"According to intelligence from the Land of Grass, Orochimaru claims he is merely a researcher conducting experiments — and that Danzō was the one responsible for capturing living human subjects!"
Minato finished delivering the report.
Drake could only marvel.
What a genius! Orochimaru was ruthless — one clean stab straight into Danzō's back, and it hit right where it hurt most.
"So what he's saying is that he's just an innocent scientist, and all the killing and corpse-moving was done by Danzō?" Drake almost laughed out loud.
"Exactly," Minato nodded.
No wonder Root had tried to arrest Anko in the street. As Orochimaru's former student, she was an easy target.
"But sending people to grab Anko is going too far," Minato added.
"Danzō is shameless. Why not go after Orochimaru instead? What's the point of bullying Anko?" Rin said indignantly, clearly siding with her.
"He doesn't have the luxury to chase Orochimaru right now. At this moment, Danzō is probably about to explode," Drake said with a grin.
And just as Drake predicted —
Root Headquarters
Bang!
Danzō kicked a table over, his face twisted with fury.
"Damn Orochimaru! You're the one who betrayed the village, yet you dare turn around and sell me out?!"
He roared in a low voice, as if the table before him were Orochimaru himself.
"Lord Danzō, this information was sold at half price in the Land of Grass. Many villages have already bought it," one subordinate reported cautiously.
"Get out!"
Danzō snapped.
He righted the table — then kicked it over again.
What he couldn't understand was this: from start to finish, he had never been involved in Orochimaru's defection. Even the pursuit teams had been ANBU, not Root.
So why was Orochimaru targeting him?
Orochimaru had escaped — but Danzō was still here in the village!
If the Uchiha clan found out, they would never let this go.
As for the Senju? He wasn't too worried. The clan had long declined; barely any of them were left.
After venting his frustration, Danzō sank back into his chair.
"Someone!"
He summoned an aide, making a firm decision.
He could not allow a rogue ninja to slander him like this. The best solution was simple — make Orochimaru disappear.
"Issue the highest-level kill order. Orochimaru is to be executed on sight."
After that, he paused again, eyes narrowing.
"Looks like it's time to activate my ace informant…"
He thought of Drake.
Now that Drake was in ANBU, he could easily feed Danzō inside information — early warnings of anything that might be unfavorable.
What Danzō didn't realize was that the true mastermind behind all of this… was that very same "ace informant."
Back in the Land of Waves forest, Drake had personally dumped the blame onto Danzō right in front of Orochimaru.
Swish!
Another subordinate appeared.
"Lord Danzō, the attempt to seize Anko failed. We were blocked."
"Hm? Who dared interfere?" Danzō frowned.
"ANBU operative Drake… and Minato."
Crack!
At the sound of Drake's name, Danzō crushed the armrest of his chair.
"Idiot! That fool Drake — fooled by Minato again!"
On the Street
After leaving the barbecue restaurant, Anko kept her head down, silent.
Rin wanted to comfort her but didn't know how to begin. So she looked pleadingly at Drake.
"Huh? You want me to talk to her?"
Seeing Rin's expression, Drake reluctantly agreed.
"Rin, go on to the Happy Hot Springs. I'll bring Anko over later."
"Okay! We'll wait for you!" Rin said, making a little cheering gesture before running off.
Now it was just Drake and Anko walking side by side.
Drake tried to sound casual.
"Little Anko~~"
"Pfft!"
She burst out laughing.
Drake: "???"
I haven't even said anything yet!
"Be serious!" he growled.
"Drake… thank you," Anko said suddenly, her voice sincere and full of gratitude.
"Thank me? And how exactly do you plan to thank me?" he replied lazily.
"However you want…" she murmured, her voice so soft it was almost inaudible.
"Hmm?"
Drake froze.
He definitely heard that.
"What did you just say? Say it again?" he demanded, stunned.
In his memory, Anko had always been proud and sharp-tongued. When did she turn into a shy little girl?
"If you didn't hear it, forget it," she snorted, instantly back to normal.
Then she pointed ahead.
"Hey, what's with all those women running that way?"
Drake followed her gaze. A huge crowd was moving toward the central street.
"Come on, let's check it out."
Happy Hot Springs
The lobby was packed.
Kushina was enthusiastically promoting the new massage service, while Lady Mikoto stood as the prime example and centerpiece of the advertisement.
At the same time, Kushina was loudly playing up the "professional Hyūga clan masseuse" angle.
When Drake and Anko arrived, they were met with a sea of women.
"We're late," Drake sighed. "We missed the best part."
Now the bidding phase was already nearing its end.
"This can't be real, can it? Someone from the Hyūga clan doing massage work?" Anko stared at the banner in disbelief.
"What's so strange about that?" Drake shrugged.
"That's one of the village's noble clans!"
"Noble? Only the main family is noble. Do you really think the branch family gets the same treatment?" he replied calmly.
Just ahead of them, a young woman stiffened slightly.
She turned around — it was Hinata Lingyin.
"You're… Drake?" she asked, recognizing him immediately.
"Oh? Miss Lingyin!" Drake was mildly surprised.
Why was she in the crowd instead of preparing in the massage room?
"I was asked by Kushina to act as a plant for the bidding, just for a while," she whispered, making sure no one else heard.
Drake nodded thoughtfully, then smiled.
"Impressive."
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