Inside the Hokage's office, Minato Namikaze looked utterly confused.
Drake's conclusion—that he himself would go missing—made no sense to him.
Jiraiya was just as baffled.
With Drake's overwhelming strength, how could he possibly disappear?
"How would you go missing?" Minato asked, unable to follow Drake's logic.
"You're the Hokage now. As long as you stay in the village, nothing should happen."
"Exactly," Jiraiya agreed.
"With your power, who could make you disappear?"
"Because there's only one possibility," Drake replied calmly.
Based on Drake's deductions, if the Great Toad Sage's prophecy was accurate, then there was only one explanation—
His age would double.
For Drake, age doubling was nothing more than a night's sleep.
But for everyone else, that meant more than ten years passing in an instant.
That amount of time was more than enough for the other villages to confirm one thing:
Drake had gone missing.
Once that assumption took hold, the large-scale siege of Konoha suddenly made perfect sense.
"I need to think this through carefully."
Leaving behind those words, Drake departed.
Back Mountain — By the Stream
Drake leaned against the jujube tree, deep in thought.
"One option would be to wipe out the Four Great Ninja Villages right now," he muttered.
"But what happens after that?"
"If I'm still around, the ninja world stays peaceful."
"But the moment my age doubles, Konoha becomes the enemy of the entire world."
"When I wake up again… Konoha might already be gone."
This wasn't paranoia.
The First Hokage was the best example.
During his lifetime, the other villages behaved.
After his death?
Chaos followed.
"Even if I killed every ninja outside Konoha, would peace truly last?"
Drake shook his head.
Human desire had no limits.
If he vanished, internal conflict in Konoha would be inevitable—power struggles, factional warfare, even civil war.
Rather than letting the village collapse from within, Drake would rather have it face external enemies.
So he abandoned that path.
Instead, his thoughts shifted.
"If I can determine when my age doubles—and what my attributes look like at that moment—maybe I can uncover the rule behind it."
He suspected the age doubling might be triggered by a critical threshold in his attributes.
Or perhaps…
Pure luck.
Drake opened his status panel.
Name: Drake
Age: 12
Strength: 7,328 [Sage Level]
Constitution: 18,432 [Transcendent]
Agility: 742 [Superhuman]
Spirit: 40,960 [Transcendent]
Chakra: 67,462
Ninjutsu: Chibaku Tensei
Abilities:
God-Level Wood Release Control (Trait: Loyalty)
Ultimate Perception (100,000 m radius)
Overall Evaluation: Genin
After reviewing it carefully, Drake analyzed:
"Every line on the panel can double—that's the rule of the Daily Doubling System."
"But so far, age and chakra have never doubled."
"Am I just lucky…?"
Minato appeared beside him in a flash.
He had completely abandoned his paperwork to find Drake.
"Drake, don't rush. Think carefully—what could possibly make you disappear?" Minato asked gently.
Drake smiled.
"Then think about yourself, Sensei."
"You mastered Flying Thunder God. How did you die in the prophecy?"
Minato fell silent.
He already knew the answer.
Most likely… he sacrificed himself to protect the village.
Otherwise, no one could force him into a fatal situation.
"Sensei," Drake suddenly asked,
"do you know Lōran?"
"Of course," Minato nodded.
"I once completed a mission there."
"What mission?" Drake asked, surprised.
"I sealed part of the Dragon Vein for the Queen of Lōran."
"Only part?" Drake pressed.
"Yes." Minato nodded.
"There was a minister named Anrokuzan."
"He developed a method to harness the Dragon Vein's power—but it was crude."
"He couldn't handle the full Dragon Vein, so I sealed a portion of it."
Minato sighed.
"You might not know this, but Lōran's prosperity exists solely because of the Dragon Vein."
Drake stroked his chin.
Then he stood up.
"S-Sensei. Go fetch ten sealing scrolls."
"Understood."
Minato vanished and returned moments later with ten scrolls.
Drake slammed both palms onto the first scroll.
Humm—!
Vast willpower and chakra poured in, causing the scroll to tremble violently.
A few breaths later, Drake released his hands.
A tree sigil appeared on the scroll.
"This scroll contains my Wood Release," Drake explained.
"It can cover the entire village."
Minato's heart shook.
Village-wide Wood Release?
And imbued with Drake's will?
"It won't harm Konoha's people," Drake added.
"Drake… your Wood Release is terrifying," Minato said sincerely.
"You misunderstand," Drake shook his head seriously.
"This is just a simple Wood Release."
Minato nearly choked.
"You call this simple?!"
"The technique is Deep Forest Emergence," Drake continued calmly.
"Activate it in the village center. The trees will automatically attack enemies."
Next, Drake sealed a second scroll.
This time, the chakra output was even more monstrous.
Minato's scalp tingled.
When it finished, a Thousand-Armed Buddha symbol appeared.
"…True Several Thousand Hands?" Minato guessed.
"Correct."
"Only use this if Konoha faces an overwhelming enemy."
Drake then sealed seven identical scrolls.
Minato recognized the symbol instantly.
"These are—"
"My Rasengan evolution," Drake said.
"I named it Chibaku Tensei."
He handed the seven scrolls over.
"Use these far away from the village."
Minato nodded gravely.
Finally, Drake sealed the last scroll.
A human silhouette appeared.
"A Wood Release clone?" Minato asked.
"Yes."
"This clone has about half of my strength."
Minato's gaze sharpened.
"Are you leaving?"
"Not today," Drake replied.
"Tomorrow, I'm going to Lōran."
Minato froze.
Then realization struck.
"You're planning to use the Dragon Vein… to travel into the future?"
"You knew?" Drake was surprised.
Minato sighed.
"I once overheard Anrokuzan say—
'Minato Namikaze is a fool for not sealing the entire Dragon Vein.'"
Drake laughed softly.
"That confirms it."
Minato's expression turned grave.
"But Drake… won't going to the future change history?"
Drake shook his head.
"If something changes upstream, downstream is affected."
"But if downstream changes—does upstream even notice?"
Minato's eyes lit up.
"Of course… the future doesn't affect the present."
"My goal is simple," Drake said calmly.
"I want to know why I disappear."
"I'll go with you tomorrow," Minato decided.
"You're going to the future too?" Drake asked.
"No. I'll unseal the Dragon Vein and send you."
"And we'll agree on a time. I'll trigger it again and pull you back."
Drake nodded.
"That works."
After arrangements, Drake summoned a White Zetsu clone.
"Tell your original body—I'll be away for a while."
"Yes, Drake-sama."
Minato hesitated, then asked:
"Why did you fake Liuli's defection?"
Drake replied simply:
"Uchiha Madara."
Minato understood instantly.
Later that evening, Drake rested in his courtyard.
Before night fell, he prepared one last contingency.
Deep underground, Wood Release roots extended toward Happy Hot Springs Inn.
Through perception, Drake sensed:
Rin
Yugao
Hinata Suzune
Mikoto
Inside the massage room—
Suddenly—
Bang!
Four wooden branches burst from the floor, binding all four women and pulling them away instantly.
"Hey? Why did you stop?" Kushina complained lazily.
◇ I'll be dropping one bonus (KH)Chapters for every 10 reviews. comment
◇ One bonus (KH)Chapter will be released for every 100 Power Stones.
◇ You can read 60 (KH)Chapter ahead on P@treon if you're interested: patreon.com/SwipeSage