"Damn it!" Tsunade raised her fist, clearly pissed.
But looking at Takuya's innocent face, she lowered it anyway.
This was exactly when that whole "just an employee" setup came in handy.
No matter how the luck turned out, it wasn't his fault.
"You got more of those medical jars?" Tsunade locked her eyes on him, feeling a pressure in her chest that only more jar-smashing could relieve.
"Of course," Takuya nodded, secretly thrilled.
He knew this feeling all too well.
The better the pulls, the harder it was to stop.
"Shizune!" Tsunade downed a huge swig of sake and waved. "Money—now!"
"Lady Tsunade..." Shizune's voice was full of dread. "We're out of money."
"Huh?" Tsunade blinked, dumbfounded.
"Did you already forget how much you lost yesterday?" Shizune looked like she was dying inside.
"..."
Even Takuya was stunned.
Leaving aside the two free ones, she'd only opened eight jars—just 400,000 ryo.
Only about 24,000 Trade Points.
And that's it? She's broke?
A legendary medic, one of the Legendary Three, princess of the Senju clan—this is all she's got?
"Haha... hahahaha." Tsunade laughed awkwardly, then slammed her hand on the floor and leaned forward, glaring at Takuya. "Put it on my tab!"
"..." Takuya's face darkened instantly. "Sorry, I run a small business. No tabs."
Hell no. Tsunade might have good gambler's integrity, but her debt record was a black hole.
Just look at all those sad debt collectors in the original series.
Some of them didn't even know she already paid them back—because they'd been chasing her for so damn long.
"C'mon, don't be so stingy." Tsunade slapped him on the shoulder twice—shockingly hard. "You know who I am? Tsunade, one of the Legendary Three! You think I'd stiff you?"
You won't stiff me—just pay like five years late.
Takuya swallowed that comeback and just shook his head firmly.
No room for negotiation!
He wasn't worried about Tsunade flipping out and punching him either. He had a Vajra Body Protection Talisman from a cultivation world, thank you very much.
"Tch." Tsunade pouted.
She wouldn't rob him, but it still sucked not being able to crack more jars.
"Well, you can also trade other items," Takuya added. "Knowledge, tools—doesn't matter what it is, as long as it has value. I'll be the one to assess that value."
"Oh?" Tsunade perked up. "You decide the value? What if it's something you don't even understand?"
"I've got my ways." Takuya gave her a mysterious smirk. "I promise a fair appraisal. If you're not satisfied, you don't have to trade."
This was one of the system's perks.
Free appraisals.
If something was treated as a potential trade item, the system would provide a valuation and some analysis.
"Shizune, bring him the loot from last time."
Tsunade crossed her arms and shot a look at Shizune, emphasizing the word "loot."
Yeah, this guy's items were impressive, but he was still just some powerless civvie—no chakra, soft muscles. She was sure of that.
"Yes, Lady Tsunade." Shizune left and came back shortly after, carrying a few items.
Even after leaving Konoha, Tsunade still attracted challengers.
These scrolls came from defeated ninja.
"Check these out. What're they worth?" Tsunade had a sly grin.
They were ninja gear—jutsu scrolls, weapons.
No way a non-ninja could judge that.
Takuya raised two fingers and held them to his brow.
"We call this the All-Knowing, All-Powerful Eye."
As he spoke, a golden symbol slowly shimmered into view at the center of his forehead, radiating a mysterious aura.
Tsunade's smug expression froze.
What... was that?
The symbol looked like an eye, and even she felt a subtle sting just by looking at it.
Shizune, overwhelmed by emotion she couldn't describe, instinctively lowered her head.
It felt sacred.
They didn't know what it was—but they knew they weren't supposed to look directly at it.
Tsunade had never seen anything like it. And he just said... All-Knowing, All-Powerful Eye?
Takuya caught every nuance in their expressions and was very satisfied.
If this were a modern person, they might recognize the design—
The Eye of Agamotto.
Yep, the one Doctor Strange wears.
But Takuya had spent 25,000 Trade Points just to make a look-alike. It had no powers—just gave off that mysterious divine aura.
Not cheap—but totally worth it.
It served as his perfect "excuse" for knowing stuff. He could even drop "I can see the future" if needed.
"Three jutsu scrolls," he said, pretending to analyze them while actually reading the system output. "C-rank Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall, C-rank Earth Release: Fissure Palm, and B-rank Water Release: Exploding Water Colliding Wave. The B-rank one also contains a jonin's personal insights. Among the weapons, only one qualifies as elite-grade. Total value… about 3.6 million."
They were worth around 200,000 Trade Points in the system.
Even more than he expected.
Then again—
B-rank jutsu were already pretty valuable in this world, mostly used by jonin. A-rank and higher? Prices skyrocketed—they were usually closely guarded secrets.
"You didn't even open them?" Tsunade gave Takuya a deep look. After a moment of silence, she suddenly removed the necklace from her neck. "How much is this worth?"
"Lady Tsunade, that's—!" Shizune gasped in shock.
But Tsunade didn't reply or even look at her. Her eyes stayed locked on Takuya.
Filled with grief.
The cursed necklace.
Takuya looked at the stone-like pendant hanging from a string and instantly remembered its story.
A relic from the First Hokage.
A chakra crystal that only responded to his chakra.
Tsunade gave it to her brother Nawaki—he died the next day. Brutally.
Then she gave it to her lover Dan—he also died. His kidneys literally exploded.
Since then, Tsunade called it the "Necklace of Death."
So, how was he gonna answer this one?