In the eyes of the many gamblers, once Tsunade called for a fixed triple bet, it was obvious—the fat sheep had given up struggling.
Why not a last desperate gamble?
Because there was none of the usual gambler's frenzy on Tsunade's face. To her, gambling seemed nothing more than a pastime, a way to pass the time—she didn't care about winning or losing.
Makoto placed the same bet as her. Tsunade only glanced at him and didn't pay it any mind.
However, when the dice cup was opened, the result was unexpected—three threes. A clean sweep.
Tsunade's pupils shrank slightly, her brows knitting together as an inexplicable irritation stirred in her chest.
Refusing to believe it, she pressed the same bet again—three threes, still a fixed triple.
The surrounding gamblers didn't believe it either. The dealer didn't believe it. Makoto, trusting the veteran of Konoha, chose to follow along. Only Shizune remained immersed in the bliss of frantically counting money.
Second round—again, three threes.
At this point, it could only be described as uncanny.
Yet Tsunade, instead of growing tense, actually relaxed. A faint, knowing smile appeared on her lips as she looked at Makoto. After a brief observation, she had already figured out who was behind it.
No matter what, she was an experienced kunoichi. She simply hadn't paid attention at first.
Makoto, on the other hand, didn't care in the slightest—he just kept collecting money.
But the gamblers and the dealer were on the verge of collapse. The casino's hired ninja carefully inspected the scene and repeated the process—only to roll three threes again, without discovering anything wrong. In the end, they could only find an excuse to break up the table and politely escort the two bad omens out.
Tsunade hadn't bet heavily. After two clean sweeps, she merely recovered her previous losses and made a small profit.
Makoto, however, had no such restraint—he fleeced the dealer for a large sum.
He hadn't asked Genma to carry a money box to deliver money—it was there to hold what they would take.
If ninja missions didn't bring in extra income, how could one live the kind of life where you spent money whenever you pleased?
...
On a secluded street outside the casino, Tsunade glared at Makoto.
"Kid, you're still a minor, aren't you? Yet you've got the guts to come gambling."
Makoto replied, "With this disguise, I'm temporarily an adult."
"Heh. You think I'd believe that nonsense?"
"That's not important."
"You won quite a bit, didn't you? But… you wouldn't want your mother to find out about this, right? My silence doesn't come cheap."
Hearing this, Genma immediately sensed trouble and hugged the money box tighter.
Makoto said calmly, "Don't worry, Tsunade-sama. Once I turn the money in, everything will be fine. I believe my mother will understand—it's just an adaptive measure during a mission."
Only then did Shizune, who had been lost in her pile of cash, come to her senses. So these people… were all Konoha ninja.
She had left the village early and wandered the ninja world with Tsunade, so she wasn't familiar with Makoto—only having heard of him.
But there was someone she recognized.
After taking a closer look, she suddenly exclaimed, "Genma—it's you!"
Shizune had attended the Ninja Academy before; she had been classmates with Kakashi, Asuma, Genma, and the others.
"Yes, it's me." Genma admitted, then gave a slight bow. "Tsunade-sama."
"Tsunade-sama." ×2
Namiashi Raidō and Tatami Iwashi also bowed. After all, Tsunade held a very high status in the hearts of Konoha's ninja.
Tsunade looked at the four of them and asked, "A mission? Don't tell me the old man sent you to bring me back. Let me make this clear—I'm not going with you."
Makoto replied, "No. We came to find Tsunade-sama simply to ask for some information."
Tsunade let out a sigh of relief. As long as it wasn't about going back.
"What is it?"
"Tsunade-sama, have you recently been to Kusagakure?"
"Why should I tell you? Unless…" Her gaze shifted again to the money box in Genma's arms. "You should know—certain information from ninja doesn't come cheap."
Makoto said, "How about we gamble for it? If I win, the money is yours and I get the information. If I lose, you just tell me the information."
"Hmph, brat." Tsunade wasn't about to fall for that. "How about this instead—I'll give you the information, and you teach me the method you used to win just now. Don't tell me it wasn't your doing."
