Chapter 52 – I Will Spread This Hopeful Jutsu Across the World!
"Huh. That was way easier than I thought."
Uchiha Yujiro let out a satisfied sigh as he watched Tsunade freeze in stunned disbelief through the surveillance feed.
On either side of him stood Jiraiya—who looked moments away from blurting out "What the hell—?!"—and Orochimaru, who merely shook his head, watching Yujiro with the wary look one reserves for a very polite lunatic.
"You put genjutsu on that machine, didn't you?" Jiraiya asked suspiciously. "Some kind of Sharingan trick?"
Yujiro smiled and shook his head.
"Nope. You can feel it too, right? There's no chakra flowing through it.
It's not illusion—it's psychology."
He leaned back in his chair, tapping the monitor.
"Lights. Sound. The rhythm of the falling steel balls. Together they create a hypnotic feedback loop that makes the brain crave repetition—over and over again.
Human behavior… truly fascinating, isn't it?"
Orochimaru and Jiraiya exchanged glances.
They couldn't say whether humanity was amazing—
but Yujiro definitely was.
---
Their eyes on him grew more complicated by the second,
but Yujiro barely noticed.
Why bother looking at a couple of middle-aged men
when the screen showed a real goddess?
Tsunade, live and in high definition.
He'd heard the rumors before, of course—Konoha's legendary beauty.
But seeing her in person was something else entirely.
Curves like a perfect sculpture, skin smooth as silk,
and those headlights—
bright enough to guide ships through a storm.
An "Azur Lane–class battleship," as Yujiro put it to himself.
Forget feeding children—those could support a second generation.
Yujiro had seen his fair share of beautiful women,
but none quite like her.
If before, when he'd half-jokingly told Fugaku that he wanted to "marry Tsunade,"
he was only half serious,
then now—
he meant every damn word.
And honestly, even if she aged ten or fifteen years like in the original story?
Still fine.
Perfectly fine.
All thanks to that miraculous seal—the Yin Seal.
---
Just thinking about it made his eyes light up.
"That technique is incredible," he whispered.
"Even after more than a decade, she still looks exactly the same… The Yin Seal truly is a god-tier jutsu."
And then, like the mad visionary he was, Yujiro clenched his fist and made a solemn vow:
"I've decided. I'll spread this hopeful, life-changing jutsu across the entire world!
Every kunoichi deserves to learn it—so we'll never again see tragedies like Anko turning into Anko the Potato or Mei Terumi turning into Mei the 'Maybe Not.'
Eternal youth for all!"
Yes.
He would make it his life's mission to prevent the heartbreak of fading beauty.
"Since ancient times," he mused dramatically,
"heroes and beauties never lived to see themselves grow old.
But that ends today!"
With the Yin Seal, beauty could be eternal!
And, Yujiro thought smugly,
if it could preserve a woman's youth,
it could surely preserve his own handsome face, too.
Even if it did nothing else—no chakra storage, no healing power—
it would still be worth calling the ultimate jutsu.
---
"Alright," Yujiro said, straightening up. "Time for our grand entrance…
Bro, you and your boys go first. I'll follow."
The "bros" he mentioned weren't Orochimaru or Jiraiya—
but a group of local debt collectors.
Tsunade owed them money.
And they owed Yujiro money.
So naturally, they were under his command.
"What? You don't owe me?"
Yujiro's smile turned razor-sharp.
"Take another look at my Lightning-Fire Sword and say that again."
He wasn't worried about gangsters—
for shinobi, thugs like these were less threatening than house cats.
Even a freshly graduated academy student could probably wipe the floor with them.
Tsunade, of course, could vaporize them with a flick of her finger.
But Tsunade had pride.
Reckless, chaotic pride—sure.
But even she wouldn't stoop so low as to silence her creditors with violence.
That—
was where she differed most from Uchiha Yujiro.
---
Following his order, the loan sharks swaggered into the casino,
surrounding Tsunade and Shizune.
"Oi, oi, oi, Princess. Time to pay up, don't you think?"
"Running and hiding all the time—it's really not cool, y'know."
"If you can't pay, we'll just send you to the mines. Little hard labor never hurt anyone, heh heh heh."
To be fair, this was a shōnen manga world.
