Tsunade and the Fruit Machine

"Ding-ding-ding-ding-ding-ding~" A pleasant electronic chime rang out.

"Double 7s!" the electronic voice announced.

On the brick-sized screen, the light finally came to a rest on the smaller 77 icon.

Two rectangular boxes displayed the numbers 2 and 0, respectively.

"Ah! I lost again!" young Lady Tsunade cried out, covering her face in misery.

Ever since the battle at the Valley of the End, Senju Hashirama had been gravely injured and nearing his end, yet in his final days, he had inexplicably become obsessed with rolling dice.

As if by some mysterious arrangement of fate, the moment Lady Tsunade first touched the dice alongside her grandfather, she fell in love with this devilish game.

Back then, however, it was mostly just a child's interest in a new toy.

It wasn't until after Senju Hashirama passed away that this simple game transformed into Lady Tsunade's way of mourning him. From then on, there was no turning back.

"Xian Yu... give me another recharge card, please... I'm begging you..." Lady Tsunade tugged at the corner of Xian Yu's clothes, pressing her palms together and pleading with a pitiful expression.

Our classmate Xian Yu felt a deep sense of guilt at this moment. Have I completely pushed Lady Tsunade into the abyss?

Is this really the same violent girl who used to be so overbearing and unreasonable? She's practically a tamed little lamb.

Feeling guilty, Xian Yu was uncharacteristically generous and tossed out ten cards.

These were just ordinary paper cards, but each one was printed with an exquisite character illustration. On the back of each card was a strip of scratch-off coating.

Once the coating was scratched away, an eighteen-digit number would be revealed. This was the recharge card password.

Above the scratch-off strips on these ten cards, the numbers '02', '03', '04', and so on up to '11' were marked.

These were the first batch of recharge cards manufactured with the help of several assistants at Hiruko's research base.

"Wow! One, two, three... ten. I love you to death! Xian Yu-chan~" Little Lady Tsunade counted them carefully with her small fingers, then suddenly, in her excitement, she stood on her tiptoes and kissed Xian Yu on his left cheek.

Feeling the lingering dampness on his face, Xian Yu was speechless and about to say something, only to find that Little Lady Tsunade's attention had already shifted to the card with serial number 2, which featured the Female Mage.

The Female Mage wore a luxurious, dark red, gold-trimmed robe, her right hand raised high holding a staff that looked like twisted tree roots, while her left hand was held flat in front of her chest, a floating ball of scorching flames burning fiercely in her palm.

Lady Tsunade looked expectant and excited, her eyes sparkling, her small hands trembling slightly as she tapped to recharge.

Then, with total focus, she followed the eighteen-digit number on the card, her tiny fingers carefully pressing the number keys on the brick-sized device, one by one, again and again.

A minute later, when a fair, tender finger pressed the confirm button, the recharge was complete.

The ten recharge cards were each worth 1,000 gold coins. That made a total of 10,000 gold coins.

The two numbers in the rectangular boxes changed from 2 and 0 to 0 and 2. Then they changed from 0 and 2 to 0 and 1002, and then to 0 and 2002. Every time a card was successfully recharged, the number on the right increased by 1,000. Finally, it displayed 0 and 10002.

Of these two boxes, the first one displayed the winnings after a successful bet; after each win, one could choose to transfer the winnings into the current balance on the right, or choose to play a high-low game.

The latter box was the current balance.

"Ding-ding-ding-ding-ding-ding~" The highly addictive electronic sound rang out once more...

"Little Orange."

"Little Apple."

"..."

Xian Yu was utterly speechless. He knew Lady Tsunade's tendency to lose every single bet, so he had set her initial balance to 5,000 gold coins—fifty times higher than the standard starting amount!

Yet even so, she had lost it all very quickly. Then, having no other choice, he had given her the card with serial number 1 and taught her how to recharge.

Then she lost that too, leading to the scene currently unfolding.

"Ding-ding-ding-ding-ding-ding~"

"Little Bell."

"Little Watermelon."

It was incredibly sinister; every time Lady Tsunade went all-in, the light would always land on a small fruit with only a 2x multiplier.

