If you wanted someone of the opposite sex to listen obediently, or to meekly let you take her away, there was one simple and crude method: win every last bit of money she had.
Right now, Yagoromo had decided to carry this belief through to the end.
This strategy was simply too easy to use against Tsunade. Once Lady Tsunade was finally awakened by her own poverty, she would definitely have to listen to what Yagoromo had to say.
So Yagoromo locked horns with Big Sister Tsunade inside the casino. No matter how one looked at it, this was a sure win for him. As a shinobi, earning a little extra money now and then was not bad either.
In truth, this was yet another case of Yagoromo overthinking things. How could Lady Tsunade's stubbornness possibly be defeated by something as trivial as poverty? Did he think that during all the time she had been away from Konoha, there had never been a moment when she was awakened by being broke? What a joke.
In any case, even when she had been so poor that her pockets jingled, he had never seen her run back to Konoha.
While Yagoromo locked horns with Tsunade, Tsunade also locked horns with Yagoromo. She refused to believe it. Could the heavens really be so unfair? Surely her luck could not be so bad that she would not win even a single round, right?
Facts proved that… yes, the heavens really were that unfair.
By the time Yagoromo had won roughly the equivalent of two A-rank mission payments, Tsunade still had not won a single time… Later, even the slug lying on Yagoromo's shoulder could not bear to watch anymore.
"Yagoromo, that should be enough. Can't you see her face has turned green…"
Yagoromo looked up at Tsunade's face as told. Green was going a bit too far; that description was a little exaggerated. However, her complexion truly did not look good.
Losing bit by bit like being carved up with a dull knife was worse than losing all her money in one go.
Besides, Tsunade's expression did not look bad because she had lost money. After all, it was not as if she had never lost even larger sums before. What displeased her was Yagoromo's constant opposition to her… As a junior, not accompanying her in shared breath and shared fate by losing money together with her was already somewhat improper. Yet he had actually turned around and won her money instead. Was there still any law? What happened to the tradition of respecting one's elders?
Fine. At a time like this, Tsunade finally put on the face of an elder.
But after thinking it over, Yagoromo also felt that it was indeed time to stop. The current situation was that he had been betting the opposite of Tsunade, but a bunch of faceplant-level gamblers in the casino had actually started treating him like a god of gambling. After all, he was in the middle of a triumphant winning streak, so a circle of gamblers had already gathered around him and were following his bets… If he kept winning like this, the casino staff would definitely show up.
Yagoromo did not particularly want to get into a conflict with ordinary people, so he decided to call it a day.
As for Tsunade, after seeing Yagoromo "surrender," she did not plan to keep wasting time at this table either. But that did not mean she was ready to leave the casino. She still had money left in her hands, after all.
Yagoromo did not disturb her. He simply followed behind her as she wandered around. Then he saw Tsunade find herself a game that suited her age, one with a strong middle-aged-uncle aura… She went to play pachinko.
Pachinko… a certain useless White Yaksha's favorite. Unfortunately, Yagoromo had no interest in it.
In fact, compared to forbidden-technique researchers who were always conducting human experiments, Tsunade's hobbies as a shinobi could be considered extremely beneficial to both body and mind. She was only losing some money. It was not a big deal.
At this moment, Tsunade sat in front of the machine with a focused expression. As she played, she suddenly spoke. "Didn't I tell you before that when something like this happened again, you weren't supposed to bring him to see me?"
Those words clearly were not directed at Shizune or Yagoromo. She was speaking to the slug on Yagoromo's shoulder.
In truth, after Yagoromo had first used summoning perception to locate Tsunade, she had later given the slug this warning. However, the latter had clearly not followed her instructions.
This was not because she was tired of meeting Yagoromo, but because she truly did not want to be found so easily… If she had known this would happen, she should never have taught Yagoromo the Summoning Technique for slugs back then.
In terms of closeness and time spent together, Tsunade's orders should originally have held more absolute weight for the slug. But in reality, Yagoromo himself got along very well with the slug. Add to that the previous period when he and Mirai had stayed continuously in Shikkotsu Forest for more than five years, which counted as companionship for the slug as well. Therefore, it was impossible for the slug to ignore Yagoromo's request, even if doing so went against Tsunade's instructions.
