Anko scratched her head, feeling like her IQ had been ruthlessly crushed.
Because somehow…
Those two Sand ninja had actually agreed.
"How is that even possible?!"
She honestly couldn't understand it.
What was worse — everyone else on the scene seemed to get it perfectly.
She was the only one completely lost.
"Stop standing there! Come over and stab them a few times!"
Drake's voice rang out as he tossed her a kunai.
"Huh? S-Stab them?" Anko blinked, dumbfounded.
They're already dead, and you want me to poke the corpses too?!
"Heh, Anko. If you don't stab them, then I'll stab you instead."
His smile vanished, voice turning dangerously calm.
Under overwhelming pressure, Anko could only grit her teeth and comply, stepping forward and furiously stabbing the bodies.
"You're way too brutal. A few stabs is enough — you're turning it into a beehive."
Drake looked away, slightly disturbed.
What he didn't know was that Anko had mentally replaced the corpse with his face while venting.
After Anko, Drake turned his eyes to Ibiki.
Before he could even speak, Ibiki walked over.
"I know the rules."
And without hesitation, he stabbed the corpses as well.
Drake nodded to himself.
This guy had definitely done this before.
"I'll help too!" Obito rushed over enthusiastically.
"What are you helping for? Go stand aside."
Drake shoved him away.
He trusted Team Nine. After all, he'd saved their lives more than once. Betrayal? Unlikely.
And even if it happened… he'd erase them without blinking.
Next, Drake ordered Anko to dig the graves.
Just then—
Whoosh!
Minato appeared.
His eyes swept over the tied-up Sand ninja, then the mangled corpses on the ground.
"Sensei!"
"Sensei's here!"
"Minato-sensei!"
Everyone hurried over.
"Explain." Minato said calmly.
As team leader, Drake delivered a perfectly "clean" version of events.
"I was worried Anko might get ambushed, so I had the team escort the supplies."
"When we arrived here, we found two heavily injured Sand ninja and several dead bodies."
"So I had Rin fire the signal."
Minato nodded after hearing the explanation.
He walked over to Maki and Pakura.
"Is what my student said true?"
"If my chakra hadn't been depleted, you think these brats could've caught me?" Pakura scoffed arrogantly.
"And you?" Minato looked at Maki.
"All I can say is… they were lucky." Maki sighed.
After that, Minato listened to Drake's intimidation strategy.
"This plan is excellent. Drake, do you know you already have the makings of a strategist?"
He gave rare, genuine praise.
"Huh? I just thought it up randomly." Drake scratched his cheek shyly.
"Alright. I'll take these two to the frontlines. You head back to Supply Station No.3 and rebuild it properly."
Before leaving, Minato added one more instruction:
"The weather's too hot. Don't bury the bodies — cremate them."
That simple line warmed Drake's heart.
The bodies were burned.
Obito provided the fire.
Anko gathered the fuel.
Ibiki handled the lifting.
If anything went wrong? No one could escape responsibility.
"Anko, wanna join Team Nine?" Drake asked casually.
"Go to hell!"
She whipped the ox-cart and sped away, clearly done with his existence.
Drake then turned his gaze to Ibiki.
"Uh… I already have teammates. We just haven't officially formed the squad yet."
Ibiki promptly declined.
He wasn't stupid. Anyone could tell Team Nine was a ticking time bomb.
Reconstruction of Supply Station No.3 resumed.
Yet one thing continued to bother Ibiki.
From beginning to end, the insulting signs he nailed up had done nothing.
So why did Drake insist on them?
Unable to hold it in any longer, he approached the lazing Drake.
"Drake, should I take down those signs?"
"Hm? Why would you?" Drake yawned, half-asleep.
"They're useless."
"How can they be useless?" Drake waved lazily and rolled over to continue his nap.
After all, afternoon sleep still counted as "rest."
While everyone hammered and worked, another supply cart rolled by.
The driver saw the vulgar insults nailed to the trees and burst into laughter, his tired eyes lighting up.
"Busy, huh?"
He even greeted them in passing.
At that moment, Ibiki finally understood.
"These signs weren't for the enemy…"
"They were for morale."
Admiration welled in his chest.
Every step Drake took had meaning.
Hokage's Office
Hiruzen stared down at a war map, deeply frowning.
Beside him, Danzo observed for a moment before speaking.
"Zanzou, our current forces cannot defend four directions simultaneously."
"I know that." Hiruzen snapped, irritated.
He then took out a list of Genin and began scanning it.
"You're thinking of starting the Chunin Exams now?" Danzo looked shocked.
War could erupt at any moment — and he wanted evaluations now?
"You think the Sand Village will send people?"
"If we don't try, how will we know?" Hiruzen replied gravely.
"And through the Chunin Exams, we can observe the reactions of the other villages."
Danzo slowly nodded in agreement.
"Using the exams, we can even conduct secret negotiations."
"As long as the other villages remain stable, Sand alone isn't a threat."
After finalizing those details, Danzo left.
Whoosh!
An ANBU appeared instantly.
"Hokage-sama, message from Minato. The Sand's infiltration squad has been captured."
Hiruzen's eyes lit up.
"Excellent!"
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