"Deal."
"Then start by explaining—why are you asking if I went to Kusagakure?"
Makoto briefly summarized, "As you know, many small ninja villages have been restless lately—especially Kusagakure. They're aggressively expanding their sphere of influence."
"They've not only fallen out with Amegakure, but have also set their sights on Takigakure. The two sides are already clashing at the border."
Tsunade thought for a moment. "They're both Konoha's allies, so it's inconvenient to interfere, right? Then don't. Let them fight—it benefits Konoha either way."
From her words, it was clear—when Tsunade became Hokage in the original timeline, it wasn't because there were no better candidates.
Small villages couldn't break free from Konoha's control. If they fought each other to exhaustion, they would only end up relying on Konoha even more.
Makoto continued, "That was the original thinking. But recently, Takigakure reported that Kusagakure seems to have obtained help from a powerful medical ninja."
"Some of their key figures recover quickly from injuries and return to the battlefield. So Takigakure wants to know—whether Konoha is secretly supporting Kusa."
"That's why we came to you. After all, among Konoha's medical experts, you're the only one with the time to intervene."
Tsunade immediately denied it. "Not me. You're overthinking it. Why would I help those fence-sitters?"
"Is that so? The village thinks it's unlikely to be you as well."
Tsunade wouldn't lie about something like this—and she had no reason to help Kusagakure. Besides, she still suffered from hemophobia.
Makoto naturally knew the real reason—it had to be that Kusagakure had obtained a living "healing battery," Karin's mother.
But he couldn't say that outright. He had to at least put on a show of investigating.
"If you already knew it wasn't me, why bother asking? Stop wasting time—teach me your trick."
"It's simple. Just use chakra to quietly control the dice as they roll."
Tsunade clenched her fists, on the verge of exploding. "Kid, are you messing with me? Do you think the casino doesn't have countermeasures? Even if it didn't, do you think I wouldn't notice?"
Makoto shrugged. "But that's exactly what I did."
"I don't believe you." As she spoke, Tsunade reached into the mysterious valley between her chest and pulled out three dice—in front of the younger generation. "Come on, let's demonstrate it right here."
Genma and the others immediately felt their already vigorous blood pressure spike even higher.
Out of curiosity, she had swiped the dice from the table before leaving the casino.
As one of the Sannin, a Kage-level powerhouse, doing something like that was effortless.
She tossed the dice onto the ground. The three small cubes rolled and tumbled, then came to a stop—three threes facing up. A fixed triple.
Tsunade's large-scale perception relied on Katsuyu's divided bodies, but as a member of the Senju clan, she still had some sensory ability. Even without it, they were practically face to face—any ninja should be able to detect chakra activity.
Yet she felt nothing.
Refusing to believe it, she threw them again. "This time, I want three sixes."
The result was obvious.
Even when she had Shizune throw them the third time, it was the same.
Makoto said, "See? I'm cheating right in front of you, and you still can't detect it."
Of course she couldn't.
Makoto's method was to use the chakra within his body to communicate with a trace of white natural energy from the outside world, attaching it to the dice and controlling them at will.
How could ordinary ninja detect natural energy? Even Senju Hashirama might struggle—let alone Tsunade, who didn't have Sage Mode.
Tsunade muttered, "What the hell…"
Ever since meeting Makoto, she had felt that he was absurdly talented—far beyond what a normal human should possess. His ninjutsu talent even surpassed that of her former genius teammate, Orochimaru.
He had even picked up her Monster Strength just by watching and fighting.
Reluctant as she was to admit it, Makoto could be considered her disciple—she had intended to teach him Monster Strength back then.
Now it seemed that even his chakra was different from others.
Tsunade was a straightforward woman—when she wanted to do something, she did it.
She stepped forward and grabbed Makoto's hand, trying to probe the peculiarities of his chakra.
Then she felt it—
A vast sea of chakra.
And abundant life force.
The sensation was… incredibly familiar.
For a brief moment, she felt as if the one standing before her was her grandfather.
The man known as the God of Shinobi.
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