You dare to cheat when gambling with me?

"You brat, what's with that look? Believe it or not I'll beat you to death?"

Tsunade clenched her fist, glaring angrily.

"Ahem, Lady Tsunade, your expression doesn't seem like you're trying to be vigilant."

Shizune kindly tried to defuse the situation. She was used to saying things like this regardless of whether Tsunade got angry.

Tsunade glanced at her, then looked back at Kyōichi, noticing their expressions were similar. She unclenched her fist with a cold snort, "Gambling is a sacred endeavor, cheating is simply an insult to my character."

"I believe that," Kyōichi said impassively, going along with her words.

Tsunade's expression improved.

She laughed and said, "But I don't cheat, though I can observe others. If some fool tries to cheat in front of me, can't I catch him and make him pay me back?"

"..."

Shizune was shocked when she heard this. She thought for a few seconds but couldn't find any flaws.

However.

The next moment, Kyōichi said disdainfully, "Aren't you thinking too much? With your luck, whoever knows your reputation wouldn't dare cheat."

"You brat, looking for a fight?"

Boom!

With one punch, the nearby cliffside cracked.

Tsunade's expression was unpleasant.

This meant...

No need to cheat?

Win her money with eyes closed?

This brat had provoked her gambling skills several times, simply disregarding her title of Sannin.

"Don't believe it? We can gamble, the simplest, guessing cards.

Kyōichi took back the deck of cards.

"Hmph, brat, I'll make you know, my money isn't so easily won."

Right by the roadside.

The two started dealing cards, leaving Shizune dumbfounded.

What was this development?

She watched the game, seeing Kyōichi not even look at the cards, just placing two facedown on the ground.

After Tsunade looked, a smile appeared on her face.

"Aren't you going to look?"

"A sure win, no need to look, just flip them later."

"..."

Damn!

The corner of Tsunade's mouth twitched, wishing she could punch this kid to death.

Too annoying.

Then, she motioned for Kyōichi to flip them over.

Kyōichi turned the two cards over, Tsunade looked at her hand...

Then she silently placed her cards into the deck.

"Again!"

"..."

"Again!"

"..."

"Damn, you must have cheated!"

Three rounds.

Kyōichi didn't even look at the cards, but in the end he always beat Tsunade, leaving her furious with shame.

This brat must have cheated.

It definitely wasn't her problem!

"Heh, need to? Besides, you're a Sannin, can't you tell if I cheated or not?"

Kyōichi laughed.

Tsunade's gambling luck was like this, she would always suspect others of cheating when in truth she just had bad luck.

"Impossible!"

Tsunade's gaze was uncertain.

Kyōichi got up and said, "Boring, Shizune, play a few rounds with Lady Tsunade."

"Me? I don't know how..."

Shizune had a blank expression.

"Doesn't matter, playing with Lady Tsunade, you don't need to know how."

"???"

Tsunade tilted her head, her beautiful face full of killing intent.

Shizune sweated.

She started playing.

After a while...

"Don't want to play anymore, boring!"

Tsunade threw the cards away.

Five straight losses.

The key was.

The other party didn't even know how to play, needing her to check the cards' values, yet she lost every time, it was too frustrating!

"See, I'm not wrong am I, Lady Tsunade. As I said, you can try to catch cheaters if you want, just don't gamble yourself, otherwise who would need to cheat playing against you?"

"..."

He was right!

After losing money, she could just observe and catch cheaters.

That way, she could swindle money and have them pay her debts.

Of course.

It would be even better if the gambling venue cheated in secret, then she could directly extort them.

Tsunade was devout towards gambling, disdaining such petty tricks, but these weren't gambling, just means of earning money to pay debts.

Brilliant!

She was delighted, completely forgetting Kyōichi's implied meaning.

Bad luck?

Wasn't that common sense!

Tsunade knew herself that her gambling luck was bizarre. If she actually won, she would be worried instead.

Aside from satisfying her own preferences, another reason she gambled outside the village was to know through gambling whether the people she cared about were safe.

So far.

After leaving the village, she hadn't won once.

"Right, any other ways to earn money and avoid debts?"

Tsunade's eyes shone.

This brat didn't seem interested in these shady means, but knew quite a bit.

After hearing this, Kyōichi was silent for a moment, then said, "Have you considered...getting a pet?"

"A pet? Why raise one when we can barely feed ourselves."

Shizune said pitifully.

It really was hard to eat their fill.

The money they managed to earn would be gambled away by Tsunade after just a few days. Their daily necessities now all relied on Shizune earning with her medical ninjutsu.

"Idiot! Pets are also property. If someone comes to collect a debt, I can give them the pet to pay it off. Then have it run back, it's perfect! Though the pet would need training, best if it can use chakra..."

Tsunade's mind raced, quickly devising a whole set of methods.

The Sannin were smart people.

Kyōichi nodded, also feeling somewhat strange.

This development...

Hadn't he advised her not to gamble?

Oh well.

Couldn't persuade her.

After all, Tsunade's gambling wasn't solely for gambling itself.

He sighed.

Just then, the system prompt sounded.

Kyōichi was startled for a moment.

He called out the system.

In the task records, there was still one unread entry.

This was the task reward after Shisui and the others completed the practical exam.

[Completed 'Combat Exam', 'Will of Fire' Lesson]

[Evaluation: Excellent]

[Reward: Genjutsu - Bringer of Darkness Technique]

However.

The next entry left him speechless for a time.

[Completed 'Cheating', 'Debt Repayment' Lessons]

[Evaluation: Good]

[Reward: Disorder Body Strike ]

This works too?

That's a pretty useful technique.

Fine, though the curriculum for the lessons was a bit strange...

He looked at Tsunade, feeling conflicted.

Tsunade leaned on the railing, gazing into the distance. She suddenly sighed and said, "Kid, if you have a hard time in the village in the future, feel free to come find me...just don't die!"

"Don't worry, I understand."

Kyōichi naturally knew what Tsunade meant.

The Leaf seemed harmonious on the surface, and the Senju were great benefactors. But in truth it was not so, not to mention Hiruzen Sarutobi, Danzo Shimura also seemed to oppress and be wary of the Senju clan.

Even Tsunade understood, she just didn't talk about it.

Now that Kyōichi had awakened the Senju constitution and become a Jōnin, if he gained military exploits and fame in future wars, he might have a chance at becoming the Fourth Hokage.

But.

Would Hiruzen Sarutobi and Danzo Shimura agree?

Tsunade felt...

It was unlikely.

That old geezer didn't truly consider Kyōichi one of them, otherwise he wouldn't have gone through such effort to arrange their meeting.

She patted Kyōichi on the shoulder and said, "You're like my brother, with me backing you up, no one would dare say no if you left the village, as long as you don't betray."

"If that day comes...I will."