Tsunade's Luck at Gambling! Mito Uzumaki and the Nine-Tails!

Konoha Hospital. A breeze brushed past the window frame.

After lying in a hospital bed for nearly two months, Uchiha Linhai finally reached the day of his discharge.

His mother, Nanako, had returned home early because of clan matters.

Linhai left the hospital gates alone, strolling along at an unhurried pace.

At this time, the First Shinobi World War had fully erupted and entered its most intense stage.

Konoha was fighting on two fronts, facing the frenzied assault of Sunagakure Village in the Land of Wind and Kirigakure Village in the Land of Water. The fighting was unprecedentedly brutal.

Danzo and Uchiha Kagami had long since headed to the front lines, so they had not had time to visit him lately.

Linhai wandered through Konoha's streets and, without realizing it, found himself at the training ground beside the Ninja Academy.

In the distance, a petite figure sat alone atop a wooden post, head lowered and looking especially forlorn.

Curious, Linhai walked over. "Tsunade? Why are you here alone? Where's your sidekick, Jiraiya? Didn't you go to class today?"

Tsunade slowly raised her head.

The once lively and adorable little girl now had red-rimmed eyes, with huge tears welling in them.

Her lips trembled as she choked out, "Brother Linhai... Grandpa passed away. No one will play with me anymore. I don't want to go to school today!"

Linhai froze.

Looking at the little girl before him, who already knew how to skip school at four years old, he sighed inwardly. As expected of one of the future Legendary Sannin. Her talent for skipping class was maxed out from childhood!

Remembering Hashirama's guidance and protection during his lifetime, Linhai's heart softened.

He patted his pocket grandly. Inside was half a year's worth of his Chunin salary, along with the massive reward from an S-rank mission not long ago!

"What do you want to play? Big brother will pay for everything today!" Linhai promised, thumping his chest. "As long as I'm free, I'll play with you every day from now on!"

At that moment, Linhai could never have imagined the painful price he would pay in the future for this rash decision.

Hearing that someone was willing to play with her, little stars instantly lit up in Tsunade's dim eyes.

She grabbed Linhai's hand and skipped out of the training ground, heading straight for the busiest street in the village.

A quarter of an hour later.

Standing at the entrance of Konoha's largest gambling house, Linhai was completely dumbfounded.

He lowered his head to look at the little girl who barely reached his waist and roared inwardly, Is this really a place a four-year-old should come to? Isn't this girl maturing way too early?!

Forget it. I'll just spend some money to keep the peace and make her happy. How much can a four-year-old possibly lose? It's not like she can lose all half a year's salary and my mission bonus, right?

Clinging to that sliver of hope, Linhai took Tsunade's hand and forced himself to enter the gambling house.

After living two lives, this was Linhai's first time entering a casino.

Watching Tsunade expertly exchange chips with the dealer and move through the various gaming tables as though she knew the place by heart, Linhai turned to stone.

"Big! Big! Big! Ah... I lost again!"

"It's fine, big brother has plenty of chips. Keep playing!"

"Ah! How did I lose again?!"

"Not a problem. Keep betting!"

Three hours later.

Linhai wiped away the cold sweat seeping from his forehead, his voice already trembling. "Tsunade... aren't you hungry? Let's go get something to eat!"

Watching Tsunade having the time of her life at the gambling table, Linhai's heart bled!

This girl was practically poison to the gambling world!

In less than three hours, she had lost every last bit of the more than two million ryo he had on him! Since entering, she had not won a single hand!

Heavens, what was I thinking when I insisted on bringing her here?!

Hearing Linhai, Tsunade rubbed her flat little belly and nodded obediently. "I am a little hungry. Let's go eat!"

Hearing that, Linhai felt as though he had been pardoned. He hurriedly took this little ancestor's hand and fled the place of sorrow.

Just as they reached the entrance, Tsunade looked up at him with a blossoming smile. "Brother Linhai, you're so nice! Second Grandpa never brings me to places like this. Can we come play again tomorrow?"

