In his courtyard, Drake lay sprawled on a wooden recliner, lazily turning over.
And then he saw it.
Obito and Kakashi were squatting right in front of him, staring without blinking.
"Damn it!"
He jolted so hard he nearly slapped them both on instinct.
"Are you two ghosts or what?!"
Sitting up with an annoyed huff, he yawned.
"You can still sleep after all that?" Obito clicked his tongue in disbelief.
"The whole village felt like it was shaking just now. Didn't you notice?" Kakashi added, equally speechless.
That blinding light from the back mountain, the earth-shaking explosion — and this guy was still snoring peacefully?
"Hurry up and talk. If you've got nothing important, disappear."
Didn't they see the sky was already getting dark?
"There was a huge flash over the back mountain, like a second sun!" Obito said excitedly. "We were gonna go check it out!"
"And a massive explosion too," Kakashi supplemented.
"That's it?"
Drake rolled his eyes and flopped right back down.
"Hey! Why are you lying down again?!"
"As captain of Team Nine, I officially approve your investigation." He waved them off lazily.
You want me to go? No chance.
Since when does a criminal return to the scene of the crime?
Seeing he wasn't moving an inch, Kakashi and Obito gave up and headed for the back mountain on their own.
The Next Day
Under the blazing sun, Drake stretched comfortably.
He'd slept straight through till noon.
Spirit: 640 (320 × 2) — [Ultimate Immunity]
Glancing at the doubled stat, he felt absolutely nothing.
"From Basic Immunity to Intermediate, Advanced, Super… and now Ultimate."
To be honest, even he had no idea how terrifying his resistance to genjutsu had become.
He'd never tested it.
Shwoosh!
Minato flashed into the courtyard, his expression unusually heavy.
"Go to Training Ground No. 9. Now."
With that, he vanished again.
Training Ground No. 9
Chewing on a rice ball, Drake arrived—fashionably late, as usual.
Minato didn't comment, instead tossing him a scroll.
"Another mission?" Drake groaned as he unrolled it.
Kakashi and the others leaned in to read.
"What the hell?!" Obito blurted out.
"No way…" Kakashi muttered.
"How could this happen?" Rin gasped.
"Defected? The front line collapsed?" Drake stared.
The scroll contained shocking news:
Orochimaru had defected early that morning.
And upon learning of it, the Sand forces seized the chance, crossed the border, and smashed through Konoha's defensive line.
"Wait, this is from this morning. How did you hear so fast, sensei?" Drake asked.
"This wasn't relayed by standard channels," Minato explained. "A frontline shinobi used a summoning beast from the Forest of Death."
"So that's how…" Drake nodded.
Unsummon the creature, and it returns directly to the Forest of Death — instantly transporting the message back to Konoha.
"Sensei, Orochimaru was the commander-in-chief. How did he just… run?" Drake pressed.
Minato sighed, voice heavy with complexity.
"It's connected to what happened on the back mountain."
The back mountain?
Drake froze.
Don't tell me they really think Orochimaru caused that explosion…
Would he really flee just because of that?
"This is complicated. You don't need to know the details," Minato said quietly.
"One more thing. The village has issued new orders. All shinobi must have their personal data re-registered."
"Re-register? Now??"
Drake was speechless.
The border's been torn open and they're busy doing paperwork?
What kind of joke is this?
"Until that's complete, no one is allowed to leave the village."
Great. Perfect timing.
Minato left once more.
Team Nine Discussion
"So what did you two find on the back mountain last night?" Drake asked Kakashi and Obito.
"There's a massive crater. The entire peak got blown apart!" Obito exaggerated.
"And a tunnel under heavy ANBU guard. We couldn't get close," Kakashi added.
"A tunnel?" Drake's eyes narrowed.
"On the shaded side, surrounded by rubble."
The shaded slope… a hidden passage?
He immediately recalled running into Danzo there before.
Combine that with Orochimaru fleeing so abruptly — it wasn't hard to connect the dots.
"That tunnel probably leads to Orochimaru's secret lab."
And if a simple explosion made him run for his life…
Then whatever was inside must've crossed every possible line.
"Experiments on clan shinobi corpses?" Drake muttered.
That was enough to turn the entire village against him.
"So… this is technically because of me?"
He looked up at the sky, strangely mournful.
But no, he wasn't guilty.
If anything, he'd exposed a criminal. He should be a hero.
Orochimaru was the one who abandoned his post and caused the front line to collapse.
The real criminal was Orochimaru.
Hokage Office – Data Re-Registration
Team Nine was summoned to re-enter their personal data.
To Drake's surprise, it wasn't the Hokage presiding over the process…
It was Danzo.
After the others finished, Drake — last in line — was stopped.
"Drake. Stay."
Danzo's voice was low and grave.
"Danzo-sama? Do you need something?" Drake asked innocently.
"Are you willing to join Root?" Danzo said flatly.
"To serve as an undercover agent."
"Join Root? As a spy?"
Drake blinked.
"You're asking me to infiltrate? Aren't you worried I'll just infiltrate my way into your grave?"
He scratched his head, thinking seriously.
"So… where exactly am I supposed to go undercover?"
Danzo's eyes narrowed.
"Remain in Team Nine."
"And monitor… Minato Namikaze."
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