Chapter 122: Watch closely, this is how you use Tsunade! (Patreon)

One million ryo, gone.

Genshin's eyes went a little glassy. Ever the frugal one, he couldn't stop himself from doing the mental math.

What could you even do with a million ryo?

A bowl of Ichiraku ramen only cost sixty ryo — a million ryo could buy Naruto two bowls a day clear through to the Boruto era. If you spent it on groceries instead, it'd cover you until retirement.

...But in the pachinko machine, it was all gone in under an hour.

Genshin suddenly found himself understanding those gambling addicts who wept and pounded the pavement outside pachinko parlors. A spendthrift like this really wasn't something an ordinary man could afford to keep around.

"Hmph. Pachinko's nothing special," Tsunade said, smacking her lips, though her excitement hadn't faded one bit. She strode toward the next section of the casino. "Come on, big sister's got something even better to show you."

This was the slot machine section — boxy machines with three panes of glass on the front, each holding a spinning wheel of symbols. You dropped in your chips, pulled the lever, and matching symbols won you more.

Tsunade exchanged for another million ryo in round chips, gripped the lever of the machine in front of her, and spoke to Genshin.

"Grandfather used to bring me to play this. I was so young back then that one good yank and I snapped the handle clean off. The casino staff tried to stop us, demanding payment for the damage, and Grandfather just scooped me up without a word and bolted." Tsunade burst out laughing, her shoulders shaking. "Later the casino people chased us all the way home and Grandfather got lectured by Great-Uncle for an entire night."

Watching Tsunade laugh, Genshin found himself smiling too, though being perceptive, he could see the nostalgia hidden beneath her eyes — probably because Orochimaru's earlier use of Impure World Reincarnation to bring back Tobirama had only made her miss Hashirama all the more.

Actually, Genshin had noticed that ever since they'd arrived at the casino, Tsunade could barely go a sentence without mentioning her grandfather Hashirama. So he suspected that Tsunade only looked like she loved gambling — maybe she just used it as a way to remember the First Hokage. She was, after all, someone who felt things deeply.

As Tsunade pulled the lever again and again, the wheels inside the machine spun faster and faster, and her chips dwindled just as fast.

The second million ryo was gone too.

Finally it was time for dice.

The rules for dice were simple enough. A dealer with an ample figure shook the dice cup, and gamblers wagered on whether the total would be high or low.

Genshin stood beside Tsunade, cheering and hollering along with her bets. Winning or losing didn't matter anymore — having fun was the point.

...That said, watching money pour out like that still stung a little. Genshin scratched his chin and started scheming — how could he actually profit off gambling alongside Tsunade?

Obviously, by making full use of this walking jackpot with the worst luck in the world!

As the saying went: follow Tsunade and starve nine meals out of three days; bet against Tsunade and buy yourself a beachfront villa. Facing luck this cosmically, catastrophically bad, whatever Tsunade bet on, Genshin would simply bet the opposite.

Watch closely, Shizune — this is how you really use the power of Tsunade!

In the end, after Tsunade had blown through her third million ryo, Genshin tallied his chips and found he'd cleared a net profit of two million.

Gambling is a fine civilization. Come often, come more.

Tsunade's eye twitched as she stared at the mountain of chips in Genshin's hands.

This little brat...

"Did you plan this from the start? Hm?" Tsunade's eyes turned faintly dangerous as she tapped a fingertip lightly against his forehead. "Betting against me every single time? What exactly do you take me for?"

Genshin's smile froze for a moment, then he cleverly pushed the chips back toward her. "Come on now, Sister Tsunade. This is called 'risk hedging' — financial wisdom. Besides, what are you and I to each other? My money's your money anyway."

"Hmph. I'm not so hard up that I need to take money from my own student."

Tsunade snorted, but the corner of her mouth curved up despite herself. She glanced over the chips scattered across the table, feeling the thrill fade into something like a post-high haze — call it Sage Mode — and waved a hand.

"Alright! Let's head back. We've spent nearly everything we saved up."

Without anyone noticing, the sky had begun sliding toward night.

Stepping out through the casino's front doors, Tsunade leaned naturally against her student. Genshin gently scooped her up, and the two of them rose into the air, flying off toward Konoha.

