Drake's plan was simple: escort Maki and Pakura to the front lines and use them as leverage against the Sand's commander.
At that moment, Anko stepped forward eagerly.
"Drake, you can hand them over to me!"
"Hand them to you?" he asked, lips curling into an amused smile.
"Yeah! My teacher is Orochimaru, you know — the Supreme Commander of the frontline!" Anko said proudly.
If that happened, all the credit would go straight to her and her teacher.
Just imagining it already made her feel smug.
"You're dreaming." Drake rejected her without hesitation.
"Huh? Aren't you sending them to the front anyway? Team Nine's mission is to rebuild Supply Station No.3, right?" Anko looked confused. "I'm helping you!"
Drake, of course, had his own calculations.
He was definitely sending them — but who did the sending mattered.
This kind of merit? He wasn't giving it away to outsiders.
"Rin, fire the signal!"
He turned to Rin and called for reinforcements.
Whoosh!
A signal flare shot into the sky, bursting into a crimson bloom.
Anko panicked.
"That flare will attract other search teams—" she froze mid-sentence.
She understood.
Drake wasn't waiting for backup.
He was waiting for Minato.
He intended to hand this achievement to Team Nine's sensei.
"I'm warning you, if you don't give them to me, I'll have my teacher transfer you to the frontline!" Anko put her hands on her hips, trying to intimidate him.
"Your teacher?"
Drake laughed softly.
Maybe in the past he would've feared Orochimaru a little. But now? Soon enough, Orochimaru would be the one kneeling and singing praises.
So he ignored her threat entirely.
The only real issue was that the frontline commander might be changing soon anyway.
Nearby, Anko sulked, but no one paid her any attention.
What truly puzzled Team Nine was Ibiki, who walked over to Fengchuan's corpse and stabbed it several times with a kunai.
The two captured Sand ninja frowned deeply at the sight.
"If we're going to escape, this is our last chance," Pakura whispered.
"That kid is too close. Even if we try, we won't make it," Maki replied grimly, glancing at Drake.
If they stayed, at least they might live.
If they ran, that monster would definitely kill them.
"So what do we do? Just wait to be sent to the frontlines?"
"Wait… for an opportunity."
Reinforcements arrived.
But to Drake's surprise, it wasn't Minato.
It was three masked Root operatives.
"Hmm? Pakura of the Sand, wielder of Scorch Release… and the other is Maki?"
The Root members instantly identified the captives.
Exchanging looks, their gaze shifted to Team Nine.
"We are Root. From now on, these two Sand ninja will be taken into our custody."
With that declaration, the three stepped forward.
And in that instant—
Drake moved.
Whoosh!
A blur crossed the air.
Without hesitation—
BOOM!
One punch detonated a Root ninja's skull.
"You dare—"
"So fast—"
Before the other two could even finish their words, overwhelming force engulfed them.
Their heads exploded like smashed melons, blood and brains splattering across the ground like spilled tofu.
Thud. Thud.
Headless bodies collapsed, lifeless.
"Next time, talk faster. Or you won't even finish your last words."
Drake murmured coldly, then kicked aside a shattered hand.
Hidden inside was a paper tag.
An explosive tag.
Silence.
Utter silence.
The entire team stared, frozen.
To them, the Root operatives had just appeared — said one line — and were then instantly killed.
"Is he insane? Killing Root operatives means treason!" Anko's heart jolted as she backed away cautiously.
She had threatened him earlier, after all.
"Drake, even sensei won't be able to protect you now…" Obito said gravely, unusually sharp for once, hinting that Drake should run.
"He must have his reasons…" Rin murmured weakly, trying to defend him.
But Kakashi and Ibiki had already figured it out.
Their eyes locked onto the explosive tag.
"Drake did the right thing. If he hadn't killed them, we'd be dead," Ibiki said quietly.
"Those Root operatives planned to blow us up." Kakashi's voice was low and cold.
"Huh?"
Anko followed their gaze and went pale.
The crushed hand… the explosive tag…
It was obvious.
Those three Root operatives intended to kill everyone here and steal the credit for capturing the Sand ninja.
At the same time, Maki and Pakura, still tied up, were stunned — then secretly delighted.
"Internal conflict…"
"Maybe we can turn that kid to our side."
If he had killed his own village's operatives, he'd surely be branded a traitor.
And if that happened… the Sand Village would make the perfect refuge.
Slowly, the thought of escape gave way to schemes.
Drake, meanwhile, remained calm.
He crouched down, wiped his hands on a corpse's clothes, then slowly stood up.
"Drake, thank you for saving us… but killing Root operatives is still a serious crime," Ibiki warned.
Root meant Danzo.
And Danzo never forgot.
"Oh? Killing Root operatives?" Drake blinked innocently.
He casually pointed at the two tied-up Sand ninja.
"Wasn't it clearly the Sand who killed them? What does that have to do with me?"
Maki and Pakura froze.
They hadn't even moved. This was blatant framing!
Who would believe something so absurd?
But then—
"I see. It really was the Sand who did it," Ibiki said with a strange expression, playing along.
"Three Root operatives fought the Sand ninja. Root died, one Sand ninja died too," Kakashi added coolly.
"And we just happened to pass by… and picked up the leftovers?" Obito muttered hesitantly.
"Is… is that really going to work?" Rin asked nervously.
"There's no way they'll accept the blame, right?" Anko shook her head.
But the very next moment—
She stared in shock as the two captured Sand ninja fell into deep silence.
Thinking.
Calculating.
Choosing.
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