Inside the pavilion, Drake slowly flipped through the mission ledger.
Across from him, Sarutobi Hiruzen's eyelids twitched nonstop. A powerful sense of unease rose in his chest.
He was certain Drake was deliberately searching for the most dangerous missions.
After all, this was the master mission ledger from the Hokage's office—the one containing missions all the way up to S-Rank.
Unfortunately for Hiruzen—
He guessed wrong.
Drake flipped through most of the book, then casually turned it back to the very first page.
In the end, he sighed softly.
"Third… I suddenly remembered something," Drake said calmly.
"Back then, I was chased by dozens of ninja. What mission was that again?"
Hiruzen froze.
He didn't understand what Drake was getting at, but after a moment of thought, he answered:
"That should've been the mission escorting the Daimyō of the Land of Hot Springs."
"Oh?" Drake nodded in realization.
"So you remember it quite clearly."
He looked at Hiruzen with a reflective expression.
"Then you can escort the Hot Springs Daimyō once again."
"I escort him?" Hiruzen frowned.
If he wasn't mistaken, that was only a C-Rank mission.
Would Drake really be this kind?
"Of course," Drake continued lightly.
"After completing the escort, investigate the whereabouts of the Three-Tails as well."
"…The Three-Tails?"
"Yes. It appeared in the Land of Hot Springs and killed the Third Raikage with a Tailed Beast Bomb."
"After escorting the Daimyō to his residence, go look into the Three-Tails' movements."
"Any objections?"
Hiruzen's heart sank.
So this was the real mission.
The Three-Tails had already appeared—and Drake still wanted him to investigate it?
This was practically sending him to confront the beast head-on.
"The Three-Tails can kill the Third Raikage now… can I even survive that?"
Cold dread spread through Hiruzen's chest.
"What?" Drake's tone turned sharp.
"You don't want to go?"
"I'll go," Hiruzen replied immediately.
He had no right to refuse.
"Good." Drake patted his shoulder with apparent sincerity.
"Make sure you come back alive. I still have plenty of missions waiting for you."
Then he added casually:
"Prepare yourself and wait at the village entrance."
Drake turned and walked away.
Behind him, Hiruzen clenched his fists, staring at Drake's back with resentment and humiliation.
"Ah—right."
Drake suddenly stopped and turned around.
Hiruzen flinched violently.
"Anything else?" he asked stiffly.
"Don't glare at my back," Drake said with a smile.
Hiruzen's heart skipped.
He noticed that?
"I don't have eyes on my back… so how did he see it?"
"Third," Drake continued calmly,
"if you don't have strength, tuck in your tail."
"Understood," Hiruzen lowered his head.
Leaving the Sarutobi clan compound, Drake headed toward the ANBU base in the back mountains.
The moment he entered the main hall, he fell silent.
Only a handful of White Zetsu clones were processing intelligence.
Not a single member of Team Nine was present.
The place felt desolate.
"…Looks like it's time to expand ANBU," Drake muttered.
He knew exactly why ANBU was so empty.
Simply put—it was his fault.
He had wiped out the original ANBU and replaced them with White Zetsu.
As for Team Nine's three girls?
They had been hanging around the Happy Hot Springs Inn for so long that they'd practically forgotten they were ANBU.
That left only Kakashi, Yamato, and Obito.
And among those three, only Kakashi actually worked.
The other two were professional freeloaders.
Drake left the ANBU base and walked straight into Happy Hot Springs Inn.
"The Hokage is here!"
Kushina greeted him cheerfully, followed by Minae and Mikoto Uchiha.
"Minae," Drake asked,
"have you finished calculating the Land of Hot Springs' losses?"
Minae handed him a sheet of paper.
Drake glanced at the number and frowned.
"Only one hundred million ryō?"
"That's about right."
Drake shook his head, took the pen from her hand—
—and added another zero.
Minae froze.
Kushina stared.
Even Mikoto was startled.
"That's… not excessive?" Minae asked in disbelief.
"Not at all," Drake replied seriously.
"One hundred million is material damage."
"The remaining nine hundred million is mental compensation."
No one could refute that logic.
Drake turned toward the hallway.
"Anko!"
"Huh?"
"Prepare yourself. Escort Minae back to the Land of Hot Springs."
"Just me?" Anko blinked.
"You'll protect her closely. The Third will escort you along the route."
The women collectively froze.
The Third Hokage… doing escort missions?
"Drake," Kushina asked carefully,
"you're really making the former Hokage do missions?"
"Any issue?" Drake shrugged.
"You're truly a pioneer," Mikoto teased.
Drake followed Minae into the room.
As soon as the door closed, Minae hugged him tightly.
"Thank you, Drake."
"No need to be polite with me."
Drake placed his hand on her shoulder.
A subtle surge of willpower mixed with chakra entered her body.
"…I feel something inside me," Minae said softly.
"If you're ever in danger," Drake instructed,
"release the seal inside you."
"What's sealed in there?"
"My technique—Chibaku Tensei."
Her eyes widened.
Then Drake implanted two more traits.
"…There's another one."
"Flight ability. After releasing the first seal, release the second and fly away."
"Fly far. Remember that."
"I won't forget," Minae nodded firmly.
On the road, Kakashi suddenly appeared via Body Flicker.
"We got something during Asuma's interrogation," he said gravely.
Drake immediately understood—this was serious.
They headed straight to the Uchiha Police Force detention area.
Inside the cell, Sarutobi Asuma was shouting hysterically.
"You used genjutsu on me, Uchiha Shisui!
You're finished—your entire clan is finished!"
Drake entered calmly.
"So," he asked Shisui,
"what did you get?"
"He sexually assaulted two young women," Shisui replied coldly.
"Afterward, he murdered them and buried the bodies."
"The flower shop incident… was to commemorate them."
Drake's eyes narrowed.
"So murdering someone and offering flowers later makes it okay?" he murmured.
That answer disgusted him.
He walked into the cell.
Asuma cursed him again.
Drake simply reached out—
bend—
The iron bars twisted like soft clay.
Moments later—
Crack.
Asuma's neck snapped.
"Announce his crimes to the entire village," Drake ordered.
Then, a White Zetsu clone emerged, disposed of the body, and transformed into Asuma.
"Protect this 'Asuma'," Drake said.
"He's very important."
Shisui understood immediately.
This would destroy the Sarutobi clan's reputation completely.
Later, in the Hokage's office, Drake found the document pile reduced by a third.
"Yellow Flash efficiency," he muttered approvingly.
Just then—
Jiraiya crashed straight into him.
"Ow, you brat—!"
Minato explained everything.
Jiraiya fell silent.
"…This kid is a monster."
Then Jiraiya spoke seriously:
"I went to Mount Myōboku."
"The Great Toad Sage made a prophecy."
"He saw Konoha suffer an unprecedented siege.
Half the village destroyed. Countless dead."
"And Minato—dies."
Drake tapped his chin thoughtfully.
"What about me?"
"…I don't know. You weren't there."
After a moment, Drake spoke calmly:
"If I were merely absent, no village would dare attack Konoha."
"So," Minato asked carefully.
"I wasn't just absent," Drake said quietly.
"I was gone."
"Presumed dead."
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