71. A Fair Duel

"You want this?" Tsunade noticed Kisame’s gaze lingering on her chest, so she picked up the necklace at her collar and shook her head. "You have good taste, but this necklace is the one thing I can’t give you."

"Why not?" Kisame asked in confusion.

"Because it’s a death necklace. I once gave it to two different men, one after the other. Both were cursed and died soon afterward on the battlefield." Tsunade’s voice grew faint, her expression sorrowful, her eyes losing their luster. At this, even her enthusiasm for gambling seemed to drain away. She sighed and made to turn and leave.

"I don’t understand," Kisame said behind her. "If you lost the necklace to me, shouldn’t you be glad? You hate me so much—wouldn’t cursing me to death be a good thing? Or is it that, deep down, you actually care about me?"

"Who cares about you?!" Tsunade jolted, then whirled around like a cat with its hackles raised.

Now that was a proper provocation.

"Then let’s do this." Kisame rolled his shoulder and strode first to the stone table in the courtyard, setting himself up for an arm-wrestling match.

Tsunade took a deep breath and walked over, extending her right hand as well.

Their wager drew Shizune and the Snow Woman outside, curiosity piqued as they gathered to watch—serving, incidentally, as referees.

"Let’s be clear: aside from the hand used in the match, no other tools or tricks are allowed. If you use anything else, it’s an automatic forfeit. Any questions?" Tsunade stared seriously at Kisame, laying down the rules.

She’d come to understand Kisame somewhat by now. She knew he had little regard for the code of shinobi and loved to play dirty, so she cut off all paths for his trickery in advance.

"Don’t worry. Aside from this right hand, I’ll use nothing else." Kisame smiled, his right index finger twitching slightly.

Smack.

Their palms pressed together, thumbs locked tight. Each could feel the heat from the other’s skin.

Tsunade’s hand was pale, adorned with red nail polish—her fingers supple and slender, delicate as spring onions. Kisame’s, in contrast, was a large, callused hand tinged faint blue, knuckles pronounced, veins bulging—his arm easily three times thicker than Tsunade’s.

The hand of a lifelong warrior.

To the average onlooker, Kisame clearly had the advantage. Some even worried he’d snap Tsunade’s slender arm with a careless show of strength.

But Shizune quietly whispered to the Snow Woman, "Kisame’s fallen into a trap. Lady Tsunade has never lost in a match of strength."

The Snow Woman looked worried—not for the five million at stake, but that Kisame might actually get hurt.

Mr. Kisame, please don’t overdo it, she prayed silently.

"Shizune, you do the countdown. On three," Tsunade instructed.

Shizune nodded, stepped between them, cleared her throat, and called out, "Three, two, one—begin!"

No sooner had the words left her lips—

Boom.

Kisame and Tsunade simultaneously unleashed a torrent of chakra within themselves, channeling it into their right hands, and the contest began in earnest.

Crack.

The stone table beneath their elbows swiftly began to show spiderweb fissures, unable to withstand the tremendous pressure.

"Impressive wrist strength. I underestimated you," Tsunade remarked in surprise, yet her arm remained steady as a rock.

Kisame, on the other hand, was grim and silent, seemingly straining with all his might, veins standing out as if ready to burst.

In pure strength, even Kisame at his peak in a former life could not hope to rival Tsunade. Her power was such that even the Fourth Raikage, that legendary brute, would have to concede defeat.

"Enough. I’m done playing." Seeing Kisame silent and surmising he was at his limit, Tsunade decided to end it. She drew on a fresh surge of power from within, releasing a torrent of energy.

Monstrous Strength.

When Tsunade invoked this hereditary might, the scales of victory tipped inexorably in her favor.

But suddenly, something unexpected happened.

Swish!

Kisame’s right index finger abruptly detached, shooting forth like a slender sewing needle, a chakra thread trailing from its tip.

What on earth?

As Tsunade stared in shock, the needle-like finger slithered up her right arm like a snake, sliding swiftly under her sleeve.

At that instant, the chakra thread coiled around Tsunade’s arm tightened sharply, disrupting her chakra flow and preventing her from exerting her full power.

The needle went deeper, slipping inside Tsunade’s loose clothing, and with a deft movement, sliced a line across her collarbone from right to left.

In the next second—

The strap of Tsunade’s gray evening dress snapped, sliding down abruptly.

She was on the verge of exposure.

Flustered, Tsunade hastened to cover her chest with her left hand, clutching at her slipping garment.

Now!

Kisame’s eyes flashed. Seizing the moment as Tsunade lost her composure, he unleashed the full force of his right arm, overturning his disadvantage and snatching victory.

With a bang—

He slammed Tsunade’s right hand down hard onto the stone table.

"I win," Kisame said with a smile, retracting the needle-like finger with a swish and declaring his victory.

"You cheated!" Tsunade shot to her feet, clutching her dress at her chest, her right hand pointing angrily at Kisame, refusing to admit defeat.

Kisame had anticipated this. He wagged his finger and turned to Shizune and the Snow Woman. "I have a question for Lady Tsunade, and I’d like you both to judge who’s right."

They both nodded in agreement.

"First, during our arm-wrestling match, I only used this right hand—is that correct?" Kisame looked to Tsunade, waited for her acknowledgment, then continued. "So, let me ask: if you’re allowed to use the monstrous strength of the Senju bloodline, why can’t I use the special abilities of the Hoshigaki clan? Isn’t that unfair?"

Fairness.

That word left Tsunade stunned.

"You mean, that technique you just used is..." Shizune began, peering at Kisame’s right index finger with a mixture of surprise and curiosity.

She remembered seeing him use that strange chakra thread during the second stage of the Chunin Exams.

"That’s right. It’s the bloodline limit of the Hoshigaki clan—Thread Release." Kisame nodded with a smile, spinning the lie with ease.

"In that case, it’s not really cheating," Shizune murmured with a serious frown.

After all, Tsunade used monstrous strength first; Kisame’s counter with Thread Release, if not strictly justified, was at least understandable.

"Damn it." Even Shizune was siding with Kisame. Tsunade clenched her fists, gritting her teeth, but she had nothing left to say.

If she insisted on calling Kisame a cheat, she’d only seem hypocritical and self-serving. That would be the very definition of double standards.

Yet—

To simply admit defeat? Tsunade was unwilling. She certainly had no intention of handing over her crystal necklace.

Kisame could see her stubbornness—she was clearly preparing to renege on the bet.

After all, she was a compulsive gambler and a notorious sore loser—by now, her pride was long gone!