The Big Fat Sheep of Tanzaku Street

Tanzaku Street.

The largest legal money pit in the shinobi world, a tender paradise where people from every walk of life mingled. Countless casinos, taverns, and inns lined both sides of the street. Neon signs shone dazzlingly bright at night, while chakra-sensitive advertising banners hung from the second floor all the way to the pavement.

Chiba had taken a day and a night to get here. He had avoided the main roads, traveling through dense forests the entire way, and had worn two blisters into the soles of his feet.

But his spirits were high.

Tsunade's location marker pulsed on the system panel, inside the largest casino, three hundred meters away. Chiba straightened his collar, brushed the earthy smell from his clothes, and strode inside.

The moment he pushed open the casino doors, the mingled scent of tobacco, sake, and powder rushed over him.

The place was deafening. The crisp clatter of dice against porcelain mixed with gamblers' curses, while chips rattled endlessly in the dealers' hands.

Chiba spotted her at once.

There was no way he could have missed her.

At the largest high-stakes table in the casino, a blonde woman with a high ponytail slammed the table and rose to her feet, sending three chips flying.

"Another round! I'll turn it around this time!"

Tsunade.

One of the Legendary Sannin. The First Hokage's granddaughter. The strongest medical ninja in the shinobi world today.

And also the universally recognized biggest gambling addict in the entire shinobi world.

Chiba stopped at the casino entrance, his gaze sweeping over her from top to bottom.

A few loose strands had slipped free from her blonde high ponytail, accentuating the elegant lines of her neck. Her short gray-green jacket hung open, revealing a dark top beneath with a loose neckline that left her collarbone fully exposed. Her pale blue belt was tied slackly around her waist, outlining its curve, its end swaying beside her hip with every movement.

Her figure.

Chiba took a deep breath.

He had read the manga in his previous life and knew Tsunade had a great body. But the impact of two-dimensional art and reality was on entirely different levels.

Even from ten meters away, he could feel the oppressive force of there being simply too much of her.

"Lady Tsunade! Enough! We really don't have any money left!"

A short-haired young woman stood behind Tsunade, holding a little pig in her arms, her face on the verge of tears.

Shizune. Tsunade's disciple, caretaker, and wallet manager.

Apparently, the wallet had been thoroughly emptied today.

The dealer wore a placating smile, though it had already become somewhat stiff. "Lady Tsunade, you lost this round as well. Including your previous debts... the total comes to thirteen million, seven hundred and twenty thousand ryo."

Everyone in the casino was watching the show. Several veteran gamblers muttered among themselves.

"The legendary big fat sheep again..."

"Tsunade of the Sannin. She loses every time she gambles—the number one inverse indicator in the shinobi world."

"If she bet against her own luck, she'd have been financially free ages ago."

Tsunade's face was flushed red, whether from the alcohol or from losing her temper. She pulled the last banknote from her sleeve—two hundred thousand ryo. It was Shizune's borrowed living expenses.

Shizune was nearly in tears. "Lady Tsunade! That's our food money for the month! Tonton needs to eat too!"

The little pig in her arms gave a cooperative "oink."

Tsunade slapped the banknote down in front of the dealer. "Big!"

The dice cup opened.

Small.

The whole casino fell silent for two seconds.

"Heh." Tsunade's smile looked worse than crying.

Shizune simply crouched on the ground and wept while hugging the pig.

The dealer finally could no longer maintain his expression. He signaled to someone behind him. Seven or eight burly men emerged from behind the curtains on both sides of the casino, broad-shouldered and thick-waisted. Several even had chakra-enhancing tattoos on their arms.

The bald man leading them had a toothpick in his mouth, making a hissing sound as he sucked on it. "Lady Tsunade, we don't mind if you lose a little money. But thirteen million... hiss, how about you settle the six million you owed before today first?"

Tsunade pulled her hand back from the table and clenched her fist.

Six million plus thirteen million—nearly twenty million ryo in debt.

Of course, she could beat these people. With one finger, she could level the entire casino.

But with the reputation of one of the Sannin at stake, actually making a move would mean a ninja bullying civilians. Once word got back to Konoha, those old men would use her as a negative example for another three months.

A vein throbbed at Tsunade's temple. Just as she was about to pull off her classic move of flipping the table with monstrous strength and making a run for it, Chiba moved.

He stepped out from the crowd.

He wore a long black coat, tall and slender, broad-shouldered with a narrow waist. His fifteen-year-old face bore a composure that did not match his age, with a smile three parts amusement and seven parts calculation at the corner of his lips.

He carried a bulging cloth bag in one hand.

He walked straight up to the bald man.

"How much?"

The bald man nearly swallowed his toothpick as he looked Chiba up and down. "Kid, who the hell are you?"

Chiba pulled out a thick stack of banknotes, as thick as a brick, from the cloth bag and slapped it against the bald man's chest.

"Nineteen million ryo. That clears the old debt too."

"Keep the extra as a tip."

The entire casino fell silent.

Every gaze converged on the stack of banknotes. The dealer leaned in to inspect them, his fingers trembling.

"They're... they're real. One million ryo each. Exactly twenty notes."

The gamblers in the casino sucked in sharp breaths. A few drinkers in the corner murmured to each other.

"Holy shit, he just slapped twenty million ryo in banknotes into someone's face. What kind of big shot is this?"

"That pattern on his clothes... Senju? Are there still Senju people around these days?"

"What rich young master spends twenty million to pay Tsunade's bill? Is he insane?"

The bald man staggered back half a step from the blow of the banknotes, his tongue tying itself in knots. "Th-this gentleman..."

