The Legendary Big Fat Sheep

The war had begun again.

Unlike the Third Shinobi World War, this time it only involved Konoha and Kumogakure.

And it was mainly a probing attack.

Kumogakure's previous invasion had failed because Minato Namikaze had held off the AB Combo alone—the Fourth Raikage Ay and the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki Killer Bee.

But now Minato Namikaze had died unexpectedly.

Kumogakure immediately could not hold back and launched an attack.

If Konoha, without Minato Namikaze, failed to stop them, they would naturally make a huge profit.

Even taking the worst-case scenario, if they failed to bite off a piece of the fat meat, it would not matter much. They could simply negotiate peace.

After all, Konoha could not possibly remain tough to the end and fight Kumogakure to the death.

According to the original storyline, this war would last two to three years.

The reason Natsume remembered this so clearly was that the Kumogakure delegation that came to negotiate peace would cause a major incident.

Its leader intended to kidnap Hinata Hyuga, the eldest daughter of the Hyuga Clan, but was killed in a counterattack by Hyuga Hiashi.

Using this as a pretext, Kumogakure demanded that Konoha hand over the killer, or else they would launch another war.

In the end, Hizashi Hyuga of the branch family died in his brother's place, calming the incident.

Tanzaku Street.

A pleasure district not far from Konoha.

In eight words: food, drink, prostitution, and gambling—it had everything.

It was a place that absolutely would not disappoint.

Natsume was currently walking down the street, looking around.

Compared to Konoha, which was still being rebuilt, Tanzaku Street was extremely prosperous.

There were all kinds of vendors, izakayas, casinos, and scantily dressed young women standing at the entrances.

In such cold weather, quite a few people wanted to use their bodies to warm those women.

Tsunade ignored all of it, carrying a red case in one hand and holding Natsume's hand with the other.

She moved with practiced familiarity, eventually stopping in front of a casino.

"Natsume, use the Transformation Jutsu to change your appearance."

Tsunade stopped and released his hand. "With you looking like a child, they won't let you gamble."

Natsume nodded and performed the Transformation Jutsu, suddenly becoming a man in his thirties.

"Not a bad face."

Tsunade looked him over and asked, "Who is he?"

"I don't know."

Natsume answered casually, "He's a stranger I just saw on the street."

In reality, that was not the case.

He had transformed into Chow Yun-fat, Brother Fat.

The classic God of Gamblers theme music should be playing right now.

"Let's go."

Tsunade pulled open the door, and everyone's eyes immediately fell on her.

The casino owner in charge noticed her necklace, and his expression changed slightly. "Could she be that great person?"

"Who?"

The Qipao-clad croupier beside him was somewhat puzzled. "Is she famous?"

"You idiot!"

The casino owner glared at her. "How can you work in a casino without knowing her name? She's the legendary Big Fat Sheep!"

By the end, he could no longer suppress the joy in his heart and burst out laughing.

Tsunade did not mind at all. She opened the case to reveal the money inside and said energetically, "Change all of it into chips!"

"Sure thing!" the casino owner replied enthusiastically.

Who in the underworld did not know that the Big Fat Sheep lost every time she gambled?

The money had come to them!

The chips were exchanged in no time, amounting to one hundred and fifty thousand ryo.

It was not much, but it was not little either.

In terms of ninja missions, it was basically equivalent to the reward for a B-rank mission.

Of course, mission rewards were also divided among the ninja village and teammates, so one person could not possibly receive it all.

To earn one hundred and fifty thousand ryo, one would have to complete at least three or four B-rank missions.

But Tsunade was one of the legendary Sannin, so missions were easy and enjoyable for her.

If she did not gamble so often, she could actually live quite comfortably.

One only had to look at Jiraiya and Orochimaru to know.

The former wandered throughout the Shinobi World until he lost contact with everyone.

The latter spent vast sums of money on research.

"Give half to my disciple and let him play too."

Tsunade waved her hand.

The casino owner glanced at Natsume and revealed a smile.

The Big Fat Sheep's disciple was naturally another Big Fat Sheep.

It was a double stroke of luck.

Natsume received eighty thousand ryo in chips and casually found a seat.

There were many different games in the casino.

But at Natsume's suggestion, Tsunade only played a game similar to high-low this time.

The rules were simple.

If you won, your bet was doubled.

If you lost, your bet was handed to the dealer.

Theoretically, the odds were fifty percent.

But that probability only applied when the sample size was sufficiently large.

Over dozens of rounds, or even hundreds, it was difficult for the probability to remain at fifty percent.

On top of that, the casino took five percent of the winner's turnover.

It was very difficult to lose money.

The croupier shook the dice cup, then set it down on the table and said, "Please place your bets."

Tsunade hesitated for two seconds before throwing down three chips, or three thousand ryo. She bet small.

Natsume, meanwhile, laid out eight chips and bet big.

He did not bet everything because he wanted to test whether Tsunade was really that unlucky.

The dice cup was opened: six, five, five.

"Congratulations to the guest who bet big."

The croupier spoke politely.

Tsunade was not upset but delighted.

Although she had lost three thousand ryo, Natsume had won even more.

She was addicted to gambling.

One reason was that she enjoyed it.

The other was that she wanted to forget the sad things from her past.

She did not actually care about losing money.

But Natsume was different.

Tsunade now treated him like a younger brother, which was why she cooperated with him in gambling.

In fact, she was quite happy.

But while she was happy, someone else was not.

The casino owner.

Are you two using me to exploit a bug?

Natsume's actions were not secret.

After several rounds, the other gamblers began copying him as well.

The casino owner's expression grew increasingly gloomy.

In truth, he had not lost money, but he was earning much less than usual.

Watching other people make money was more painful to him than being killed.

"Yay!"

Tsunade counted the money. In just a few hours, she had won one hundred thousand ryo.

It was truly unprecedented.

Although she did not care about money, she was still extremely excited when she saw the extra cash.

"Come on, let's continue."

Tsunade pulled Natsume along excitedly toward the next casino.

Dusk.

Natsume looked at the bankbook, completely satisfied.

They had made one million ryo in a single day.

That was equivalent to completing an extremely dangerous and time-consuming S-rank mission.

"Natsume, you're still young. How about I keep it for you first?"

The corners of Tsunade's mouth curved slightly as her eyes swept over the bankbook.

Wait, why does that sound so familiar?

Natsume remembered that when he was little, his mother had loved saying similar things, though she had been after his New Year's money.

He quickly shook his head. "I'll keep it myself."

Although he was accompanying Tsunade, he could not afford to miss out on money he could earn.

Besides, his organization needed money too.

Seeing how tense he looked, Tsunade could not help patting his head and smiling. "Then keep it yourself."

She truly would not feel at ease leaving it with an ordinary child.

But Natsume was clever and sensible.

And the fact that he had earned so much money was indeed thanks to his efforts.

"Let's come again tomorrow."

Tsunade clearly had not realized where the problem lay.

But it was not a big issue.

They could use the Transformation Jutsu.

The reason they had not used it today was that Tsunade had gambled in her real appearance.

Otherwise, the title of legendary Big Fat Sheep could not possibly have spread so widely.

After returning to Konoha, eating dinner, and practicing Wood Style for three hours, Natsume finally had some time alone.

He began considering his next move.

Now that he had one million ryo, he could first rent a place to use as a temporary base.

The problem was that he had no one available to use.

Kabuto Yakushi was too weak. He would need at least another two or three years.

Natsume rubbed his chin and suddenly thought of Karin and her mother.

That could work.

After all, they were two ninja from the Uzumaki Clan. It would be a shame to miss out on them.