I'm Betting on the Highest Odds

In the crowd, Uchiha Sasuke stood proudly with his head held high, a foxtail grass stem dangling from his mouth. He looked utterly nonchalant, clearly not taking Xiao Yun seriously at all. His eyes were even filled with disdain for Konoha's Holy Son.

"Uchiha's Sasuke, you little brat. Why aren't you properly learning ninjutsu from Kakashi? What the hell are you doing showing off in front of me?"

This was holding him up from important business. Xiao Yun could not be bothered with the guy and headed straight for Moonlight Izakaya.

"Psycho! Xiao Yun, you call yourself Konoha's Number One Genius, yet you don't dare accept my challenge?"

Sasuke shouted at the top of his lungs, immediately drawing the surrounding crowd's attention.

"What? He's Xiao Yun, Konoha's newly appointed Holy Son?"

"Hey, hey, the one challenging him seems to be Sasuke Uchiha. I heard he has Level 7 Lightning Chakra and is a once-in-a-millennium genius too."

"My son is in the same class as Sasuke. He said Sasuke has never been convinced by this Xiao Yun and declared that he would trample this Number One Genius beneath his feet. A genius versus a genius—I can't wait!"

"Huh? Why does this Xiao Yun look unwilling to accept Sasuke's challenge? Could he be all talk and no substance?"

"Yeah, probably like that useless husband of mine—all flash, no substance."

"What good is talent alone? You need the courage to draw your blade. Otherwise, no matter how gifted you are, you're just a coward. In that regard, I favor Sasuke Uchiha."

"I favor Sasuke Uchiha too. I heard he's a battle maniac. Xiao Yun is still just a rookie!"

"Xiao Yun, if you don't dare fight me, I won't force you. But from now on, you'll be my follower. Whenever you see me, you'll have to call me big brother."

Sasuke spoke arrogantly, and the crowd's comments only made him even more conceited.

Xiao Yun's face darkened. You little punk, do you take me for your brother, Itachi Uchiha? You think I'll go easy on you when we fight?

"Sasuke, what's the fun in fighting without some stakes? We ought to bet on something."

Xiao Yun stretched lazily and spoke in a languid tone.

"Bet on what? You name it!"

"How about our monthly Ninja stipends? Whoever loses hands over their monthly money to the other person."

"It's a deal!"

At noon.

Konoha Arena Plaza.

By then, news of Xiao Yun and Sasuke's duel had spread everywhere. A vast sea of people came to watch, and the spectacle was even more heated than a Jonin showdown.

After all, this was a duel between Konoha's number one and number two geniuses. Every underground betting house caught wind of it, and the odds offered by their owners were actually Xiao Yun versus Sasuke—1:10.

The reason was simple. Although Sasuke was not as gifted as Xiao Yun, his combat experience was extremely rich. Despite his young age, he had already completed several ninja missions and performed exceptionally well. He also knew Fire Release and was highly skilled in taijutsu!

As for Xiao Yun, most people believed that he was merely exceptionally gifted. His combat experience was severely lacking, and he had not trained for very long.

No matter how they looked at it, Sasuke had the better chance of winning.

It was like asking an elementary school student with monstrous mathematical talent to compete against a high schooler in geometry and arithmetic. There was simply no comparison!

Of course, plenty of people also joined the Flower Bets. Put simply, these were all sorts of bizarre wagers—for example, how many seconds Xiao Yun could last, whether Sasuke would defeat Xiao Yun with taijutsu or ninjutsu, and even whether Xiao Yun would be beaten to tears.

"Might Guy, Sasuke is going too far! He clearly knows Senior Brother hasn't trained for long, yet he still proposed a duel. Shameless! I think he's just jealous that Junior Brother was named Konoha's Holy Son. How could Sakura like such trash? She must be blind!"

Rock Lee glared indignantly at Sasuke among Team 7 across from them.

Might Guy frowned deeply and remained silent. After a long while, he finally said, "Sigh, Xiao Yun, you were just named Konoha's Holy Son. If you get defeated now, where will everyone's dignity go? Although you've opened the First Gate, you still can't beat Sasuke right now. Young man, you were too impulsive."

"Can you even call yourself young if you aren't impulsive?"

Xiao Yun grinned.

Might Guy let out a long sigh, then turned to Rock Lee. "Lee, how much money do you have on you? Take it all out and bet it on Sasuke. We can't lose face and lose money too."

"Master, I already bet it all."

Rock Lee grinned awkwardly and scratched the back of his head.

Xiao Yun: ...

You really are my wonderful master and senior brother!

Dong! Dong! Dong!

A dealer dressed in a black formal suit struck a large bell and shouted through a loudspeaker, "There are only five minutes left to place your bets! If you haven't bought in yet, hurry up! Your chance to get rich is right in front of you—don't miss it!"

"Wait, I'm placing a Flower Bet. I'll take the one with the highest odds."

Xiao Yun ran over to the dealer, pulled the last nine hundred dollars from his pocket, and handed it over.

"What?"

The crowd cried out in unison. The highest odds were 1:1000—defeat Sasuke within ten seconds.

The area instantly erupted in uproar.

"Is there water in this guy's brain?"

"This is the Holy Son Konoha chose? What good is talent if his intelligence is this worrying?"

"Heh, he actually wants to take a gamble and turn a bicycle into a motorcycle. Hopefully he isn't just showing off! Still, I can put down a small hundred dollars. I'll count it as today's Great Sword Technique."

"Sir, you really have more money than sense. Even if you have money, you can't waste it like this."

"I've got money, and I'm happy to spend it! What the hell is it to you? Dealer, put down five hundred for me."