The pre-flop raise had already pushed the pot to over 8,000 yen. Four people had called, putting Tsunade in a very unfavorable position.
With so many people in the pot, any kind of monster hand could be out there. Forget pocket twos—even pocket aces, the strongest starting hand heads-up, was practically dead when that many players saw the flop.
The three flop cards were the ten of clubs, jack of diamonds, and queen of hearts—a perfect board for a straight.
The player to Tsunade's right raised another 12,000 yen, more than the current pot. It was a massive raise.
As soon as she saw the raise, Tsunade shoved in a stack of chips without a second thought. A true degenerate gambler never looks at the community cards—she just goes for it!
Uchiha Mai could only marvel at her audacity. That was some serious swagger. She'd turned pocket twos into a hand that looked like it had a ten-to-ace straight.
"Big sis, with a ten, jack, queen board, what are you calling that overbet with?
"Your opponent raised ten times the big blind before the flop, then overbet after it. He could easily have AK, AA, KK, or a pocket pair higher than tens.
"To be conservative, he's got at least a pair and a straight draw. He might even have already made his straight. You've got a pair of twos. What are you calling his overbet with?"
Uchiha Mai leaned close to Tsunade's ear, covering her mouth as she whispered. Since he was young and handsome, the usually boisterous Tsunade didn't seem to mind him getting so close.
"Haha, kid, you clearly don't understand a thing."
Tsunade smacked Uchiha Mai on the back of the head, grinning from ear to ear. "I've got a pocket pair, and there are still two more cards to come. I've got a pretty good chance of hitting three of a kind."
Uchiha Mai: "..."
Anyone who tried to hit three of a kind on a board like that had to be out of their mind. Even if you hit it, it still wouldn't beat your opponent's straight.
Unless one of the last two cards gave you a full house, you had no chance of winning.
"Besides, that guy's been watching me all night. He's won a lot of my money, and I have a feeling he hasn't hit anything. He's just bluffing.
"I'm going to catch him bluffing and get some of my money back!"
Tsunade pulled Uchiha Mai over and whispered a few more words to him.
Uchiha Mai: "..."
There was no saving this woman. You needed a hand to catch a bluff, and with a pair of twos, there was a good chance the other guy's bluff would still beat you by the river. What the hell were you going to catch him with?
Big Fat Sheep had made up her mind. Uchiha Mai didn't feel like trying to talk her out of it anymore. They'd only just met, and it was a bad idea to get too familiar too quickly.
The turn and river came out as the six of hearts and seven of spades, respectively. Neither card improved Tsunade's hand in the slightest.
The player to her right bet 30,000 after the turn and 90,000 after the river. Each time, he bet about as much as the pot had been before his raise.
Tsunade never folded, sticking with the hand like a fish all the way to the end, utterly confident she'd catch her opponent bluffing.
Then she lost to his AK straight, dropping 140,000 yen in a single hand.
When the player to her right saw Tsunade's pocket twos, he was dumbfounded. Only Big Fat Sheep would call such huge bets with that hand on a board like that.
Tsunade played more cautiously over the next few hands, probably because losing 140,000 at once had stung. Even so, her terrible play cost her another seventy or eighty thousand in chips.
"I'm done!"
Tsunade pulled a long face, tossed her last chip to the dealer, and stood up with her bottle of liquor. She pushed through the crowd, muttering, "Bad luck tonight. I'll play again tomorrow."
Uchiha Mai: "..."
That wasn't bad luck. You'd lost through sheer skill.
The onlookers all felt a pang of regret. They'd arrived late and missed their chance to gamble at the same table as Big Fat Sheep. Now they wouldn't even get to keep watching the beauty.
Only when Tsunade stood up and left the table did Namikaze Minato approach her and greet her. "Lady Tsunade."
"Oh, it's little Minato."
Tsunade only then noticed Master Minato. She patted him on the chest and praised him. "Well, look at you. It's been a few years, and you've grown into quite the man. Nice solid chest muscles, too.
"What brings you to Tanzaku Town? Aren't you worried Kushina will find out you came to a casino and break your legs?"
The two thumps nearly made Minato spit blood. Those smacks had packed almost as much force as a bear's paw.
"Ahem..."
After a light cough, Master Minato replied, "Lady Tsunade, Kushina knows I'm in Tanzaku Town.
"When the Hokage heard that you were here, he specifically ordered me to lead a team and bring you back to Konoha."
The three-year deadline had arrived. Konoha's Dragon King envoy, Namikaze Minato, paid his respects to the Dragon King! .jpg
"I don't want to go back to Konoha right now."
Tsunade flatly refused, then looked Minato over and teased him. "Not bad. You've already become a team leader.
"Where are your squad members? Are they afraid I'll run away, so they've surrounded the casino? Are they just waiting for your signal to rush in and set up a Four Violet Flames Formation to capture me?"
"Lady Tsunade, you're joking again."
Master Minato pointed to Guy and Kakashi behind him, then to Mai following behind Tsunade, and introduced them. "These are my three squad members:
"Might Guy, Hatake Kakashi, and Uchiha Mai."
"Oh?"
Tsunade gave the three kids a cursory glance and immediately guessed who was who. The one with silver hair had to be Kakashi; he looked exactly like his father, Hatake Sakumo.
The one with the thick eyebrows and bowl cut definitely wasn't an Uchiha. The red-eyed clan might be arrogant, but they were always good-looking.
"Uchiha are such a sneaky bunch. You're already lying at such a young age."
Tsunade leaned down and rested a hand on Uchiha Mai's head, sneering. "You know who I am, and you still call me big sis.
"You little brat. You're going to be trouble when you grow up."
Uchiha Mai shrugged helplessly. "I'm not wrong, though. Lady Tsunade only looks a few years older than me.
"Even if we go by our actual ages, you're only one Minato-sensei older than I am. That's such a small age gap that I think calling you big sis is perfectly reasonable."
This old hag was impossible to please. In Shippuden, Naruto called you Grandma and you got mad; I call you Big Sis and you get mad, too. Someday, I'll make you cry and beg to call me big brother!
"Whatever you say."
Tsunade waved a hand and strolled out of the casino, leaving behind a carefree silhouette. "Anyway, there's no point discussing a return to Konoha.
"Tanzaku Town is way more fun than Konoha. The casino is full of interesting people, and they're all so nice to talk to. I love it here.
"You can head back and tell the old man I haven't had enough fun yet.
"Or beat me and drag me back."
Negotiations had failed. Time to force the issue. .jpg
Uchiha Mai was just about to rush in and attack—to "accidentally" cut his arm during the fight, trigger Tsunade's condition, and take her back to Konoha unconscious—when Master Minato grabbed him by the collar.
"What are you doing?" Master Minato was startled. Were kids these days really so reckless that they'd dare attack one of the Sannin?
"I wanted to try talking Lady Tsunade into it again."
Uchiha Mai finally came to his senses. It really wasn't a good idea to make a move in front of all these people.
There could easily be spies from other villages around. They couldn't let anyone find out that Tsunade had Hemophobia.
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