Tsunade Wins Big

"Boo-hoo, Tonton, we're going to sleep on the streets tonight. Boo-hoo..."

Shizune watched Tsunade put what little money the two of them had left on triple sixes. She did not even need to look at the result. They were definitely sleeping on the streets tonight.

She stopped caring about the impending result. The more she thought about it, the sadder she became, until she hugged the little pink pig named Tonton and began to cry.

After crying for a while, she wondered why it had suddenly gone so quiet.

Through tear-blurred eyes, Shizune looked up and glanced around.

She found all the gamblers around her staring at her.

Shizune's face instantly turned red.

"Impossible! I won! I actually won! I bet on triple sixes, and I actually won!!!"

Hearing something off in Tsunade's voice, Shizune forgot her embarrassment and hurried to check on her.

What she saw gave her quite a shock.

Tsunade stood there, endlessly muttering nonsense about how she could not possibly win and how there was absolutely no way she could win.

Only then did Shizune realize that the gamblers around them were not looking at her. They were looking at Tsunade.

The three dice showing sixes inside the dice cup on the gambling table told Shizune plainly that they had won.

Just as Tsunade had said earlier, not only would they not have to sleep on the streets tonight, they could feast on fine food and drink.

Uchiha tiramisu, Uchiha vanilla taro bubble milk tea, Uchiha chocolate ice cream cake-she had never even dared look at them before, afraid that one glance would starve her wallet to death.

Today, she absolutely had to eat her fill!

Hahahahaha! A wallet stuffed with money until it burst-this felt freaking amazing!!!

This gambling stuff was pretty fun too!

Of course, that only applied when they won, and won big enough to sweep the table at that.

"Woohoo! We won! Hurry up and pay us!!!"

Once she understood the situation, Shizune was no longer upset. She tossed Tonton into the air to celebrate, then cradled her in one arm and held out her other hand for the dealer to pay up.

"I... I'm done for!"

People did not share the same joys and sorrows.

Unlike the delighted Shizune, the dealer felt chilled to his core, as though he were standing stark naked amid winter ice and snow.

He had only one thought: he was finished!

The casino did allow gamblers to win, but even it could not stomach losing more than half a year's revenue in one go.

Besides, he had lost the casino so much money. He did not know whether the casino would pay the gamblers their winnings, but he knew its people would never let him off.

The more the dealer thought about it, the more frightened he became. Then he actually turned, squeezed through the crowd, and bolted!

Shizune saw that the scene was getting rather chaotic.

For the sake of her money, she immediately stepped in to take control.

"Everyone shut up! Someone come over here and get us our money!"

Although Shizune was rather shy, when it came to the extremely, extremely important matter of whether she would sleep on the streets and go hungry or sleep in a luxury inn and feast on fine food and drink...

She could not worry about that anymore.

To her, money was life!

No one could touch her life-not even a single cent of it!

At seventeen, Shizune already had the strength of a seasoned Chunin.

Although she specialized in medical ninjutsu and her actual combat ability might have been somewhat lacking, she could still take on a whole bunch of the ordinary people here.

Not to mention that Tsunade was right behind her.

They dared pocket their money?

There were better ways to get themselves killed.

With the dealer gone, the already chaotic scene grew even noisier. People clamored, and some even tried to slip away in the confusion.

Shizune frowned deeply. She knew that if she could not bring the situation under control, not only might they fail to get their money, they could also be in danger.

She took a deep breath and shouted, "Everyone, quiet! If anyone dares make a move, don't blame me for getting rough!"

There was a trace of authority in her youthful voice, and the crowd gradually quieted down.

Then Shizune stepped forward, looked around, and demanded sternly, "Where's your boss? Tell him to come out!"

Everyone exchanged glances, but no one answered.

At that, Shizune kicked over a table and roared, "If he doesn't come out now, I'll smash this casino to pieces!"

Just then, a short, stout middle-aged man emerged with a group of underlings behind him.

"I'm the owner here. If there's a problem, you can talk to me." The man looked Shizune and Tsunade up and down, a flicker of greed crossing his eyes.

Shizune sneered. "You're the owner? Good. Give us the money we're owed, and we'll leave right away."

The owner laughed instead. "Haha, you two beauties have won too much. Our casino can't come up with that much money on such short notice. How about this? Play a few more rounds. I guarantee you'll win to your hearts' content."

Shizune's heart sank. She knew the owner was stalling. She looked at Tsunade, who was still in a daze.

There was nothing for it. Lady Tsunade could not be counted on, so she would have to rely on herself.

"Hand over the money right now if you don't want to die!" Shizune roared, moving both hands to form hand seals as she prepared to use ninjutsu.

The owner's expression changed. He had not expected Shizune to be so forceful. But he was a man who had seen his share of the world, and he soon composed himself.

"Don't be rash, beautiful. We can talk this over..."

"What's there to talk about?!" Shizune glared at him, giving him no room to negotiate.

Seeing this, the owner signaled his underlings to step forward and threatened, "You won't take the easy way, so you're asking for the hard way! Don't fail to appreciate what's good for you!"

Tsunade finally came to her senses. She walked over to Shizune, patted her shoulder, and said softly, "Don't be afraid. I'm here."

Then Tsunade planted her hands on her hips, glared at the owner, and declared with imposing force, "You're handing over that money today, whether you like it or not! You should count your blessings that I'm not bullying you. And now you want to turn around and bully someone of mine? Got a death wish?!"

The owner and his thugs were all cowed by Tsunade's presence, leaving them speechless for a moment.

Just as the two sides were about to come to blows again, a commotion suddenly arose outside the casino.

Several Ninja from Konoha had arrived.

"Tsunade." The man leading them was none other than Jiraiya. "I'm here on the old man's orders to bring you home. Come back with me."

"Jiraiya? Home? What home do I have left? Go back. Leave me alone."

Tsunade was taken aback to see Jiraiya, and after hearing his words, her expression grew even more desolate.

"Konoha is in grave danger right now. Konoha needs you!"

Tsunade ignored Jiraiya and went with Shizune to take the money themselves from the accounting office at the back of the casino.

Far from trying to stop them, the casino owner and his thugs did not even dare move.

They were terrified that the Konoha Ninja would notice them and kill them.

At the sight of a roomful of money, Tsunade instinctively began stuffing it into a bag. She had no idea exactly how much she had taken. Her mind was a muddle.

Shizune did not know how much she was supposed to take either.

Then there was no point agonizing over it. She might as well take ninety percent and leave them ten percent, so they would not go bankrupt and close down.

Mm, getting Lady Tsunade to quit gambling was impossible.

Then the only option was to pick a casino where Lady Tsunade had better luck.

Remember this place. Come back next time.

After all, they had been traveling for so long, and this was the only place where she had seen any money come back. That was no easy thing. She had to treasure it.