Don't Panic, It's Just a Normal Fluctuation

"You're going too far, sister. Me losing money and you losing money—can those really be the same thing?"

Uchiha Mai escaped Princess Tsunade's clutches and argued righteously, "My hole cards were a Queen of Clubs and a 9. When the flop brought three clubs, it was perfectly reasonable for me to overbet thirty thousand into the pot with a flush draw. Who knew the guy next to me was such a degenerate gambler? He dared to call my overbet holding just a King of Clubs. When another club hit the turn, my hand strength instantly fell behind. Any normal person in that situation wouldn't be able to fold and would just raise to the end. I realized immediately that he might have the King of Clubs or an Ace, so I folded and saved myself a lot of money. I ran into bad beats like that four times in one night, and those four times are exactly why I lost one hundred and eighty thousand. I can only say that losing one hundred and eighty thousand is a testament to my skill; if it were you holding those hands, you would've lost one million eight hundred thousand."

"Then how do you explain the other tens of thousands you lost?" Princess Tsunade asked aggressively, hands on her hips, grabbing Uchiha Mai by the collar.

"Those other tens of thousands were lost by you, what does that have to do with me?" Uchiha Mai spread his hands, frantically shifting the blame.

"Huh? I didn't even touch the cards all night, how could it be me?" Princess Tsunade was baffled.

Uchiha Mai counted on his fingers, laying out the facts: "You didn't touch the cards, sure, but you sat next to me all night and kept looking at my hole cards. When the cards were bad, you made a face like someone had died; when they were decent, you beamed with joy. When my hand was weak and I tried to bluff, your nervousness was written all over your face. When my hand was strong and I played steadily to maximize value, you looked like you wanted to shove all my chips into the middle. My hand strength was written all over your face—anyone could see it. How was I supposed to win money like that? Because of you, I won over a hundred thousand less and lost over two hundred thousand more last night. Without you, even with those four bad beats, I would have walked away up two hundred thousand."

Uchiha Mai felt entirely justified. Getting stuck with such a dead-weight teammate while playing cards—not losing everything he owned was already a stroke of luck.

Texas Hold'em is a game that requires high calculation ability, while also demanding a bit of luck and psychological warfare. You don't just need to calculate your own odds of completing a hand; you also have to deduce your opponent's hand strength based on their actions to maximize value as safely as possible. For example, if you start with two hole cards and flop a straight, shoving immediately is an inadvisable move. Anyone can see you have the straight, so no one will call; you end up with a great hand but win no money. Every raise and every call is a psychological gamble.

Therefore, every high-level Texas Hold'em player is an actor. Even if they keep a stone-cold face throughout the game with zero micro-expressions, they are capable of performing various emotions like nervousness or secret delight.

"So you're saying it's my fault?" Princess Tsunade let go of Uchiha Mai and pointed at her own nose.

"If I don't blame you, who else can I blame?" Despite losing over two hundred thousand, Uchiha Mai felt no shame at all. Teammates are like a C-tier squad; I'm not carrying this burden.

"Then, then what should we do? This money was borrowed from Minato, it has to be paid back." Princess Tsunade reflected for a moment; it seemed, perhaps, likely, that it really was her fault.

"We'll just win it back tonight." Uchiha Mai gave Princess Tsunade a look of disdain and said, "I'm going to play for the next few days, but you aren't coming. It's hard for me to win with you there. In any case, you have to trust in my strength. I am the Texas Hold'em King of the Five Nations and Five Villages—that reputation isn't just for show."

"There are three types of Texas Hold'em players. The first type is the average player, who makes up the vast majority. They win by luck and lose by skill, yet they always think they win by skill and only lose because their luck is bad. These people can only win for a moment; in the long run, they are bound to lose everything. The second type is the advanced player, who wins by skill and loses by luck. They know how to calculate odds, read opponents based on their actions, maximize value with good hands, and fold decisively with bad ones. They can bluff and catch others' bluffs. I am this type of player. It's normal for wins and losses to fluctuate in the short term due to luck, but if you calculate over ten days, a month, or a year, I am definitely winning. Because I play very logically."

Don't ask—if you ask, it's just normal fluctuation; if you ask, it's just a technical adjustment. Regardless of whether he was bragging, Uchiha Mai spoke with such confidence that it was hard not to be convinced.

Princess Tsunade's chest, which had been heaving with rage, finally calmed down. She frowned and rejected the idea: "No. I must go with you. Even if I can't play the cards myself, I want to watch how you play."

This is what happens when someone is bad at the game but still addicted.

"Then wear a mask. When you get nervous, pinch your own thigh, and don't speak. I don't want others to read my hand strength just by looking at your face. Those are my three conditions. If you don't agree, we'll split the remaining money, you run off on your own, and I'll head back to Konoha."

"Mmm, fine." Princess Tsunade nodded reluctantly.

After the terms were settled, the two returned to the inn and fell straight asleep. Playing cards is mentally exhausting; they couldn't afford not to rest well.

In the following days, Uchiha Mai took the capital borrowed from Master Minato every night and brought Princess Tsunade—who was a peerless beauty in terms of hardware—to the casinos in Tanzaku Town to play. Splashing money around with a beauty by his side, he truly got a taste of being a wealthy boss.

As for Master Minato, he led Might Guy and Kakashi to hide in the shadows to protect Princess Tsunade, while praying that Uchiha Mai would win money. Otherwise, they would surely be slaughtered by Kushina upon returning to the village.

The second night, Uchiha Mai sat down with 240,000 and left with 380,000, up 140,000.

The third night, Uchiha Mai sat down with 380,000 and left with 650,000, up 270,000.

The fourth night, Uchiha Mai sat down with 500,000 and left with 480,000, down 20,000.

The fifth night, Uchiha Mai sat down with 500,000 and left with 1,430,000, up 930,000.

On the ninth night, Uchiha Mai sat down with 2 million and left with 3.85 million, up 1.85 million.

On the tenth night, Uchiha Mai sat down with 2 million and left with 2.77 million, up 770,000.

Including the 260,000 lost on the first day, over the course of ten days, Uchiha Mai turned his 500,000 principal into 7.66 million, a net profit of 7.16 million.

Although he failed to fulfill his promise of winning ten million within ten days, multiplying his principal fifteen-fold was a miracle that left Tsunade in awe.

The main reason was that Uchiha Mai played both tight and aggressive; he would place heavy bets to bluff his opponents when he sensed their hands were weak, yet he would decisively fold the moment he felt their hands might be strong.

This style of play kept volatility low, prioritizing stability. Had he played more loosely, he might have reached ten million, but he could just as easily have ended up with only five million.

Once the ten days were up, Uchiha Mai refused to gamble any further. After repaying his debt to Master Minato, he split the money with Tsunade according to their prior agreement and went his separate way.

Transition complete, the next chapter enters the main storyline.