July 4, morning, Dairi Gambling House in Tanzaku Town.
Akaseki's shadow clone had taken on an adult appearance. Scruffy and wearing sunglasses, he placed small bets at the table, winning some and losing some...
In fact, if Akaseki used his Sharingan to gamble, even without seeing through things, he could judge the likely dice total from tiny movements. Even if he hadn't known how before, he could always learn.
But Akaseki hadn't done that...
After all, the gambling house had a sign saying "No ninjutsu allowed," and there were bouncers around. They were stronger than the petty thugs he had seen in the Flower Capital—wandering samurai who possessed chakra but knew no ninjutsu.
Akaseki wasn't afraid of them, of course. He was even confident they wouldn't catch him, but he didn't want to create complications. The exam was what mattered now. Getting caught over a little money wouldn't be worth it.
The reason he had spent two days hanging around here was...
Team 7's current mission was to "receive the code." Akaseki could only wait for the delivery team to approach him!
Until contact was made, the receiving team could do nothing but wait. As long as the mission was still active, the delivery team hadn't been knocked out.
Of course, Akaseki hadn't spent his two days in Tanzaku Town doing nothing but waiting. He had used his Sharingan once, just not to win money. With his low win rate and small bets, nobody paid him any attention.
Now Akaseki was using his Sharingan again...
"I lost again! That's ten times now... Are you targeting me?" A ninja who had also used the Transformation Technique started swearing about his tenth straight loss.
"Please don't say that, sir! Perhaps fate is preparing a pleasant surprise for you, so you can win