Tsunade sat expressionlessly before a slot machine flashing with dazzling lights while mechanically inserting one chip after another into the slot before viciously slamming the start button.
Clatter!
The symbols on the screen spun rapidly before coming to a stop.
Without surprise, it was yet another combination that narrowly missed the winning pattern.
Another coin inserted, another pull.
Another miss!
Again and again.
Shinichi stood half a step behind her like a human coin rack with an expressionless expression while holding a tray of chips in his hands.
Whenever Tsunade ran out of chips, he silently grabbed another handful and passed them over.
Tsunade accepted them without even looking and continued feeding the seemingly bottomless money-devouring machine.
At the moment, Shizune and Kurenai were not present. After arriving at Tanzaku Town, Tsunade had used the excuse, once I win big, I'll treat you to a feast and buy you pretty clothes, a line even she herself probably did not believe, to send the two disapproving girls off to wander the streets.
Thus, the heavy responsibility of keeping watch over the legendary great sucker and preventing her from doing something irrational after losing too much fell onto Shinichi's shoulders.
Shinichi did not want to come in either, but he had no choice. He needed to keep an eye on Tsunade in case this woman lost her mind after losing too much and tried to pawn off the ninja weapons and tools they had just received from Takumi Village in exchange for chips.
Not to mention whether the casino would even dare accept them, but the mere possibility of such a thing happening would already be disastrous enough.
Another miss!
The symbols stopped once again on a meaningless combination, not even earning the lowest consolation prize.
Your luck really is unbelievably terrible.
Even with Shinichi's current state of mind, he could not help but complain internally.
He had watched Tsunade battle through this slot machine area for over two hours already. She had switched between more than twenty machines, yet had not even won the smallest consolation prize a single time.
The only results were small losses, medium losses, and heavy losses, cycling endlessly.
If he had not been strictly controlling the amount of chips he handed her each time, she probably would have lost even more.
Still, looking on the bright side, Tsunade was currently only playing the relatively mild slot machines with limited bets per round. She had not gone directly to the gambling tables to participate in card games or roulette, where tens or hundreds of thousands of Ryo could be lost in an instant.
So far, she had only lost less than one hundred thousand Ryo. To ordinary people, that was a massive amount of money, but to Tsunade, or to Shinichi, who was fronting the cost, it was still within an acceptable range. It could be treated as insurance money to avoid even bigger trouble.
After all, Tsunade's loss every gamble constitution was, in a sense, a different kind of warning system. It was even more accurate than Shinichi's current Misfortune Sight.
If Tsunade ever actually started winning money, even a small amount, he would probably immediately raise his guard to the maximum and start worrying about his own and the entire team's safety.
Whenever this woman's gambling luck improved and she started winning, it usually meant that some extremely terrible disaster was about to happen, almost as if it were a law of causality.
"Damn it! There's definitely something wrong with this machine! It feels off!" Seeing herself come up empty yet again, Tsunade cursed irritably under her breath and prepared to stand up.
"Change machines! The one next to it looks way more pleasing to the eye! I have a feeling the next round, no, the round after that, is definitely going to hit the jackpot!"
"Tsunade-sensei."
Shinichi finally could not hold back from reminding her.
"Since we sat down here, this is already the twenty-third machine you've changed to. You've basically tried almost every machine in this area."
As he spoke, Shinichi lightly shook the chip tray in his hands. Only a pitiful few chips remained inside.
"How about we just stop here for today? It's getting late, we should go eat. Shizune and Kurenai are probably tired from walking around and waiting for us."
Looking at the nearly empty chip tray, hesitation and unwillingness flashed across Tsunade's face. She opened her mouth as though she still wanted to come up with another excuse.
Just then, a sudden commotion erupted nearby in front of another row of slot machines.
A middle-aged man wearing gold-rimmed glasses and looking like a salaryman suddenly let out a miserable howl, his knees buckling as he collapsed to the floor. Then he began frantically slapping himself across the face with loud smacks, drawing the attention of many nearby people.
"I lost! I lost everything! It's all gone! I'm not human! I'm an animal!!"
The middle-aged man cried miserably, tears and snot streaming down his face.
"No more gambling! I swear I'll never gamble again! I'll quit completely! Sage of Six Paths, please give me one more chance!"
The sudden spectacle immediately attracted a small crowd that gathered around to point and whisper among themselves.
"Huh? Isn't that Watanabe? He lost everything again?"
"I heard he came straight here after getting paid today. Tsk…"
"What a tragedy, but he brought it on himself."
The surrounding comments only made the man called Watanabe feel even more ashamed. He just kept repeating that he would quit gambling while continuing to slap himself until his cheeks became swollen and red.
Seeing this, Shinichi was just about to use him as a negative example to persuade Tsunade once more that the sea of gambling has no shore, turn back before it's too late.
At that moment, several men with shifty eyes and slick behavior, clearly casino regulars, gathered around Watanabe and began persuading him one after another: "Brother Watanabe, don't say things so absolutely! The money you lost didn't disappear! It's just temporarily being stored here in the casino for you! If you really quit gambling, then you'll never get that money back. What a waste!"
"Think about it. How much is your monthly salary? If you don't gamble, how are you supposed to win back what you lost? How are you supposed to repay your debts? With that tiny salary of yours, how long would it take?"
"Anyway, I'm not trying to persuade you! But I have a friend who used to be even worse off than you. He lost his house, his wife ran off with another man, and he almost jumped into a river. But what happened afterward? His luck turned around, and he made a comeback in one game! Now he bought a new house, and even changed wives too, one younger and prettier than before. What does that tell you? It means opportunities always exist. The key is whether you dare to gamble and whether you can hold on until luck comes your way!"
"Exactly! Watanabe-san, you're at rock bottom right now. Don't you understand the darkness before dawn? Your luck is about to rebound! If you give up now, aren't you just pushing away the good fortune that's about to arrive?!"
After this combination assault, Watanabe, who had collapsed on the ground, swearing to quit gambling, unconsciously stopped slapping himself. His eyes began wavering violently with struggle and indecision, and his breathing grew heavier.