KONOHA CASINO
Riser and Tsunade stopped in front of the casino entrance, and her behavior shift was immediate. Her posture became lighter, her gaze sharper, and her focus completely shifted from vigilance to the environment ahead, as if that place had priority over anything else. He noticed it effortlessly and didn't comment, only registering that this outing was no longer about observing him.
"How much can you spend?" Tsunade asked bluntly, already evaluating the next step with real interest.
Riser didn't answer immediately, analyzing the weight of the question before speaking. He knew that, in practice, there was no limit to that, but there was no need to reveal more than necessary at that moment.
"Enough to play." He kept his tone simple, without going into details. "You don't need to worry about that."
The answer was all she needed.
Tsunade didn't try to insist or question further, she just gave a quick smile and entered the casino without looking back. Riser followed at the same pace, understanding that from that point on, control of the situation had clearly shifted hands.
The casino interior was lively, with machines aligned and people focused on their own games. Tsunade didn't waste time observing the environment, already walking straight to a pachinko machine with enough familiarity to indicate habit.
"This is it." She sat down immediately, adjusting her position like someone who already knew every detail of how it worked.
Riser stood behind her and observed the machine for a few seconds, analyzing the game's pattern. The mechanism seemed chaotic at first glance, but its operation was simple enough to be understood quickly.
'Strange… but in the end it's just a variation of a slot machine.' He kept his reasoning direct, without changing his expression. 'Nothing very impressive.'
Tsunade slightly turned her face.
"Money." She extended her hand without looking directly at him, already assuming she would be served.
Riser didn't respond right away.
He activated the system silently, without any external manifestation.
[Transfer completed]
The value was added to the inventory effortlessly and without limitation, and he took a portion discreetly, without drawing attention. Then he placed the money in her hand as if it had already been prepared from the start.
"Here." He spoke without changing his tone. "Ten thousand."
Tsunade didn't count it.
She just accepted it, already focused on the machine.
"Relax." She gave a slight smile as she prepared the first round. "I'll give you back double… no, triple."
Riser didn't respond.
He just watched, already interested in what would come next.
'Let's see the legendary sucker in action.'
Tsunade started without hesitation.
The movement was direct, without visible calculation, just impulse. The way she played made it clear there was no strategy involved, just repetition and expectation.
Riser kept his gaze fixed on the machine, waiting for the result.
The first spin ended.
And she won.
The result came out clearly, without room for interpretation, and the machine's sound confirmed the gain. It wasn't a small return, it was an immediate prize, high enough to draw attention.
Riser slightly frowned.
'She won?'
His expectation didn't match what had just happened, and that alone was strange. He knew her pattern, and that didn't fit.
But he wasn't the one who reacted the most.
Tsunade froze.
Her body went rigid for a second, her gaze fixed on the machine as if she hadn't understood what she was seeing. Her breathing changed, and her hand remained still, not moving to the next action.
"I won?" Her voice came out lower than before, carrying something that wasn't excitement.
Riser didn't respond.
He was more interested in her reaction than the result itself.
Tsunade stood up abruptly.
The movement was fast, disorganized, completely different from her previous behavior. Her gaze was no longer on the machine, nor the money, but on some undefined point ahead.
Without saying anything else, she turned and started walking.
She didn't explain.
She didn't look back.
The exit wasn't discreet, but it also didn't draw enough attention to interrupt the place's flow. She simply left, abandoning the prize as if it had no value.
Riser stood still for a second.
His gaze moved from the machine to the money, then to the exit, and his reasoning adjusted quickly.
'She didn't get happy… she got uncomfortable.'
The thought didn't stop there. The memory came complete, fitting perfectly into what he already knew about that world, without effort to reconstruct the context.
'When she wins… something bad happens.'
Riser didn't look away from the exit for another second, organizing the information directly. That wasn't coincidence, it was a pattern, and the kind of pattern that shouldn't be ignored.
He activated Kenbunshoku Haki immediately, expanding his perception beyond the casino without needing to move. The reading swept through the village quickly, ignoring common presences until finding the point that mattered.
Tsunade was already in the tower.
'She didn't stay to take the money… she went straight there.'
