"Shizune! Shizune!"
A loud, lazy voice rang out from the room. A disheveled blonde woman with wild, wavy hair casually picked her nose, scratched her back, and shouted without a shred of decorum, "How much money do we have left?"
"N-None… We're out," replied the short-haired, pure-looking woman beside her with a helpless expression. Her voice carried a faint grievance as she said quietly, "Lady Tsunade, we don't have any money left."
After speaking, she looked down at the soft pink piglet nestled in her arms—Tonton.
"Soon… we might have to sell you, Tonton."
"Puyo! Puyo!"
"Oh no, Tonton… I was only kidding!" Shizune panicked as the piglet squirmed in her arms. "Sure, Lady Tsunade eats a lot, but it's not like she'd go as far as to sell you. Really—we're not going to eat you either!"
"Puyo, puyo!"
Really?
Tonton finally settled down, raising her big watery eyes to look up at Shizune.
"Puyo"
"What about the gold?" Tsunade didn't even spare a glance at the chaos beside her. She kept picking her nose while casually asking, "I remember stashing quite a bit of gold, didn't I? If we sell it, wouldn't that solve everything?"
"But… the gold…" Shizune hesitated for a moment. She glanced at the woman in front of her—who had not even the slightest air of a legendary Sannin—and said reluctantly, "The gold's already been traded… for sand!"
Lady Tsunade's luck was still as terrible as ever. Every time she bought one of those so-called "Gold Panner Gift Pack," it either had no gold or just a tiny speck of it.
Of course, it was still better than gambling, by a lot. And thankfully, Shizune had ignored Lady Tsunade's reckless declarations like "What good is this tiny gold? Toss it!" and carefully extracted every scrap of gold from each box herself. Otherwise, their losses would've been even worse.
At least… they'd sold the leftover tools from the hundreds of gift boxes for several hundred ryo worth of scrap metal.
That counted as something, right?
Even if that something kept getting smaller and smaller.
"Lady Tsunade… what do we do now?"
"Ugh… I thought the money Grandpa and Granduncle left behind would be enough for you and me to live on," Tsunade sighed deeply, her tone full of resignation. "How has it only been a few years… and we're already broke?!"
"Because you're addicted to gambling and can't stop!"
"Hm?!"
"No—I mean…" Shizune faltered when she heard the warning tone in Tsunade's voice. She quickly averted her eyes and tried to change the subject. "What do we do now? The little we have left won't even cover rent."
"What do we do…" Tsunade frowned, propping up her head with one hand and scratching her shapely backside with the other. "Didn't they say Sunagakure was full of gold?"
"As if!" Shizune's voice pitched up. "That's just a scam! Lady Tsunade, you've been to Sunagakure—what's there besides sand?"
And all those "Gold Panner Gift Pack" lately? If that didn't make the truth obvious, what would?
Her cheeks puffed up as she muttered in protest.
"Even if there's gold, it's mostly just sand. We absolutely can't let them fool us again!"
"I know," Tsunade rolled her eyes and replied without much patience. "I was just saying, that's all."
Then suddenly, she seemed to remember something.
"Oh right—didn't that shop owner hand you a slip of paper this morning? What did it say?"
"Paper? Oh!" Shizune blinked, then pulled out a folded sheet. She frowned as she spoke with thinly veiled irritation, "That scammy shop owner already conned you out of so much money. I bet it's nothing good—I haven't even looked at it yet."
"'Scammed'?" Tsunade rolled her eyes again, this time with mock offense. "He made everything clear. My luck is just what it is. Honestly, I've felt a lot better lately—less to worry about."
She reached out with her left hand and snatched the paper from Shizune.
"Hand it over. Let me see what it is."
She sat up as she spoke, then after a brief moment of reading…
Her eyes widened. Her mouth slowly formed an "O."
"One… ten… hundred… thousand… ten thousand… hundred thousand… million… TEN MILLION?!"
That much money?!
Shizune stared blankly at the flyer. "A… 4WD car race? Aren't those just the toy cars kids play with? And the grand prize is that much?!"
Then—
"I've decided!" Tsunade raised a fist in the air, full of conviction.
"???"
"I'm entering that competition!"
With her bust jiggling dramatically as she smacked her chest, Tsunade licked her lips, her face full of greed and determination.
"I'm winning that hundred million!"
...
"One hundred million, huh… Sunagakure really is bold." Hiruzen Sarutobi looked at the advertisement in his hand, shaking his head in admiration. "Looks like the Fourth Kazekage has truly turned things around over there."
He'd heard that the Fourth Kazekage's specialty was the Magnet Release: Gold Dust. Could it be…?
He stroked his beard, eyes filled with envy.
Then he turned his gaze across the table, locking eyes with Danzo.
"What do you think Sunagakure is up to?"
There had been a surprising number of new commissions coming from the Land of Wind lately. Rumor had it that Sunagakure had stopped accepting mission requests entirely.
A hidden village… that no longer takes missions?
It made no sense.
He lowered his pipe, frowning. "And what about you… why are you suddenly working with Sunagakure? There hasn't been a single report submitted to Konoha."
"Simple commercial exchanges. Nothing to do with shinobi operations. I have no obligation to report them to you." Danzo's expression was stone-cold as he sat in his chair. "I know why you're here. It's about the jinchūriki. It was a fluke—I didn't expect him to register. Don't worry. I'll have his application quietly removed when I return."
"That's Minato's son. Not just a jinchūriki," Hiruzen said, exhaling smoke with a weary expression. He stood up, hands behind his back. "Minato and Kushina died protecting Konoha. We can't treat their child like this."
"..."
Danzo remained silent, staring at his old comrade. He knew full well… that decision back then had been made by all of them. Hiruzen couldn't suddenly back out now.
This old fox…
He'd banned everyone—even Minato's students and guards—from showing Naruto any warmth. And yet now, he secretly intervenes himself?
Unbelievable.
But Danzo understood… when Hiruzen started waxing sentimental, it meant he'd already made up his mind.
All Danzo had to do was listen.
And then—
"Let him enter," Hiruzen said quietly, his face tinged with nostalgia as he took another puff. "Konoha owes their family. If Naruto wants to join, let him. I'll assign ANBU to ensure his safety."
"You've lost your mind! He's the jinchūriki!"
Danzo slammed the table, furious.
But seeing Hiruzen's unwavering expression…
He could only grit his teeth and glare.
"You'll regret this, Hiruzen!"
He turned and stormed out.
But really…
Everyone was already used to this.