The journey that was supposed to take five days ended up taking over ten, and they were only halfway there. All because Sora was traveling with Tsunade.
That would have been tolerable, but one time, while buying some food, Sora accidentally let it slip that he was quite wealthy. That was when the nightmare began.
Tsunade extorted fifty million ryō from him—enough to clear all her gambling debts and still have plenty left to keep gambling.
She spent more than half the day in a casino every single day, leaving only a small portion of the day for actual travel.
But Sora didn't really mind. Fifty million ryō wasn't a big deal to him—he gave it without much thought.
Besides, in return, Tsunade would teach him ninjutsu whenever she had time.
Unfortunately, due to Sora's lack of talent, he didn't manage to learn any. Though, luckily, he did pick up a few techniques.
Here were his gains from the past ten days:
Medical Ninjutsu – Mystic Palm Technique!
Medical Ninjutsu – Healing Technique!
Medical Ninjutsu – Delicate Extraction Technique!
And the most annoying one of all—Curse of Gambling Loss!
The first three medical techniques made Sora quite happy and even had Tsunade praising his talent.
But that Curse of Gambling Loss left him completely disgusted.
When he first got it, Sora didn't believe it and challenged Tsunade to gamble through the night.
By the time he left the table, his eyes were dull and lifeless—the brutal lesson had sunk in.
Throughout the whole night, neither he nor Tsunade managed to win a single round.
Two people cursed to always lose at gambling had clashed. Naturally, no one could win.
After consulting with the system and finding out that he couldn't return the skill, Sora had no choice but to accept his fate.
Worse still, Tsunade now made it a habit to gamble with him every day.
After finally finding someone who couldn't beat her, there was no way she'd let him go.
That day, the trio—two people and a pig—arrived in a new town. Tsunade headed straight for the casino, leaving Shizune behind to follow Sora.
There wasn't any rush, so Sora turned to Shizune and suggested a stroll.
"Shizune, want to take a walk?"
"Okay," she nodded softly, hugging her little pink pig. The two of them headed out.
As soon as they stepped outside, Sora glanced around and his expression darkened. He whispered to Shizune, "Something's not right. If anything happens later, hide immediately!"
He didn't know when it had happened, but the street ahead of them was now completely deserted.
Yet Sora could distinctly feel malicious eyes on him—he was being watched.
Lacking any sensory ninjutsu, he could only wait in place like a sitting duck.
Swish! Swish! Swish…!
In the next moment, more than a dozen figures appeared in the street. Some wielded blades, others were barehanded.
They all had one thing in common—their faces were concealed, making it impossible to see who they were.
"That's the one! Kill him!"
There was no negotiation. Without a word, they charged at Sora. Some began weaving hand signs, others lunged with drawn blades.
"Hide!"
Without turning his head, Sora shouted to Shizune and immediately dashed into the crowd.
There was no way he could block so many attacks with just defensive ninjutsu—he had to engage in close combat instead.
At the very least, being in the thick of it would make them hesitate to use high-powered jutsu for fear of harming their own.
Still dazed and confused by Sora's words, Shizune reacted instinctively the second time he shouted, and ran into the nearby inn.
"Chidori!"
With lightning-infused speed and destructive force, Sora downed one enemy in the blink of an eye.
As he prepared to repeat the attack, a flash of blade light forced him back.
His speed had taken the attackers by surprise, and one of them had already fallen.
Seeing him charge again, a leading swordsman couldn't hold back.
"Secret Art – Draw Blade Slash!"
A silver blade light slashed toward Sora like a high-speed cutting machine.
"Substitution Jutsu!"
With the blade just a meter away, Sora instinctively made the best decision.
Even so, when he reappeared, a trickle of blood was already running from his nose.
He wiped it away, his heart still racing. If his reflexes had been even a second slower, he would've been sliced in half.
Now more alert than ever, he stared hard at the group, calculating his odds.
Twenty-one in total—thirteen ninja, seven swordsmen, and one with strange attire, possibly another class entirely.
He had taken out one just now, leaving twenty.
None of them were Genin—the weakest were Chūnin!
The swordsmen's strength was hard to gauge, but there were three Jōnin, each roughly on par with someone like Sarutobi Asuma.
"This… is going to be tough."
He sighed, eyes sharp with focus.
The best ninjutsu right now would be the Tailed Beast Bomb, but these swordsmen wouldn't give him time to use it.
And if he tried to create distance, those ninjas would be free to unleash their techniques—he might not survive the barrage.
Besides… Sora glanced at the one man who still hadn't made a move. That guy bothered him the most.
Luckily, none of them were targeting Shizune. Otherwise, Sora wouldn't have had time to save her.
"Konoha Whirlwind!"
With a plan forming, Sora kicked at a nearby Chūnin.
Backed by a strong physique and solid chakra control, the kick tore through the air with a deafening whoosh.
It would be unwise to engage those unknown swordsmen in close combat. He'd deal with the ninja first, then kite the rest.
"Secret Art – Draw Blade Slash!"
"Fire Style – Fire Dragon Jutsu!"
…
As soon as Sora charged forward, a barrage of ninjutsu and sword strikes came flying at him.
Just as the attacks were about to hit, his right hand moved subtly—his pre-set Substitution Jutsu triggered in an instant.
In the next breath, where ninjutsu and sword strikes hit was only a puff of smoke.
Sora had already reappeared behind a Jōnin.
"Chidori!"
Without hesitation, he thrust his lightning-covered left hand forward, piercing straight through the Jōnin's chest.
"Im… impossible…"
The Jōnin gasped his final words before collapsing in a cloud of dust.
By then, Sora had already used Body Flicker to escape again.
In that brief moment, he had committed the strength of every attacker to memory. Aside from the first swordsman, none of the others were worth worrying about.
"Now… that just leaves you."
He glanced again at the one person who still hadn't moved.
By now, everyone had taken action—except for him, who remained steady as a mountain.
Clap! Clap! Clap!
As Sora was deep in thought, the oddly dressed, masked figure finally stepped forward.
As soon as he spoke, the rest instantly stopped fighting and stood still, watching quietly.
No one even glanced at the dead Jōnin—that cold indifference made Sora even more cautious.
Then, the masked man spoke again, "From the start, you locked onto the Chūnin, making them think you'd go for the weakest first. Then suddenly you switched targets and took out a Jōnin in one strike. Not bad."
He recited Sora's exact thought process word for word, looking at him with genuine appreciation.
He wasn't wrong—Sora had used their overconfidence and misjudgment to create an opening and land a killing blow.
But now, things wouldn't be so easy anymore. From here on out, it was a battle of pure strength.