Can You Teach Me?

The casino fell into an eerie silence. Tsunade's expression froze, Ito's face turned slightly ugly, and Jiangchuan flipped his cards face down, his eyelids twitching as he stared at Li Tong.

Nine points, a clean sweep!

Once the dealer holds a hand like this, there is no need for the others to even look at theirs. The dealer holds a massive advantage; under the rules, they simply cannot lose!

"...Brat..." Tsunade looked as if she were grinding her teeth to dust. She had thought this round was a sure win, only to have a bucket of cold water poured over her. The amount of money lost was a minor issue, but the key was... it was incredibly infuriating!

"Hahaha, this brother has such good luck!" Ito suddenly laughed, breaking the tension. "Come, come, let's go again!"

"Truly good luck indeed!" the old man Jiangchuan added, though his gaze toward Li Tong became wary.

Years of gambling experience told him that the probability of hitting nine points against nine points was extremely low. Usually, when this happened, there was a 99% chance the other party was cheating. Jiangchuan was very confident in his own sleight of hand, so he was highly suspicious, especially since he hadn't seen Li Tong make any abnormal movements.

With this clean sweep, Li Tong's starting capital as the dealer had doubled, reaching 11,000 ryo.

The game continued!

Two more hours passed in this manner.

Outside, the sky had darkened to dusk, and the atmosphere inside the casino was frigid. Aside from Li Tong, everyone seemed to be in a foul mood because they had all lost—lost to Li Tong. In a game of seven people, with six against one, Li Tong had already won nearly 130,000 ryo!

By this point, these people naturally understood that they had been played by this kid!

When this kid first arrived, he acted as if he knew nothing, placing his bets cautiously. In reality, it was all a facade; he was absolutely a master of gambling! The kind whose skill was terrifyingly high!

"Cut the deck!"

Li Tong shuffled the cards again. Ito, off to the side, spoke coldly, reaching out to flip the deck in Li Tong's hands before gesturing for him to deal.

Li Tong raised an eyebrow at Ito, a punchable smile on his lips, and began tossing the cards out one by one.

The deal was finished!

After lifting his own cards to take a peek, Li Tong raised his hand and flipped over his four cards, yawning with a hint of fatigue. "Sorry, nine points again. Clean sweep!"

"What?"

"Damn it, you brat, you're cheating!"

"You're using sleight of hand!"

Except for Tsunade, everyone else stood up at once, their emotions running high. Ito, in particular, glared at Li Tong with a face full of threats.

"Everyone, accusations require evidence. You say I'm cheating—did you catch me?" Li Tong rubbed his nose, his gaze sweeping over them, lingering pointedly on the faces of Ito and Jiangchuan.

He had seen through it long ago: these five were colluding to swindle money! Although only Jiangchuan and Ito were using sleight of hand, they would feed good cards to the other three with the goal of winning against Tsunade. If Li Tong hadn't joined in today, Tsunade would have been the only one losing!

"Even if your luck is good, it's impossible to win against us like this. Kid, don't think you can do whatever you want just because you're a ninja!" Ito threatened with a scowl. "You're just a genin, let me tell you! I am friends with 'Lord Bai Kai' of the Police Force. If you know what's good for you..."

"Are you trying to rob me in broad daylight?" Li Tong interrupted Ito.

"You're cheating and you still think you're in the right?"

"Where is the evidence?"

"You still want to deny it?!" Ito barked. He suddenly turned back to look at the disgruntled Tsunade, shouting angrily, "Lord Tsunade, tell us, isn't there something wrong with this brat?"

Ito's plan was calculated perfectly; he assumed Tsunade was on their side, and Li Tong's winnings were indeed abnormal. He believed that with just one word from Tsunade, Li Tong would be forced to cough up everything he had won.

Tsunade, having lost all her money, looked at Li Tong with an unfriendly gaze. She, too, truly felt that Li Tong was likely cheating.

Li Tong's heart stirred. His hand quickly riffled through the pile of banknotes in front of him, accurately plucking out five 10,000-ryo notes. With a flick of his wrist, he tossed them in front of Tsunade.

"Lord Tsunade, you've lost everything, haven't you? Consider this a loan. Pay me back whenever you have it." Li Tong flashed a brilliant smile at Tsunade.

It wasn't that Li Tong wanted to curry favor with Tsunade using money; it was just that he suddenly felt it was dishonorable to win Tsunade's money through cheating. He felt no psychological pressure when it came to fleecing those other five.

Tsunade's expression softened instantly, faster than Li Tong had expected.

Picking up the notes to check them, Tsunade smiled at Li Tong. "Brat, I will pay you back!"

Li Tong took her at her word.

Tucking the money away, Tsunade stood up and walked outside. She was done with this matter. Having gambled for so many years, how could Tsunade not know about sleight of hand? She understood the ins and outs of today's game, and in truth, Tsunade herself had always wanted to diligently practice sleight of hand... well, gambling skills! She just could never get the hang of it.

"Lord Tsunade, let's go together." Li Tong said quickly, gathering the pile of banknotes in front of him and stuffing them haphazardly into his coat before rising to follow her.

Ito's face turned green!

Although he was a bully among ordinary people, he didn't dare act recklessly against a ninja. Attacking a ninja was a serious crime in Konoha.

Li Tong caught up to Tsunade, and the two put on their shoes and exited the casino one after the other.

"Damn it!" Ito finally couldn't help but roar, kicking over the table that held the tea service.

"Get him!" Jiangchuan leaned in close to Ito and said directly, his eyes flashing with a sinister light. "It doesn't look like he has any real relationship with Lord Tsunade. You go find Uchiha Bai Kai..."

******

The setting sun cast a dim, yellow light, stretching the shadows of the two figures in the alleyway long and thin.

Tsunade walked in front, with Li Tong following three meters behind.

The two didn't speak, nor was there any interaction between them.

In truth, Li Tong didn't want to get too involved with Tsunade at all; he had only left with her to avoid trouble.

At the intersection ahead.

Tsunade continued walking forward, but when Li Tong reached the fork in the road, he chose to turn left.

"Brat! Where are you going?" Tsunade stopped in her tracks, glancing back over her shoulder.

"Uh... I'm going home..." Li Tong said.

"We're going together!" Tsunade tilted her head, her tone leaving no room for refusal.

"Uh... alright." Li Tong felt helpless, forced to bite the bullet and follow Tsunade.

The two walked out of the alley, crossed the street, and entered a patch of woods. Tsunade didn't speak, and Li Tong didn't speak either. They walked side by side, and although they were on the same path, they acted as if they were complete strangers. The forest path was therefore quite quiet, filled only with the sound of soft footsteps.

Li Tong was busy calculating how to part ways with Tsunade; he still needed to go buy some things.

Suddenly, he felt his neck tighten!

It was Tsunade, who had suddenly reached out an arm, hooked it around Li Tong's neck, and pulled him in hard. A thick, feminine scent flooded Li Tong's nostrils. Looking very intimate, Tsunade leaned into Li Tong's ear and whispered, "Brat, how did you do it?"

"Wh-what?" Li Tong was a bit stunned.

"I mean, the... gambling technique! Can you teach me?"