In the end, Naruto lost all his money as well.
Staring at the pile of cash in front of her — more than three million ryō — Tsunade grinned from ear to ear.
When Naruto stood up as if to leave, she hurriedly called out, "Kid, don't go! If you're out of money, I'll lend you some."
Naruto shook his head, "No. I'll go home and get more. I'll come back tomorrow."
After he left, Tsunade was the only one still at the table. The "fat sheep" from before had turned into a tiger now — no one dared gamble with her.
So she moved to other tables, but the moment people saw Tsunade, they immediately stopped and switched elsewhere.
"Lady Tsunade, you should stop while you're ahead. No one dares gamble with us anymore." Shizune urged.
Tsunade snorted, "It's rare that I win for once, and I'm not even satisfied yet. Come on — we're switching to another casino."
Shizune looked helpless, "At least eat first. You didn't have lunch, and now it's already dinnertime. Tonton's stomach is growling from hunger."
"Oink!"
But Tsunade said, "No! If we eat dinner, word will spread. Then the people in the other casinos won't dare gamble with me either."
She strode off to another casino. Everyone watched her back, and no longer dared call her a fat sheep.
No one noticed the faint thump from inside the dice cup. Only when someone else came to deal at that table did they discover that one of the three dice was missing.
Tsunade arrived at another casino, ready to slaughter the table. But instead, she kept losing — whether she was the dealer or not, she lost every round.
More than three million ryō vanished fast. She soon lost two million, leaving only one million. At that point, no matter what Tsunade said, Shizune refused to let her touch the remaining money.
"Lady Tsunade, that blond kid isn't here. You can't win without him. When he's around, your luck becomes unbelievably good. The moment he leaves, you're back to your old self. So let's keep the rest and wait until tomorrow — until he comes back — before we gamble again."
Tsunade was furious, but Shizune's words made sense. So she stopped for the day.
❊❊❊❊❊
The next day, Naruto came again — this time with even more money.
Tsunade came too, and the gambling started again. News of how badly she had lost the night before had spread, so now people dared to gamble with her again.
Then the same thing happened. Tsunade crushed everyone and kept winning. Once Naruto lost everything and left, she started losing again.
Then came the third day, the fourth day, the fifth day… Every day, the same script played out.
On the sixth day, Naruto didn't come.
Shizune panicked, "Lady Tsunade, Naruto Uzumaki didn't come today. Let's take a day off."
"Oink! Oink!"
As long as Naruto wasn't around, Tsunade would only lose when she gambled.
After finally saving up a little money, both Shizune and Tonton wanted to protect it.
But Tsunade said, "What's the big deal? If people find out, they'll think that the moment that brat Naruto isn't around, I don't dare sit at a gambling table. Besides, gambling isn't for winning money — it's a hobby. A hobby, understand? Whether I win or lose doesn't matter to me."
So, while they ate lunch, Tsunade secretly drugged Shizune and Tonton, knocking both of them out. Then she took the money hidden under the bed and went alone to donate it all to the casino.
When Shizune woke up, she rushed to the casino — but it was too late.
Tsunade had already lost everything, and even owed the casino another one million ryō.
❊❊❊❊❊
Fushigakure — Mizuki had come out of seclusion. He had mastered the Five Elements Seal, and could now remove it from Naruto.
Also, a new month had arrived. A new round of "granting and return" could begin.
"Lift your shirt and show your stomach. I'll remove the seal for you now."
Naruto did as told, revealing the Five Elements Seal formula on his belly.
Mizuki extended his right hand and spread his five fingers. Chakra of five different natures appeared on them — forming the characters for Water (水), Earth (土), Fire (火), Wind (風), and Lightning (雷).
"Five Elements Unsealing — Release!"
His five fingers pressed against Naruto's abdomen.
Naruto screamed and fell to the ground, but the Five Elements Seal on his stomach was successfully removed.
"Master Mizuki, I can feel it! Chakra is easy to control again!" he said happily.
Mizuki said, "Try it. Form a Rasengan with one hand."
Naruto nodded and raised his right hand, releasing chakra. In the next instant, a Rasengan took shape.
"Haha, I did it!"
Mizuki added, "Now try throwing it."
Naruto flicked his arm and threw the Rasengan, but it exploded before it even flew ten meters.
"It doesn't work!" Naruto scratched his head, "Master, why can you throw your Rasengan, but mine and Sasuke's can't? It's all Rasengan — what's different?"
Mizuki said, "My Rasengan has a more stable structure. I tried countless times before I found the most stable configuration. If you want to do the same, you'll have to experiment more — adjust the tiny details inside the Rasengan so it becomes more and more stable. That process is boring. You can only rely on yourself."
Naruto's expression hardened, "I can definitely do it! Oh right, Master — now that my chakra control is back, does that mean I can start the next stage of training, like Sasuke and the others?"
Mizuki nodded, "Your father, Minato Namikaze, was famous for two techniques in life. One was the Rasengan. The other was a technique called the Flying Thunder God Technique. The Flying Thunder God is a space-time ninjutsu — similar to my Body Flicker Swap, but it consumes far less chakra. Do you want to learn it?"
Mizuki did have Body Flicker Swap, but the chakra consumption was enormous. Flying Thunder God, on the other hand, didn't cost much.
And Mizuki was eager to see: Flying Thunder God was already S-rank — after the system returned it, what would he get?
