"Give it back!" Naruto shouted, his hand held high.
On the training field, he held one hand steady and horizontal, while the other moved in a rapid, circular motion. After a tense moment, a spinning sphere of chakra slowly formed in his palm.
Looking at the Rasengan spinning in his hand, Naruto jumped for joy. "Yes! I finally did it!"
Ever since the seal inside the Nine-Tails had been broken, only the outer layer remained. Unless Kurama actively tried to break out, Naruto didn't have to waste his own chakra suppressing it, nor was he harassed by the beast's influence. As a result, his training had gone incredibly fast. He had mastered the Rasengan—a high-level jutsu that required no hand seals—in just about a month.
And unlike the original story, he didn't need shadow clones to help him form it. He could pull it off with a single hand.
"Perverted Sage! Granny Tsunade! I won the bet!"
Overjoyed, Naruto ran toward a stone table in the distance, brandishing his Rasengan. There, Tsunade and Jiraiya were drinking sake they'd somehow managed to acquire.
"Hey, Granny Tsunade, look! I did it!" Naruto yelled. "This is the Rasengan! I can hold it as long as I want! I've mastered it completely!"
"Now you can give me back my stash! I won the bet!"
A little over a month ago, Tsunade had returned Naruto's bulging frog wallet. But then, she followed him back to his apartment and found his hidden emergency fund: over ten million ryō, stuffed into a cardboard box. The sight of so much money made Tsunade drool.
It led her to make a decision that went against all her principles—making a bet with a kid.
While instructing Shizune, who was trailing behind her, to put the money away, Tsunade told Naruto she wanted to make a wager. If he could learn the Rasengan within a month, she'd return the money and teach him how to summon a powerful toad.
Naruto, who had never seen Tsunade summon anything, naturally refused.
However, Tsunade had anticipated this and immediately showed him her skill. With a single slap on the ground, she summoned a gigantic slug so massive it took up an entire street, causing a massive commotion. Looking at the slug nearly as large as the golden giant Menma's Tailed Beast could become, the naive Naruto got excited and agreed immediately.
Unfortunately, he couldn't outsmart the cunning old woman.
A week after the bet started, Tsunade finally allowed Jiraiya to officially begin teaching Naruto the Rasengan. And after noticing his rapid progress, she even supervised Jiraiya to make sure he kept up the pace.
Now, almost a month and a week later, Naruto had finally mastered it.
"Oh?"
Tsunade held her sake cup, her face slightly flushed, and looked calmly at the Rasengan in his hand.
"Not bad, you actually succeeded. But the bet expired over a week ago."
"If I lose, I still have to return your money, which puts me in a bit of a bind~"
Tsunade had already returned all ten million ryō to the people who came to collect their debts. Of course, those debt collectors only got the principal. As for the interest? After Tsunade punched a trench into the ground, everyone decided that was a pretty good interest rate!
"Ah! You old hag, you're cheating!" Naruto shouted. "It's been exactly one month since the Perverted Sage started teaching me!"
Hearing Tsunade say it was difficult, Naruto wanted nothing more than to flip the table and yell, "If it's too hard, then forget it!"
"Tsk tsk, little brother. A bet is effective from the moment it's agreed upon," Tsunade said, calmly sipping her sake. She looked completely at ease.
The only time this legendary gambler ever had to part with her money was at the gambling table!
"You're despicable!"
Naruto's hand trembled as he pointed at Tsunade, furious. He turned to Jiraiya. "Perverted Sage, say something!"
"Huh? What?" Jiraiya snapped his attention away from Tsunade's voluptuous figure and looked at Naruto, confused.
"What are you—oh!" Jiraiya saw the Rasengan in Naruto's hand and immediately understood. "Right! Very good! You mastered it so fast! You're a genius, just like your father, Minato!"
"I didn't want your praise!" Naruto fumed. "You're both in on this! I'll never trust you again! My new monthly royalties are even bigger now! I won't get fooled by you again!"
Naruto decided then and there that he would entrust his money to Menma. He'd just have Menma give him his allowance each month.
"Bigger royalties?!"
Tsunade's eyes turned into dollar signs again, gleaming with golden light. Behind her, Shizune covered her face, unable to watch. She knew Naruto's royalties were doomed.
Jiraiya chuckled. "Naruto, it's just a little fee. Don't make a fuss. Come on, to celebrate your training, I'll treat you to barbecue."
Jiraiya actually wanted to give his money to Tsunade, hoping to become her personal ATM. But aside from a few anonymous donations she accepted, she refused any money offered openly. That's why he envied Naruto so much—the kid was close to Tsunade and practically treated like family.
But before they could even get up, Yamato suddenly appeared, blocking their path.
"Lady Tsunade, the Second Hokage wants you. He says the Personality Sealing Technique is complete."
Hearing Yamato's words, Jiraiya instantly sobered up.
"They succeeded that quickly? I thought it would take years of research!"
Naruto, standing nearby, seemed to realize the implications and excitedly grabbed Jiraiya's arm.
"Perverted Sage, what Personality Sealing Technique? Is that the jutsu you mentioned before? The one that lets my brother separate from my body and get his own?"
Before Jiraiya could answer, Naruto jumped three feet in the air again.
"Yes! I'm gonna buy a big house and live with my brother! We'll have a pillow fight tonight, and—"
Unlike the excited Jiraiya and Naruto, Tsunade clutched her slightly stuffy chest, frowning as she looked at Naruto.
She seemed to have won the bet again, and she hadn't even cheated this time. Even if they counted from when she started overseeing Jiraiya's teaching—like Naruto insisted—it had been exactly thirty-one days. But usually, a month in a bet is only thirty days…
Thinking of this, Tsunade gave Jiraiya a serious look.
"Enough nonsense, Jiraiya. Let's go. Now."
---
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