And whenever she left an icon unbet... that was almost certainly where the wheel would stop.

If it were anyone else, they would have stopped playing long ago! Who would play this garbage?

But Lady Tsunade was different! The more she lost, the more excited she became...

Even when she bet a total of 100 gold coins and only won a Little Orange, receiving 20 gold coins and losing 80, she would still continue happily...

"Xian Yu-chan, this is so much fun! I've never won so many rewards before!" Lady Tsunade said, eyes fixed on the screen as she pulled Xian Yu to sit on a stone bench by the road.

Damn, she's already calling me Xian Yu-chan! Hmph, gamblers... Xian Yu felt like vomiting blood.

This line was just like what a certain fox would say: "Hmph, men..."

The demeanor was so similar.

"Ever since Grandpa Hashirama left, I haven't won a single time... even though when I played dice with Grandpa Hashirama, I was always the one winning..." As she spoke, Lady Tsunade's mood dampened.

That's because Hashirama was letting you win, you know?! Xian Yu muttered to himself.

"Xian Yu-chan, let's go out together." Lady Tsunade suddenly seemed to have made a decision, reaching out her small hand to grab the corner of Xian Yu's clothes again.

Xian Yu stared at the earnest, serious, and nervous little Lady Tsunade, ruthlessly swatted away her hand, and asked suspiciously: "You aren't trying to scam me for recharge cards long-term, are you? Let me tell you... don't even think about it..."

"It's not like that, it's not! Xian Yu-chan... I truly like you, I really, really like you. Don't be so heartless..." Tsunade put on a pitiful expression, tears beginning to well up in her eyes.

She looked absolutely heartbroken.

"Beep-beep-beep, beep-beep-beep." Suddenly, the electronic sound emitted a tone different from usual.

The light on the screen landed on a red "Double Happiness" symbol, the lights began to flash erratically, and the entire brick-like device shook violently.

"Beep-beep! Red Combo triggered, the train is leaving the station!" The electronic voice continued.

The shaking of the device stopped, and the lights ceased their chaotic flashing, instead forming three connected lights that began to move across the 24 patterns like a three-car train.

"Wow! It's the 'train' mentioned in the rules!" Little Tsunade gripped the device tightly, not a trace of her heartbroken expression remaining. Her eyes sparkled as she stared at the screen with intense nervousness.

The three-car train slowly came to a stop on a large apple, a blue "Double Happiness" symbol, and a small watermelon pattern.

The electronic voice sounded again: "Blue Combo triggered, beginning the light distribution."

Tsunade became even more excited, her gaze fixed firmly in place, her small face filled with tension and joy.

Hmph, a gambler indeed... Xian Yu recalled a meme from his past life, I almost believed you, yet this is what you show me...

This time, Tsunade had bet 10 gold coins on everything; with the train leading to the light distribution, this round was bound to be a massive win.

Immediately after, four lights illuminated on the screen, landing on four large apple patterns.

"Four of a Kind! Xian Yu-chan! It's the train, the light distribution, and even Four of a Kind as mentioned in the rules! I'm so lucky!" Tsunade trembled with excitement, a sight that was actually a tiny bit alluring... Yes, exactly the kind of trembling you are thinking of.

It was just like the way a child, having received their favorite toy, trembles with excitement while reaching out to take it.

Xian Yu stared blankly at the young Tsunade; this version of her was far cuter than the violent girl he usually knew. That innocent smile and excited demeanor made her look exactly like a child who had just been gifted a beloved toy.

"Oh no!" Xian Yu's pupils constricted sharply as he suddenly thought of something, his face turning pale with shock.

Throughout her life, the number of times Tsunade had won money could be counted on one hand... He vaguely remembered that every time Tsunade won money, something major would happen...

The first time, it was the day Hashirama died. Tsunade had won money at the gambling den.

The second time, it was the day the Daimyo of the Land of Fire died. She had won money at the gambling den again.

The third time, it was the day Uzumaki Mito passed away...

The fourth time...

"Nothing bad is going to happen today, is it?" Xian Yu felt a sense of trepidation...