"Wasn't this supposed to be a new gambling house? How did it turn into an arcade?"
Tsunade muttered to herself as she looked up at the sign above the door.
"And that 'Natsuhiko' written up there, is it the Natsuhiko I know?"
"No, that can't be right. Even though Kakashi said that kid was trying to earn some extra cash, he wouldn't have opened up an entire shop this quickly."
"Probably just a coincidence in names…"
Tsunade, not dwelling too much on the matter, decided to go inside and check things out. She stepped forward with little Shizune tagging along and entered the strangely named arcade.
As soon as she walked in, she saw that the place was already packed with customers. It looked like business was booming. Among the crowd were many familiar faces, people she had been gambling with recently. It seemed, just as one dealer had mentioned, that all the gamblers from the street had flocked here.
But what puzzled Tsunade was the fact that, unlike traditional gambling houses where people crowded around tables to gamble, here everyone was gathered around strange-looking machines.
Curious, she approached one of the machines and discovered they were various pachinko and slot machines.
These types of games had only recently appeared in the shinobi world, and Tsunade had only seen them in the capital of the Land of Fire when she visited the daimyo's palace. She didn't expect to find them here!
And what surprised her even more was that, compared to the crude machines she had seen before, these were superior in both graphics and gameplay. It was as if they had been upgraded a dozen times somewhere she didn't know about.
In addition to pachinko and slots, Tsunade noticed a variety of machines she had never even heard of—mahjong machines, poker machines, horse racing machines, and more.
It felt like all forms of gambling had been compressed into these machines, filling up this small arcade.
Could this place… be a gambler's paradise?
For Tsunade, who had never won a gamble but was still addicted to it, this place truly felt like her heaven.
Her eyes sparkled as she looked around, her fists clenched in excitement, yet she hesitated to start playing.
She hadn't expected such a small arcade to gather so many types of gambling games, leaving her at a loss for which one to start with.
And she finally understood why this shop, though newly opened, had managed to steal all the business from the gambling houses down the street.
The variety and entertainment value of the games here were simply incomparable.
But Tsunade managed to suppress her urge to play for now and decided to head toward the center of the arcade.
There, the crowd was most excited, shouting in excitement, which suggested that something even more interesting was happening.
When Tsunade reached the edge of the crowd, she barely made out a ring in the center where two shinobi were engaged in a fierce battle.
The spectators around them were cheering enthusiastically, urging the fighters on.
This scene brought a frown to Tsunade's face.
It reminded her too much of the underground fighting rings she had encountered in the past.
She never liked these brutal games, where people were used as tools for gambling without any respect for life. Especially after she developed her phobia of blood, it was impossible for her to participate in such games.
A hint of disappointment crept into Tsunade's heart.
She had thought this place, with its vast array of gambling games, would be the paradise she had long dreamed of. But now, it seemed that having so many gambling games in one place wasn't necessarily a good thing.
Just as Tsunade was about to turn around and head back to the other machines to pass the time, she suddenly realized something odd.
Though she was standing far away, normally the sight of such a scene would trigger her mild blood phobia.
But right now, her body showed no such signs.
Tsunade stopped and observed the fight for a few more moments. She noticed that, although the two fighters exchanged heavy blows and sparks flew, there was no sign of blood.
What's more, after closer inspection, she realized that their clothes remained perfectly clean, and even their hairstyles weren't messed up!?
Was this some kind of staged performance?
No, that wasn't it.
Tsunade analyzed the scene more carefully and noticed something peculiar about the fighters' movements and the logic of their battle.
For one, while their moves looked flashy, they were stiff and repetitive, with only a few basic patterns.
Also, despite the size of the ring, the two seemed to be fighting as if they were on a narrow bridge, moving back and forth along a straight line.
The most surprising thing was that when one of the fighters was knocked down, the sound of "Round 1 Over" echoed from the ring. Then, both fighters vanished for a moment, only to reappear in the center, ready to start fighting again.
All these strange phenomena piqued Tsunade's curiosity, making her eager to uncover the secret behind it all.
But she didn't have to wait long.
After using her monstrous strength to push through the crowd, she discovered several machines surrounding the ring, similar to the ones she had seen earlier. Several gamblers were excitedly tapping away on these machines.
And the screens on the machines displayed scenes of two shinobi fighting, much like what was happening in the ring.
After observing for a while, Tsunade realized that the characters on the screens would respond to the gamblers' inputs.
This reminded her of the puppet techniques used in Sunagakure.
However, after further analysis, she concluded that the fighters in the ring weren't puppets, nor were they real people. They were just enlarged versions of what was happening on the game screens.
Realizing this, Tsunade felt a wave of relief, coupled with admiration for the creativity behind the machines' design.
In addition to poker, mahjong, and horse racing, who would have thought ninja battles could also be simulated and recreated by a machine!
Even more intriguing was that gamblers could not only watch the battles but also personally control the characters and win by their own hand.
For ordinary people without ninja talent, this would be hard to resist.
No wonder this shop, despite being open for only a few days, had attracted all the gamblers from the street.
Even Tsunade, upon realizing that no real lives were at stake, began to feel drawn to the game.
Seeing the gleam in her eyes, little Shizune sighed with fatigue.
Every time Lady Tsunade got this look, it was a sign that their wallets were about to be emptied…
Without delay, Tsunade decided to begin her journey through the arcade with this game.
After asking around, she exchanged some coins and found a short queue to join.
Fortunately, despite the crowd, it seemed that once a player lost, they couldn't continue, so the turnover was quite fast.
After watching a few gamblers play for a short while, Tsunade's turn soon came.
Excited, she sat down, rubbed her hands together, and began her first arcade adventure…
(End of Chapter)