Team Nine was furious.
Money wasn't even the main point anymore — what truly angered them was how the Third Hokage handled the situation.
"The village is short on funds? Fine, pay less. But not even a single ryō? That's just shameless," Obito fumed.
"I think it's really unfair too," Rin agreed bitterly. After all, five of those ten thousand had been hers.
Drake stayed expressionless and turned to Kakashi.
"What do you think, Kakashi?"
"It leaves a bad taste," Kakashi replied coolly.
If this ever got out, trust in the Third Hokage would drop sharply. It was obvious — so obvious that even they could see it. How could the Third not understand that?
"You have to realize something," Drake said calmly. "Some people… are just shortsighted."
His words lingered meaningfully in the air.
To him, the team had already started seeing through the cracks — and that was enough.
"By the way," Kakashi added, "the Third said we have another mission tomorrow."
"So soon?" Drake froze.
They had just returned this evening, and they were already being sent out again? Even pack animals weren't worked this brutally.
"We don't even get a rest period now," Obito grumbled darkly.
"I'm exhausted…" Rin sighed.
In the end, the team disbanded amidst endless complaints.
That Night – Drake's Courtyard
He sat in the wooden chair, staring up at the stars.
"I just want to enjoy life… but the missions never stop."
Whoosh!
A figure appeared silently inside the yard.
Drake didn't even flinch.
"You're not surprised?" Minato sounded mildly amused.
"Sensei, I've been scammed," Drake turned his head slowly, eyes full of grievance.
"Oh?" Minato frowned slightly. "What happened?"
So Drake launched into an emotional performance, vividly recounting Team Nine's hardships — and how that "five hundred thousand ryō" had supposedly been the entirety of his parents' death compensation.
"They took my money… but refused to reimburse it."
"Unbelievable," Minato's expression darkened. "The Third shouldn't have handled it like that."
No matter how you looked at it, that intel had been bought for the village. Making a student shoulder the entire cost was unreasonable.
"Tomorrow, I'll speak to him again," Minato promised.
"Thank you, Sensei!" Drake immediately brightened.
But then his expression turned pitiful again.
"There's more?" Minato asked warily.
"We were ordered on another mission tomorrow. No rest at all."
"That fast?" Even Minato found it hard to believe.
"I'll bring it up tomorrow as well. You'll get a few days of rest," he assured.
"You're the best, Sensei!" Drake leapt up and immediately offered him the chair.
Minato chuckled.
"Alright, complaints over? Then it's my turn."
His tone suddenly shifted, mysterious.
The Reveal
In Minato's palm, a swirling sphere of chakra formed — spinning, compressing, roaring like a miniature storm.
Drake widened his eyes.
"Rasengan?"
His heart was calm, but his face performed perfectly.
"Sensei… what is that? It looks like a chakra dumpling."
"That's not a dumpling!" Minato almost lost control. "This is my newly developed technique — the Rasengan!"
"Rasengan? A spinning dumpling?"
"Cough… It's a formless, natureless A-rank ninjutsu. I developed it specifically for you."
For me?
Drake felt genuinely touched… though he also knew he didn't actually need it.
"Normally, this level of technique takes three to five years to perfect. I refined this one in under a month."
Minato couldn't hide his pride.
Drake blinked.
He clearly remembered it was supposed to take three years… but whatever. Genius logic.
"You really are incredible, Sensei."
"Well… I owe it to a cat."
Minato briefly explained the incident with the cat and the spinning yarn ball, and everything suddenly made sense.
"Watch closely. Try learning it," Minato said, pushing the Rasengan closer.
"Remember the four principles: Rotation, Compression, Stability, Control!"
Drake nodded obediently.
He extended his right hand and began gathering chakra.
Buzz—
White chakra condensed instantly, swirling into a perfect sphere.
Drake: "???"
Minato: "⊙_⊙"
At the same time, Drake's status panel updated:
Ninjutsu: Rasengan
Evolution Path Selection: (Volume) / (Mass)
His pupils shrank slightly.
Volume meant larger Rasengan —
Big Ball Rasengan… Giant Rasengan… absurdly huge Rasengan.
But Mass?
A terrifying thought surfaced.
A Rasengan with infinite density…
A collapsing core…
A singularity…
A black hole.
If this was real, then this technique had no upper limit at all.
A ninjutsu born not to destroy…
But to devour everything.
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