Unreliable Senju Hashirama

The deaths of Senju Kawarama and Senju Itama in battle made Senju Kyogawa fully realize the cruelty of the Ninja World. Now, he wanted to change this world more than anything.

But clearly... that goal was still a long way off.

After all, Senju Kyogawa was still lying in bed recovering from his injuries.

Senju Kyogawa's injuries this time were severe. Furthermore, after using "Thou Shalt Not Die," his Healing Jutsu had lost its effectiveness on his own wounds. Consequently, he had to rely entirely on his body's natural healing ability to mend them.

It took Senju Kyogawa a full month to recover.

It must be said that for a ninja of the Senju clan, who possessed tenacious vitality, a month to heal was indeed slow. However, for an ordinary person, this was truly miraculous—after all, Senju Kyogawa had been impaled through the chest by an arm. Although his heart was spared, his lungs had suffered severe tearing.

At this moment, Senju Kyogawa couldn't help but marvel at the astonishing, resilient vitality of Senju ninjas.

Having lain in bed for so long, Senju Kyogawa felt as if he were about to sprout mushrooms.

During his recovery, only his two older brothers kept him company to stave off boredom. However, due to their grueling daily training, the time Senju Kyogawa could spend with them was very limited.

Occasionally, familiar ninjas—such as Senju Chenghe, Senju Aoyama, and Senju Kazuki—would come to visit him. Of course, after learning from Senju Kazuki that Senju Kyogawa had been severely injured, Grandma Naiko also visited him frequently, bringing small toys she had crafted and food she had made herself.

Although, in terms of mental age, Senju Kyogawa was no longer a child but a young man in his twenties, he was still very happy to accept Grandma Naiko's kindness. She cherished him like her own grandson, and he regarded her as his own grandmother.

Having been an orphan in his past life, Senju Kyogawa deeply cherished all the kindness and love he encountered—even that which was given inadvertently.

It is worth mentioning that his biological father in this life—Senju Butsuma—also managed to carve out time from his busy schedule to visit Senju Kyogawa several times.

Regarding this, Senju Kyogawa found it quite novel.

Because of the four-year absence of fatherly love, neither Senju Kyogawa nor Senju Butsuma knew how to interact with each other. Especially since Senju Butsuma still harbored resentment—due to the death of Senju Haruko—Senju Kyogawa was very surprised when Senju Butsuma took the initiative to visit and attempt to fulfill his duties as a father, even though his demeanor was clearly stiff—perhaps because he didn't know how to get along with his youngest son.

However, Senju Kyogawa himself was quite thick-skinned—in order to gain more Cuddle Points, he persisted. As a result, the awkwardness in Senju Butsuma's heart soon dissipated, and their interactions became increasingly natural, just like any ordinary father and son.

Furthermore, Senju Butsuma had recently grown closer to Senju Hashirama and Senju Tobirama. He no longer openly stated that Senju Hashirama's dreams of peace were impossible to achieve, although the brothers all knew he still disapproved of forming alliances with other ninja clans.

Senju Kyogawa thought that perhaps Senju Butsuma, having lost two young sons in the span of a few months, had finally realized he had spent too little time with his children, and thus poured all his pent-up fatherly love onto the three remaining children.

And, it is worth mentioning that—

Senju Kyogawa had just turned five during this month—spent in bed—and on his birthday, he only ate a bowl of longevity noodles because his injuries hadn't healed, making it impossible to eat anything else.

Thus, for that month, Senju Kyogawa had lived quite comfortably, except for the fact that he couldn't really get out of bed or go outside.

Therefore, now that he could finally get out of bed, Senju Kyogawa was overjoyed.

He could finally run wild to his heart's content.

However, his first time running wild was not within the Senju compound.

"Little Kyogawa, did you feel especially bored this past month?" Senju Hashirama suddenly leaned in toward Senju Kyogawa with a sneaky look, then posed this soul-searching question.

Senju Kyogawa stared with dead fish eyes, chewed up the Konpeito in his mouth, and looked at Senju Hashirama, speechless.

