nodding after snapping out of his daze.
This commotion caused people from several nearby gambling tables to gather around, clicking their tongues in wonder at the sight. Kiyoshi ignored them and listened to the prompt from the Trait panel.
He had mastered a new Trait—[Gambling Mastery (Green)]. The requirement was to cheat ten times in a row in a gambling game without being caught.
The effect was that the stealthiness of his hand movements increased by 20% on the original basis. It was a decent Trait. At the very least, when Kiyoshi was drawing shuriken against an enemy, he could launch a sneak attack more effectively.
"Being able to win so much is thanks to Lady Tsunade's luck; after all, I took this chip from you." When the dealer brought a pile of money, Kiyoshi split half of it and gave it to Tsunade.
Tsunade's brow arched, and then she burst into loud laughter. "See! I knew it! It's impossible for my luck to be this bad all the time!"
With a beaming face, Tsunade unceremoniously took half and stuffed it into her sealing scroll. To have incurred such a massive debt, Tsunade was not one to refuse money. She patted Kiyoshi, speaking with the appreciative tone of an elder: "Not bad, not bad. I have high hopes for you, Kiyoshi."
Without realizing it, Tsunade had changed "kid" to Kiyoshi's name. From Kiyoshi's angle, he could see the rounded, lightly trembling "human hearts" above her slender waist. The human hearts were very round and large—this was likely what they meant by "broad-minded."
Kiyoshi tucked the remaining half of the money away. The money sent from the Land of Demons had already been mostly spent. He had visited the Land of Demons once during the war for supplies.
It seemed he would have to find time to go again. Winning money through gambling would eventually lead to suspicion if done too often. Unless Kiyoshi triggered more Traits related to gambling, perhaps getting a few that increased gambling luck.