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"You can rest assured, with us protecting you, no one will dare to lay a hand on you!"
The speakers were two burly men, flanking Akio on either side like bodyguards.
Behind them followed a group of a dozen or so people—civilians, shinobi, young and old alike—all gritting their teeth in frustration as they trailed Akio. Every time someone looked like they wanted to rush forward, they would immediately lose their nerve the moment they saw the two hulking men.
Akio glanced behind him and let out a helpless sigh. "I really am an idiot... seriously."
After lunch, Akio had found the gambling hall run by Kinkaku and Ginkaku. Overjoyed at the discovery, he had originally planned to bankrupt the casino first and meet the two brothers afterward. However, after an entire afternoon of gambling, although he had won tens of millions of ryo from the dozen or so people trailing him, he ended up earning the friendship of the casino instead.
"Wasn't it said that if you win too much, the casino would cause you trouble?" Akio cursed inwardly. "Something's definitely off here..."
In the afternoon, Akio had dominated the tables for a while before realizing that the house didn't actually gamble themselves—they only took commissions.
So, the more Akio won, the happier the casino became, since their cut increased.
Akio had considered stirring up trouble for the sake of the commission, but after thinking it over... it didn't feel much different from just outright taking out Kinkaku and Ginkaku.
"This damned casino is basically just providing a place for gambling..." Akio thought to himself, glancing again at the two bodyguards. His mouth twitched. "Not only do they provide the venue, they even offer bodyguards..."
The two bodyguards escorted Akio back to the hot spring inn, shoving away the persistent followers with a few harsh warnings. After closing the door to his room, Akio took a deep breath.
"Looks like this casino route won't work after all..." he thought, already planning to wallow in the hot springs again.
"What kind of ridiculous casinos does this world have? They only offer a venue and security, and still manage to make money? Might as well gamble at home..."
"Wait... that's not right..." A flicker of realization crossed Akio's mind.
"I remember there was a storyline where Tsunade was chased down over gambling debts... Which means the casino also offers loans? Probably with loan shark-level interest, Naruto-style."
Excited, Akio clapped his fists together. In all his self-proclaimed gambling god glory these past days, he had completely forgotten about losing and owing debts.
"If I rack up a huge debt with the casino... maybe they'll actually try to keep me here."
The next day, Akio stretched lazily. "Another beautiful day..." He glanced around, sighing, "It'd be even better if I weren't being watched."
"Alright then, time to lose some money!" Akio muttered, heading once again to the Kumogakure casino.
The casino manager clearly remembered him. As soon as he stepped in, Akio was given a grand, enthusiastic welcome.
But two hours later...
Akio had not only lost all the money he won yesterday, but also the five million ryo he had been given for his "escort mission."
Even though he intended to lose it all, Akio still felt a sting in his heart...
After losing everything, Akio looked around, then waved the manager over.
Sure enough, this time the manager's attitude had cooled significantly. Akio didn't mind, smiling brightly as he said, "I've just gotten back into yesterday's winning rhythm, but unfortunately, I'm out of funds. Could your casino front me some money?"
The manager gave him a suspicious look, the classic "I've seen gamblers like you a hundred times" expression.
"Loans are possible, but you'll need to provide collateral."
Akio blinked, a little dumbfounded. "Collateral? What did Tsunade use, her looks?" he mused.
Sighing, he unfastened the longsword he had been carrying since arriving in Kumogakure.
"This is my personal weapon. I'll leave it with you for now..."
The sword earned him a loan of just one million ryo, which, under Akio's deliberate losing strategy, was gone in less than half an hour.
Akio called the manager over again, putting on a crestfallen look. "Could you lend me a bit more? I can feel I'm just about to turn things around..."
"Collateral?"
Akio sighed. "I don't have anything valuable left on me... How about I pledge myself? If I lose, I'll work as a gatekeeper for the casino."
The manager gave him a sidelong glance and shook his head. "People who owe the casino end up sent to the mines."
"The mines?" Akio repeated. "The mines are owned by the casino too?"
The manager glared at him. "They belong to the two lords."
Akio frowned. Mining work wasn't unfamiliar to him; he'd done worse. But if he were sent to some remote area, it would defeat the purpose of staying in Kumogakure.
"Mining, forging, little mustaches..." Akio muttered under his breath, an idea forming in his mind.
"I'm an eighth-level blacksmith. Eighth-level blacksmiths aren't exactly common, right?" he said to the manager. "Don't you need more smiths?"
The manager looked confused. "Eighth-level what now? But yeah, we're short on smiths these days. If you can forge, we'll accept it as repayment."
Akio nodded, but then realized something was off. "Wait, I haven't even lost yet, and it feels like I'm already pledged to you guys."
The manager chuckled, then pulled out another one-million-ryo note and handed it to Akio, clearly waiting for him to lose it all. Akio almost wanted to smack him across the face.
Still, he held himself back. "Tobirama, oh Tobirama... I'm making some serious sacrifices for you this time..."
At this point, infiltrating Kumogakure had turned into a game for Akio, no longer just about giving Tobirama a "surprise."
Just as the manager had "predicted," Akio quickly lost the new loan and was promptly sent to the forge house.
As soon as he entered, a wave of heat assaulted him. A shirtless, burly man walked up, glanced at the casino manager, and asked, "Another debtor? Why bring him here?"
Clearly familiar with the manager, the burly man was told, "He claims to be good at forging. You're short on smiths, so I'm sending him over. He'll work off his debt in two years."
The burly man frowned and hesitated for a moment. "Fine. We're barely managing our daily ninja tool supply since all the smiths were called away to forge that chakra diffusion cannon for the two lords."
As soon as Akio stepped inside, he began scanning the place, looking for the little mustached man—but snapped back to attention at what he overheard, his mouth twitching.
"A cannon? There's a cannon in the world of Naruto? I haven't even unlocked a technology tree, and Kumogakure already has?"
Meanwhile, in the Raikage Tower—
The Second Raikage sat listening to an ANBU's report, frowning in silence.
"You're saying Namikaze Minato was sent to the forge house because of gambling debts?"
"Yes!"
"And his personal blade was pawned to the casino?"
"Yes!"
"According to Bee, he's a swordsman..." The Second Raikage thought, puzzled. "Could he really be a compulsive gambler?"
"Bring Bee to me!"
"Yes, sir!"
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