Land of Fire, Tanzaku Town.
This was a money pit renowned throughout the Shinobi World, packed with casinos, taverns, and all sorts of entertainment venues.
It was also the place most frequently visited by the famous "Legendary Sucker."
"Reveal! Small! One, two, three-a total of six, small!"
Inside the largest casino in Tanzaku Town.
The dealer beamed as he used a bamboo paddle to rake in all the chips on the table.
Amid the gamblers' cheers, a blonde woman with enormous breasts and a diamond-shaped mark on her forehead slammed her palm onto the gambling table.
"That's impossible! I worked it out-this round was supposed to be big!"
Tsunade gritted her teeth, her beautiful eyes bloodshot as she stared fixedly at the dice cup.
Standing behind her with the pet pig Tonton in her arms, Shizune looked even paler than Tsunade.
"Lady Tsunade, stop playing. We've already lost the last of our living expenses..."
On the verge of tears, Shizune tugged at the hem of Tsunade's clothes.
This was already the fifth casino they had visited this month.
Without exception, they lost every time they gambled, and they lost everything.
"Shut up! My luck is about to turn!"
Tsunade shook off Shizune's hand and turned to glare at the dealer.
"Hey! Lend me another million ryo! I'll definitely win back the principal and interest next round!"
The smile instantly vanished from the dealer's face, replaced by businesslike indifference.
"Sorry, Lady Tsunade, but our boss gave us instructions."
"You've already exhausted your credit here. No more loans."
At those words, Tsunade's chest heaved violently with anger, her breasts surging.
"You dare refuse me? Do you know who I am?!"
She raised her fist, chakra faintly gathering around her wrist, looking ready to smash the casino apart with her monstrous strength at the slightest disagreement.
The surrounding gamblers hurriedly backed away in fright.
They had no desire to experience the legendary Sannin's monstrous strength firsthand.
Just as the situation was about to spiral out of control and the casino guards were preparing to call for backup.
"Bang!"
Someone brutally kicked open the casino's heavy solid-wood doors.
Wood splinters flew everywhere, and the tremendous noise instantly drew everyone's attention.
Backlit by the sunlight outside.
A tall young man wearing flashy beach shorts, with a pipe between his teeth.
Strode brazenly inside, carrying an enormous, visibly heavy black iron wood chest on one shoulder with a single hand.
The young man's clothes were strange, but most striking of all were his powerful muscles, which gleamed with a dark golden sheen.
They radiated a wild, domineering pressure.
The newcomer was none other than Senju Kenya, who had received the intelligence and traveled overnight from the deserted island to Tanzaku Town.
"Hey, hey, hey. You're open for business, so why would you turn customers away?"
Ignoring the strange looks around him, Kenya went straight through the crowd and strode up to Tsunade's gambling table.
Under the stunned gazes of everyone present.
He slammed the enormous black iron wood chest from his shoulder onto the gambling table.
"Boom!"
The sturdy gambling table groaned beneath the unbearable weight. All four legs instantly sank into the wooden floor, and cracks even spread across the tabletop.
If the gambling table had not been specially made from solid wood, it probably would have fallen apart on the spot.
"What's going on?"
"Who's this kid? He's ridiculously strong!"
The gamblers whispered among themselves. Even Tsunade, who had been about to explode, froze, momentarily forgetting to smash the table.
Kenya paid no attention to anyone else's reactions.
He simply reached out and lifted the lid of the black iron wood chest.
"Clatter-"
As the lid opened, a dazzling golden light instantly illuminated the entire dim casino.
Inside that enormous chest.
Packed to the brim, piled like a little mountain.
Were gleaming gold coins bright enough to blind and thick bundles of high-denomination banknotes!
"Hiss-!"
A chorus of sharp intakes of breath filled the casino.
This full chest had to contain at least several hundred million, didn't it?!
Had he fucking emptied some country's treasury?
Even the experienced dealer gaped, not even noticing the dice cup falling from his hand to the floor.
Tsunade and Shizune were utterly dumbstruck.
They had wandered for so many years and had seen money before, but never such a bluntly extravagant chestful of it!
"Aunt, I heard your luck hasn't been great lately. You even lost your food money?"
With the Third Hokage's white jade pipe between his teeth, Kenya blew a smoke ring and smiled at Tsunade.
He reached his large hand into the chest, grabbed a handful of gold coins, and casually tossed them onto the gambling table in front of Tsunade.
They made a crisp, pleasing clink.
"Lose as much of this money as you like. Put it on my tab."
"If it's not enough, there are a few more chests outside."
Kenya spoke with extraordinary extravagance, every bit a domineering CEO playing the god of wealth.
The entire casino fell deathly silent.
Holding Tonton, Shizune looked at the chest of glittering money, then at the muscular young man before her. Her brain had completely crashed.
Who was this person?
Why had he called Lady Tsunade his aunt right off the bat?
And how was he so rich?!
Could he be some secretly wealthy relative of the Senju Clan who had been lost to them?
Shizune could hardly be blamed for failing to recognize Kenya.
When Kenya left Konoha, he had still been a scrawny boy.
After the Garp Template's transformation and these two years of hellish training, his height and build had undergone earth-shattering changes.
Coupled with his skin, which had turned dark gold through deep integration with Haki.
He practically looked like a different person.
Tsunade's gaze lingered for a long time on Kenya's vaguely familiar yet thoroughly masculine face.
Then she lowered her head to look at the pile of gold coins on the table.
Her nerves, numbed by years of gambling, were now experiencing an unprecedented shock.
On one hand was the extreme temptation of this fortune that had fallen into her lap.
With this money, she could not only pay off the debts from the past few days but also take this casino by storm!
On the other hand.
Was the mysterious young man before her who claimed to be her "nephew."
Apart from her, what descendants did the Senju Clan have left?
Even if there were any, there was only that perpetually meek kid who had supposedly defected from the village not long ago...
Wait!
Tsunade's pupils abruptly contracted.
She seemed to remember something, her gaze locking onto the white jade pipe between Kenya's teeth.
That pipe.
That distinctive material and carving.
Why did it look so much like the treasured pipe the old man (Hiruzen Sarutobi) carried around all day?!
Tsunade swallowed, struggling to tear her gaze away from the chest of gold coins and look at Kenya again.
"Kid..."
Her voice was a little dry, carrying a trace of disbelief and wariness.
"What did you just... call me?"