After the announcement, the crowd dispersed. Only a few who had bet on Fujin went to the spot where Payouts were made. Fujin too flickered to that spot so as to not be stuck in any long lines.
Fujin assumed he'd be the first one there, but he was wrong. Another person had flickered there before him.
Fujin's eyes twitched. He said, "Hello Sensei."
Renjiro chuckled and replied, "Hello Fujin. Congrats on winning the tournament."
Fujin nodded while thinking, 'What a teacher!'
Renjiro asked, "Would you like to go first?"
Fujin shook his head and replied, "No, you can go first sensei." He thought, 'Let me see how much money you are making!'
Renjiro chuckled, guessing Fujin's thoughts, and walked to the counter. The bookie looked at the teacher-student duo. At that time, 2 Anbu ninjas flickered in.
Renjiro didn't pay attention and placed 30 golden tickets with Fujin's name on them on the table!
Fujin's eyes popped out on seeing that! He thought, 'He's fucking rich!!! I should ask him for the rewards instead of Hiruzen! WAIT, I should ask for my share!'
The bookie was also frightened! 30 gold tickets meant that he would have to pay out 120 million Ryo! He looked at Renjiro, who just maintained a smile.
However, the bookie felt as if he was looking at a demon!
The bookie thought, 'The total bets that were placed in the auction was just 110 million Ryo. The payout to him alone would put us at a loss of 10 million Ryo!'
He wondered if he could avoid paying the money. But he shook his head thinking, 'Konoha would skin me alive. They would likely uproot Gato's entire business too! We have no choice!'
He gritted his teeth and paid Renjiro 120 million Ryo! Anyone who held gambling was required to hold 150 million Ryo extra in case they incurred a loss. So he could still make the payment.
Renjiro smiled and sealed the suitcases containing money in a scroll.
Fujin looked at his sensei checking all the money and storing it. He wondered, 'Do all Senju love to bet?'
He sighed and went forward. For some reason, the joy of winning money had diminished a lot! He put forth 6 silver tickets on the table.
The bookie smiled bitterly. He now knew that both of them were aware of how strong Fujin was! This decision to host the gamble was a huge mistake!
The bookie paid Fujin 2.4 million Ryo. Fujin checked and stored them away.
By now, a few others had arrived. They were shocked to see that Fujin had bet on himself. Some were impressed by his self-confidence.
Renjiro smiled on seeing his student earning some money as well. He put his hand on Fujin's shoulder and said, "Watch. It will be entertaining."
Fujin immediately looked at the two Anbu ninjas. One of them went ahead, and placed 20 golden tickets on the table!
The bookie's face became blue! He screamed in his mind, 'Almost half the bets were placed on him? Fucking Konoha scums!' He began shaking in anger. However, the anbu showed no reaction. The bookie gritted his teeth and handed him 80 million Ryo!
Fujin watched with his eyes widened. He looked at the 2nd Anbu and thought, 'Don't tell me!'
The second Anbu stepped forward and placed another 20 golden tickets on the table! The bookie was shocked at Konoha's shamelessness!
Fujin too was dumbfounded, 'What the fuck? I know Hiruzen is shameless but to this extent?'
The bookie began thinking, 'Over 70 million Ryo were bet on him! Why weren't we informed? What the fuck was the guy who was accepting the bets doing?' He immediately began cursing him.
Unfortunately for him, that bookie was placed under a subtle genjutsu by an Anbu, making him forget to report the bets placed.
The bookie gritted his teeth and said, "I don't have enough money to give you the payouts."
The Anbu looked into his eyes and asked, "How much time do you need to arrange it?"
The bookie gritted his teeth even harder and said, "We will need 7 days."
The Anbu nodded and said, "Alright. Settle the payments of everyone else first. Then arrange for my payouts. You are not allowed to leave Konoha until you pay me 80 million Ryo."
The Bookie nodded with a pale face. He was well aware of the consequences of trying to run away.
The other people began redeeming their tickets.
Renjiro said, "Follow me." Both Fujin and Renjiro began walking towards the room where Hoka and Mieko were resting.
Renjiro said, "What are your thoughts on what happened?"
Fujin replied in a deadpan tone, "The older you get, the greedier you become."
Renjiro almost lost his footing on hearing that.
Before he could reply, Fujin sighed and muttered, "I wonder if Lord Hokage could arrange me a few dozen Wind Crystals with the money he got from betting on me."
After saying that, he stared at Renjiro, reminding him of the money he won as well!
Renjiro ignored his words and his stare and asked, "Anything else you noticed?"
Fujin replied, "Did they piss off the Hokage somehow?"
Renjiro nodded, "The Gato company engages in a lot of illegal activities. Many common people have suffered due to them. This act was to give them a blow. And remind them to stay within their boundaries."
Fujin thought for a bit and nodded, 'Not bad. Not only was the Gato company made to pay, but Konoha also earned a fortune.
That said, looking at this in another way, Gato seized money from common people forcefully and Konoha seized that money from Gato. So indirectly, Konoha seized the money from the common people without the protection of a strong village.
The true losers are the common people. In order to compensate for this loss, Gato will steal more from common people, and perhaps sometime in the future, some other huge force will take the money from him. No wonder a scum like him can spread his influence so easily and not lose his life. The strong countries just don't care about it. After all, they too get a good share of his steal.
Sigh. No matter which world, the weak and helpless ones always suffer.'
Renjiro noticed Fujin suddenly quieting down. He wondered what Fujin was thinking about. Suddenly, Fujin had a thought. He asked, "Sensei, if I had lost, would you guys have just let all the money go to the Gato Company?"
Renjiro looked at Fujin, who looked back at his sensei. Renjiro didn't answer, but just smirked. Fujin sweatdropped looking at his smirk! He decided, 'These guys are the worst schemers! In the future, if I ever had to make a move against Hiruzen or Konoha, I should take care to never ever expose my identity! Who knows which scheme they might cook to make me suffer a huge loss.'
They reached the medical room in the arena in silence and checked up on Mieko and Hoka.
Mieko had a lot of cuts while Hoka had mild burns all over his body. Both also suffered from chakra exhaustion. Though they were healed, the medical nins advised them to stay in the hospital for a couple of days.
Renjiro informed them about the reward and neither of them was thrilled by it. Renjiro advised them to rest. Both Fujin and Renjiro left, leaving them with their family.
After leaving, Fujin looked at the sky and thought, 'The chunin exam finally ended. Soon I'll be a chunin. Six years of work to go from a nobody to a chunin. How long would it take to reach S rank from here?'
[A/N : Finally Fujin will become Chunin! Didn't think I'd need 103 chapters just to promote Fujin to chunin…. The next few chapters will focus on Hokage's reward. And then this fanfic will open up. I'm planning a lot of arcs to happen between now and when the canon timeline starts. However, I will have to think up all details regarding these arcs as there is no canon reference. So I might need small breaks in between the arcs to come up with good plots and gather all the required details for them. So the updates might be a bit slow. Please let me know what your thoughts are on every arc. Feedback helps. So does criticism. Once I catch up with the canon timeline, the writing speed should increase considerably as I won't have to spend days building plots and filling up details.
Also, thanks for your support guys. It's very motivating for me to keep writing!]
