All In on Ryuuzaki Eiji!

Sayuri still wore that gentle expression, though it seemed even softer than before. She had even begun addressing him as "Lord Eiji."

"Ah, thank you."

"To witness cooking this spectacular—I could put it in a storybook and make it the stuff of legend."

"Wait! The moment I took my eyes off you, you ran over to Eiji! I knew I couldn't trust you!"

Kushina suddenly cut in, planting herself between them and glaring at Sayuri. Then she handed Sayuri the plate she was holding, piled high with sliced beef.

"Here. This is your share!"

Sayuri looked surprised at the beef being offered to her. Then her smile grew brighter.

"Thank you for thinking of me, Miss Kushina."

"You're welcome! Eiji, I've got our portions already. Let's eat in the kitchen!"

With that, Kushina pulled Eiji toward the house.

Watching the two of them leave, Sayuri had a bold idea.

If I can't beat Kushina, could I settle for becoming Lord Eiji's concubine?

Three days passed in a flash.

Imagawa Sayuri was a girl who knew how to get along with people. By giving way and treating others gently, she had won Kushina's approval. Now she could even join the two of them in their games.

Kushina held a black stone, staring nervously at the board crowded with pieces before carefully placing it down.

Watching from the side, Eiji's eye gave a slight twitch.

Across from her, Sayuri held a white stone and placed it on the board almost without thinking.

"Ah..."

Kushina went pale. Seeing that her position on the board was lost, she let her shoulders slump.

"It looks like I won, Miss Kushina."

"Waaah, I lost again! Eiji...!"

Kushina threw herself into Eiji's arms, hugged him tight, and shook him.

Eiji helplessly rubbed Kushina's head. It felt as though they had been getting close like this much more often lately. In fact, he suspected she kept looking for chances to make it happen in ways that seemed reasonable enough.

The girl was wonderfully soft, and Eiji was enjoying himself too.

Ever since Sayuri had moved into the Ancestral Home, Kushina had grown bolder. She felt threatened by Sayuri, but going with the flow, getting close to Eiji, and winning him over seemed like a pretty good plan.

No one can compete with me, Kushina! So what if you're smarter than me? Eiji will still be mine in the end!

Just imagining such an outstanding Eiji as her future companion made Kushina as happy as if she had eaten the sweetest candy in the world.

Kushina basked in Eiji's touch, smiling blissfully.

I love Eiji more than anything!

After that, Eiji had no choice but to take the place of the defeated Kushina and face Sayuri himself.

He had to admit she was a sharp-minded girl. He couldn't win easily against her, even while using the Six Eyes!

The Six Eyes gave him superhuman information-processing speed. In an instant, he could calculate dozens of possible moves, how the entire board might develop tens of moves later, and every attack, trap, and counterplay.

It was like switching on AlphaGo in the middle of a match. Yet Sayuri blocked his attacks again and again. Her skill was absurd.

Was it because she spent so long at the Daimyo's Palace with no playmates her own age that she could only amuse herself with Go?

She might have been a princess, but entertainment was scarce in the Shinobi World. For women, it was even duller.

Eiji felt as if he were sitting across from Ke Jie. In the end, though, she was no match for his built-in advantage, and Sayuri conceded.

"I lost. You are a great player."

Sayuri lowered her head. A trace of frustration showed in her eyes, but it quickly vanished, replaced by her usual gentle smile.

"You're the strong one. If I hadn't used the power of my eyes, I might have lost to you."

Eiji readily admitted he had cheated. Sayuri looked at his eyes in surprise, then smiled again.

"You're very modest. A power you were born with is part of your talent. How could that be cheating?"

Eiji shrugged without answering.

He only knew that if he ever found himself in the world of Go Boy, those eyes would make him the Great Ming Go Saint. He could trounce Jiang Liuer, crush Heimu, and flatten the Chess Ghost King with one hand.

The day of the Ninja Academy graduation exam arrived.

Konoha buzzed with chatter. With only two hours until the exam began, a long line had already formed at the entrance to the Arena.

The Arena could accommodate everyone in Konoha, but with an audience that large, how could they pass up the chance to charge admission? At Utatane Koharu's suggestion, tickets to watch the matches were priced at one thousand ryo per person.

If Konoha's villagers wanted to see the exciting matches, they had little choice but to swallow the cost.

"Come take a look! Championship favorites Uchiha Yo and Hyuga Yamashiro!"

"Put all my money on Uchiha Yo! Ten thousand ryo!"

"Five thousand ryo on Hyuga Yamashiro!"

Villagers crowded around the front of the betting stand, pulling out their money to wager on the favorites.

Uchiha Fugaku watched them place their bets, the corners of his mouth turning down. Then he shook his head helplessly.

He pulled out a thick stack of bills and slapped it onto the counter.

"Put it all on Ryuuzaki Eiji."

Come on. Why wouldn't I bet on a sure way to make a fortune?

The Uchiha aren't short of money, but who ever complained about having too much?

As for those geniuses who aren't betting on Ryuuzaki Eiji, I wish them luck!

The bookmaker looked at the stack of bills on the table, then at Uchiha Fugaku's grave expression.

He swallowed hard. Why did he suddenly feel as though he might lose everything?

That sense of impending disaster only grew when the young heirs of the Ino-Shika-Cho clans arrived and took out stacks of notes to bet on Ryuuzaki Eiji too.

"Shikaku, are we really doing this?"

Akimiichi Chōza scratched his head and eyed Eiji's name on the board with some hesitation. His odds were hardly attractive. Eiji could fight, sure, but Chōza wasn't convinced he could take first place.

"Trust me. Bet on Eiji."

Shikaku calmly slapped several hundred-thousand-ryo notes onto the counter.

"All right, if you say so."

"I'm betting on Eiji too. Five hundred thousand ryo."

Inoichi Yamanaka nodded and took his savings from his pocket. If their strategist said to bet, what was there to hesitate about? He would follow his lead.

Watching the pile of bets on Eiji grow, the bookmaker broke into a cold sweat. Was he about to get burned?

Is this kid nobody's talking about some kind of secret weapon?

But when he checked the bets on Uchiha Yo and Hyuga Yamashiro, he finally breathed a sigh of relief. Even if Ryuuzaki Eiji won, he would still turn a profit. The villagers had plenty of faith in those two prestigious clans.