Kept by a Sugar Mama

No, he couldn't just sit by and watch Tsunade's flowing river of wealth pour into the casinos, only to end up with nothing to show for it.

It would be better if it went to him!

"Ahem... Sister Tsunade, if nothing else, I'm at least your disciple now, right?" Takizawa Dan cleared his throat and said.

"That goes without saying! I already announced it at the Chunin Exams; who would dare question you?" Tsunade replied immediately, her voice firm and resonant. "Tell me, who dares to bully you? I'll go beat them up for you right now!"

Hearing Tsunade offer to stand up for him, a wave of warmth surged through Takizawa Dan's heart.

While this "Sister Tsunade" of his was certainly unreliable in some respects, she was truly beyond reproach when it came to how she treated him.

"Hehe, that's not what I meant. Of course I believe you're good to me, Sister Tsunade, and who would dare deny your word?" Takizawa Dan said quickly. "What I'm worried about... is mainly that you don't have enough money to support my training!"

"Oh? You mean that?" Tsunade paused, stunned. "I recall that the village provides living subsidies for you as an orphan of a martyr, doesn't it?"

Due to various missions and the frequent wars that plagued the ninja world, the casualty rate for ninjas had always been quite high.

Whenever a ninja fell, their children naturally became orphans, losing the protection of their parents.

To protect these children, the village provided targeted living subsidies, raising them until they reached adulthood.

Of course, this applied to the average child; after all, most children of ninjas inherited their parents' ninjutsu and chakra, and nine times out of ten, they would grow up to be excellent ninjas themselves.

Only Takizawa Dan was the exception—unable to condense chakra and possessing a frail body, he was the only one who needed the village to support him for life.

"Sister Tsunade... the main problem is that the subsidy the village sets is really only enough for me to survive. If I want to become a ninja, it's definitely nowhere near enough for training!"

Takizawa Dan was speechless at how oblivious his "Sister Tsunade" could be.

After all, the ninja village wasn't a charity. While they promised to properly care for the children of these martyrs, they certainly wouldn't spend too much money on it.

Takizawa Dan's previous monthly allowance was only one-tenth of a standard genin's income... aside from filling his stomach and saving up enough to buy a comic book once a month, there was absolutely nothing left.

In some months, when the village tightened its budget, Takizawa Dan would even receive his allowance in the form of flour and rice—naturally, these were the very same goods the poor farmers of the Land of Fire had just paid as tribute.

As it happened, Takizawa Dan didn't know how to cook. If he hadn't handed those supplies over to Uncle Ichiraku in exchange for a month of Ichiraku Ramen, he might have starved to death.

It was from that time on that Takizawa Dan and Uncle Ichiraku formed an inseparable bond, though that was a story for another day.

In short, with just that meager subsidy, it was impossible for Takizawa Dan to conduct normal ninja training. In the original story, even Shikamaru had mentioned that he spent a whole year's worth of pocket money just to buy a single explosive tag and a smoke bomb.

The Nara Clan was, after all, a member of Konoha's "Ino-Shika-Cho" and a prestigious family, yet they were still so financially strapped during their training; how could Takizawa Dan, a penniless boy, be any different?

Even those in similar situations, who relied on Konoha's support to get through their early years, had to rely on taking various bounty missions while trying to maintain their training. The result of not being able to train at full capacity was that their progress was naturally much slower than the average person.

At the very least, based on Takizawa Dan's careful inquiries, it seemed no one in that position had ever become a jonin in Konoha!

At most, they became chunin, running around the village like office workers every day, exhausted to the bone. Because they lacked a family background to support them, they found themselves in a difficult position, struggling to earn any respect.

Some even remained genin for their entire lives, a plight not much better than Takizawa Dan's.

When the oblivious woman heard Takizawa Dan explain this, she finally wore a look of realization.

"So that's how it is... I don't think I've ever asked about the village's finances. I never imagined you'd been living such a miserable life all this time."

Takizawa Dan muttered to himself, It's a good thing you never asked about the finances, Lady Tsunade, otherwise, I suspect the entire village of Konoha would have been lost at the gambling table!

"The key is... even if I were to apply to the village to increase your funding, I doubt those old geezers in the upper echelons would agree," Tsunade said, looking troubled. "Those old stubborn fools value money more than anything else. Trying to pry any out of their hands is incredibly difficult."

"So, I have no one else to rely on. I'm counting on you, Sister Tsunade! Tell me... if you keep putting your money into the casinos, what will happen to my training in the future?"

Takizawa Dan spoke with feigned emotion, even squeezing out two tears, which nearly melted Tsunade's heart.

"Alright, alright, since you've put it that way, Dan, I won't gamble anymore from now on. I'll save all the money for your training!"

Tsunade said in a rush.

"For real?"

Takizawa Dan struck while the iron was hot, quickly confirming.

"You brat, I'm the Hokage! A Hokage's word is worth its weight in gold; how could I possibly lie?"

Tsunade was immediately displeased, laughing and scolding him.

"Haha, if you can guarantee that, Sister Tsunade, then I can rest easy."

Takizawa Dan laughed, a faint, imperceptible smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.

Things had gone much, much easier than he had imagined.

Tsunade was a person who valued her reputation highly; once she promised something, there was absolutely no chance she would go back on it. In other words, from now on, Tsunade's entire salary belonged to Takizawa Dan!

Thinking that he had managed to consolidate the Hokage's entire budget into his own hands, Takizawa Dan felt a thrill of excitement.

It seemed that from this day forward, he would never have to worry about a lack of funds again.

"But... thinking about it now, it really hurts. All that money I had before just went straight into the casinos!"

Thinking back on her previous gambling, Tsunade felt a pang of deep regret.

She hadn't truly repented; she just felt that if she could have saved all that money for Takizawa Dan to use, how wonderful that would have been!