Just as the slug was about to speak and answer Tsunade, Yagoromo directly released the Summoning Technique and sent it back to Shikkotsu Forest… Better to let it be out of sight and out of mind. Next, Yagoromo would handle Tsunade himself.
But before that, he would first wait for Tsunade to lose all her money and leave the casino. After all, what Yagoromo had to say was extremely important.
Yagoromo was not in a hurry. In any case, with the speed at which Tsunade lost money, he would not need to wait here for very long.
Besides, watching Tsunade lose money was actually rather interesting. She calmly and peacefully lost all her chips one by one, yet did not smash the casino in a fit of rage… This was no longer a matter of whether she had good gambling etiquette. It should be called a transcendent realm.
After she had completely lost the very last coin, Tsunade finally left with Shizune, Yagoromo, and the pig.
...
When discussing important matters, one naturally had to choose a suitable place. Although Tsunade had, as usual, lost every last bit of money today, her mood at this moment was probably not bad. She could even sense the atmosphere of an outing and a picnic… And so, they went on an outing and had a picnic.
After all, losing money was a common occurrence, while Yagoromo was not someone she saw that often… As for whether she was happy to see Yagoromo, or felt the exact opposite, only Tsunade herself knew.
The three people and one pig arrived on the outskirts of the town. Because the conversation that followed would be important, Yagoromo first made some arrangements around the area. By the time he came back, Shizune was pouring wine for Tsunade, who was sitting cross-legged on the ground.
The delicate dishes laid out before them had barely been touched, but Tsunade was already slightly tipsy.
Everything they were eating and drinking here was, without a doubt, paid for by Yagoromo. Though a few hours ago, that money had still belonged to Tsunade.
Still, under these circumstances, Yagoromo fully understood why Tsunade did not want to return to Konoha. Her life was even freer and easier than his.
Gambling with money borrowed from someone else, drinking wine paid for by yet another person; she was simply blissful beyond measure… It would be even more perfect if no one came to collect her debts.
Yagoromo walked around to the other side of Tsunade and sat down. Then he took the wine flask from Shizune's hand and filled Tsunade's cup for her. In truth, he rather liked moments like this.
To be more precise… he liked them very much.
Scenes like this made him involuntarily think of Kushina.
Kushina, Tsunade, Minato, Jiraiya… How many of the people Yagoromo cared about would remain people he cared about forever? He did not know. But one thing was certain: he absolutely did not want to experience the sorrow of smiling bitterly like Kakashi and saying that everyone he cared about was already dead.
Because he had already experienced it once.
But no matter how leisurely Tsunade's current life was, Yagoromo still had to bring her back to Konoha.
After the atmosphere remained heavy for a while, Tsunade spoke. "Yagoromo, if you came here to reminisce with me, then there's no problem at all. But if your goal is the same as Jiraiya's, then you'd better not open your mouth."
Although Tsunade was stubborn with her words, she was ultimately different from Orochimaru. She did not care as little about Konoha as she imagined she did.
Or rather, even if she claimed not to care, could she really abandon the village established by her grandfather, developed by her granduncle, and inherited by her teacher?
Impossible. "Konoha" was the greatest work left behind by the Senju clan.
Yagoromo's unfocused gaze drifted into the distance. He did not directly respond to Tsunade's words. Instead, he began speaking of past events he had never told anyone before.
"Lady Tsunade, the Nine-Tails' attack twelve years ago caused the deaths of Senior Minato and Teacher Kushina. But do you know who the mastermind behind that incident was?"
The wine cup Tsunade had already brought to her lips paused.
No matter what, she had never expected Yagoromo to bring up this matter again… If there was anyone who least wanted to mention that incident, it was probably Yagoromo.
"Who was it?"
When Tsunade asked back, she probably could not have guessed that Yagoromo would be able to accurately say a name that sounded familiar to her.
"Lady Tsunade should probably still remember that such a shinobi once existed: a disciple of the Fourth Hokage, and the teammate of Hatake Kakashi and Nohara Rin. His name…"
"Was Uchiha Obito."
Yagoromo stated this information in a flat, straightforward tone, something that no one should have known beforehand.
At that moment, Tsunade's movements stopped completely.
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