"This is Tanzaku City, the Daimyo gambling city!"
Walking down the street, Hinata looked around with curiosity.
The place is full of casinos and arcades, as well as many hotels and restaurants. It's bustling with activity and very lively.
Jiraiya glanced at Hinata and said softly, "Hinata, I'll leave it to you!"
"Don't rush! Since we're already here, let's go to the casino and have some fun first!"
Chunin Ninja Exams, Hinata diligently studied Gambling Arts.
Even though she was only learning the most basic gameplay, Hinata still felt itchy to try it out when she arrived in Tanzaku City.
"Naruto, wanna play together?"
After giving a greeting, Hinata skipped into an arcade.
Although it's called an arcade, almost all the game machines here are coin-operated slot machines.
"Boss, give me a thousand taels of game coins!"
'Splash—'
Naruto looked at Hinata's bag of game coins with envy. All the money he had painstakingly saved by doing missions in the months since graduation had been swindled away by Jiraiya.
Naruto doesn't have a single penny on him right now.
"Here you go! Take this and play with it!"
Hinata generously took a game coin from a bag of game coins and handed it to Naruto.
Hinata sat in front of the coin-operated slot machine and inserted a coin.
Didn't win!
Jiraiya laughed and said, "That's not how you play it. Let me teach you!"
Unfortunately, Jiraiya unlucky, and he lost every single time he gambled.
Hinata kept inserting coins, but kept losing, and her thousand ryo game coins were quickly gone.
Jiraiya, oblivious to the world, said, "Hinata, your luck isn't much different from Tsunade's."
"Well!"
Hinata was quite dejected. She looked up at Jiraiya and asked, "Pervy Sage, tell me... if I were to bet with Lady Tsunade, who would have a better chance of winning?"
Jiraiya asked curiously, "Why did you insist on betting with Tsunade?"
Hinata snorted, "Although Mito promised to promote me to Chunin, I still haven't been Jonin."
Jiraiya looked up Jonin the sky speechlessly: Has Konoha really fallen to such a state? Is the promotion of a ninja not based on strength or the number of missions, but on gambling against the Hokage?
Was making Tsunade Hokage right decision?
Jiraiya sighed, his face filled with despair.
"By the way, how did you know that the village decided to make Tsunade Hokage?"
This is a secret; apart from the village's higher-ups, the lower-ranking ninjas should not know about it.
Hinata smiled smugly, tapped her head with her finger, and hummed, "Genius, do you understand?"
Jiraiya: "..."
Naruto walked up to the coin-operated slot machine and inserted his only coin...
As Naruto left the arcade, he held his bulging wallet in his hands and said happily, "Haha! A chubby wallet is cuter!"
Jiraiya looked at Hinata and asked, "Little Hinata, have you had enough fun now? Hurry up and find Tsunade!"
"Okay! Okay!"
Hinata shrugged and muttered, "All you ever think about is your old flame..."
Tanzaku City, Izakaya.
A small table, cups and glasses of sake, a mess of empty goblets.
Tsunade and Shizune sat together, Jiraiya, Hinata, and Naruto sat opposite them.
The moment Hinata saw Tsunade, she had a feeling that if she were to play a game of cards with Tsunade, she was destined to lose and would never be able to beat Tsunade in her entire life.
The five of them ate in silence. Shizune hesitated several times before speaking, after all, there were two of the Legendary Sannin present, and Shizune had no right to speak.
Hinata loves this kind of atmosphere; she enjoys eating all by herself.
Having drunk her fill, Tsunade sake cup on the table, her cheeks slightly flushed and her eyes glazed over, and said, "What a day it is today! I keep running into old acquaintances."
Jiraiya said in a deep voice, "It's Orochimaru, isn't it? What happened?"
Tsunade glared at Shizune with a warning look, then said nonchalantly, "It's nothing, just a brief encounter!"
"Let's talk about you! What do you want?"
Jiraiya looked at Tsunade seriously and said calmly, "Then I won't beat around the bush, Tsunade. The village will appoint you as the Fifth Hokage!"
"Waaah..."
Naruto nearly choked on his food upon hearing this.
Upon hearing this, Hinata quickly stood up, bowed swiftly, and loudly proclaimed, "Konoha Genin, a genin of Hinata Hyuga, greets the Fifth Hokage!"
Tsunade, Jiraiya, and Shizune: "..."
Jiraiya glared at Hinata and said helplessly, "Little Hinata, don't cause trouble at a time like this."
Hinata's expression remained unchanged. She took out a small notebook from her backpack and calmly said, "Lord Hokage, this is what I've collected over the past few days about..."
"Cough cough cough—"
Jiraiya suddenly coughed and secretly made a "three" gesture to Hinata.
Hinata sneered and held up five fingers.
Jiraiya nodded gravely: Looks like my wallet's going to shrink again. Five all-you-can-eat lavish meals...
Hinata casually put the notebook into her backpack, then continued, "Lord Hokage, from now on in Konoha, I'll be counting on you for protection. Please accept me as your little sister! Big sister!"
Tsunade gave Jiraiya a strange look. What exactly happened between you, you lecherous old man, and that young girl?
Naruto jumped onto a chair, pointed at Tsunade, and said with a displeased expression, "Why did you make her the Fifth Hokage? What's going on?"
Jiraiya glared at Naruto and said sternly, "Shut up, Naruto!"
After saying that, Jiraiya looked at Tsunade and asked, "So what... do you mean?"
Tsunade ignored Jiraiya, her eyes, still hazy with drunkenness, turned to Hinata, and chuckled, "Quite an interesting little girl. Are you Jiraiya's disciple?"
Hinata shook her head vehemently. "Absolutely not!"
Tsunade snorted, looking at Jiraiya, and said dismissively, "I bet you don't have such a cute disciple."
Tsunade then looked at Hinata and asked, "Then why did you come with Jiraiya?"
Hinata blushed and said in a panic, "I was forced! The Pervy Sage made me go with him in exchange for teaching me Ninjutsu..."
"Cough cough cough—"
Jiraiya began coughing violently.
Hinata.
Since we've already demanded five meals, let's spare Jiraiya's life for now!
It's not good to kill a big spender like Jiraiya with one blow. Instead, you should take advantage of him from time to time. A slow and steady approach is the right way.
"The Pervy Sage sent me to find you with him! My Byakugan is still very useful."
Tsunade wanted to chat with Hinata for a bit to distract herself.
Jiraiya pressed further, "So, Tsunade, what's your decision?"
Tsunade's voice was cold, with a hint of disdain in her tone. "That's impossible, I refuse!"