Linhai's vision went black, and he nearly face-planted onto the steps.

After using the last of his loose change to treat Tsunade to a lavish meal, Linhai finally sent this little ancestor he could not afford to offend back to the Ninja Academy.

Because she had enjoyed herself so much, and because the grand meal had soothed her, Tsunade magnanimously postponed their next trip to the gambling house until the weekend.

Watching Tsunade's cheerful, bouncing figure disappear into the distance, Linhai let out a long breath.

Just as he was about to go home and catch up on some sleep, an ANBU ninja wearing a mask suddenly appeared in front of him with a whoosh.

"Chunin Uchiha Linhai, the Second Hokage summons you urgently!"

Inside the Hokage's Office.

"Lord Second, Chunin Uchiha Linhai reporting." Linhai bowed respectfully.

When he raised his head, he discovered a dignified red-haired woman with a gentle temperament standing beside the desk. She was smiling as she watched him.

Tobirama Senju pointed at the red-haired woman beside him, his tone unusually softened. "I called you here for two matters. First, this is your master's wife, Mito Uzumaki, the First Hokage's wife. She wished to meet you."

"Second, starting tomorrow, I will personally train you for one year!"

Tobirama's expression was stern. "Though the war is intense, it remains under control. During this period, I will focus on teaching you taijutsu and genjutsu!"

Mito Uzumaki smiled at Linhai and said to Tobirama, "Tobirama, you're being too hasty. This child was just discharged from the hospital. He hasn't fully recovered yet. I merely came to see the last disciple Hashirama took in."

She turned and asked, "You don't mind if I take him out to speak privately, do you?"

Tobirama sighed helplessly. "Sister-in-law, it's not that I'm hasty. War does not wait for anyone. Danzo and Hiruzen's reports gave this brat's taijutsu and genjutsu terrible evaluations. I simply can't rest easy leaving him to someone else."

Mito Uzumaki smiled and shook her head. "Let's go outside. We shouldn't disturb the Hokage at work. You really are as rigid as ever."

With that, she took Linhai's hand and led him out of the Hokage's Office.

The two left the village and walked for more than half an hour.

A hidden underground lake appeared ahead.

"Stay close to me, and don't take a single wrong step. Otherwise, you'll trigger the barrier," Mito Uzumaki warned before walking straight toward a massive stone wall in the center of the lake.

Her body passed directly through it!

Linhai's heart tightened, and he hurriedly followed.

Beyond the stone wall was an enormous cavern, with an incomparably complex sealing formation carved into its center.

Mito Uzumaki turned around, her expression becoming solemn.

"Linhai, your grandfather, Madara Uchiha, possessed the legendary Mangekyo Sharingan. To this day, he is the only person capable of summoning and controlling tailed beasts in battle."

"When Konoha was founded, your grandfather and your master once discussed the village's future together. Your master had a mad idea—if every Hokage could perfectly control tailed beasts like your grandfather and use them as Konoha's exclusive summoned beasts, Konoha would possess absolute deterrence!"

"Unfortunately, your grandfather rejected that proposal and eventually broke with your master. At the Valley of the End, your master defeated Madara Uchiha, but he also abandoned the notion of weaponizing tailed beasts."

At this point, Mito looked at Linhai, an unusual light flickering in her eyes.

"Until you appeared! Your extraordinary talent rekindled your master's hope for that vision!"

Linhai's heart trembled violently.

Mito smiled faintly. "You have already passed my test. Now, I will let you witness the strongest tailed beast—once controlled by your grandfather, and now sealed within me!"

"Get ready!"

The moment her words fell, the sealing formation beneath Mito Uzumaki's feet erupted with dazzling red light, instantly swallowing Linhai!

"Drip... drip..."

The sound of water echoed through the empty space.

Linhai slowly opened his eyes and found himself in a place resembling an underground sewer.

