"The dice have already been rolled, and the bet's been placed—there's no taking it back now," Naruto said flatly, giving the man no face at all.
The young man's gaze turned sharp, though he forced a smile.
"Heh... I'm the young master of the Gambling Hall. How about this—I'll make the call: if the result isn't a triple, I'll still pay you one hundred million. Sound good?"
But Naruto still shook his head firmly.
"I don't care about the money. What matters to me is winning or losing."
Watching this unfold, Tsunade looked at Naruto with admiration.
Even when she'd been beaten yesterday, she hadn't looked at him this way.
She really loved gambling.
The young master narrowed his eyes, and his smile slowly disappeared.
"Winning or losing—is that more important than your life? Money's only good if you're alive to spend it, right?"
The smile shifted to Naruto's face.
"Oh? Was that a threat? If you can't handle losing, don't run a gambling hall. Go home and raise pigs instead."
That hit a nerve. The young man's face turned red with rage.
Because—his family had started out raising pigs.
"Fine! If you want to play, I'll play with you!"
He immediately lifted the dice cup.
Revealed beneath it—three sixes. A triple!
The crowd exploded into chaos.
Such a massive bet—such massive odds—none of them had ever seen anything like it.
Even just witnessing it was enough to send thrills down a gambler's spine.
The young master stared at the dice, his hands beginning to tremble.
Even he was hurting a bit now.
1.8 billion ryo.
That was a colossal loss.
And standing next to Naruto was Tsunade, one of the Legendary Sannin.
Even if he brought out the strongest hired shinobi in his clan, he had no confidence in beating Tsunade.
Most civilians might not understand—but he knew exactly what a Legendary Sannin meant.
"Young master, shall we...?"
The older dealer—his face still swollen from the earlier slap—crept up beside him, making a throat-slashing gesture.
The young master's fury flared again.
He kicked the man to the ground.
"Didn't you see who he came in with?! How the hell do we kill him—send you?!"
After leaving the gambling hall, the group walked through the streets.
Tsunade coughed twice and glanced at Naruto.
"Ahem... so, how'd you do that just now? Not bad—winning every bet. You must have some kind of trick, right?"
Naruto gave her a casual look and shrugged.
"What if I said there's no trick—it's all just luck? Would you believe me?"
"You don't want to say, just say it. Who would believe that excuse?"
Naruto shrugged again.
"Actually, I do have a guaranteed win strategy."
Tsunade's ears immediately perked up.
"Guaranteed?! What is it?!"
Shizune, who'd been listening quietly, also grew curious.
Naruto's streak of wins was still fresh in her mind.
She'd never understood what was fun about gambling—probably because she'd spent so long losing with Tsunade.
But now... she was starting to get it.
Naruto said calmly,
"It's pretty simple. You let Tsunade place her bet first. Then Shizune bets against her."
"For example, if she picks Big, Shizune bets double on Small."
"With Tsunade's luck, the reverse bet is a guaranteed win. That way, you always win."
Tsunade opened her mouth, stunned.
"Tch... what kind of strategy is that? That's no fun! If Shizune's the one winning and I'm still the one losing, what's the point?! I want your kind of winning, point and hit!"
"Told you. I'm just lucky." Naruto replied casually.
Shizune chuckled quietly into her hand.
Honestly, Naruto's idea seemed pretty practical. She might try it someday—to help with daily expenses.
Tsunade scratched her chest and waved her hand.
"Alright, alright. What do you wanna learn? Mystical Palm, Chakra Scalpel, or something else?"
"But let me warn you—just because your combat skills are strong doesn't mean you'll be good at medical ninjutsu. It takes precise chakra control. Not everyone can handle it."
But as she began teaching him, Tsunade realized just how wrong she had been.
Only now did she understand what true talent looked like.
No matter what she taught, no matter how difficult, Naruto learned it instantly—and performed it better than the teacher herself.
Less than half a month had passed, and Naruto had already absorbed all the knowledge she had to give.
Looking at the young man before her, Tsunade couldn't not feel old.
She waved him off.
"Alright. I've got nothing left to teach you."
But the system's month-long mission wasn't over yet, so Naruto wasn't ready to stop.
"That won't do. We agreed on a full month, and I intend to stick to it."
"You've still got the Strength of a Hundred Seal and the Creation Rebirth technique. I want to learn those."
Tsunade laughed.
"You've got quite the appetite. Those are my ultimate trump cards. No way I'm handing them over that easily."
"Unless... you promise me something: never become an enemy of Konoha. And if Konoha ever faces destruction, you'll be there to save it."
After speaking, Tsunade stared into Naruto's eyes, full of expectation.
'Let me clean up the mess that old fart left behind,' she thought to herself.
The more she spent time with Naruto, the more she realized this boy's potential was monstrous.
She could tell—if nothing got in his way, Naruto would become a powerhouse on par with her grandfather.
And a tree that large... Konoha couldn't afford to make it an enemy.
Even if Konoha wasn't what it used to be—founded by her grandfather and great-uncle with their lives—she still had a duty to protect it.
As their granddaughter, she had to try.
But Naruto shook his head.
"If you want me to spare Konoha... then just offering those two techniques isn't enough."
In truth, the Creation Rebirth's regenerative ability wasn't even that useful to him anymore—it was like a passive effect of his current physique.
The main reason he wanted to learn it was the part that preserved youth.
That way, he could pass it on to Hinata and the others.
Tsunade's eyes flickered.
She had expected Naruto to flat-out refuse, considering how Konoha had treated him.
But he hadn't refused—he'd only said, the condition isn't good enough.
That... gave her hope.
"So what do you want?"
Tsunade asked seriously, locking eyes with him.