“Huh?!”
Itachi Uchiha wondered whether something was wrong with his ears.
Looking at the tearful Sasuke, Itachi’s eyelid twitched.
“Little brother, what exactly did you say you gambled away?”
Unable to suppress his anguish any longer, Sasuke clung to Itachi’s leg and burst into tears.
“I-I gambled you away!
From now on, Big Brother belongs to Naruto Uzumaki!
You’re going to be his big brother instead!
Waaaah…”
The corner of Itachi’s mouth twitched.
Damn it.
What a wonderful little brother he had.
Sasuke had participated in a simple wager and somehow managed to gamble away his own biological brother.
If Sasuke hadn’t been sobbing so miserably, Itachi would have grabbed him by the shoulders and roared in his face.
I’m your biological brother!
Biological!
How could you possibly gamble me away?
Sasuke looked tearfully at his brother.
“Big Brother, what should I do?
I don’t want to give you to Naruto.”
Itachi’s expression darkened.
He repeatedly reminded himself that this was his biological little brother—not some child his family had adopted.
After taking a deep breath, Itachi reassured him:
“Don’t worry.
Your big brother will always be yours.
Naruto cannot take me away.”
Sasuke nodded vigorously.
Then…
He whispered, “Besides gambling away Big Brother, I also lost eighty-one million nine hundred and twenty thousand ryō.”
Itachi blinked.
“What?!”
He stared blankly at his younger brother.
“How much did you say you lost?”
Sasuke looked at Itachi hopefully.
“I lost eighty-one million nine hundred and twenty thousand ryō.
That… isn’t very much, right?”
“Isn’t very much?”
“Your brother’s current value at a bounty station is only eighteen million ryō!
You’ve lost more than eighty million—that’s equivalent to gambling away roughly five older brothers!”
Itachi wanted nothing more than to give his beloved little brother a vicious beating.
Clenching his fists, he demanded with a dark expression:
“What exactly were you betting on?
Did Naruto use some kind of trick?
How could you possibly lose that much money?”
Countless conspiracies surfaced in Itachi’s mind.
That devious Naruto must have used some sinister scheme to deceive Sasuke.
Otherwise, how could his intelligent little brother possibly lose so much money from a simple wager?
Sasuke lowered his head.
With tears in his eyes, he answered shamefully:
“Kunai throwing.”
Itachi fell silent.
He looked down at his foolish little brother and, for the first time, wondered whether he had treated Sasuke too gently.
If Naruto had deceived him, that would merely prove that Sasuke wasn’t particularly clever.
But the Uchiha clan specialized in kunai throwing!
If Sasuke had lost even at that, was he an idiot?
Could his little brother’s intelligence truly be that low?
When Itachi remained silent, Sasuke began to panic.
“Big Brother, what are we going to do?”
Itachi took a deep breath and rose to his feet.
“Obviously, we’ll win everything back using the proud and honorable methods of the Uchiha clan!”
The following day, Naruto entered the classroom just as the bell rang.
The first thing he saw was a young man standing at the podium.
He wore the traditional clothing of the Uchiha clan, possessed distinctive tear troughs beneath his eyes, and had an activated three-tomoe Sharingan.
Sasuke stood beside him and cast Naruto a challenging look.
Naruto immediately recognized the young man.
A delighted smile appeared on his face as he tilted his head.
“Big Brother Itachi, did you come to bring me my money?”
Itachi fell silent.
Sasuke’s face collapsed, and he nearly burst into tears.
That was right.
Itachi’s face reddened as shame overwhelmed him.
He wished he could find somewhere to hide.
“Yes.
I’ll pay you part of it first.”
Itachi handed Naruto the only five million ryō he currently had with him.
He then looked uncomfortably at Naruto, swallowed, and stammered:
“L-Little Brother Naruto, well…”
“I heard that your kunai-throwing skills are exceptional.
Would you like to make a wager with me?”
By the time he finished, Itachi’s face was as red as a monkey’s backside.
He wanted to find a crack in the ground, crawl inside, and never emerge.
How humiliating!
He felt like a creepy middle-aged man trying to swindle an innocent little girl.
Naruto smiled and readily agreed.
“Of course!”
Itachi was deeply moved.
What a wonderful child!
Wasn’t Naruto clearly offering him an opportunity to win back the money Sasuke had lost?
This child was truly far too kind.
Naruto smiled.
“Big Brother Itachi, I need to visit the bathroom first.”
Itachi nodded and continued praising Naruto inwardly.
What a polite child.
His smile was so gentle and warm—almost like the sun itself.
Anyone who saw it would instinctively want to become closer to him.
He truly was an exceptionally kindhearted boy.
Inside the bathroom, the “kindhearted” Naruto shouted:
“Purchase Weapon Mode!”
“Purchase Weapon Mode!”
“Purchase Weapon Mode!”
“…”
A short while later, on the training field, Itachi glared at Naruto with a dark expression.
“Kindhearted, my ass!”
“This fucking brat is a demon wearing human skin!”
✨ Bonus Chapter Goals ✨