Naruto: Adopted By Tsunade

The idea was wonderful, but putting it into practice was much harder.

The Grass Hidden Village was weak, but not so weak that a single genin could just barge in.

Natsume's top priority remained improving his own strength.

Currently, he studied Water Release during the day, and practiced Wood Release at night. In terms of progress, he was already doing quite well.

He was only seven, after all—there were limits to what his body could handle.

Natsume took off his jacket and drifted off to sleep.

The next day, Sunday.

Tsunade was in high spirits and dragged him to Tanzaku Quarters.

This time, she used the Transformation Technique, turning herself into an utterly ordinary-looking girl.

The kind of plain Natsume would never be interested in.

Tsunade and Natsume swept the gambling tables again, winning another million ryo.

But on the way back to Konoha, the two of them were ambushed in a small grove.

The casino bosses had previously known who Tsunade was, so nobody dared try anything dirty.

But now, seeing only an unknown girl, their anger flared, and they got bold.

"Which casino are you with?"

Natsume was surrounded by eight burly men, but didn't panic at all.

He had someone backing him up.

"Cut the crap. Hand over all the money you won today!"

"Guess we're not going to talk this out."

Natsume tilted his head. Looks like he'd have to learn from Naruto: beat them up first, then talk them down.

Tsunade watched him with interest.

She was very curious about what he'd do next.

She had already noticed that her found little brother was mature, clever, and full of ideas.

Natsume's little face turned serious.

This was his first real fight.

A first time was always a little nerve-wracking.

Luckily, with Tsunade there, his life wasn't in danger.

Wood Release: Wood Clone!

Almost instantly, one Natsume became three.

"Careful! He's a ninja!"

The casino thugs' faces turned grim.

They were just regular people, with some skills, but nowhere near a trained ninja.

All three Natsumes threw shuriken at once.

Six in each hand.

Eighteen in total, covering all eight men.

The casino thugs scattered in panic.

Natsume stood his ground while his two clones charged in.

As they closed in, he used Wood Clone again, making it a fair fight in terms of numbers.

Moments later, they were all subdued.

"Can we talk now?" Natsume asked again.

"Our boss won't let you get away with this!"

"Pretty tough, aren't you."

Natsume turned and said, "Sis, show them your fist."

Tsunade gave a gentle smile, stepped back a few paces, then raised her right leg high and stomped down.

Heavenly Foot of Pain!

The ground within three or four meters of her exploded, rocks flying everywhere.

The eight casino thugs were stunned.

What they saw was beyond human capability.

"Which casino?" Natsume asked, covering his nose and mouth.

Tsunade had controlled her strength so he wasn't hurt, but she couldn't control the dust.

"Gunma Casino!" one thug replied at lightning speed.

"What's the boss's name? What's his background?"

"The boss is Morikawa, used to be a hood, then joined Gunma Company and opened this casino."

"I see."

Natsume waved his hand. "You can go."

Tsunade was a bit surprised. "Just let them go?"

"They're just regular thugs, no use to us."

Natsume explained, "I'm more interested in Gunma Company. Since they made a move on us, there's no need to play nice. I have an idea—I want to bring this company under my control."

Even though he'd used Wood Clone, to most ninja it just looked like a normal clone technique, let alone these thugs.

Wood Release wouldn't be exposed.

Tsunade looked at him in a daze.

If not for his seven-year-old appearance, she'd have thought Natsume was an adult.

"You want to run a casino?" Tsunade asked.

"No."

Natsume shook his head. "I want to protect the casinos."

"...?"

Tsunade was lost.

"A single casino is too small in scope. I want to consolidate all the casinos and make bigger profits."

Natsume wanted to become the underground emperor of Tanzaku Quarters.

This was already beyond normal ninja thinking.

Tsunade took a while to process it.

She didn't know how to comment.

As a ninja, she would never get into business or production.

The only way for a ninja to make money was by taking missions.

She just hadn't read enough books.

Natsume, on the other hand, could think of a thousand ways more profitable than missions.

And none of them required risking life and limb.

Natsume always thought the world of Naruto was too warped.

Ninja with world-shattering power bowing down to lords and nobles.

Getting ordered around like dogs for missions.

Even the Akatsuki.

It was ridiculous.

And even more ridiculous was that ninja were actually proud of it.

Natsume couldn't understand, but was deeply shocked.

"How do you plan to do it?" Tsunade didn't hesitate for long.

Given a choice between Gunma Company and Natsume, she didn't need to think.

So what if his methods weren't ninja-like?

"Standardize everything, add new games, improve service, then charge franchise and profit-sharing fees."

From Natsume's perspective, the casinos on Tanzaku Quarters were like shady internet cafes: dirty, messy, and with only a few kinds of games.

Once he took over Gunma Company, he'd build a modern casino, use high-quality service to seize the market.

The remaining casinos would either copy him or band together to fight him.

But he was also willing to offer a third way: join him as affiliates.

Tsunade was dumbfounded.

She'd never heard of anything like this.

But thinking carefully, it made sense and seemed doable.

"I can't do this alone. I need your help."

Natsume looked up at her, face full of hope.

It was a spur-of-the-moment idea, but definitely profitable.

After all, Gunma Company started it.

It was only fair to retaliate.

With money, he'd be able to do a lot of things.

Like hiring ninja to rescue Karin and her mother.

Tsunade actually had mixed feelings.

Natsume's little display today had shocked her.

Not even lifelong merchants would have thought of this plan.

But fortunately, Natsume was in her care now.

Tsunade bent down, picked him up, and said, "No problem. Whatever you need, sis will give you."

Whoa.

That sounded a bit like a sugar mommy.

Natsume turned his head and saw the First Hokage's necklace.

So white.

He didn't hold back, leaning in.

The fight had really tired him out.

There was a feeling of smooth silk against his face.

Before long, Natsume felt sleepy.

He was, after all, in a child's body.

And using chakra also meant using up physical strength.

After walking for a while, Tsunade felt the rhythmic breathing on her necklace and skin.

She looked down; Natsume was already asleep.