After the dice landed, Tsunade pressed her hands against the edge of the table, a thin layer of sweat breaking out on her forehead.
She closed her eyes and concentrated all her energy to listen — crisp, slightly scattered, it definitely had to be small!
“Small!
It’s definitely small this time!
There’s no way it’s wrong!”
She shouted out with full confidence.
Mirai picked his ear: “Then let it be large.”
Kushina swallowed a mouthful of saliva and cautiously lifted the dice cup —
Four, four, five, thirteen points.
Large.
The courtyard fell into a dead silence.
Nawaki opened his mouth wide, Orochimaru raised an eyebrow, and Uzumaki Mito laughed out loud under the corridor.
Tsunade sat blankly in her chair, her lips moving slightly as if her soul had been sucked out of her entire body.
She had lost, getting all three rounds completely wrong.
“Sister Tsunade?” Kushina cautiously poked her shoulder, “Um… you lost…”
“I—” Tsunade slammed the table and stood up abruptly, her blonde hair disheveled, her eyes wide, “How could I possibly guess all three rounds wrong!?
This is impossible!
Did this brat pull some kind of trick?”
“The dice are from your house, the cup was held by Kushina, and I didn’t even touch the edge of the table the whole time.” Mirai spread his hands, his smile extremely innocent, “Sister Tsunade, a bet’s a bet.”
Tsunade pointed at him, her fingers shaking: “You… did you secretly use some kind of pupil technique?
Telepathy?
Foresight?
Confess honestly!”
“I’m from the Uzumaki Clan, where would I get a pupil technique?” Mirai tilted his head,
“Besides, Sister Tsunade, you don’t really think those ‘listening to dice’ tricks in casinos are useful, do you?
The moment the dice land on the table, the angle, force, elasticity of the table, and even the weather humidity can affect the result.
Relying on your ears to listen?
That’s just something casinos make up to fool suckers.”
Tsunade’s face turned from green to red and then to white, and finally she collapsed into the chair, muttering, “I don’t believe it… I don’t believe it…”
“Sister, you lost to a seven-year-old kid, hahahaha!” Nawaki laughed so hard he rolled on the ground.
“Nawaki, if you laugh again I’ll beat you up—!”
“Teacher Orochimaru, save me!”
Orochimaru stood calmly to the side, his gaze sweeping thoughtfully over Uzumaki Mirai.
Anyway… at seven years old, being able to reach this extent is a bit interesting.
The arc of Orochimaru’s lips deepened by a few fractions.
“One month, Sister Tsunade!
At your beck and call!
Massages!” Mirai raised a finger, smiling very punchably, “Starting tonight, huh, I’ll book a shoulder and neck package first.”
Tsunade slumped over the table, her voice muffled: “…Got it, got it!
So annoying!”
Kushina skipped over to Mito’s side, excitedly reporting: “Grandma Mito!
Mirai won!
Sister Tsunade lost!”
Mito smiled and patted her head, her gaze gently sweeping over the few people making a ruckus in the courtyard —
Tsunade chased after Nawaki to beat him up, Nawaki ran around Orochimaru,
while Mirai stood on the sidelines fanning the flames and shouting, “Sister Tsunade, hitting like that won’t hurt at all, you have to use force!
What about your Heavenly Foot of Pain?”
“Mirai, are we still good brothers?” This was Nawaki’s voice.
“It’s getting livelier and livelier,” she said softly, the steam from the tea misting her brows and eyes, “Hashirama, have you seen this…”
The evening breeze brushed across the courtyard, bringing the laughter and arguments of the youths.
On this autumn evening, the Senju Clan Compound seemed to come alive once again.
…
After the gambling farce dispersed, Mirai took the initiative to walk up to Orochimaru.
He raised his head, looking at this future one of the “Sannin”, rogue ninja, mad scientist, and Snake Aunt.
At this moment, he was still just a handsome young Jonin, carrying a scholarly aura beneath his flowing long hair, and even looking somewhat gentle.
“Senior Orochimaru, hello.” Mirai greeted him properly, his tone carrying a bit of solemnity, “When Brother Nawaki called out to you earlier, I didn’t have time to say hello, so I’m making up for it now.”
Orochimaru lowered his head slightly, his snake-like slit pupils locking gazes with him for a few seconds.
“You know me?”
“I’ve heard of you.” Mirai’s expression didn’t change, “Sister Tsunade has mentioned it a few times, saying you’re one of the strongest people in her cohort.”
Orochimaru fell silent for a fraction of a second, then the corners of his lips curved upward slightly, his smile far too gentle to look like anything he would have in the future.
“Uzumaki Mirai,” he slowly read the name, “Interesting.”
He reached out and gently patted the top of Mirai’s head, his movements very light, as if testing a fragile piece of glassware.
“If you have time, you can come find me to chat about Ninjutsu.
Adamantine Sealing Chains… is a very interesting Bloodline Limit.”
Finishing his words, he withdrew his hand and turned to walk towards Nawaki: “Let’s go, Nawaki, today’s training hasn’t been done yet.”
“Ah—!
Teacher Orochimaru, let me play a little longer!”
“Shut up, keep up.”
The figures of the two gradually disappeared outside the grand gates of the Senju Clan Compound.
Mirai stood in place, touching the top of his head—the spot where Orochimaru had patted him earlier still seemed to retain a trace of coolness.
“Orochimaru…” he muttered softly, “At this point in time, he’s still a good teacher.”
Unfortunately, in the original work, after witnessing Nawaki’s accidental death on the battlefield, he began to get stuck in a dead end and went off to research the art of immortality.
And because of that, he colluded with Danzo, becoming a fallen snake!
Kushina leaned closer and asked curiously, “What are you muttering about?”
“Nothing, I just feel like someone incredible came to our house today.”
“Senior Orochimaru?” Kushina tilted her head, “He looks pretty gentle.”
Mirai didn’t reply, only gazing in the direction Orochimaru had left, his eyeballs rolling around.
The gentleness was real, but that craving for forbidden knowledge was also real.
— We need to find an opportunity to get on good terms with Uncle Snake.
Just in case he ever defects, I might even be able to sponge off his tech tree.
And Brother Nawaki, with the dignified Senju bloodline, got blown to death on the battlefield by someone using explosive tags, and even had his internal organs hollowed out.
That’s just too outrageous.
But this time, Mirai didn’t want to let that scene repeat; he needed to speed up his development time.
“Mirai!
What do you want to eat tonight?
I’ll go help Grandma cook!” Kushina tugged on his sleeve.
“Whatever, anything you make is fine.”
“Really?
Then I’ll make tomato fried rice!
Let you witness the strength of the Fried Rice Immortal.”
“…Change to something else, I’m begging you.”
“Why!
Didn’t you say anything was fine!”
“Tomatoes… I’m almost turning into a tomato myself and you still want to eat tomatoes?”
The bickering of the two echoed in the courtyard of the Senju Clan Compound, and the reminiscing and yearning in Uzumaki Mito’s eyes grew even heavier.
“Hashirama, wait for me a bit longer.
Once I pass down the responsibility on my shoulders, I’ll come find you!”
She was the current Nine-Tails Jinchuriki and had to steadily pass on the Nine-Tails to the next successor before she could close her eyes in peace.
Looking at the lively Mirai and Kushina, Uzumaki Mito felt that day wasn’t far off.
Although Hashirama was a huge fool, days without him were truly boring!