"Damn it!" Tsunade raised her fist, clearly frustrated.
Yet, as she glanced at the innocently smiling Seth, she sighed and lowered her hand.
Moments like these made him see the value of his earlier "humble worker" persona. No matter how the luck played out, it was not his fault.
"You have got more of these, right? I mean, the medical jars." Tsunade's sharp gaze fixed on him. She felt a weight in her chest—a pressure that demanded another jar to release.
"Of course," Seth nodded, a calm smile on his face while a triumphant cheer rang out inside his mind.
He knew this pattern all too well.
The better the rewards, the stronger the urge to open more jars.
"Shizune!" Tsunade took a big gulp of sake and waved grandly. "Money!"
"Lady Tsunade..." Shizune's voice carried a quiet resignation. "We're out of money."
"What?" Tsunade blinked, stunned.
"Do you not remember how much you lost yesterday?" Shizune's tone was full of reproach.
"..."
Seth was also momentarily speechless.
Excluding the two freebies, Tsunade had only opened eight jars—forty million ryo.
Translated to system points, it was just 24,000 or so.
She was already broke?
The great medical ninja, one of the legendary Sannin, a princess of the Senju clan... and this was all the money she had?
"Ha... ha-ha-ha!" Tsunade let out an awkward laugh, then leaned forward, slamming her hand onto the floor with a loud thud. She glared at Seth, her face inches from his. "Put it on my tab!"
"..."
Seth's expression immediately darkened. "Apologies, but I cannot. Small business, no store credit."
What a joke.
Tsunade might have decent character when it came to debts, but her mountain of gambling losses was infamous.
The debt collectors in the original story did not even know she had paid them back, that is how long they had been chasing her.
"Hey, hey, don't be so stingy!" Tsunade slapped Seth's shoulder with surprising force. "Do you even know who I am? Tsunade, one of the Sannin! Are you seriously afraid I will not pay you back?"
Sure, she would pay... in a few years.
Seth wisely kept that thought to himself and simply shook his head resolutely.
No room for negotiation!
He was not worried about her getting angry enough to punch him. After all, he had a Golden Body Talisman from the cultivation world as insurance.
"Tch." Tsunade clicked her tongue, dissatisfied.
She would not stoop so low as to rob him, but the thought of being unable to open more jars was driving her crazy.
"Well, you can also trade other items," Seth offered, his voice calmly. "Knowledge, materials... anything of value. Of course, I will be the one to assess its worth."
"Oh?" Tsunade's interest was piqued. "You will decide the value? What if it is something you do not understand?"
"I have my ways." Seth's lips curved into a mysterious smile. "I promise a fair evaluation. If you disagree, you do not have to trade."
This was one of the system's benefits: free appraisal of tradeable items. It would provide a clear value and a brief description.
"Shizune, bring me those spoils from before," Tsunade ordered, crossing her arms. She emphasized the word spoils, as if testing Seth.
While his clothing was indeed impressive, Tsunade was not ready to trust the man himself. After all, he had no chakra and seemed physically unimposing—just a normal merchant.
"Yes, Lady Tsunade."
Shizune left briefly and returned with a collection of items.
These were taken from defeated challengers—scrolls and weapons, mostly.
"Let's see how much these are worth." Tsunade's smirk carried a hint of mockery.
After all, these were ninja tools. How could someone who wasn't even a ninja assess their value?
Seth raised two fingers, positioning them before his brow.
"We have a method called the Omniscient Eye," he declared.
As he spoke, a golden pattern shimmered into existence on his forehead, radiating an enigmatic, almost divine aura.
Tsunade's smirk froze.
What... was that?
The symbol resembled an eye, its radiance so intense that even she felt a faint sting while looking at it.
Shizune instinctively lowered her head, overwhelmed by an indescribable sense of awe.
It was noble.
Even without understanding it, they could feel its majesty—a presence that demanded reverence.
Tsunade had never seen or heard of such a phenomenon.
And what had he called it? The Omniscient Eye?
Seth, meanwhile, observed their reactions with satisfaction.
The symbol on his forehead? It was the Eye of Agamotto, or at least an imitation. Modern audiences might recognize it, but in this world, it was entirely foreign.
He had spent a hefty 25,000 points to commission the system for this prop, purely for show. It exuded just enough mystique to justify his abilities.
"It's a remarkable three-piece collection," Seth said, inspecting the scrolls with a practiced air. He read the system's assessment aloud. "A C-rank Earth Release: Mud Wall Technique. Another C-rank Earth Release: Fissure Palm Technique. And a B-rank Water Release: Exploding Water Colliding Wave. The B-rank scroll includes notes from a Jonin. As for the weapons, only one is of elite quality. The total value... three million six hundred thousand ryo."
He glanced up, the golden eye fading from his brow.
Tsunade's expression was unreadable as she studied him.
"You didn't even open them," she muttered, then pulled a necklace from around her neck. "What about this? What is it worth?"
"Lady Tsunade!" Shizune gasped in alarm. "That's—"
Tsunade silenced her with a glance, her gaze never leaving Seth.
In her eyes was a sorrow so heavy it seemed to seep into the air.
The Cursed Necklace.
Seth's mind raced as he stared at the item.
A relic of the First Hokage, this necklace had a grim history. Everyone Tsunade gave it to—her brother, her lover—had met a tragic end. It was a symbol of grief and regret, and Tsunade herself considered it cursed.
How should he respond?