Naruto nodded rapidly, "I want to learn! Master, teach me that fly… fly-whatever technique!"
"It's the Flying Thunder God Technique." Mizuki corrected, "The Flying Thunder God Technique was invented by the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju. It's an S-rank forbidden technique. During the Third Great Ninja War, your father used it to earn the title 'Yellow Flash.' He fought the Fourth Raikage and the Eight-Tails Jinchūriki alone, and didn't fall behind. And Iwagakure even had a saying: 'If you encounter the Yellow Flash, you may abandon the mission without punishment.'"
Naruto listened with eyes full of admiration.
He had worshiped the Fourth Hokage since he was small. After learning the Fourth was his father, his admiration only grew. His chest also filled with pride.
Mizuki took out a scroll and handed it to him, "I'll say this first: I don't know the Flying Thunder God Technique. So if you want to master it, you'll have to rely on yourself. Also, this technique is difficult. It involves space. You must be careful when training — no carelessness."
{T/N: For those who forgot, he stole all of Konoha's ninjutsu and such.}
Naruto nodded, "I'll be careful. And I'm confident — if my father could learn it, then I can learn it too."
He took the scroll and went off to train.
On Mizuki's side, the system's return prompt arrived as well.
[ Ding! ]
[ You have granted your disciple Naruto Uzumaki the S-Rank Ninjutsu [Flying Thunder God Technique] Training Method, triggering a 3,037× Return! ]
[ Congratulations, you have obtained the SS-Rank Ninjutsu [Invincible Flying Thunder God] Training Method! ]
〖 Invincible Flying Thunder God: For 0.5 seconds after using Flying Thunder God, you enter an invincible state. 〗
Mizuki's mouth fell open into an "O".
Damn… 0.5 seconds of invincibility — if he kept using Flying Thunder God nonstop, wouldn't that mean he'd be invincible the whole time?
After all, Flying Thunder God has no cooldown. In that case, wouldn't it be killing gods and buddhas alike?
"The rank is only SS, not SSS. That means this technique still has a higher form."
Thinking about it, that made sense. Flying Thunder God couldn't be used anywhere at will — it required a formula. Either you threw special kunai, or you planted a formula on the enemy.
In short, it had limitations. That was probably why the system rated it as SS.
"If it reached SSS, it probably wouldn't need a formula. You could teleport wherever you wanted. Only then would it truly be unstoppable."
Unfortunately, the return was only the training method. To actually master it still required time and effort.
"Naruto got a great start. Next is Sasuke!"
Mizuki went to find Sasuke.
At the moment, the boy was practicing chakra control. Blue chakra flowed from his hand, and under his control it formed into the shape of a cat. He made the cat walk, jump, and even nibble an ear.
So-called chakra control meant making chakra obey you. Whatever you wanted chakra to do, it had to do it.
To release ninjutsu, you normally formed hand seals. The purpose of hand seals was to guide chakra through specific meridians in the Chakra Pathway System. After passing through those meridians, the chakra would change — for example, it could become fire, water, earth, and so on.
As chakra control grew stronger, you could reduce hand seals, form seals with one hand, or even cast without seals at all.
Mizuki told Sasuke that to learn his Body Swap, he had to be able to form seals with one hand.
Sasuke worked extremely hard for that.
"Sasuke, stop for a moment." Mizuki said, "Today, I'm passing you a new ninjutsu."
He spoke simply and took out another scroll.
"This technique is called Edo Tensei. It's an S-rank forbidden technique invented by the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju. In essence, it's a summoning technique. It summons souls from the Pure Land to the human world, into an impure vessel — reviving them in physical form, under your control."
Sasuke looked at the scroll, frowning.
Mizuki explained, "I'm teaching you this only for revenge. Your enemies — the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, and the Root leader, Danzō Shimura — have both been killed by me. Your hatred has nowhere to go, and bottling it up for too long isn't good. If you learn Edo Tensei, you can revive them… then torment them, and take revenge that way."
Sasuke's furrowed brows immediately relaxed. He reached out and took the scroll.
"Thank you."
[ Ding! ]
[ You have granted your disciple Sasuke Uchiha the S-Rank Kinjutsu [Kuchiyose: Edo Tensei] Training Method, triggering a 6,944× Return! ]
[ Congratulations, you have obtained the SS-Rank Kinjutsu [Edo Self] Training Method! ]
〖 Edo Self: Summon souls from the Pure Land onto the caster's body. The caster gains all abilities and chakra the soul possessed in life. Warning: this is a forbidden technique with high risk. If you summon too many souls — or souls that are too powerful — there is a risk of possession. 〗
"Hell of a technique… it's basically inviting an ancestor to possess you." Mizuki muttered.
Another SS-rank forbidden technique.
Not going to lie — the Konoha scroll vault had been well worth raiding.
Finally, it was Daisuke's turn.
Daisuke's foundation was poor — he hadn't even properly mastered the simple Three Basic Techniques yet. So Mizuki didn't give him anything high-level.
He just gave him a bowl of instant hot ramen.
[ Ding! ]
[ You have granted your disciple Daisuke one bowl of Instant Hot Ramen, triggering a 61× Return! ]
[ Congratulations, you have obtained 61 bowls of Delicious Instant Hot Ramen! ]
Mizuki: "Damn it!"
❊❊❊❊❊
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!
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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! (-‿◦)