72. How can he be such a master of pretense? (Please keep reading)

Thinking of this, Kisame spoke first, taking the initiative to propose to Tsunade,

“I know you’re unhappy with the loss. How about this—let’s not count the last round. We’ll switch hands and go again. And I promise not to use Thread Release this time.”

“Are you serious?” Tsunade’s eyes widened, her mind once again turning to Kisame’s five million.

“Of course. I want you to lose with no excuses,” Kisame replied confidently, but he set a condition. “This time, if you lose again, you can’t make excuses. You have to hand over what I win.”

“Fine. Deal!” Tsunade agreed on the spot, switched to pressing her right hand against her clothes, and impatiently placed her left hand on the stone table.

Kisame also took his seat, extending his left hand.

Once again, their palms met, pressing tightly together.

“Three, two, one. Start!” Shizune called out the countdown.

Boom!

A raging surge of chakra erupted within Tsunade, sweeping like a hurricane and forcing Shizune and the Snow Woman back.

This time, she unleashed her full strength from the start.

Determined to defeat Kisame instantly.

Coincidentally, Kisame thought the same. Even before the countdown ended, he quietly activated the abilities of the Explosive Blade, and the tattooed “Explode” character on his left palm pressed against Tsunade’s.

With a resounding bang.

Just as Tsunade was about to push Kisame down, a sharp pain exploded in her palm as if struck by a blast.

In an instant, her entire left hand was dripping with blood.

Seeing the crimson blood and smelling its pungent scent, Tsunade trembled uncontrollably, dizzy and disoriented.

Her hemophobia had struck.

The explosion in her palm, compounded by her blood phobia, rendered Tsunade’s arm weak and powerless, and Kisame seized the opportunity.

He pushed her down once again.

“Tsunade-sama, are you alright?!”

Seeing this, Shizune rushed forward.

“Don’t worry, I merely drew a bit of blood. Though it looks alarming, it’s not serious,” Kisame explained, instructing the Snow Woman and Shizune to support Tsunade back to her room for rest.

Half an hour later.

Tsunade lay in bed, wearing a white shirt borrowed from the Snow Woman—surprisingly a good fit.

Her left hand had been healed by Shizune’s medical ninjutsu, wrapped in fresh white bandages, all traces of blood cleaned away.

Kisame entered the room, gazing calmly at Tsunade, who glared back at him.

“Let me clarify—I didn’t cheat but used another ability from the Hoshigaki clan,” he said, raising his left hand. Under the scrutiny of all three in the room, the Explosive Blade tattoo appeared on his arm, the black “Explode” symbol in his palm especially striking.

“This is Explosion Release. Like Thread Release, it’s another bloodline limit of my clan. One person, two hands, each with its own ability—isn’t that reasonable?”

Kisame continued his fabrication; after all, the Hoshigaki clan was obscure, and Tsunade had no way to verify his claims.

Reasonable?

Tsunade’s lips twitched at his words, barely containing her urge to leap up and pummel him.

This damned guy—how can he be so shameless?

It was infuriating.

“Thread Release, Explosion Release, both bloodline limits of the Hoshigaki clan? Then what about the Iron Head Technique you used earlier—Steel Release? Iron Release?”

Leaning against the headboard, Tsunade spoke coldly.

She’d never heard of anyone possessing two bloodline limits at once. Kisame was clearly playing her.

“No, I just have a naturally hard head,” Kisame flatly denied, then switched to the main topic. “So, Tsunade-sama, shouldn’t you hand over the necklace? A legendary Sannin shouldn’t default on a child’s winnings—imagine the ridicule if word got out.”

“Hmph.” Tsunade snorted, got out of bed, and yanked the crystal necklace from her neck, handing it to Kisame.

“A bet’s a bet. No more to say.”

She took a deep breath, her chest heaving, then added, “But I will buy back this necklace. Name your price.”

This time, it wasn’t carelessness. She had fought with everything she had, but underestimated Kisame’s strength.

The crystal necklace was her grandfather’s keepsake, a companion for many years, not something she could give up so easily.

Even more importantly, Tsunade firmly believed it bore a curse of death.

Though she disliked Kisame, she didn’t wish him dead.

So, she had to retrieve the necklace.

Kisame received it, feeling the lingering warmth and scent from Tsunade, then clenched it tightly.

“What I, Hoshigaki Kisame, win, I do not return. Give up on that.”

“You…” Tsunade was speechless with rage.

“Don’t blame me for not warning you. This necklace isn’t something just anyone can handle.”

She threw out this cold remark and slammed the door as she left.

“Sorry,” Shizune apologized to Kisame and the Snow Woman, bowing before quickly chasing after Tsunade.

“Go rest for a bit,” Kisame instructed the Snow Woman, sending her out as well.

He locked the door, drew the curtains tightly, and slowly opened his palm.

In the dim room, the crystal necklace emitted a soft blue glow, beautiful yet tinged with the aura of death.

Kisame had always believed that fate, or destiny, truly existed in this world.

Tsunade always lost at gambling; on the rare occasion she won, disaster inevitably followed. This was fate—beyond any rational explanation.

In the original work, this crystal necklace was given by Tsunade to her brother Nawaki, her lover Dan, and finally to the prophesied child Naruto Uzumaki.

The first two met tragic ends.

Only Naruto, shielded by his invincible protagonist’s aura and unyielding fate, survived the necklace’s curse.

Thus, Tsunade called it the Death Necklace, reluctant to hand it to Kisame for good reason.

But Kisame had his own cheat.

“Come, let’s see what your limits are—whether you can subdue this necklace imbued with a death curse,” Kisame thought, addressing the cheat tool in his mind.

The next instant.

With a crack, he crushed the crystal necklace in his hand.

In that moment, Kisame felt a force—not overwhelming but terrifying—enveloping the fragments, entering his body through his palm.

That power was Hashirama Senju’s chakra.

Guided by the cheat in his mind,

The stream of light from the shattered necklace settled in Kisame’s right palm, taking its place next to the Long Blade: Stitch.

Kisame’s heart stirred.

A black character slowly emerged in his right palm, growing clearer.

It was the kanji for “Seat.”

Hokage-style Ear Harmony Technique: Kakuan Entering the Temple, Hanging the Hand.

This was the ability Kisame gained after crushing the crystal necklace.

It was a sealing technique once used by Hashirama Senju; when activated, by pressing the “Seat” character in his palm to a tailed beast’s forehead, it could put the creature into a deep sleep.

Powerful enough to temporarily suppress the Nine-Tails.