Clan Leader's Wife

After the war in the Land of Rain ended, Tsunade spent half a year resting in the village. Aside from eating and sleeping, all she did in her spare time was gamble.

But every time she gambled, she managed to lose the reward for an S-rank mission—at least a million ryo each time.

So Genma came up with a brilliant idea.

As the saying went, you shouldn't let good fortune go to outsiders. She could borrow from loan sharks; it wasn't as if she had to pay them back.

With Tsunade's strength and the Senju Clan's influence, if she didn't want to repay her debts, nobody could force her to.

But if she was going to lose money anyway, she might as well lose it to her own family instead of outsiders.

Senju Genma had already decided to use the clan's influence to open a casino of his own. There were still some Jonin and Chunin in the clan, so he could have them run the place. That way, they wouldn't have to worry about cheats or criminal gangs.

From then on, whenever Tsunade wanted to gamble, he could send her to the clan casino. She couldn't win anyway. At worst, they could give her a private room so no one else could bet against her. The casino was sure to make a profit.

And this business would bring in a fortune with minimal investment—a sure thing that could even help cover household expenses.

Mito had entrusted the clan to him. If she knew it was thriving under his care, she would surely be pleased.

"Looks like Genma knows I've been short on cash lately. Thanks." Tsunade reached for the money.

Genma was quicker. He tucked it into his robes.

"Weren't you on the battlefield this whole time? Are you such a big catch that those casinos were drawn to you and opened up shop right on the front lines?"

Tsunade sheepishly rubbed her cheek against Genma's.

"Of course not. I've just been stuck with the Logistics Department this whole time, so I couldn't go to the front lines. I'd already gambled away all my money back in the village, and I haven't had any money to spend—or any way to earn more."

"I have to prepare for life after the war, don't I?"

"Think about it. I'm the clan leader's wife, and I don't have a single ryo to my name. If I had to go borrow from loan sharks, wouldn't that make you, the clan leader, look bad?" Tsunade pursed her lips and smiled.

So you do know what shame is. I'd thought you'd reached the point where you didn't have a shred of it left.

Senju Genma raised an eyebrow. He didn't believe a single punctuation mark of what Tsunade had said.

Still, if the esteemed granddaughter of the First and wife of the Senju Clan's leader, Princess Tsunade, ran out of money and had to borrow from loan sharks, it really would make him lose face as clan leader.

"I'll give you a million. That's all you're getting." Genma glanced at her.

"Thanks, honey." Tsunade followed his gaze, then snapped, "You miserable jerk... It'll grow eventually! It's just not time yet!"

At her unconvincing words, Genma shook his head.

Ten days later.

Genma got out of bed and stretched. When he stepped outside, it was still early, and the surroundings were dim.

"Not going back to sleep?"

The only reason he was up so early was that Hatake Sakumo had just sent word that there was a meeting.

"I'm fine. I feel full of energy." Tsunade stretched too and chuckled. "I haven't forgotten that we have important business today."

Chatting as they walked, Senju Genma and Tsunade arrived at the Konoha forces' command room.

Hatake Sakumo had called an emergency meeting and ordered every senior officer without an active mission to attend.

Setting aside Senju Genma, who was both an Anbu squad leader and a free agent, Tsunade was under Hatake Sakumo's command as the head of the Logistics Department.

In the command room, Hatake Sakumo was listening to the intelligence Orochimaru had brought back. The more he heard, the darker his expression became.

He was about to send someone to hurry Tsunade and Genma along when a ninja came in to report.

"Lord Sakumo, Lady Tsunade and Lord Genma have arrived."

Hatake Sakumo replied calmly, "Let them in."

"Yes, sir."

Senju Genma led Tsunade through the door. Seeing the troubled expressions on everyone's faces, he knew something bad had happened.

"Sakumo, we're here. What's going on?" Senju Genma spoke first.

Hatake Sakumo pondered for a moment, then explained the latest intelligence Orochimaru had obtained.

The situation was actually quite simple.

Sunagakure had sent reinforcements to the front lines once again.

This time, the reinforcements included fifteen hundred ninjas. Orochimaru had also spotted Shukaku among the Sand Ninja forces.

The person they called Shukaku was actually Bunpuku, the One-Tail Jinchuriki.

As time passed, people had forgotten Bunpuku's name and started calling him by the name of the Tailed Beast inside him: Shukaku.

From birth, Bunpuku had had the One-Tail Shukaku sealed inside him, making him the One-Tail Jinchuriki.

Not only that, through arduous training, he had learned to control the One-Tail skillfully and had even established a friendly relationship with it.

"Has Sunagakure gone mad? How dare they deploy a Tailed Beast?" Tsunade exclaimed in shock.

Tailed Beasts were like nuclear weapons in the Ninja World.

Every great ninja village had one, but they usually weren't used on the battlefield. Instead, they served as a deterrent.

The First Shinobi World War had killed off the Kage of nearly every country. The Second Kazekage, Shamon, had died an untimely death according to Sunagakure's tradition, while all the other Second Kage had fallen in battle.

But even when the fighting had reached such intensity, not a single country had sent a Tailed Beast into battle.

Tailed Beasts were too destructive. If one village set the precedent of using them in war, every village might start doing the same, and the damage to the world could be irreversible.

Hatake Sakumo didn't answer Tsunade's question. Instead, he turned to Senju Genma.

"Genma, I heard the Third Kazekage has people searching for you in the Land of Wind. What did you do?"

What had he done?

Genma thought carefully about the good deeds he'd done, then shook his head. "I didn't do anything. I just completed the mission you assigned me as usual."

Hatake Sakumo regarded him suspiciously. "Go on, then. I want to hear how you carried out the mission."

Senju Genma recalled the details for a few seconds, gathered his thoughts, and began explaining how he'd completed the mission to Hatake Sakumo.

Of course, Senju Genma didn't tell him everything. He claimed he'd used other ninjutsu instead of mentioning the Mangekyō Sharingan.

After listening, Hatake Sakumo sighed. "I remember the mission was to assassinate Makima, wasn't it? Do you even know what 'assassinate' means?"

Senju Genma pointed his nostrils at Hatake Sakumo and said arrogantly, "Of course I know what 'assassinate' means. I guarantee that when I killed Makima, nobody saw me!"

"That's not the point!" Hatake Sakumo slapped his forehead, then scratched his head. "Your destructive power must have scared them so badly that they're using a Tailed Beast to pressure the front lines and force you to come back."

"Thanks for the compliment!" Senju Genma said smugly.

Seeing Senju Genma's self-satisfied look only made Hatake Sakumo angrier. He gritted his teeth. "I wasn't complimenting you, you smug jerk."