"He's just a kid, Lady Tsunade. How could you bring yourself to borrow from him? Besides, he doesn't know you — he definitely wouldn't lend you anything."
Tsunade nodded, "True." Then she added, "In that case, I'll just gamble with him. He loses even faster than I do. His luck is obviously worse than mine — if I gamble with him, I'll definitely win money."
Shizune pursed her lips, "His luck is bad. Your gambling skills are bad."
"Nonsense!" Tsunade slammed the table and shouted, "My gambling skills were passed down from my grandfather. They're among the best in the shinobi world!"
Shizune rolled her eyes. At her age, and still refusing to admit it.
Lying on the ground, Tonton turned its head away with a piggy sigh. The reason it never grew up was because this old woman kept gambling away the food money.
One meal here, no meal there — sometimes hungry nine times out of three days. It seriously stunted its growth.
"Come on. To the casino!"
Shizune couldn't stop her, so she could only cradle Tonton and follow behind. As they walked, she kept trying to persuade Tsunade to be reasonable.
Of course, Tsunade didn't listen.
When they reached the casino, she immediately spotted a table crowded with people. Peering through a gap, Tsunade saw Naruto at a glance.
Naruto had one foot on the ground and the other planted on the table. He held a dice cup overhead and shook it like crazy, shouting at the top of his lungs, "Place your bets! Place your bets!"
This round, he was the dealer, betting on high or low.
With three dice, a total of 9 or less was low; anything above 9 was high. If you guessed correctly, the dealer paid 1:1.
Besides that, you could bet on the exact total. If you hit it, the dealer paid 30:1.
And if it was triples — like three ones, three twos, and so on — the odds were 100:1.
"This brat… he actually looks the part." Tsunade muttered.
Her interest flared immediately, and she tried to squeeze into the crowd to gamble. But there were too many people. She couldn't shove her way in and could only stand on the outer ring, glaring.
At the table, everyone had put their money on guessing the exact result — and they'd all bet on triple sixes. Each person placed 100 ryō. This was a public area with a bet limit, so no one could wager more.
"Alright, alright — about to open! Bets are closed!" Naruto slammed the cup down on the table.
Everyone shouted, "Open it! Open it!"
Naruto yelled, "I've already lost three rounds in a row as the dealer! This time I'm definitely winning!"
He lifted the cup.
Three dice — six, six, six.
"Hahaha! Triple sixes — of course it's triple sixes!"
"Won again! Won again!"
"Definitely a fat sheep…"
"Shh! Keep it down. Don't let him hear you, or he won't gamble with us anymore."
Staring at the triple sixes, Naruto screamed, "Aaaah! Why is it like this again?! I refuse to accept it!"
This round, he paid out 260,000 ryō. Good thing he wasn't the dealer every time. Otherwise, forget ten million — even a hundred million wouldn't survive that kind of loss.
Tsunade's eyes gleamed. She couldn't wait any longer. With both hands, she shoved the people in front of her aside. She was so strong that ordinary people couldn't resist at all.
She reached the table and claimed a spot. The people she pushed wanted to curse, but the moment they saw it was Tsunade, they shut up.
Another fat sheep — no way they were going to offend her.
"This is my last round as dealer. I refuse to believe I can't win!" Naruto grabbed the cup and started shaking again, "Place your bets! Place your bets!"
Everyone placed wagers again — 100 ryō each — still all-in on triple sixes.
Tsunade pulled out her last 35 ryō — her lunch money — and followed suit, betting on triple sixes too.
Bang! The cup hit the table.
"This time, I'm definitely winning! Open it!"
The cup lifted.
Six, six, five…
Shizune stood behind Tsunade and said, "We're done. We'll be starving."
Tonton raised both hooves to cover its eyes, squealing, "Oink oink…"
Even the pig couldn't bear to watch.
Everyone wailed, "How could this happen?!"
This time, it was a total wipeout — the dealer took everything.
Some people glanced at Tsunade, then at Naruto, thinking: this female fat sheep is even fatter. After all, she lost the moment she placed a bet. That said a lot.
Naruto, the dealer, stared at the die that showed five, his eyes flickering.
How could this happen? It was supposed to be a six. It shouldn't be like this… No. I need to pay attention.
He hid it well, not letting anyone notice.
Mizuki had told him he couldn't let anyone see that he was losing on purpose.
Naruto laughed loudly, "Hahaha! See? I told you I'd win this round! Heh heh — mine, all mine! It's all mine!"
He swept all the money toward himself with both arms, his face full of excitement.
"Alright. I've been the dealer for five rounds straight. Time to switch."
Everyone started chanting, "The newcomer deals! The newcomer deals!"
All eyes turned to Tsunade.
Shizune grabbed Tsunade and tried to pull her away, shouting, "We don't have money! We're not dealing!"
But Tsunade refused to leave, "Where's the boss? Call the boss over!"
The casino owner hurried over, "Fa — … ahem, my lady. What can I do for you?"
Tsunade said, "Lend me money. One million ryō!"
"Lady Tsunade!" Shizune nearly exploded.
But Tsunade did whatever she wanted and ignored her completely. Shizune knew she couldn't stop her, and could only stand there in the wind, utterly lost.
The owner didn't want to lend, "Um… my lady, you've already borrowed a total of three million ryō from me and still haven't paid it back. I'm running a small business — I don't have any extra money to lend you."
