The deaths of Senju Kawarama and Senju Itama had made Senju Kyogawa fully understand the cruelty of the Ninja World. He now wanted more than anything to change it.
But clearly... that goal was still a long way off.
After all, Senju Kyogawa was still lying in bed recovering.
The injuries Senju Kyogawa had suffered this time were severe. And after using "Thou Shalt Not Die," his Healing Jutsu had stopped working on those injuries, so he had to rely entirely on his own healing ability to recover.
It took Senju Kyogawa a full month to heal.
It had to be said: for a Senju Clan ninja with their tenacious vitality, taking a month to recover was indeed slow. But for an ordinary person, it was astonishingly fast—after all, Senju Kyogawa had been stabbed through the chest by an arm. His heart had been spared, but his lungs had still suffered a severe tear.
At that moment, Senju Kyogawa couldn't help but marvel at the astonishing vitality of Senju ninja.
After lying in bed for so long, Senju Kyogawa felt like he was about to grow mushrooms.
During his recovery, only his two older brothers kept him company each day, but their daily training was so intense that the time Senju Kyogawa got to spend with them was very limited.
Occasionally, familiar ninja—such as Senju Chenghe, Senju Aoyama, and Senju Kazuki—would come to visit him. And after learning from Senju Kazuki that Senju Kyogawa had been seriously injured, Grandma Naiko came by often too, bringing little toys she'd made herself and food she'd cooked with her own hands.
Although, mentally, Senju Kyogawa was no longer a child but a man in his twenties, he was still happy to accept Grandma Naiko's kindness. She doted on him as if he were her own grandson, and he saw her as his own grandmother.
Having been an orphan in his previous life, Senju Kyogawa cherished every bit of kindness and love he received—even when it was given unintentionally.
It was worth mentioning that Senju Kyogawa's biological father in this life, Senju Butsuma, had also found time amid his busy schedule to visit him a few times.
Senju Kyogawa found it rather surprising.
After four years without a father's love, neither Senju Kyogawa nor Senju Butsuma knew how to get along with the other. Senju Butsuma, especially, still harbored resentment over Senju Haruko's death. So when Senju Butsuma took the initiative to visit Senju Kyogawa and tried to fulfill his duty as a father, Senju Kyogawa was quite surprised. Senju Butsuma was obviously a little stiff—perhaps he didn't know how to act around his youngest son.
But Senju Kyogawa himself was shameless enough. In his pursuit of more Cuddle Points, he soon put Senju Butsuma at ease. The two grew more comfortable together, like an ordinary father and son.
What's more, Senju Butsuma had recently grown closer to Senju Hashirama and Senju Tobirama, too. He no longer openly said that Senju Hashirama's dream of peace was impossible, though all the brothers knew he still opposed forming alliances with other ninja clans.
Senju Kyogawa thought that perhaps, after losing two young sons in just a few months, Senju Butsuma had finally realized how little time he spent with his children. So he'd poured all the fatherly love he'd kept bottled up into the three children he had left.
And, it was worth mentioning—
Senju Kyogawa had just celebrated his fifth birthday that month—while in bed. All he'd eaten that day was a bowl of longevity noodles, since his injuries hadn't healed enough for him to eat anything else.
So, all in all, Senju Kyogawa had been living quite comfortably that month, apart from not being able to get out of bed much or leave the house.
Naturally, now that he could finally get out of bed, Senju Kyogawa was overjoyed.
He could finally run around to his heart's content.
But the first time he went running around wasn't within the Senju Clan Territory.
"Little Kyogawa, have you been especially bored this past month?" Senju Hashirama suddenly sidled up to Senju Kyogawa with a sneaky grin and asked the question of the century.
Senju Kyogawa stared at him with dead fish eyes, crunched the rock candy in his mouth, and looked at Senju Hashirama in speechless disbelief.
Just as Senju Hashirama was about to sink into despair, Senju Kyogawa finally answered:
"Yeah, I'm bored. So bored I'm about to grow mushrooms."
Wasn't that obvious?
Who would enjoy spending a whole month lying in bed recovering, even if Grandma Naiko brought him all sorts of interesting toys for children?
Senju Hashirama clearly didn't notice how exasperated Senju Kyogawa was. His already bright eyes grew even brighter, as if they were glowing.
"Little Kyogawa, I'll take you somewhere fun."
Senju Kyogawa believed him and eagerly followed Senju Hashirama as he sneaked out of the clan grounds, heading for the fun place Senju Hashirama had mentioned.
The air here was murky, the noise was deafening, and the place was packed with people. It really was lively—a great place where no one could get bored.
But was this really a suitable place for someone who'd only just recovered from a serious illness?
For the first time in his life, Senju Kyogawa began to wonder if his big brother, Senju Hashirama, was trying to kill him...
"Don't worry, Kyogawa. You can relax—your big brother's a grown-up now, so I'm allowed to play." Senju Hashirama clearly hadn't understood what Kyogawa was worried about. "You can give it a try in a bit, too~ It's really fun~"
Senju Kyogawa stared at Senju Hashirama, who was thoroughly enjoying himself, with dead fish eyes and a helpless expression.
Fine. He should've known. Senju Hashirama could be this unreliable sometimes...
"Come on, place your bets! No more bets once the dice are rolled—place your bets!"
"Big, big, big—" That was Senju Hashirama's voice. It carried so well that Senju Kyogawa could hear him clearly even over all the noise.
That's right. The place Senju Hashirama had said would be fun, where Senju Kyogawa wouldn't be bored, was... a casino.
Senju Kyogawa looked around the casino and spotted several familiar faces. They were of all ages—all Senju ninja he'd seen around the clan grounds before.
Ah, there were even a few children who looked about his age. He'd seen them at the clan's training grounds.
This really is... a crowd of people gambling... Senju Kyogawa couldn't help thinking about the laws in the country where he'd lived in his previous life.
The children were standing beside several slightly older Senju ninja. That's right—once again, they were unlucky kids dragged here to gamble by their unreliable older brothers.
The Senju ninja beside those children were betting just as excitedly as Senju Hashirama. Judging by their expressions—looking gloomy when they placed their bets, then quickly getting excited again—they were clearly bad at gambling but loved it anyway...
Speaking of which, the result of Senju Hashirama's bet that round was in. That's right, Senju Hashirama had...
Lost again!
So, do all the Senju Clan ninja...
Have a gambling addiction?
They're so bad at it, yet they love to play... Senju Kyogawa couldn't help grumbling to himself.
Still, he hadn't noticed his second brother, Senju Tobirama, being fond of gambling...
Could it be that Senju Tobirama had a gambling addiction too, but had just never let Senju Kyogawa find out?
Senju Kyogawa couldn't help imagining Senju Tobirama placing bets with a serious expression.
Then he couldn't help shuddering.
By now, Senju Hashirama had nearly lost all his money.
Everyone in the casino clearly saw Senju Hashirama as a big, fat sheep. They were eager for him to place another bet, staring at him with eyes practically glowing green.
Brother Hashirama really has wandered straight into a pack of wolves... Senju Kyogawa couldn't help laughing at him silently.
Senju Kyogawa watched as Senju Hashirama's purse went from full to nearly empty.
Holding the purse with only a few copper coins left, Senju Hashirama gave an awkward smile and asked Kyogawa:
"Little Kyogawa, do you... want to give it a try?"
Ah, if he wanted to gamble with those few copper coins, he might have to chip in some of Senju Kyogawa's own money.
Big brother, are you really my brother? Senju Kyogawa couldn't help asking himself.
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