Even gangsters, when confronting a gorgeous woman,
thought only about sending her to dig coal—
not… other things.
Truly, paragons of restraint.
Comparable to the gentlemen of Terra, from Arknights.
---
"Ahaha… well, this is awkward…"
Under normal circumstances, Tsunade could have handled loan sharks in her sleep.
A few threats, a quick transformation into her younger self—case closed.
But this time, she'd been caught completely off guard.
Surrounded on all sides,
she felt a bead of sweat roll down her neck.
"Damn… this is bad," she muttered under her breath.
"Tsunade-sama, what do we do?" Shizune whispered nervously.
And that was the thing—
even though she could flatten them all with a single punch,
the so-called "Legendary Sucker" was actually frozen by social pressure.
After all, as the saying goes:
"Even a tiger can be deceived by courtesy."
And in this case,
the tiger had just walked straight into Uchiha Yujiro's trap.
"Alright then," Uchiha Yujiro murmured, straightening his collar.
"Everything's in place. Time for me to make my entrance."
Confirming that the stage was set and the timing perfect, he pushed open the casino doors with a confident smile.
Across the room stood Tsunade—eyes vacant, aura defeated,
the once-glorious princess of Konoha now radiating the same energy as a losing gambler staring at the sun and calling it green.
Yujiro strode forward.
As if on cue, the loan sharks who had surrounded her immediately parted, stepping back in perfect unison—
obedient little ducklings making way for their true master.
"You scoundrels! What are you trying to do to this beautiful lady? Step aside!"
The debt collectors exchanged glances.
(Didn't you order us to do this?) they thought,
but on the surface, they nodded, bowed, and backed away faster than anyone could blink.
---
With the path cleared, Yujiro approached Tsunade, flashing his most dazzling, hero-worthy smile.
"Such a lovely lady… Is someone giving you trouble?"
The air around him shimmered with charisma.
Every ounce of his 32-point Charm stat was unleashed at full power.
His warm, gentle smile could have melted glaciers.
Tsunade, perhaps, was too shocked to react—
but her disciple Shizune certainly wasn't immune.
"Ah…" she gasped softly, cheeks reddening.
Even the pig in her arms, Tonton, squealed in distress—
partly because Shizune's grip had unconsciously tightened.
Poor Tonton. The first casualty of Yujiro's overwhelming charm.
---
Tsunade, however, squinted at him.
"Hold on a second… you—Uchiha, aren't you? Don't tell me… this casino is yours?"
She hadn't needed a forehead protector or a Sharingan glow to recognize him.
Some traits of the Uchiha were unmistakable—
that smug face, that posture, that "I own this place" kind of aura.
There was truth in the old saying:
Sometimes your enemies understand you better than your friends.
And as a proud Senju, Tsunade could recognize that Uchiha energy a mile away.
---
Yujiro raised his hands innocently.
"No, no, not exactly mine.
But I do happen to hold a few shares in it…"
He paused mid-sentence—then let his eyes widen in mock surprise.
"Wait—don't tell me—
you're that Tsunade, aren't you?"
The perfect mix of astonishment, humor, and just the faintest glimmer of smugness spread across his face.
Three parts surprised, three parts amused,
three parts "serves you right, heh heh,"
and one final hidden part of "tragically disappointed."
"You—you're Tsunade-senpai, right?" he said, pretending to only just realize.
"What an incredible coincidence! To meet the legendary Tsunade here of all places—"
"You've got the wrong person!" Tsunade snapped, cutting him off almost before he finished.
"Oh, come on, there's no mistake! Tsunade-senpai, it really is you!"
Yujiro smiled wide, turning up the enthusiasm to eleven.
"It's such an honor to finally—"
"Shizune, we're leaving!"
---
Even now—
even at this humiliating low point in her life—
Tsunade's pride refused to die.
The thought of being seen like this by a member of her clan's ancient rivals made her blood boil.
Her shame outweighed even her addiction to pachinko.
Fueled by pure mortification, Tsunade bolted upright,
grabbed Shizune by the wrist, and sprinted out of the casino at top speed—
the picture of a legendary kunoichi fleeing like a guilty teenager caught skipping class.
Of course, she knew perfectly well—
her dignity had already been shattered,
and there was no gluing it back together now.
But still…
she'd rather die than let an Uchiha see it happen.