The fat sheep's reputation was famous throughout the shinobi world. And to be fair, the fat sheep's reputation was good. Tsunade borrowed money, but she never defaulted. Even if she took a long time, she always paid back every last bit.
But this owner truly didn't have that much cash lying around.
Tsunade frowned, "It's not like I won't pay you back. Once I win, I'll return it with interest."
At that moment, Naruto spoke up, "Big sister, if you're short on money, I can lend it to you. I've got money."
Mizuki had told him: if he met a big-chested older sister who wanted to borrow money, don't hesitate — lend it. However much she wanted. If it wasn't enough, he could go back to Fushigakure and get more.
Tsunade asked, "How much interest do you want?"
Naruto said, "No interest. Borrow as much as you want — just pay back the same amount."
Tsunade narrowed her eyes, "You're offering to lend me money, and you don't even want interest. What's your motive?"
She vaguely sensed a scheme.
I've been away from Konoha for twenty-five years. Back then, Mizuki was at most two years old — there's no way they remember me. Which means the people from Fushigakure don't know who I am.
She was puzzled, but couldn't figure it out.
Naruto said, "You only have 35 ryō left, yet you still came to gamble. You even borrowed a few million and lost it all. That means you're just like me — a person who loves gambling to the extreme."
"When someone can focus on one thing — so much that they'd risk everything for it — that's an extremely noble virtue. So I'm very happy to lend you money."
Shizune's mouth fell open. She was about to go insane. Gambling yourself into bankruptcy and debt… that's 'focus'? That's 'noble virtue'?
But Tsunade nodded again and again, deeply agreeing.
"I never expected a brat like you to say something with such profound meaning." She said, "In that case — hand over one million ryō! And don't worry. I've never had the habit of owing money and not paying it back. What I borrow from you, I'll return — every last bit."
With the money in hand, Tsunade became the dealer.
Same game: rolling dice.
"Bets are closed!"
The gamblers around them were ecstatic. Another fat sheep was dealing.
Just like before when Naruto dealt, they all bet on triple sixes — twenty-six people in total.
Only Naruto did something different. He bet on triple ones.
"Open!" The cup lifted.
One, two, three.
Shizune stood behind Tsunade, eyes wide, staring at the dice like she'd hallucinated. Based on experience… shouldn't it have been six-six-six?
"Hahaha! I won — clean sweep!" As she collected the money, Tsunade elbowed Shizune and leaned in, whispering smugly, "See? I told you I was right! That brat's luck is definitely worse than mine. He's the real fat sheep. With him here, I'm absolutely going to win today."
Shizune curled her lip and whispered back, "Tch. It's only the first round. When you lose later, don't blame it on bad luck."
That round, Tsunade won 2,700 ryō.
Again. No one believed it, so they kept betting on triple sixes.
Naruto kept betting on triple ones. This time, Tsunade rolled triple threes.
"Hahaha! Another clean sweep! Come on — your money's all mine!"
Another 2,700 ryō. She was thrilled.
The next few rounds, no matter what the others bet, Tsunade kept sweeping the table. After five rounds as dealer, she'd won 13,500 ryō.
Shizune almost felt like she was dreaming, "Lady Tsunade… is actually winning money?"
After that, when someone else became the dealer, Tsunade won even harder. Whatever she bet on, the dice came up exactly that.
Bet high — high. Bet low — low. Bet triple ones — triple ones.
The gamblers around them stared in disbelief. But that didn't stop them from making money — whatever Tsunade bet, they followed.
The result: anyone who became the dealer soon lost everything.
They weren't like Naruto, who had deep pockets. They couldn't afford to lose. Some people started suspecting the dice were rigged, but the casino wasn't having it.
You win and happily take your money, but the moment you lose you claim the dice are bad — so only you get to be smart?
At this point, even if something really was wrong, you still had to accept it. So those who had won money — afraid they'd lose it once it was their turn to deal — began making excuses to leave.
But the casino had rules: if you'd won money at this table, you weren't allowed to leave until you'd dealt one round. That was a rule every gambler silently accepted.
So the money they'd won started flowing back out. Yet once they dealt, they couldn't bear to leave. They kept following Tsunade's bets. Their eyes were red with gambling fever. Even if the rational ones left, other people filled the empty seats.
And so, everyone won and lost… except Tsunade. The gamblers' cash dwindled until it gradually all ended up in her hands.
By dinnertime, Tsunade had won more than four million ryō.
After repaying Naruto's one million and the casino owner's three million, she still had over a hundred thousand ryō left.
Shizune's arms trembled as she held Tonton, "We're rich… we're rich! Tonton, we can finally buy you better, tastier pig feed."
"Oink! Oink! Oink-Oink!"
❊❊❊❊❊
T/N: Comment, give me Power Stones, like and favorite, it all supports me and makes me go foward with this. Appreciate my other stories as well, I guarantee the good work!
If you want 20 chapters ahead of this novel for just $2 or enjoy a large catalog of good novels with excellent translations: MrBlackWing (you know where to search)
Take a look at the new books I'm translating on my profile, Cyberpunk 2077: A God-Level Skill Every Day and Infinite Worlds: Building the Strongest Harem! They are also on my website for $5 and $1.5, respectively!
That's it and happy reading! (-‿◦)