Casino

After more than ten days of dawdling, the three of them finally entered the Land of Iron.

Although they were on a mission, there was none of the usual tense atmosphere. Uchiha Sen had been lively the entire way, either wanting to eat this or buy that.

"So missions can be done like this too..."

Zabuza shook his head helplessly. He only felt that after spending so much time around Uchiha Sen, some of his old habits had gradually changed without him noticing...

At the very least, when he went out on missions in the past, Zabuza would never have strutted down the streets so flamboyantly.

Although the Land of Iron was a neutral nation, with few locals becoming ninja and more choosing to become warriors, it was still a place where all sorts of people gathered.

"Lucy, Lucy (Haku)~ Hurry, hurry, hurry! These oranges are especially delicious. Buy some so we can take them back and eat them slowly. And this, and this! These flatbreads are extra crispy and sweet. Have one too! Zoro (Zabuza), do you want one?"

"Uh... sure."

Zabuza slowly walked over, took the flatbread, and had a bite. It really was crispy. He had not expected Lord Sen, who was usually so possessive about food, to be willing to share some with him too. He was so touched!

Three seconds later...

"Boss, this guy eating the flatbread—yes, that's him. The shady-looking guy with the mask covering his face. He's paying!"

Uchiha Sen's voice came from afar. Looking in that direction, Zabuza realized that Sen had already dragged Haku away.

The wary shop owner beside him tightly grabbed his arm...

Do I look like someone who would run away...

And why was he the one paying?!

The three of them basically kept all their money with Haku. Zabuza only had a little pocket money left on him...

There was no helping it. Uchiha Sen not only loved eating, but was also a miser...

"Alright, alright! How much is it? I'll pay!"

Zabuza irritably removed the greasy hand from his arm, took out his wallet, and asked.

"Twenty thousand ryo!"

"What?! Why don't you just rob me? It's only three flatbreads!"

Zabuza glared at the old man with an unfriendly look.

"Three? They also took several chickens, sixty grilled chicken skewers, and seventy grilled chicken wings."

Speechless, Zabuza lowered his head and looked at his wallet again...

This was getting bad...

"You can't pay, can you? Are you trying to figure out how to run away?"

The old man selling flatbreads reached out again and tightly hugged Zabuza.

"Someone come! Someone ate without paying!"

"Come quick!"

Meanwhile, Uchiha Sen, who had quietly slipped away with Haku, arrived at the end of the street.

"Lord Sen, isn't this a little bad...? We took a lot of things. I'm afraid Lord Zabuza doesn't have enough money to pay."

"Hahaha, don't mind him. He said himself that he wanted to eat."

Sen waved his hand, clearly having no intention of turning back. Haku could only follow behind him. Before long, a burst of noisy shouting drew their attention.

"Big, big, big!"

"I say small!"

"It's definitely small! That guy bet big!"

"What's that place?"

Uchiha Sen pointed at a storefront with a huge gambling character hanging above its entrance.

"Uh, it seems to be a casino, Lord Sen."

Though she had never gone inside one, Haku had traveled far and wide with Zabuza since childhood and was no stranger to such things.

When he heard it was a casino, Sen's eyes lit up. Just a few days ago, he had stayed up late to finish God of Gamblers 1 and God of Gamblers 2, and he had become very interested in the dice and cards in them.

That night, he had dragged Zabuza and Haku into playing with him. Afterward, the two of them discovered something strange: whether it was dice or cards, Sen possessed absurdly heaven-defying luck.

Take dice, for example. When betting big, he could casually roll triple sixes every time. When betting small, he would roll triple ones. The most outrageous time was when Zabuza used chakra to cheat and forcibly rolled triple sixes, only for one of Sen's dice to split down the middle, making his result just slightly higher than Zabuza's.

In a single night, he had won nearly all of their pocket money, which was why Zabuza's wallet was so empty. From then on, neither of them ever played with this guy again.

It was infuriating. Even cheating could not beat him, so what was the point of playing?!

"Does Lord Sen want to go in and play?" Haku asked thoughtfully.

"No, wait. Going in like this would be far too careless. Come on, take out my outfit. And this hairstyle needs changing too."

"Hurry up, hurry up!"

Sen urged impatiently.

Ten minutes later.

With slicked-back hair, a white shirt, a black suit, and an exquisite black bow tie around his neck, Uchiha Sen walked under Haku's guidance with both hands hooked into his waistband, striding as though he owned the world while humming a tune.

Passing gamblers all gave him strange looks.

"Is something wrong with that guy?"

"He's dressed like one of those male escorts at the end of the street..."

"Who knows? He looks stupid. He's probably a fat sheep."

"What a flashy outfit."

Amid everyone's astonished stares, Uchiha Sen headed straight for the nearest empty seat and plopped down.

He first looked around, then Haku came over after exchanging chips. Two hundred thousand ryo worth of chips were split into eight piles before Sen. The surrounding gamblers' expressions changed as well. This was practically a walking cash machine.

At the very edge of the square table, a blonde woman raised the white porcelain bottle before her and drained it in one gulp, then threw all the chips in her hand onto the table.

"All on small."

"Lady Tsunade... we really don't have much money left..."

Tsunade Senju sneered disdainfully. To her, the three biggest lies in the world were undoubtedly the Third Hokage's "for Leaf Village," Jiraiya's "I'll never go again," and Shizune's "we're almost out of money."

"You're so annoying."

Tsunade turned her head away.

"Hey, hey, that woman has placed her bet! Brothers, bet big! This round is free money! Hurry, hurry!"

"Boss, I'm betting everything on big!"

"Me too, me too!"

For a moment, everyone in the casino moved with startling uniformity.

Sen carefully studied the situation, then turned to Haku beside him.

"Haku, which do you think would be better to bet on this round?"

Haku frowned. It was her first time in a place like this, though she had heard Zabuza mention it before. Looking at the mountain of chips piled on the table, she said,

"Lord Sen, everyone seems to be betting big, so maybe we should bet big too. I heard them say that the person who just bet small has terrible luck. Nothing she bets on ever wins."

Sen nodded, then said,

"That's where you're wrong. How can someone be unlucky forever? As the saying goes, when things reach an extreme, they reverse. Trust me, that woman is about to start getting lucky."

"Hahahaha, looks like we're going to win even more! Another fat sheep has arrived!"

"How could that woman possibly turn her luck around? Hahahaha!"

Facing the quiet comments from beside him, Sen did not mind at all as he pushed half his chips toward small.

"This round, I'm betting everything on small."

Hm?

What the hell?!

That move successfully caught Tsunade's attention. She had been in and out of casinos for over forty years, and this was the first time anyone had ever bet on the same side as her...