The conclusion was immediate. There was no reason to remain there.
"Soru."
His body disappeared without transition, abandoning the casino along with the noise, the money and any continuation of that environment. The decision was direct, and the action followed without delay.
___
HOKAGE TOWER
Riser appeared outside, already positioned at the office window without generating visible impact. The movement was clean, and his body remained stable at the point of arrival, as if he had been there from the start.
Tsunade was back in her original form.
The transformation had already been undone, and her posture was completely different from the woman who had been in the casino moments before. Her focus was firm, her body more rigid and her gaze distant, as if she was already dealing with something even before his arrival.
She turned her face as soon as she noticed his presence.
There was no surprise.
Only recognition.
Riser entered without asking permission, crossing the window and stepping inside the room with the same naturalness he had shown from the beginning. His gaze went straight to her, without detours, because the change was evident.
"What happened, Lady Tsunade?" He kept a steady tone, without raising his voice, but without leaving room for evasion.
Tsunade didn't answer immediately.
Her gaze remained fixed on him for another second, as if deciding how much to say and how much to keep. The tension was no longer about him, and that alone made it clear something bigger was at play.
"I don't know." She finally answered, without trying to maintain a posture of control that was no longer there. "But when this happens… it's never something good."
Riser kept his gaze on her.
'So she knows… it's not just an impression.'
It wasn't just his external knowledge, it was something she herself had already recognized throughout her life.
"Then there's not much else to do here." Riser kept his tone simple, without extending the conversation.
He didn't look away for a second, evaluating if there was anything else that justified staying there, but the answer was already clear before being formed.
"I'm heading out for now." He added, already turning his body toward the window.
Tsunade didn't respond.
She just kept her gaze on him, steady, following the movement without trying to stop him, as if she had already decided that keeping him there wouldn't make a difference at that moment.
Riser didn't wait for anything else.
"Soru."
His body disappeared instantly, leaving the office empty again, without sound or resistance, just her presence remaining there, now turned toward something that still had no defined form.
___
TOP OF THE HOKAGE MONUMENT
Riser appeared at the top effortlessly, already positioned above the village, with a clear view of everything around. The elevated position wasn't aesthetic, it was analysis, and from there he could organize his next step without interference.
His gaze passed over the carved faces until stopping at a specific one.
Minato.
'The hero who sealed a beast inside a baby…' The thought came directly, without judgment. 'In the end, it's not that different from me.'
He exhaled through his nose, briefly, without turning it into something bigger than it was. The comparison carried no emotional weight, it was just logic, fitting what he knew into his own reality.
Riser activated Kenbunshoku Haki.
His perception expanded through the village, passing through common presences until searching for specific points, filtering signatures and patterns with increasing precision.
'Naruto… Sakura… Sasuke… Kakashi.'
The reading came quickly.
Sasuke wasn't there.
'That was expected.'
The focus shifted without pause.
Naruto also didn't appear within the village.
'So he already left with Jiraiya.'
The conclusion came naturally, aligned with the time point he had already identified earlier.
Sakura appeared.
'Hospital.'
Kakashi as well.
'Reading… of course.'
The pattern closed.
Riser kept Haki active for another moment, not searching for the main ones anymore, but expanding the range to other presences that could be interesting at that moment.
His gaze didn't move.
But his attention shifted.
'Hm.'
His perception locked onto a specific point, lighter, more common, but still different enough to draw interest.
A flower shop.
And inside it.
Ino.
Riser didn't need to see directly to understand.
'Blonde… light presence… and not subtle at all.'
The thought came with a slight trace of interest, not out of strategy, but amusement, something he had already decided to enjoy while in that world.
'Beautiful… confident… and clearly the type who likes attention.'
He kept the focus for another second, evaluating without hurry, letting the reasoning flow without interruption.
'And I'm definitely not the type she ignores.'
A slight smile appeared, brief, without exaggeration, more due to his own reading than anything else. That wasn't a mission, it wasn't a plan, it was an opportunity.
Riser deactivated Haki.
The decision had already been made before any movement.
"Soru."
His body disappeared again, leaving the top of the monument empty as he moved directly to the next point of interest within the village.
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