This was a perfectly executed, turn-based feint.
Hidden within the trees, Drake watched as Minato led several genin squads and hurled waves of kunai across the river in unison.
Almost immediately, the Cloud fortifications responded in kind — a storm of flying weapons, mixed with plenty of explosive tags.
Back and forth they traded.
But Konoha was clearly at a disadvantage.
The sheer difference in numbers meant the volume of kunai and explosive tags on the Cloud side far outstripped theirs.
Then suddenly—
Minato charged forward alone, his figure flashing like lightning before vanishing over the surface of the river.
"Get ready."
Drake signaled with his hand.
Behind him, Kakashi and Yugao tensed, chakra coiling in their bodies.
"Move!"
The moment the Cloud shinobi shifted their forces to reinforce against Minato, Drake surged forward, crossing the border river at full speed.
Kakashi followed instantly.
Yugao brought up the rear.
The moment they landed on the opposite bank, all three vanished into the forest as if swallowed by it.
Ten minutes later.
Drake stood atop a tree branch, scanning the terrain.
"So… what's the exact objective?" Kakashi asked.
Everything had happened too quickly earlier for details.
"Find the Cloud supply depot — and blow it up."
"Destroy the depot?" Kakashi nodded.
So they were copying the Sand Village's playbook.
"But just the three of us… isn't that a little too dangerous?" Yugao whispered nervously.
Hearing her lack of confidence, Drake turned and leaned in until his face was inches from hers.
"Not three. Two."
"You're just here to make up the numbers."
The words were cruelly blunt.
Yugao's fear evaporated, replaced with pure indignation.
"I know basic medical ninjutsu, you know!"
"Oh? And?"
"If you get hurt, I'll have to treat you!"
"If I get hurt," Drake replied calmly, "your priority is to run."
Silence.
After casually crushing her morale, he motioned forward.
They continued.
Based on Drake's analysis, the Cloud supply depot wouldn't be far from the border — and most likely near the road itself.
It optimised transport and allowed rapid resupply to the frontline.
One hour later.
The three halted on the treetops, staring at a massive warehouse in the distance.
Shinobi wandered in and out in constant rotation.
"There are at least a hundred of them," Kakashi said grimly after observing.
"That's insane…" Yugao swallowed hard.
"The Cloud's logistics awareness is leagues ahead of Konoha," Drake muttered.
One depot.
Over a hundred guards.
Compared to Konoha sending genin squads to protect their own supply posts, the difference was downright humiliating.
"Okay. Kakashi, circle around and cut off their retreat routes."
Kakashi froze.
He was supposed to block the escape route of over a hundred shinobi… alone?
"You're serious?" he asked carefully.
"I'm not confident I can stop that many."
Drake stared at him, unimpressed.
"I mean if stragglers try to escape, intercept or kill them. Not fight an army."
"Oh… right…" Kakashi exhaled — then his eyes widened again.
"You're not actually planning to charge in alone, are you?"
"Or should I drag Little Yugao in with me?" Drake shrugged.
Yugao twitched.
She definitely heard the insult.
"Then… what should I do?" she asked stiffly.
"You?"
Drake pointed toward the forest.
"Hide. And pray the Cloud nin don't find you."
Yugao: "..."
Half an hour later.
Drake stood up on the tree limb.
"It's time to erase them."
He took one last look at the depot — then launched himself forward.
His figure blurred, leaving behind a streak of afterimages as he cut through the forest.
SWOOSH—
He crashed into the warehouse perimeter, his fist slamming directly into a Cloud shinobi.
"Ene—"
PUFF!
The man's torso was blown through completely, and Drake's momentum didn't stop — he smashed straight through the warehouse wall itself.
Inside, his eyes swept across endless stacks of explosive tags and kunai.
At least a hundred thousand in total.
"What a beautiful stockpile…"
He grinned.
Picking up an explosive tag, he murmured,
"The fastest way to deal with this isn't taijutsu… or ninjutsu."
"It's this."
Heavy footsteps thundered outside — Cloud reinforcements racing in.
FZZZT—
Chakra flared. The tag in his hand ignited.
With a casual flick of his wrist, Drake tossed it deep into the center of the depot.
Two seconds later—
BOOOOOOM!!!!
A deafening explosion shook the heavens.
Flames roared skyward, the shockwave flattening everything around it as the earth trembled like a collapsed world.
A towering mushroom cloud spiraled into the sky.
The Cloud supply depot…
ceased to exist.
A handful of critically injured Cloud shinobi stumbled from the inferno.
Waiting for them calmly was Kakashi.
Not one of them escaped.
From above, Drake surveyed the devastation.
Aside from a few shattered survivors, every guard had been "honorably obliterated."
Meanwhile — at the Cloud frontline camp.
Several bodies from earlier clashes still lay before the command structure.
"This must be retaliation for our traps."
"And that shinobi who attacked earlier was definitely Minato of Konoha!"
"Send word back to the supply depot — have them dispatch backups!"
Before the order could even be finalized…
A panicked shinobi burst inside.
"Commander! Look outside — holy hell! The supply depot… it exploded!"
"What?!"
They rushed out — just in time to see a massive mushroom cloud rising on the eastern horizon.
Moments later, the delayed thunder of the blast rolled across the battlefield.
"Report to the main force immediately!"
"Konoha infiltrators are inside our territory!"
"Hunt them down! Exterminate them all!"
The chase… had begun
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