Tobirama was silent.
When he heard Uchiha Hikaru say that this Chunin Exam could bring in 1 billion ryo of revenue for Konoha, he was completely dumbfounded.
Konoha had a population of just a few hundred thousand. Back in his era, the annual fiscal revenue was less than 5 billion ryo. Of course, Konoha had only just been established back then, and the standard of living wasn't as developed, so it made sense. Even so, that amount had already surpassed the total revenue of all the other villages at the time.
And most of their expenses had to be covered by funding from the daimyo to maintain the village's development and construction year by year.
He genuinely couldn't understand how Uchiha Hikaru was making so much money through a mere tournament, so he finally asked from the depths of his soul:
"Brat, tell me the truth—are you absolutely sure you can make a billion ryo off this? If you dare to deceive me, I swear I won't let you off easy!"
Uchiha Hikaru smiled, understanding Tobirama's doubts. After all, nothing like this had ever existed in the ninja world before—it was natural not to get it.
"Then allow me to show you two. Follow me to the Duel Arena and everything will become clear."
"Tsunade is there as well. I'm sure she'll be thrilled to see you both."
That last part struck directly at the hearts of Hashirama and Tobirama.
Yeah... Little Tsunade must miss us a lot...
So, Uchiha Hikaru had Hashirama and Tobirama change into ANBU uniforms, put on masks, and follow him as the three of them made their way toward the arena.
Hashirama was muttering in his heart the whole time.
Little Tsunade... How have you been all these years?
…
"NOT GOOD!"
"How could I be feeling good!? You want me to calm down!? Hah!"
"Shizune! Tell me—who the hell is actually making money off these matches, huh!?"
Tsunade was slamming the coffee table furiously. The reason? Not hard to guess.
She'd lost money. Again.
The hair tie that normally held her blonde hair up had come loose. Her golden strands were disheveled, with some sticking to her cheeks. Her eyes brimmed with hopeless despair and heartbreak, and her jaw trembled as she spoke.
"Let's give a round of applause to Uzumaki Naruto for successfully defeating his opponent and advancing to the next round!"
"At the same time, let's thank Utakata for such a wonderful performance!"
"That concludes today's matches! Tomorrow's battles will be even more brutal as we move closer to crowning the sole winner!"
Yep, Naruto had made it into the top six—and won.
Tsunade simply couldn't understand how the hell Naruto had managed to knock out Utakata with a fart at a critical moment, rendering her unconscious and stealing the victory with a counterattack.
Seriously, what kind of carbon-based lifeform pulls that off!?
Worse still, this was the final match of the day. Other than the one of Saya —which she found boring and didn't even enjoy winning—she had bet 2 million ryo on every other fight.
That was her savings from three painstaking years!
"Fu is a Jinchūriki. Sasuke fought Fu—and won…"
"Kisame went up against Rock Lee. Kisame's ninjutsu couldn't be affected by Lee's taijutsu, so Kisame won…"
"Gaara and Neji fought. Gaara blocked Neji's chakra strikes with sand…"
"Hinata fought … and some archer killed the assassin…"
"And Naruto won by farting…"
"Ahhh…"
Shizune didn't know how to comfort Lady Tsunade anymore. Her luck at gambling had always been horrendous, and today… it was just outrageous.
"Lady Tsunade, it's okay… Don't you still have a little nest egg in Lord Hikaru's treasury…"
Tsunade shook her head, voice choking up with sobs.
"You don't understand. The real thrill only comes when you gamble with your own money… wuwuwuwu~"
Just then, the door to the private box opened, and Uchiha Hikaru walked in. Tsunade turned her head and saw him—flanked by two masked ANBU operatives.
She froze, then looked at Shizune.
Shizune immediately grasped the situation and slammed the door shut.
I must protect Lady Tsunade's image!
BANG!
The door nearly hit Hikaru in the face as it shut again. A gust of wind blew past the three men.
Behind their masks, Hikaru, Tobirama, and Hashirama exchanged glances.
Hashirama slowly scratched his head and murmured awkwardly:
"Little Tsunade… must've lost again…"
Tobirama facepalmed. He didn't want to comment.
Hikaru, for his part, couldn't understand how someone could keep losing so consistently. Could there actually be some kind of supernatural curse at work?
If that were true, he might have to take a page from that senior —kidnap the goddess of fortune herself to change his own fate… or bleed her dry in revenge.
Ten seconds later, Tsunade had tied her hair back and was leaning against the sofa. Shizune opened the door again, wearing a smile but whispering softly.
"You two… You didn't see anything just now, right?"
Tobirama and Hashirama could only nod silently.
They were still in disguise. If they blew their cover now, the surprise would be ruined.
Hikaru slowly walked over to Tsunade, draped an arm over her shoulder, and asked casually:
"What's wrong? Why'd you look so out of it just now?"
Tsunade rolled her eyes, still irritated.
"I lost again. Why the hell do I always lose? I seriously don't get it."
Suddenly, Hikaru thought of something amusing and decided to bring it up.
"I heard the First Hokage was quite the gambler too. Don't tell me you inherited it from your grandfather?"
As soon as he said that, Tsunade coughed hard twice.
"What do you mean I inherited it from him? He learned it from me! My grandfather had tracheitis, okay?"
"Every time he went to the casino, he had to sneak out. If Grandma found out, he'd get scolded and wouldn't get dinner."
"Eventually, all his money got confiscated by Grandma. So he'd send me to Second Grandpa every day, acting all pitiful and begging for spending money."
Tobirama suddenly recalled those old memories—little Tsunade running up to him with big eyes and a pleading tone.
"Second Grandpa, I want money for dango… Grandma won't let me eat too much… Please pity me~"
"Second Grandpa, can I have some barbecue today~?"
"Second Grandpa, I really, really want tempura… lots of it~!"
And Tobirama would always smile, reach into his pocket, and hand over some ryo.
After all, she carried the blood of his big brother—having a good appetite was a good thing!
His sister-in-law used to say that eating too much made her fat and unhealthy, but Tsunade was Senju and Uzumaki blood combined—no amount of tempura was going to break that constitution.
He'd even complained to Hashirama a few times about it. But his brother always looked sheepish and avoided the subject.
Now I get it…
All along, the real culprit… was my own brother!
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