Kyōichi, Konoha’s Life Mentor

"Brat, what's with that look? Want me to beat you to death?" Tsunade clenched her fist, her eyes hostile.

"Ahem, Lady Tsunade, your expression doesn't look like someone who wants to learn defensive techniques," Shizune kindly intervened.

She'd said similar things many times and didn't care if Tsunade got angry.

Tsunade glanced at her, then looked at Kyōichi again. Noticing their similar expressions, she lowered her fist and snorted, "Gambling is a sacred pursuit. Cheating is an insult to my character."

"I believe that," Kyōichi handed the cards back to Shizune, smoothly agreeing.

Tsunade's expression improved.

She smiled and said, "However, while I don't cheat, I can observe others. If someone foolish enough tries to cheat in front of me, I can catch them and make them pay off my debts!"

"..."

Shizune looked at Tsunade in shock, thought for several seconds, but couldn't find any flaws in the logic.

However.

The next moment, Kyōichi said contemptuously, "Aren't you overthinking this? With your luck, anyone who knows your reputation wouldn't dare to cheat."

"Brat, you want to fight?"

Bang!

One punch cracked part of the nearby cliff wall.

Tsunade's expression turned hostile.

These words...

No need to cheat?

Suggesting they could win her money with their eyes closed!

This brat had repeatedly challenged her gambling skills, clearly not respecting her title as one of the Three Legendary Ninja.

"If you don't believe me, we can bet. Something simple, like guessing card values."

Kyōichi reached out and took back the deck of cards.

"Hmph, brat, I'll show you that winning money from Tsunade isn't so easy."

By the roadside.

The two began dealing cards, while Shizune watched in amazement.

What kind of development was this?

She stared at the game, seeing that Kyōichi didn't even look at his cards, just placing two face down on the ground.

Tsunade looked at hers, a smile appearing on her face.

"Aren't you going to look?"

"I'll definitely win. No need to look, we can just reveal them directly."

"..."

Damn it!

Tsunade's mouth twitched, wanting to punch this kid to death.

He was so infuriating.

Then, she gestured for Kyōichi to reveal his cards.

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

Then quietly put her cards back in the deck.

"Again!"

"..."

"One more time!"

"..."

"Damn it, you must be cheating!"

Three rounds.

Kyōichi never looked at his cards but always had better hands than Tsunade, making her furious with embarrassment.

It must be this brat cheating.

It definitely wasn't her problem!

"Hehe, is there any need? Besides, you're one of the Legendary Three. Wouldn't you notice if I was cheating?"

Kyōichi laughed.

This was typical of an unlucky gambler, always suspecting others of cheating when it was just bad luck.

"Impossible!"

Tsunade's expression fluctuated between anger and doubt.

Kyōichi stood up, saying, "This is boring. Shizune, why don't you play a few rounds with Lady Tsunade?"

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

Shizune's expression froze.

"It doesn't matter if you know how or not when playing with Lady Tsunade."

"???"

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

Shizune sweated.

She really started playing.

After a while...

"I'm done playing, this is boring!"

Tsunade threw the cards away.

Lost all five rounds.

The key was.

The opponent didn't even know how to play, needed her to check the card values, yet she still lost every time. It was infuriating!

"See? Wasn't I right, Lady Tsunade? Like I said, if you want to catch cheaters, that's fine, just don't gamble yourself. Who needs to cheat when gambling with you?"

"..."

He had a point!

She could just watch others after losing money and catch cheaters!

Not only could she extort money, but the gambling venue would have to thank her!

Of course.

It would be even better if the gambling venue was secretly cheating, then she could blackmail the entire establishment.

Tsunade was devoted to gambling and despised doing underhanded things, but this wasn't gambling - it was a means to earn money to pay debts.

Brilliant!

She was delighted, completely forgetting the implications of Kyōichi's words.

Bad luck?

Wasn't that common knowledge!

Tsunade herself knew her gambling luck was bizarre. If she actually won, she'd be more worried.

When gambling outside the village, besides satisfying her own interests, another reason was to understand through gambling whether the people she cared about were safe.

So far.

She hadn't won once since leaving the village.

"By the way, are there any other ways to make money and avoid debts?"

Tsunade's eyes sparkled.

This kid seemed uninterested in these alternative methods, but he sure knew a lot about them.

Kyōichi was silent for a moment, then said, "Have you considered... keeping a pet?"

"A pet? What for? We can barely feed ourselves."

Shizune said pitifully.

It was true they couldn't eat well.

Whatever money they managed to earn would be gambled away by Tsunade within days. Now all their daily expenses came from what Shizune earned using medical ninjutsu.

"Stupid! Pets are property too. If someone comes to collect a debt, I can give them the pet as payment! Then have it run back to me - perfect! Though the pet would need training, preferably with chakra..."

Tsunade's mind worked quickly, coming up with a complete plan.

The Three Legendary Sannin's were all clever people.

Kyōichi nodded, feeling somewhat strange.

This development...

Wasn't he trying to discourage her from gambling?

Oh well.

Can't be helped.

After all, Tsunade's gambling wasn't purely for gambling's sake.

He sighed.

Just then, the system notification sounded.

Kyōichi paused for a moment.

He called up the system.

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

This was the mission reward from when Shisui and the others completed their practical training.

[Completed 'Combat Practice' and 'Will of Fire' Teaching]

[Evaluation: Excellent]

[Reward: Genjutsu - Dark Approaching Technique]

However.

The next entry left him speechless.

[Completed 'Sleight of Hand' and 'Debt Repayment' Lecture]

[Evaluation: Good]

[Reward: Wild Lion's Mane Technique]

This works too?

This technique is quite useful.

Well, although the lecture subjects were a bit strange...

He looked at Tsunade, feeling emotional.

Tsunade leaned against the railing, gazing into the distance, suddenly sighing, "Kid, if you ever have a hard time in the village, you can come find me... Just don't die!"

"Don't worry, I understand."

Kyōichi waved his hand.

He naturally understood Tsunade's meaning.

Konoha appeared harmonious, and the Senju clan were great contributors, but reality was different. Leaving aside Hiruzen Sarutobi, Danzo in the shadows seemed to suppress and guard against the Senju clan quite a bit.

Tsunade understood but didn't say anything.

Now that Kyōichi had shown his potential and become a jonin, if he established military achievements and increased his prestige in future wars, he might have a chance at becoming the Fourth Hokage.

But.

Would Hiruzen Sarutobi and Danzo agree?

Tsunade thought...

It was unlikely.

That old man hadn't truly accepted Kyōichi as one of his own, otherwise he wouldn't have gone to such lengths to arrange this meeting between them.

She patted Kyōichi's shoulder and said, "You're like my brother. I've got your back. As long as you don't rebel, no one will dare say a word if you leave the village."

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