The evening wind swept quietly past them, and neither spoke the whole way. Genshin focused on flying; Tsunade said nothing, seemingly lost in memory. It was a long while before Genshin broke the silence.

"Suppose — just suppose — I could bring the dead back to life. Would Sister Tsunade want to see them again?"

Tsunade's pupils contracted, and her expression turned cold. She stared straight at Genshin's face and spoke slowly, word by word.

"Shut your mouth. Don't ever say something like that again, and don't you dare even think it. I would rather die than watch you turn into someone like Orochimaru."

"That's not it... I just wanted to try using—"

Genshin had meant to explain that he only wanted to test Impure World Reincarnation using White Zetsu bodies, never on a living person.

"Don't even think about it," Tsunade cut him off flatly, reaching out to press a finger against his lips. "The dead deserve to rest in peace. Dragging them back into this world by force would be the cruelest thing you could do to them."

Her tone was uncharacteristically stern, her eyes fixed directly on his.

Only once Genshin had nodded in submission did she finally lower her hand.

"Starting today, you're moving in with me."

Genshin understood — this was Tsunade unable to set her mind at ease, afraid he might stray onto the wrong path. If he really did become a rogue ninja one day, he couldn't even imagine what Tsunade would become.

"Mm," Genshin agreed obediently.

The sky had gone fully dark now, a scattering of starlight floating above. Below their feet, the mountains and rivers faded into a hazy night, with only the evening wind still sweeping past.

Elsewhere, in a deep underground chamber.

"Failed again, Obito." Above the tree trunk Obito leaned against, Black Zetsu jutted out sideways from the wood, looking down at him.

"Might as well go with Nagato's plan then — let the organization build up its strength first, then finish everything in one stroke: gather the tailed beasts, revive the Ten-Tails."

Obito nodded lightly. "Fine. I'll go with that."

Hm? Why's this kid being so agreeable all of a sudden?

Black Zetsu leaned in close to Obito's face, half-expecting another "I have a plan" to burst out of his mouth, followed by another mess to clean up.

But on the surface, Obito stayed quiet, his mind endlessly replaying the fight with Genshin.

Why had he kept getting outmaneuvered, one setback after another?

Sure, Uzumaki Genshin was genuinely strong — having this kind of combat power at twelve or thirteen was no small thing. But Obito also had to admit he'd relied too heavily on Kamui. With his dojutsu's mechanics now mostly figured out by the enemy, if he kept relying on that one trick for both offense and defense the way he used to, he'd just keep getting countered. To win, he couldn't lean on his dojutsu alone.

"I need to do some training, Zetsu. Are those Wood Release ninjutsu records Madara left behind still around?"

"Still in that sealed room, the innermost one. You actually want to train? That's rare of you," Black Zetsu said.

"Yeah. Uzumaki Genshin's growth has been more than I expected. For the sake of the Eye of the Moon Plan, I need to change some things myself too."

Black Zetsu's eyes lit up. Buried in training? Now that was good news! Far better than cooking up another one of his half-baked schemes, wasn't it?

"Instead of burying yourself in training, have you thought about taking your other eye back?" Black Zetsu asked, as if the question had just occurred to him. "As long as you have both Mangekyo, neither Uzumaki Genshin nor Nagato could do a thing to you."

Obito fell silent. He knew exactly how strong he'd become with both Kamui restored — his Kamui's activation speed would jump dramatically, and he'd be able to phase into intangibility to dodge attacks while simultaneously launching spatial distortion attacks of his own, even unleash Susanoo.

There would be no one left in this world who could catch him, and no defense he couldn't break through.

...There was just one small price to pay: severing his bond with Kakashi, erasing the boy he'd once been.

"No rush for now. Let that eye stay with that failure a while longer," Obito said flatly.

"Is that so? Suit yourself then," Black Zetsu said, falling silent. There was no point trying to talk sense into these stubborn descendants of Indra anyway.

Still, it was thanks to that same stubbornness, inherited straight from their ancestor, that once you'd successfully fooled them, they never hesitated — they simply charged full speed ahead down whatever path you'd designed for them.

Truly... such useful tools.