God of Gamblers and the Gambling Pit

"Ahem... I'm sorry, Lord Shuichi!" Shinnosuke immediately tried his best to speak, "We were wrong just now. My poor management of my subordinates has caused you trouble."

"We'll immediately hand over all our money, along with a message as compensation, hoping you'll let us off the hook."

"Oh? Tell me about it?"

Shinnosuke took a breath. "There's a force not far from here in the northwest, led by a man named Ryoma. In recent years, he's secretly amassed a lot of resources. Besides the wages that should have been paid to us, there's much more that might be hidden..."

He had originally planned that after handing over the money he had and leaving, he would immediately go and wipe out Ryoma's gang. That way, the mission wouldn't be a complete failure, and he could even bring home a considerable amount of money.

However, Pakura's actions left Shinnosuke in despair. By taking the initiative to attack, he had angered Purple Aurora, and they were once again in danger of being wiped out. They had no choice but to reveal this information in order to save their lives.

Shuichi squinted, feigning deep thought. In truth, he had never intended to kill anyone. Sunagakure was not quite aware of how important the Joint Chunin Exam were to Konoha, because they weren't the ones who had stolen the spotlight last time.

This would bring continuous benefits over many years, along with unseen increases in reputation and fame. So he was just pretending to scare the Sunagakure. After all, the other side attacked first, and if they didn't pay some price, wouldn't the name of Purple Aurora lose face? The enemy all retreated after the exchange?

Now that Shinnosuke had given him a way out, he stopped arguing and said, "Alright, you can leave the money and go. Don't forget to report to Rasa!"

After being taught a lesson, the Sunagakure squad immediately behaved themselves, obediently handing over all their money before helping each other leave. Pakura was still somewhat indignant, but Shinnosuke warned her with a death stare.

Shuichi mentally assessed her; she really was quite similar to Naruto in style—straightforward but a bit naive. It was just a pity she didn't have the protagonist's halo, and her power-ups weren't strong enough. Acting like that in the Shinobi World would lead to a terrible death.

"Well... Lord Shuichi, if there's nothing else, we need to return to the village to complete our mission. What do you think?" The Root ninja's tone remained calm, but he was also quite sensible. If Shuichi wanted to steal Meiton Haiga, they wouldn't be able to stop him at all.

Shuichi waved his hand, signaling them to leave quickly. It was impossible for these emotionless mission machines to be grateful for saving their lives, and he couldn't be bothered to argue about it; that would just be asking for trouble.

"Brush!"

As the three Root members left, Aburame Shihei emerged from a short distance away. "I hope the captain doesn't mind. Root ninjas have always been like this. One of my uncles, who's been there for a long time, has become a bit different himself..."

"Alright, I didn't take it to heart." Shuichi ignored it all. "Let's take stock of our spoils and quickly wipe out that small group nearby; if we delay any longer, they might escape."

The three of them soon embarked on their "meat-eating" journey again, which made Ryoma and his gang extremely unlucky.

Not only did Sunagakure harbor ill intentions towards them from the beginning, but they also soon encountered Konoha Squad that was like hungry wolves, where they were brutally beaten and tortured, and their savings of many years were completely drained.

"This mission was quite fruitful!"

As the team began their return to Konoha, everyone secretly tallied up their gains.

Shuichi did some mental calculations. "18 million taels... the profit is barely more than half of Asuma's. Even the wealthier of these smaller factions are still relatively poor. It seems that killing Asuma is the fastest way to make money."

On the way back, Shuichi wondered if it was just his imagination, but he felt that his two teammates' chakra seemed much more active. Maybe that was the power of money.

The three of them weren't moving very fast. Although the combat in the mission wasn't particularly difficult, they still had to fight quite a few times. Walking and resting along the way allowed them to relax a bit.

After a day's journey, they arrived in the western central region of the Land of Fire, at a relatively new-looking small town. Although the entrance was small, there was a considerable flow of people.

Shuichi looked up and saw the sign with the words "Tanzaku Town" shining brightly. She calmly said to her teammates, "Let's rest here for a bit. Everyone can wander around. We'll meet at the entrance at 8 a. m. tomorrow."

After Aburame Shihei and Hyuga Akiha left, Shuichi activated his Sensory Ninjutsu as he walked, and soon thought to himself with Ichiraku, "Another opportunity to make money has arrived!"

He found a corner, disguised himself as an ordinary young man, and successfully entered a casino.

As soon as he entered, he was bombarded with a cacophony of sounds. Looking around, he saw many people with flushed faces and excited expressions, while others clutched their heads in frustration. Clearly, winning or losing money can stir up human emotions.

