"You are... from the Akagi Family?" Tsunade hesitated for a moment, recognizing the two men, apparently having seen them when she wasn't drunk.
"Indeed." Shan Zao produced the IOU, getting straight to the point, "We are here to collect a debt."
Jiraiya had already mentally prepared himself for a major bloodletting, planning to cover for Tsunade if she tried to run.
But Tsunade crossed her arms, calmly saying, "I did indeed owe a sum of money to the Akagi Family's casino three years ago, but it was paid off a year ago."
"Huh?" *3
Even Jiraiya didn't believe her, making the same sound as the two Samurai.
"Have you two not been back in the past year?" Tsunade didn't know what to say to these two oddballs, shouting into the room, "Shizune, bring the bill over!"
After seeing their boss's signature on the bill, the debt-collecting duo instantly turned ashen, barely managing to compose themselves, tearfully saying, "Actually... we haven't been back for three years. What... what have we been doing all these years..."
Naruto didn't know what to say to these two simpletons either. You're debt collectors, not debt evaders, why wouldn't you go home?
Ultimately, it's because this world relies on walking for transportation and shouting for communication. Transportation and communication are too inconvenient. After all, not everyone has the Flying Thunder God Technique and the Ninth Phone Line like Naruto.
The two unlucky Samurai left, and Jiraiya, feeling sorry for them, even subsidized some travel expenses.
Sakura felt that there was still hope for her idol. It's not like she was refusing to pay, just that the repayment period was a bit long.
Actually, although Tsunade was addicted to gambling and evading debts, her character wasn't so bad that she wouldn't repay her debts. Otherwise, her reputation would have been ruined long ago, and how would she be able to borrow money every time?
"The troublesome matter is resolved, I'm going to gamble a bit." Tsunade stretched, making Jiraiya's eyes widen.
"Wait a minute, I have serious business to discuss." Jiraiya snapped out of it and stopped her.
"You're annoying, Jiraiya. I don't have time, the gambling game won't wait." Tsunade said, turning to leave.
"Do you even have any money?" Jiraiya had already learned from Shizune that Tsunade had lost all the money she had yesterday afternoon.
"..." Tsunade's footsteps halted, this was a big problem.
"I can just borrow from the casino again." Tsunade said stubbornly.
Jiraiya smiled and invited, "How about I gamble with you?"
"Oh?" Tsunade perked up. If you're talking about this, then I'm not sleepy anymore, asking, "What are the stakes?"
"If you win, I'll lend you money to go to the casino. If you lose, you'll listen to me properly." Jiraiya was very confident, even if he wasn't good at gambling, but... did he even need gambling skills to win against Tsunade? Wasn't it a piece of cake?
"Alright." Tsunade readily agreed, pulling out a deck of cards from her chest—maybe she had sewn pockets inside her clothes... right? Anyway, Naruto didn't understand how she took them out.
Back in the room, Jiraiya and Tsunade sat facing each other, with Naruto and the other three, plus Tonton, watching.
Shizune silently prayed that Jiraiya would win. Their IOUs had already filled an entire wallet, they couldn't let Tsunade lose any more.
Naruto also hoped that Jiraiya would win, because if Tsunade won, the people in this room might be in trouble.
Tsunade skillfully shuffled and dealt the cards. It seemed to be a game that Naruto had never seen before. Each person had five cards, and then, according to rules that Naruto didn't understand, they each drew a few cards, discarded a few, and then drew a few more, finally revealing their hands.
I didn't learn this stuff during prenatal education.
After both sides revealed their hands, Jiraiya's mouth widened, Tsunade trembled, and Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura couldn't understand the cards.
"Eh~ eee~~" Shizune, having followed Tsunade for many years, must have been influenced and understood the rules, letting out a unique exclamation.
"Puiyo~" Even Tonton was stunned.
Naruto immediately felt uneasy. Could it be that Tsunade had won?
Tsunade's face was ashen as she threw away the cards in her hand and said, "One more game!"
Jiraiya had no choice but to humor her, shuffling the cards and changing the game, but... Tsunade still won.
Next, Tsunade took out dominoes and dice, gambling for over a dozen rounds, but no matter how they gambled, she won.
Crack, shatter~ The dice cup was crushed by Tsunade, and the fragments fell to the floor.
Tsunade hugged herself tightly, staring at the floor, unable to speak.
Tsunade knew her luck. Every time she won a gamble, something bad would happen. So, who would be in danger this time? Jiraiya? Shizune? Or... Kushina?
Sasuke and Sakura didn't understand why Tsunade was unhappy even though she had won.
Naruto was already panicking, not even bothering to complain about how Tsunade had produced so many gambling tools.
The main thing was that Tsunade's gambling-style divination was too accurate, even more accurate than the Toad Sage's predictions. The key was that the people close to her, besides Shizune, seemed to be his own acquaintances. This was deadly.
"Don't worry about it. It's normal to have good luck once in a while," Jiraiya patted Tsunade's shoulder to comfort her, then took out a stack of banknotes and placed them in front of Tsunade. "Loser pays up. Consider this a loan, you can pay it back whenever you want."
Tsunade looked at the money, bit her lip, and looked up to ask, "Jiraiya, what exactly did you come to me for?"
Jiraiya explained, "It's like this, it's currently the period of the Chunin Exams jointly held by Konoha and Sunagakure Village. Not long ago, Minato received information that Sunagakure Village seems to have malicious intentions and may be allied with Orochimaru to take the opportunity to attack Konoha. When that happens, it may evolve into war. If you, a medical expert, are there..."
"Orochimaru?" Tsunade noticed the familiar name. If it was Orochimaru, was his goal to take revenge for having his Hokage position snatched away by Minato? No, he didn't seem like someone who would care about such a thing. Saying he wanted to take revenge on Minato was less believable than saying he was after the Sealing Scroll. Could it be that he was after... the Third Hokage?
And Sunagakure Village... Tsunade showed a disgusted expression: "Another war?"
Her grandfather, her ex-boyfriend Dan Katō, and her younger brother Nawaki, all died because of war. Was there going to be another war now?
"If we can stop them in advance, or deal with them properly..." Jiraiya said, "Come back to Konoha with me, Tsunade."
Naruto reacted and felt that the person in danger this time was most likely the Third Hokage. Maybe the Third Hokage himself wanted to die in battle, but Naruto didn't want to let him have his way. His death would be very troublesome, his loved ones would be sad, the morale of the Konoha ninjas would be affected, and Minato's reputation would be hit. At that time, that old fart Danzo might jump out again, saying something like "As the current Hokage, he actually watched the previous Hokage die in battle and was powerless."
His own father was very likely to fall for that, and feel guilty. Of course, it was unlikely that he would commit suicide like the Konoha White Fang, but that would still be terrible.
At this time, having Tsunade would mean having another powerful force, so... should he use the Flying Thunder God Technique to forcibly bring her back?
Anyway, as long as he touched her, he could
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