In the original story, Tsunade always maintained the appearance of a young woman. But in reality, she was already over fifty years old.
However, in this world—Year 32 of the Hidden Leaf Calendar—Tsunade was only twenty-two.
She was truly young!
"You bastards better be ready to lose to me today! You think I'm just some easy target?!"
Wearing an extremely annoyed expression, Tsunade removed her sandals, stepped onto the tatami, and sat cross-legged near the entrance.
Ito and the others immediately forced out polite laughs.
Even though they all saw Tsunade as an easy target, they never dared to ignore her status in Konoha.
After all, Tsunade had a good gambling reputation.
She never threw tantrums when she lost, never took out her anger on others, and always repaid any borrowed money.
If that weren't the case, they wouldn't have dared to gamble with her.
"Tsunade-sama, don't say that!"
Ito grinned, his tone full of flattery.
"At the end of the day, winning and losing is just luck. It's not like we're cheating you."
"That's right, Tsunade-sama. We've known each other for so long—you know we're just joking."
"You've lost a few times this month, Tsunade-sama. Maybe today's finally your lucky day…"
"Enough!"
Tsunade cut them off impatiently.
She waved her hand in an authoritative manner.
"Let's just start already. Don't waste my time—I have things to do tonight."
"Got it! Tsunade-sama, what do you want to play? Poker?" Ito asked with a smile.
"Fine!"
Tsunade nodded immediately.
She reached into her kimono, pulled out a huge stack of banknotes, quickly counted them, and then slammed them onto the white cloth in front of her.
Ito picked up the deck of poker cards and began shuffling.
The other gamblers also pulled out their money.
Haruto's eyes widened.
How much money were they playing with?!
Even the guy who bet the least took out several thousand ryo.
And Tsunade?
She had the biggest stack—easily tens of thousands of ryo.
Among them were three 10,000 ryo notes.
Tsunade Finally Notices Haruto
"Huh? Kid, I don't think I've seen you before."
Tsunade finally noticed Haruto.
At first glance, he looked like a small, skinny 11 or 12-year-old boy.
Technically, he was still a child, but in the shinobi world, 16 was considered adulthood.
"Uh… I'm Haruto Saito… I just became a Genin…"
Haruto forced himself to answer, feeling uneasy.
"Tsunade-sama, this young man just arrived today. He's never played before, but is it okay if he joins us?"
Ito explained with a smile.
"Mm."
Tsunade nodded and looked away, casually adding—
"As long as he has money."
She didn't recognize Haruto!
Haruto felt relieved.
This morning, the news of a defector from Amegakure joining Konoha had already spread through the village.
And half an hour ago, he had killed a man in the marketplace.
But Tsunade had no idea.
Not surprising.
"Tsunade-sama, did you just return from a mission?"
Haruto asked carefully.
"Yeah, got back around noon."
Tsunade answered casually.
"No wonder…" Haruto thought.
She had only been back for a few hours, so she probably hadn't heard any rumors yet.
"Tsunade-sama, your mission payout must've been pretty good, right?"
Ito asked as he finished shuffling.
"It was just a small job. 150,000 ryo."
Tsunade grumbled.
"But after paying off debts, I only have about 50,000 left!"
Ito's grin widened.
He exchanged glances with the other gamblers.
Bingo. A massive jackpot!
The Stakes Are High
"Alright! Tsunade-sama, let's have a good time tonight!"
Ito smacked the deck on the table and pulled out his own stack of money.
Several 10,000 ryo notes were mixed in.
In total, he had at least tens of thousands.
Haruto's face twitched.
He had come to the wrong place.
These guys were betting with thousands and tens of thousands of ryo…
And him?
He had less than 9 ryo in his pocket.
"Hey, kid. What about you?"
Ito noticed that Haruto hadn't put any money on the table.
"Uh… can I watch first? I don't know the rules…"
Haruto tried to stay calm.
"No problem."
Ito shrugged.
Honestly, he didn't care about Haruto.
They were here to clean out Tsunade.
A newbie gambler like Haruto?
Easy prey.
The First Round
Tsunade took the deck and sat as the first dealer.
Nobody objected.
The game started.
Shuffling. Dealing. Matching hands. Comparing points.
The rules were simple.
Each player got four cards and compared their total value with the dealer's hand.
If they tied, the dealer won by default.
Tsunade lost the first six rounds.
In total, she was down 2,000 ryo.
On the seventh round—
Haruto carefully pulled out a single banknote from his pouch.
The largest bill he had.
5 ryo.
"Can I… just test the waters first?"
Haruto asked, feeling a bit embarrassed.
The minimum bet was usually 100 ryo.
5 ryo was nothing.
"Do whatever you want."
Tsunade replied.
Haruto's Winning Streak
5 ryo became 10.
10 became 20.
20 became 40.
40 became 80… 160… 320… 640…
Within 30 minutes, Haruto turned his 5 ryo into over 2,000 ryo!
"Kid, you have crazy luck!"
Ito laughed.
But was it really luck?
Of course not.
From the very first hand, Haruto had already started cheating.
He took four cards but only returned three.
Nobody saw where the fourth card went.
Tsunade Becomes Suspicious
The others had mixed wins and losses against Tsunade.
But Haruto?
He hadn't lost once.
Tsunade finally took notice.
He only started with 5 ryo.
And now?
He had never once dipped into his own money.
That was annoying for any gambler.
The Final Round—Tsunade's Best Hand
After losing 15,000 ryo, Tsunade finally stepped down as dealer.
The rotation continued.
Egawa became the dealer.
Haruto played cautiously.
After two hours, he had won over 5,000 ryo.
When it was finally his turn to deal…
Tsunade suddenly gasped.
She revealed her hand—
"Ha! Nine points! The best possible hand!"
She burst into laughter.
But then—
Haruto calmly flipped over his own cards.
"Nine points as well. But… the dealer wins by default.
So… I take all the money."