After spending some money to exchange for chips, Shuichi seemed to be wandering around looking for projects that interested him, but he was generally heading in one direction.

"Clatter, clatter..." A large table in front of him was surrounded by a lot of people, and the sound of dice clattering could be heard from inside. He quickened his pace and rushed to the outer edge of the crowd, silently darting left and right, squeezing into the vicinity of the table like a slippery eel.

"Place your bet now! Big, Small, or Triple!" the dealer shouted.

The surrounding gamblers, however, did not panic. Instead, they all looked at a blonde, busty beauty on the far left, behind whom stood a black-haired girl who looked nervous.

In this strange atmosphere, the ordinary young man who had just arrived was somewhat taken aback. "Why isn't anyone betting? In that case, I'll place my bet first!"

After saying that, he placed some of his chips on the larger areas, while the older man next to him, being a practical guy, tugged at him and said, "Hey, young man, don't be in such a hurry. Let's wait until this famous 'fat sheep' has finished betting. She's become very well-known in the casino these days. If you go against her, you're sure to make money."

"Really? Such a good thing?" Shuichi was astonished. "Dude, you're not kidding me, are you? How could anyone be so unlucky? Usually, you win a few times, more or less..."

"At first I didn't believe it either, but it's been going on for days now, and a lot of people are watching." The bearded man explained to him, "It's said that this beautiful woman won every time she gambled on her first day, quickly attracting a lot of attention, but she hasn't won since. I've been in casinos for so many years, and this is the first time I've ever seen anything like it."

Shuichi did a quick mental calculation, "Holy crap... it's exactly the day the Nine-Tails' Rampage, this is god-level prophecy!"

Despite the many gazes upon her, the blonde beauty Tsunade remained unfazed, instead generously tossing out a pile of chips. "It's rare for someone to bet first, so I'll bet big too. Don't worry, little brother, my luck is pretty good; we're sure to win money together."

After Tsunade placed her bet, the crowd surged, with all the gamblers betting on small, and the chips in that area piled up like a mountain.

The dealer, unfazed by this, opened the dice cup when no one else placed bets. "One, three, four, a total of 8 points, it's small!"

"Oh, just as I thought! We won!" The gamblers were overjoyed, while the dealer's forehead was already sweating. "Miss, I beg you, please change the game. At this rate, our casino will go bankrupt..."

"Hey, how dare you talk like that! Why shouldn't people be allowed to gamble?"

"Exactly, you've only been open for a short time, are you trying to renege on your debts?"

"..."

Tsunade was equally unconvinced, "I've only played three times! My luck was just a bit off at the start of the day. Let's keep going! If they bet against you, your casino will definitely make it back."

The dealer had no choice but to slowly close the dice cup again, shake it left and right for a while, and then announce once more, "Place your bets! Big, Small, or Three of a Kind!"

"Bang!" Tsunade boldly placed all her chips on the small bet. "Little brother, trust me, you'll definitely make money this time, it's definitely small."

With a whoosh, the gamblers moved with practiced ease, instantly placing all their chips on the larger side, creating a stark contrast between the two.

Shuichi looked angry. "You people are so awful! Why do you keep bullying this older sister?!"

He turned to Tsunade with a confident smile, "Don't worry, you'll definitely turn things around. I think these guys are bound to lose."

He pulled out all the chips he had exchanged and slammed them down, declaring, "So I bet on a three-of-a-kind!"

"..."

Many gamblers were betting haphazardly, and the dealer's hands seemed to be trembling.

Urged on by everyone, he shakily opened the dice cup, "Six, six, six! A triple! Winner takes all!"

Although the casino took all the gamblers' chips, it had to pay out to Shuichi at odds of 1:150. A quick calculation revealed that they had suffered another huge loss. The dealer vomited blood and fainted on the spot, and was quickly carried away...

Half an hour later, Shuichi left the casino whistling.

If he didn't use chakra, he would be the strongest God of Gamblers in the Shinobi World; with his X-ray vision- Cheat/System cheat, it wouldn't be called gambling, it would be called robbery.

So he didn't go too far. After roughly estimating the casino's total assets, he pretended to play for half an hour, like he was acting, with both wins and losses, and earned a considerable amount of extra money.

"Hey kid, stop right there!"

A clear, melodious shout rang out in the street. Shuichi; instead, she turned around with a smile, "Long time no see, Tsunade- senpai. This time, I've truly witnessed your gambling skills."