When Senju Hashirama couldn't help but start to become depressed, Senju Kyogawa finally answered:

"Yeah, I was bored. So bored I was about to sprout mushrooms."

Wasn't that obvious?

No one would find it interesting to lie in bed for a month recovering from injuries, even if Grandma Naiko did bring him some novel toys for children.

Senju Hashirama clearly didn't notice Senju Kyogawa's speechless mood; his eyes, which were already bright, became even brighter, as if they were glowing.

He said, "Little Kyogawa, I'll take you to an interesting place."

Senju Kyogawa believed him. He couldn't wait to follow Senju Hashirama as they snuck out of the compound, heading toward the interesting place Senju Hashirama had mentioned.

The air here was thick, the sounds were chaotic, and the place was bustling with noise—it was indeed a lively place that wouldn't make one feel bored.

However, was this really a suitable place for someone who had just recovered from a serious illness to play?

For the first time in his life, Senju Kyogawa began to suspect—was his big brother, Senju Hashirama, trying to murder him...

"Don't worry, Kyogawa. Rest assured, big brother is already an adult, so I can play." Senju Hashirama clearly didn't understand what Kyogawa was worried about. "In a little while, Kyogawa can try it too~ It's very fun~"

Senju Kyogawa looked helpless, staring with dead fish eyes at the excited Senju Hashirama.

Fine, he should have known; Senju Hashirama was just that unreliable sometimes...

"Come, come, come! Place your bets on big or small! Bets are closed, bets are closed—"

"Big, big, big—" This was Senju Hashirama's voice, which could be heard by Senju Kyogawa with great penetration even in such a noisy place.

That's right, the place Senju Hashirama said he would take Senju Kyogawa to, the place that would make him not bored, was—a casino.

Senju Kyogawa scanned the casino and was surprised to find several familiar faces, ranging in age—they were all Senju ninjas he had seen within the compound.

Ah, there were even a few children who looked to be the same age as Senju Kyogawa, whom he had seen on the training grounds in the compound.

This is really... gathering to gamble... Senju Kyogawa couldn't help but start thinking about the laws of the country from his past life.

And now, those children were following the slightly older Senju ninjas beside them. That's right, those were more unlucky souls brought here to gamble by their unreliable older brothers.

The Senju ninjas beside those children were placing bets just as excitedly as the Senju Hashirama beside Senju Kyogawa, and looking at their expressions—the frustration when the bets were revealed, followed by quick excitement—they were clearly both unskilled and addicted to gambling...

Speaking of which, the result of Senju Hashirama's round of betting came out—that's right, Senju Hashirama...

He lost again!

So, are all the ninjas of the Senju clan...

Addicted to gambling?

They really are terrible at it yet love to play... Senju Kyogawa couldn't help but grumble to himself.

However, Senju Kyogawa hadn't yet discovered if his second brother, Senju Tobirama, was also a gambler...

Could it be that Senju Tobirama was actually a gambling addict too, and had just never let Senju Kyogawa find out?

Senju Kyogawa couldn't help but imagine Senju Tobirama placing a bet with a dead-serious expression.

He then couldn't help but break out in a cold shiver.

By now, Senju Hashirama had basically lost all his money.

The people at the gambling den clearly viewed Senju Hashirama as a big, fat sheep and were eagerly waiting for him to place another bet; their eyes were practically glowing green as they stared at him.

Brother Hashirama, you really have walked into a den of wolves... Senju Kyogawa couldn't help but secretly mock him in his heart.

Senju Kyogawa watched silently as Senju Hashirama's coin purse went from bulging to completely flat.

He held the purse, which now contained only a few copper coins, and asked Kyogawa with an awkward laugh:

"Little Kyogawa, do... do you want to give it a try?"

Ah, if he were to gamble with those few copper coins, he would likely have to chip in some of his own money as well.

Big Brother, are you really my brother? Senju Kyogawa couldn't help but pose this soul-searching question.