Time quickly passed, and by noon the next day, after lunch, Hoopa once again followed Tsunade toward the casino.
Ryo looked utterly defeated—they gambled all morning, and now they're going again in the afternoon?
Watching the two walk ahead, Ryo thought to himself, I can't let Hoopa stay around Tsunade anymore.
These past two days with Tsunade, Hoopa had completely gone wild.
He was even dreaming about casinos at night.
"Ryo, what's wrong?"
Beside him, Shizune noticed his furrowed brow and asked with a puzzled look.
Ryo shook his head. "Nothing, just thinking about a few things."
He didn't elaborate further. The group followed the all-too-familiar path back to the casino Ryo was growing more and more annoyed with.
"Ryo, Ryo, quick! Hoopa wants money—Hoopa is ready to go!"
Seeing Hoopa excitedly reaching out, Ryo's expression grew serious. "Hoopa, this is the last time. You can't keep playing like this. You've already gone way overboard these past couple of days."
Hoopa blinked in confusion. "Why not? Why can't Hoopa play every day?"
Ryo nearly coughed up blood. Play every day? At this rate, even if we were the world's richest family, we'd go broke!
He shook his head. "No. You can come once in a while, but not all the time."
Hoopa frowned. "No! Hoopa wants to come every day!"
"Hoopa, be reasonable. You're being selfish. Think about Diancie. Think about me. We don't even like this place, but we've been stuck here because of you. If you keep this up, we're going to start resenting you."
Hearing that, Hoopa fell into silence, then reluctantly nodded. "Okay… Hoopa won't come every day anymore."
Ryo smiled and patted Hoopa's head. "That's more like it. You have to think about how others feel too."
With that, he handed Hoopa some money. "Alright, go ahead for now."
Hoopa immediately beamed and took the money happily, then skipped over to join Tsunade, who had already started gambling again.
But this time, she actually won a round.
The moment Tsunade saw her win, her expression changed, and she shot up from her seat.
"Tsunade-sama, what's wrong?"
Shizune was baffled. This was the first win in a while—why did Tsunade look so alarmed?
Ryo, on the other hand, suddenly brightened. Looks like the plot's finally kicking off—Jiraiya and Naruto must've arrived in Tanzaku Town.
Tsunade didn't answer Shizune. She grabbed her and made for the door. "Come on, we need to leave. Now."
Without even acknowledging Ryo or the others, she rushed out of the casino with Shizune in tow.
Seeing this, Ryo walked over to Hoopa. "Hoopa, it's time to go."
"No."
Hoopa shook his head. "Hoopa still has money left to play with."
Ryo felt a headache coming on. Seriously? You have to lose it all first?
His gaze hardened. "Hoopa, we have something important to do. We'll play next time."
Hoopa seemed to sense the shift in Ryo's tone and didn't argue further. He simply nodded.
Ryo didn't say another word. He picked up Hoopa and carried him out of the casino.
By the time they stepped outside, Tsunade and Shizune were already gone.
Ryo expanded his sensory perception and confirmed that Orochimaru had already found Tsunade. He didn't bother to follow and instead scanned elsewhere.
A small smile formed on his lips. "Found you. It's been a while—time to say hello."
With that, he headed toward the inn where he was staying.
"Pervy Sage, are you sure the person we're looking for is here?"
Before he could step inside, Ryo heard a very familiar voice from within.
"Of course! I'm the Toad Sage—there's no mistake!"
"Tch… You say that every time."
Hearing the banter, Ryo stepped into the inn.
"Naruto, Jiraiya—it's been a while."
The two turned at the sound of his voice.
When they saw him, both their faces lit up.
"Ryo-nii (Boss), you're really here!"
Ryo smiled and walked over to them. "What? Can't I be here?"
"Hahaha!"
Naruto burst out laughing. "Awesome! Ryo-nii, you're really here!"
Jiraiya, however, narrowed his eyes slightly. "Boss, why are you here?"
Ryo didn't hide anything. "I came to find Orochimaru."
"Orochimaru?"
Surprised flashed across Jiraiya's face. "He's here?"
Ryo nodded. "Yeah, I met him just yesterday."
Jiraiya's expression grew even more serious. He eyed Ryo curiously and with some caution. "Boss… what do you want with Orochimaru?"
"Don't worry. It's just a personal matter."
Ryo could tell what Jiraiya was thinking and gave a reassuring look.
Jiraiya nodded, letting the issue go. "Then… why would Orochimaru show up here?"
Ryo poured himself a glass of water and took a sip. "He came to find Tsunade."
Clack—
Jiraiya suddenly stood up. "To find Tsunade?!"
Naruto also jumped up. "Wait—Ryo-nii, Tsunade's here too?!"
Ryo shot Naruto a look, then turned to Jiraiya and explained the situation.
After listening, Jiraiya nodded. "If that's the case, then yeah… Orochimaru would definitely come. But I didn't expect the old man to be this ruthless."
Ryo rolled his eyes again. "Orochimaru's probably already found Tsunade by now."
"He has?"
Jiraiya instantly tensed again.
Ryo nodded, watching his over-the-top reaction in silence.
"No time to waste. Naruto, let's go! We can't let Tsunade heal Orochimaru!"
And with that, Jiraiya grabbed Naruto and bolted for the door—without even saying goodbye to Ryo.
Ryo twitched at the sight. "Yep… same teacher, same habits. No doubt about it."
That exaggerated pulling motion, that dramatic exit—they're exactly the same.
He couldn't help but wonder how Hiruzen Sarutobi managed to raise them like this.
It was almost uncanny.
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