Chiba ignored him and turned to Tsunade.

Tsunade stood where she was, her golden eyes full of shock and wariness.

She did not recognize the boy before her. But the Senju Clan crest woven into the dark pattern of his collar made her breath catch for a moment.

"Who are you?"

Chiba smiled.

He took two steps forward, leaving less than a meter between himself and Tsunade. The scent of sake drifted off her, mixed with a faint floral fragrance. At this distance, he could see the texture of the skin above her collarbone and the vein still throbbing at her temple.

Chiba tipped his head slightly upward. Tsunade was half a head taller than him, and even in her drunken state, the pressure of one of the Sannin had not faded.

But he was not intimidated in the slightest.

"Senju Chiba. A branch member of the Senju Clan. The last one still alive."

Tsunade's golden eyes narrowed.

Chiba pulled out the deed to the Senju Clan's main family ancestral residence from his clothes and waved it in front of her.

"Lady Tsunade, I used the money from mortgaging the land of the Senju ancestral residence to clear your gambling debts."

"So from today onward, you don't owe the casino."

He put the deed away, and the three parts amusement in his smile grew to five.

"You owe me."

Tsunade's expression shifted from shock to disbelief, then from disbelief to a strange irritation.

She ground her back teeth together. "You mortgaged the Senju ancestral residence just to pay off my gambling debt?"

"Yes."

"Is something wrong with your head?"

"No, my mind is perfectly clear." Chiba casually tossed the cloth bag to the stunned Shizune. "That's the detailed bill, principal and interest included. Miss Shizune, please keep it safe."

Shizune caught the cloth bag mechanically, while the little pig in her arms kept oinking.

The surrounding gamblers had already begun whispering among themselves.

"Senju? The Senju Clan? Didn't they say they were wiped out?"

"I thought Lady Tsunade was the only one left from that clan?"

"Damn, the young master casually throws out twenty million. Is the land of the Senju ancestral residence worth that much? That's prime real estate in central Konoha."

Tsunade's fist clenched, relaxed, then clenched again.

Of course, she knew there were still members of the Senju branch family. But how could a fifteen-year-old brat have the deed to the ancestral residence? How could he come alone to Tanzaku Street? How could he know she was here?

Too much was wrong.

"What do you want from me?"

Tsunade's voice sank. The aura of one of the Sannin showed through her drunken exterior, like reefs exposed as the tide receded.

Chiba stood straight in the face of that pressure.

"Lady Tsunade, twenty million ryo isn't a small sum. As for how you'll repay it, I'd like to discuss that with you in private."

He tilted his head, his tone as light as if discussing the weather. "There are too many people here, and too many loose tongues. It's not convenient. There's a decent inn nearby. I've already booked a room."

The vein at Tsunade's temple twitched again.

Shizune finally snapped out of her daze. Hugging the pig, she jumped up and stood in front of Tsunade. "Y-you-you, what do you mean? What room did you book? Lady Tsunade would never..."

Chiba glanced at Shizune, smiling innocently. "What are you thinking, Miss Shizune? We can't exactly negotiate a twenty-million-ryo debt and sign a contract standing out in the street, can we?"

"What contract?!"

Tsunade reached out and pushed Shizune aside, staring down at Chiba. The alcohol clouded her pupils, but her gaze was as sharp as a scalpel.

"Senju Chiba." She pronounced his name one word at a time. "You came all the way from Konoha to Tanzaku Street to find me. Paying my gambling debt was only your opening line. What exactly do you want?"

Chiba slipped both hands into his pockets and looked up into Tsunade's eyes.

Moonlight spilled in through the casino entrance, falling across his shoulders. The young man's face bore a calmness no one should have while confronting one of the Sannin.

"What I want is simple."

"The Senju Clan cannot be left with only me."

Tsunade's breathing stopped for a moment.

Chiba smiled and added, "Of course, it would still be better to discuss the specifics in the room. Lady Tsunade, shall we?"

He extended a hand in invitation and stepped back toward the casino entrance.

Tsunade stared at his retreating back, her fist tightening before slowly loosening.

"...That brat." She squeezed out the words through clenched teeth.

Shizune stamped her feet anxiously. "Lady Tsunade! We can't go! This is definitely a trap!"

Tsunade was silent for several seconds.

Twenty million ryo. The Senju ancestral residence. A surviving branch family member.

And what he had said.

The Senju Clan cannot be left with only me.

"Let's go." Tsunade picked up the unfinished cup of sake from the table and drained it in one gulp, then headed for the door. "I want to see what terms he can offer."

"Lady Tsunade!"

"Relax." Without looking back, Tsunade tugged at the corner of her mouth. "If he tries anything, I'll send him flying out of Tanzaku Street with one punch."

Shizune hurried after her with the pig in her arms. Tonton gave an "oink," as though sighing.

Outside the casino, Chiba was already waiting beneath the moonlight. When he saw Tsunade emerge, he lifted his chin and gestured toward the inn at the street corner.

The night wind swept past, carrying the scent of sake and flowers.

Chiba turned and walked ahead of Tsunade and Shizune, his back to them.

In his mind, a line of golden text appeared on the system panel:

[Target: Tsunade. Current Favorability: 5/100. Status: Highly wary. Condition to trigger the next stage: Sign an exclusive contract.]

Only five points.

No rush.

Chiba's gaze fell on the lantern hanging before the inn ahead, and the corner of his lips curved upward.

Twenty million ryo for an opening line was a little expensive.

But Tsunade was worth the price.