Chapter 90: This Game Has Already Begun
What the deployment of ninja squads represented, Akatsuchi and Kitsuchi were all too aware.
War?
The two shook their heads lightly, temporarily dismissing the thought. Although the Fourth Ninja World War would happen sooner or later, in their view, the time was not yet right.
It had been some time since the Third Ninja World War, but the strength of each village had not yet recovered to its pre-war peak. If another two or three years passed, and the new generation of ninjas had grown up, then it might be possible.
As for now, unless there were sufficient benefits, no ninja village would enter the fray prematurely.
"Get to it!" Seeing the confused expressions on Akatsuchi and Kitsuchi's faces, Onoki had no intention of explaining and spoke impatiently.
"Yes, Lord Tsuchikage!" Akatsuchi and Kitsuchi's expressions turned solemn as they spoke respectfully, then turned and left.
Until the two figures had completely disappeared, the calm expression on Onoki's face was replaced by one of confusion as he muttered to himself: "What could it be that has those fellows from the Cloud Village so concerned?"
Under Yuto's secret maneuvering, the entire ninja world, unknowingly, had all five Great Ninja Villages entered the game. As for the other small ninja villages, Yuto didn't care, and neither did the other several ninja villages.
Currently, on this chessboard called the ninja world, only five players could participate in the game. The other small ninja villages didn't even have the qualification to take a seat at the table. Even the current Akatsuki likewise did not have the qualification to take a seat.
Mount Myoboku! One of the three legendary sanctuaries.
This was a place within Mount Myoboku, similar to a temple. An old toad several meters tall, with an orange body, was sitting drowsily on the huge throne that was dedicated to it.
This old toad was the progenitor of Mount Myoboku, the one known as the Great Toad Sage. Its aged body could not make one overlook the powerful chakra within the Great Toad Sage.
"How much longer is the Great Toad Sage going to sleep?" Jiraiya looked at Fukasaku beside him with a helpless expression.
If Fukasaku hadn't told him that the Great Toad Sage had an important prophecy, Jiraiya would have long since slipped away. You must know, his creative work was only halfway done when he was reverse-summoned by Fukasaku.
Fukasaku raised his head, glared at Jiraiya, and said nothing. Seeing this, Jiraiya could only sigh helplessly.
Just when Jiraiya thought he would have to wait for a while, the originally drowsy Toad Sage slowly opened his eyes.
"Little Jiraiya has come." A deep yet gentle voice came from above, making Jiraiya's spirit lift as he quickly looked up.
"Great Toad Sage, is there another new prophecy? Is it about the Child of Prophecy?" Jiraiya quickly asked, his expression serious.
Hearing Jiraiya's words, the Great Toad Sage was silent for a moment, then slowly spoke: "I did not foresee anything about the Child of Prophecy. However, just now in my sleep, I saw a glimpse of the Leaf Village engulfed in the flames of war."
"The Leaf Village engulfed in the flames of war?" A shocked expression appeared on Jiraiya's face as he stood frozen for a moment.
"Great Toad Sage, then..." Jiraiya quickly asked again, but stopped halfway through his words.
At this moment, the Great Toad Sage had already fallen back into a deep sleep, and would obviously not provide Jiraiya with an answer.
"When will the Great Toad Sage awaken next time?" Jiraiya turned his head to look at Fukasaku beside him, his expression full of seriousness.
"I don't know. Perhaps in a little while, perhaps in a long time." Fukasaku shook his head, a similarly helpless expression on his face.
"Is that so, it seems I have to return to the Leaf Village ahead of schedule."
Jiraiya frowned. Naturally, he took the Great Toad Sage's prophecy seriously.
The Leaf Village engulfed in the flames of war was not a good prophecy, no matter how one looked at it.
Poof! With a cloud of white smoke dispersing, Jiraiya had already vanished from his spot.
A large entertainment venue.
The entire room was terrifyingly quiet, with everyone's eyes fixed on a gambling table in the center of the room.
A beautiful blonde woman with her hair tied in two pigtails looked calmly at the chips on the table.
And opposite this blonde woman sat a middle-aged man, sweating profusely.
"Open!" a voice of a croupier came from the side.
The dice in both of their hands were revealed simultaneously.
The next moment, the entire room erupted into loud clamor.
"She won again!"
"How is this possible? We've played everything, and she hasn't lost a single time!"
"She actually won all the money from everyone here! From now on, whoever calls her the 'Legendary Sucker' again, I'll kill him!!"
Voices full of curses and clamor continuously came from the crowd.
But no one present dared to step forward and snatch back the chips, which had already piled up like a small mountain on the table.
After all, the dozens of figures lying at the blonde woman's feet were no joke.
"Lady Tsunade, we've made a fortune!"
Shizune looked at the chips, which were almost piled into a small mountain, her eyes full of stars as she spoke excitedly.
Tonton, who was being held in Shizune's arms, also let out two soft grunts.
However, compared to Shizune's excited face, Tsunade's expression was instead somewhat calm, even with a hint of an unpleasant look between her brows.
"Shizune, how many rounds have we won?" Tsunade asked, her tone somewhat strange.
Shizune was slightly stunned; she hadn't really been counting. After thinking for a moment, she said uncertainly:
"It should be several dozen rounds by now. Ever since we entered this establishment, Lady Tsunade doesn't seem to have lost once."
Bang! The moment Shizune finished speaking, Tsunade abruptly stood up and turned to walk out of the shop.
"Lady Tsunade, the money!"
Shizune froze for a moment, let out a cry, and even dropped Tonton from her hands, hurriedly hugging the chips from the table to her chest.
At the same time, Shizune put on a fierce expression and looked at the surrounding crowd, saying:
"Anyone who dares to covet our money, I'll kill you!"
After speaking, Shizune exchanged all the chips on the table for money, packed them into two suitcases, and hurriedly chased after the direction Tsunade had gone.
Meanwhile, Yuto, the instigator of all this, was not in the Mist Village, but had instead appeared on a street in the Leaf Village.
Streams of people came and went, various shops lined both sides of the road, and merchants pulled goods, preparing to sell them—a scene of prosperity.
It had to be said, the Leaf Village, as the most prosperous of the Five Great Ninja Villages, was truly incomparable to the recently developing Mist Village.
Looking at the prosperous Leaf Village before him, Yuto had a gentle smile on his face as he softly spoke in a voice only he could hear:
"This game has already begun."
Ranmaru followed closely beside Yuto, curiously observing his surroundings with a face full of curiosity. At the same time, his gaze occasionally fell on the turtle with its tail sticking up on Yuto's shoulder.
Perhaps because the Chunin Exams were about to begin, the flow of people in and out of the Leaf Village was quite high. Yuto and Ranmaru did not undergo any inspection and easily entered the Leaf Village by following a merchant caravan.
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