Water beneath his feet rose past his ankles, while a suffocatingly violent aura filled the surroundings.

He followed the source of that aura.

Before long, an enormous iron gate towering into the clouds appeared before him! At its center was a talisman bearing the character "Seal."

"Hiss—"

Behind the dark iron gate, two enormous red lanterns suddenly lit up like blood moons.

A terrifying killing intent instantly locked onto Linhai!

Every hair on Linhai's body stood on end. His legs felt as though they had been filled with lead, and he could not move a single step.

"That disgusting stench of chakra..."

A deep, violent voice came from behind the iron gate, shaking the entire space.

"Brat of the Uchiha Clan, how did you end up here before this old man?"

By the red light, Linhai finally saw the colossal creature behind the gate.

It was a Nine-Tails demon fox as immense as a mountain!

Thick chains bound it tightly, while its nine tails danced wildly through the darkness.

Linhai nodded with difficulty.

"HAHAHA!"

The Nine-Tails let out a deafening laugh, its massive claw slamming fiercely against the iron gate!

"That woman, Mito Uzumaki! Does she think bringing an Uchiha brat here can save her life?"

"Let's see how much longer she can keep me trapped! The Uchiha Clan is what I hate most! Die!"

BOOM!

Several enormous fox tails lashed through the gaps in the iron gate, crashing toward Linhai with devastating force!

Under such overwhelming pressure, Linhai discovered in despair that his prideful talent was nothing but a joke. He could not even form hand seals!

At the critical moment.

Mito Uzumaki appeared out of thin air in front of Linhai.

"As long as I live, don't even think of taking a single step beyond this gate!"

Mito Uzumaki shouted. The talisman on the iron gate blazed with golden light, and several thick chakra chains instantly wrapped around the fox tails, dragging them violently back behind the gate.

Accompanied by the Nine-Tails' unwilling roar, Linhai's vision went dark, and he returned to the cavern once more.

"Huff—ha—"

Linhai knelt on one knee, gasping for breath. Cold sweat had long soaked through his clothes.

Too strong!

It was absurdly strong!

Even in its sealed state, the Nine-Tails' abyssal, prison-like oppression made him deeply aware of his own insignificance.

What kind of monster had his master been back then, to defeat his grandfather even when his grandfather possessed the Nine-Tails?

Mito Uzumaki handed him a green pill. After Linhai swallowed it, his frantic heartbeat gradually calmed.

"Did you feel it? That is the power of a tailed beast," Mito Uzumaki said softly.

Linhai gave a bitter smile. "It's strong enough to make one despair. Just how strong was my master, to suppress such a monster?"

"Hashirama did not defeat the Nine-Tails head-on. He first used Wood Release to seal it, then dealt with your grandfather," Mito corrected.

Then, she explained why she had brought Linhai here.

"We of the Uzumaki Clan are born with immense chakra, and we also possess the special ability to sense malice. From the time you left the hospital until we arrived here, I have been testing you."

"I discovered that deep in your heart, there was not the slightest trace of malice toward Konoha. Therefore, you passed my first test."

Mito paused, her expression becoming incomparably grave.

"Our Uzumaki Clan possesses a secret technique that can permanently seal the Nine-Tails, allowing it to sleep with me."

"But Hashirama refused! He hoped you could become the person who perfectly controls the Nine-Tails and turns it into Konoha's exclusive guardian beast!"

"There are three legendary summoning holy lands in the shinobi world. Hashirama hoped Konoha could possess a fourth 'unknown land'—a perfect jinchuriki!"

"Linhai, you do not have much time left."

"I can hold on for three years at most. If you cannot reach the realm Hashirama hoped for within those three years, I can only seal the Nine-Tails permanently."

After hearing everything, Linhai drew a deep breath, rose to his feet, and looked more resolute than ever before.

"Rest assured, Master's wife. For my master's final wish, and for the sake of protecting Konoha..."

"Within three years, I will definitely earn the Nine-Tails' recognition!"