Tanzaku Town was noisier and more prosperous than Kazuhiko had imagined.
Beyond the large torii gate at the entrance, vendors' cries rose and fell without pause.
Casinos, shops, izakayas, and hot-spring inns stood one after another. Crowds surged through the streets, and the place was as lively as Konoha's commercial district.
Kazuhiko and Kakashi walked side by side through the crowd. Disguised as they were, they didn't stand out.
Though they were in the Land of Fire, this was a top-secret mission, so neither of them intended to reveal their tracks.
"According to the intel, Lady Tsunade was last seen in the casino district of Tanzaku Town."
Kakashi raised a hand and touched his cheek. He wasn't used to going without a mask after transforming.
"The area up ahead, with the red lanterns and lavish decorations, is where most of Tanzaku Town's casinos are concentrated."
They hurried through the crowd toward their destination.
The atmosphere here was entirely different from that of the streets behind them.
Casinos of every size had burly bodyguards posted at the entrance, their sharp eyes scrutinizing everyone who came and went.
The more luxurious casinos even had ninja wearing Forehead Protectors stationed at their doors.
Kakashi led Kazuhiko straight into the largest, most extravagantly decorated casino.
Before they had even stepped inside,
the clamor of shouting and the crisp rattle of dice filled Kazuhiko's ears.
Inside the casino,
the room was packed with people and hazy with smoke.
Kakashi narrowed his eyes and scanned the crowd. "Kazuhiko, wait here. I'll be right back."
It looked like he was going to meet a secret contact.
Was Tsunade really that hard to track down?
Was all this really necessary?
Kazuhiko didn't understand. He looked at the noisy casino and frowned slightly.
"As expected, it's a den of filth..."
"Hey, kid, you new here? Want me to show you the ropes?"
A gambler spotted Kazuhiko's unfamiliar face and figured he might be able to squeeze some money out of him. He promptly sidled over and struck up a conversation.
"No thanks. I, Mr. Huang, am sworn enemies with gambling and drugs!"
The man paused, then smiled.
"Heh, come on, Mr. Huang, don't joke around. I'll be honest with you—I'm a professional at this. Bet with me, and you're guaranteed to win!"
Kazuhiko sized him up.
The man looked sleazy and disheveled. Just from his appearance, it was clear he was a gambler who had lost everything.
Trusting him to help you win money was even less sensible than joining a pyramid scheme and believing you'd sleep on the floor today and be a boss tomorrow.
Kazuhiko pulled out a stack of small bills and waved them in front of him.
"I've got a question. Has a blonde woman in a green coat, with a very eye-catching figure, been here to gamble lately?"
The man's attention instantly locked onto the bills, and his eyes lit up.
"Blonde, green coat? You mean the Legendary Sucker!"
"Tell me the details. If I'm satisfied, the money is yours."
"Ah, don't even get me started. She's famous around Tanzaku Town!"
He lowered his voice, speaking with some urgency.
Clearly, as far as he was concerned, Tsunade's whereabouts were no secret.
"Just three days ago, the Big Fat Sheep hit more than a dozen casinos around here, big and small. And guess what happened?"
What else could have happened?
She lost. It wasn't as if she couldn't afford it.
When Kazuhiko didn't play along, the man gave an awkward smile.
"She lost every single time—not one win! I can't say exactly how much she lost, but she dropped a full four million ryo at our casino alone! I was lucky enough to run into her that day and made a little profit."
Seeing that Kazuhiko still had no intention of paying him, he scratched his head and continued.
"I heard from friends at the other casinos that she lost at least two million ryo at each of them over the past few days. Add up the dozen or so casinos, and she's down at least forty million ryo, principal and interest!"
Kazuhiko's face remained expressionless as he muttered to himself.
Forty million in just a few days?
As expected of the Legendary Sucker.
"And that's just a small amount!"
The man leaned closer and lowered his voice.
"Let me tell you something from the inside. The Big Fat Sheep has gambled here in Tanzaku Town before. She never paid off her old debts, and now she's racked up new ones. Together, they've accumulated to at least over a billion ryo!"
Over a billion ryo?
You had to be pretty impressive to owe that much.
All Kazuhiko could say was that Tsunade truly lived up to her reputation as the Big Fat Sheep, the woman who lost every bet. Her name preceded her. One word—
Unmatched!
"Do you know where she is now?"
"I heard from the casino staff that she went to the underground black market to take jobs and earn money to pay off her debts. With debts that huge, ordinary missions wouldn't even cover the loose change. She'd need the dangerous, high-paying jobs from the black market."
After the man finished speaking, Kazuhiko put away the bills and headed straight out of the casino.
"Hey, Mr. Huang! You haven't paid me for the information!"
"I'm not satisfied with your information."
A gambling addict didn't deserve any sympathy.
Kazuhiko ignored him and caught up with Kakashi as he came out.
"How did it go?"
Kakashi looked at Kazuhiko strangely.
"The informant said the same thing. Lady Tsunade was last seen at the underground black market in Tanzaku Town."
Kazuhiko: ...
If everyone had the same information, what was the point of getting it through a secret channel?
"Then should we head to the underground black market? See what kind of job Lady Tsunade is taking?"
"No need."
Kakashi shook his head, his tone certain.
"Based on past intelligence, Lady Tsunade would never take jobs to pay off her debts. She could never pay off her gambling debts by doing missions. Even the highest-paying bounty missions at the black market only pay a few hundred million ryo at most. There's no way the underground market has enough jobs to clear her debts."
So working for a living was out of the question?
No wonder she wasn't bothered by debt.
Kazuhiko was instantly speechless.
How much money had Tsunade managed to borrow out there?
Since when had a few hundred million ryo become something you could describe as "only" a few hundred million?
Was earning a billion really that easy in the Naruto world?
A question surfaced in Kazuhiko's mind:
How could Tsunade possibly owe so much money?
He still couldn't make sense of it, even after thinking about what had happened in the original story.
Tsunade could turn into a little girl to trick people, even ambush them, but she couldn't borrow money from people forever when she was such a bottomless pit.
How had she managed to rack up debts that couldn't be paid off even by clearing out all the black-market missions?
"Where are we going now?"
Kazuhiko felt a little helpless.
Kakashi shook his head and walked over to sit in a corridor by the roadside.
"We'll just wait here."
"Wait?"
"Yeah. Konoha's intelligence network is already at work. Lady Tsunade's movements while she's dodging her creditors may be well hidden, but the loan sharks and the black market in Tanzaku Town both have Konoha informants. We'll have the relevant intel in less than half a day. Then we'll know where Lady Tsunade is headed."
They didn't get any information about Tsunade. Instead, an unexpected visitor arrived first.
"Uchiha Kazuhiko..."
The man wore a Yugakure Forehead Protector. Ignoring their disguises, he identified Kazuhiko the moment they met.
Kakashi sensed something was wrong and stepped in front of Kazuhiko, his expression grave.
"A Root ninja?!"
"No need for that, Lord Kakashi. I came here specifically to..."
Kakashi stared at the man, his gaze hostile.
"Were you following us?"
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