"Is he about to use the Flying Thunder God?"
Watching Minato pull out more than a dozen kunai, Drake quietly observed from the tree.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
The kunai flew out and embedded themselves around the bridgehead. Minato lowered his stance, chakra coiling tightly as he prepared to engage.
"Drake, we'll support you at any time," Kakashi said, gripping his short blade, nerves fully stretched.
"No need," Drake replied calmly.
"Huh?"
"Look closely at the Iwa ninja. Don't you feel something's off?" Drake reminded him.
"Off? No…" Kakashi shook his head.
"There are three missing."
His words made Kakashi re-examine the battlefield at once.
But no matter how hard he looked, he couldn't see where those three had gone.
Just then, Minato moved.
The moment the Iwa squad stepped off the bridge, Minato flashed beside one of them, his kunai piercing straight through the man's throat.
Ignoring the fight behind him, Drake closed his eyes and focused on the tree beneath his feet.
"Find the three hiding ones."
Tree: No need. They're right under your feet.
"…What?"
Drake glanced down.
Three nearly transparent figures had already crept beneath the tree, silently preparing to climb up.
Boom!
He leapt down like a falling meteor, his fist punching clean through one man's chest. The momentum didn't stop — the same fist smashed into the other two in rapid succession.
"You— How did you detect us?"
"That's impossible…"
As their life drained away, disbelief froze in their eyes before they collapsed.
"Honestly, you wouldn't believe me even if I told you. The tree warned me," Drake sighed, landing back on the branch.
Kakashi swallowed hard.
He hadn't sensed a thing.
If those Iwa ninja had stabbed upward… he'd have already been dead.
"Focus on Sensei's battle. It's almost over," Drake said lightly.
Kakashi snapped his gaze toward the bridge.
Only a few Iwa ninja were still standing.
"So it's you… the Yellow Flash of the Leaf!" Kuroiwa finally roared, recognizing Minato.
But he refused to give up.
"If your movement depends on kunai, then I'll destroy every single one!"
Hand seals flew.
Earth Release — Cracking Rock!
Crack! Crack!
The ground shattered violently. The embedded kunai sank into collapsing earth, vanishing into the depths below.
"Without your kunai, what can you—!"
His words cut off abruptly.
Because his head was gone.
"Seriously. You're in the middle of a fight — why do you talk so much?" Drake muttered, retracting his bloodstained fist before retreating from the battlefield.
The conflict ended moments later.
Everything beyond the bridgehead had turned into a gigantic crater. Any Iwa ninja attempting to cross would fall straight in.
"Haa…"
Back in the trees, Minato let out a long breath. Continuous use of the Flying Thunder God had strained even him.
After resting a bit, he looked toward Drake.
"Today was fifty. Next time, it might be a hundred."
A subtle warning — retreat when necessary.
"Sensai, next time I'll handle it," Drake replied with an easy smile.
"You're really confident?" Minato frowned slightly.
"They're just a bunch of clay chickens and mud dogs," Drake said casually.
Kakashi's expression grew complicated.
A hundred ninja… and he called them trash?
Underground Cavern
The tremors reached deep underground, jolting the slumbering Madara Uchiha awake.
Soon, intel arrived.
"My lord, it's Minato Namikaze's Team Nine clashing with Iwa forces."
"Hmm? Team Nine? The one that boy is in?" Madara's interest sharpened.
"Yes."
"How convenient…" a low chuckle escaped his lips.
He'd placed a bounty to locate Drake, and now the boy had delivered himself.
"Annoying though… that Flying Thunder God user is still around."
After brief contemplation, Madara decided to observe personally.
"Black Zetsu. Possess a White Zetsu and come with me."
Moments later, Madara and the Zetsu pair surfaced a kilometer away, hidden atop a distant tree.
"That's the boy?" Madara narrowed his eyes.
"Yes. His taijutsu is extremely strong," Black Zetsu replied.
"Taijutsu? Hmph." Madara scoffed.
He hadn't noticed the glint of manic excitement that flashed across White Zetsu's eyes the instant he saw Drake.
Back at the battlefield, Drake leaned lazily against the trunk, waiting for the next wave.
Suddenly—
"Someone's watching you," the tree whispered.
"…Where?"
"South. One thousand meters."
The moment the words landed, Drake vanished.
Whoosh!
His figure shot southward like an arrow, terrifyingly fast.
He trusted the tree completely.
"Found us?" Madara's eyes narrowed in shock.
With White Zetsu's concealment, detection should've been impossible.
Yet the boy was charging straight toward him — and closing the distance frighteningly fast.
Instinct screamed danger.
"Withdraw," Madara ordered.
Black Zetsu prepared to sink them underground.
But—
White Zetsu did not move.
And then, in a chillingly excited voice:
"HE'S HERE!!!"
Madara's pupils shrank.
Snkk!
He slaughtered White Zetsu instantly, fury blazing across his wrinkled face.
Betrayed… by Zetsu? Why?
Before he could think further—
A figure burst into view.
It was Drake.
He took one look at the ancient man and instantly recognized him.
His lips curled coldly.
"Uchiha Madara? Spying on me?"
His aura surged with killing intent.
"Die."
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