"Charge!!!"
"Drake, we're coming!"
"Eh? Where is he?"
"Where's Orochimaru?!"
Team Nine finally rushed down the slope.
Kakashi's Chidori buzzed in his hand as he scanned the area in confusion.
Rin clenched dozens of shuriken, ready to throw at any moment.
Yūgao held her katana tightly, eyes full of vigilance.
Yamato's Wood Release was primed — just waiting for the signal.
"Sigh… if you were any later, I'd already be back in the village." Drake shook his head.
It wasn't that his teammates were slow —
He was simply too fast.
The one who had broken formation… was him.
"You killed Orochimaru?" Kakashi dispelled Chidori, staring in disbelief.
"No. He escaped." Drake shook his head.
"As long as you're fine, that's enough." Rin finally relaxed and put her shuriken away.
"He got lucky!" Yūgao snorted coldly.
"T-That you could drive him off is already amazing, Drake-senpai!" Yamato said sincerely, admiration shining in his eyes.
"Drove him off? You could say that." Drake accepted the praise calmly.
From start to finish, Orochimaru never truly fought him head-on.
The moment Drake appeared, his real body had already begun retreating.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have fled a full kilometer away.
"Who would've thought the person who understands my strength best… is Orochimaru."
Drake couldn't help but find it ironic.
Even Minato only knew a fraction of what he was capable of —
But Orochimaru? He saw everything clearly.
"Looks like he really did investigate me in the Land of Grass…"
He remembered Kenjirō mentioning Orochimaru was gathering intel on him.
Now it all made sense.
"Clean up the spoils." Drake waved from atop a tree.
He'd done the charging.
The cleanup was obviously for the team.
Team Nine looked around, bewildered.
Spoils?
What spoils?
"Drake, this is all snake flesh and blood." Yūgao frowned.
"Don't tell me the spoils are… the meat?" Anko blinked.
"Push aside the flesh. You should find ANBU corpses underneath," Drake replied indifferently.
"WHAT???"
Everyone froze.
Push aside flesh?
This wasn't an ordinary snake — this was Manda! A mountain of meat!
Meaning… they had to crawl inside that thing to look for bodies.
"I'll do it!" Anko gritted her teeth and stepped forward with a kunai.
SPLASH!
The blade pierced in — and a fountain of blood erupted.
She barely dodged, but several drops landed on her clothes.
SIZZLE...
The fabric instantly corroded, burning a large hole.
"…!!!"
Everyone stared in horror.
That level of corrosiveness meant one thing clearly:
"There's no need to look anymore," Kakashi said seriously.
"With corrosion like this, the bodies are already gone."
"We should ask Drake," Rin suggested.
After inspection, Drake agreed.
No corpses remained.
Still, he gave new orders.
"Collect whatever fragments you can find — masks, torn uniforms, anything."
"We're all ANBU. Even if we can't bring back their bodies, leftover fragments can serve as proof."
He made perfect sense.
Team Nine began searching immediately.
That Night
Around the campfire.
The girls chatted quietly.
Yamato rested his chin on his hand, listening.
Kakashi was deep in thought.
Drake leaned against a tree… communing again with the forest.
"Any sign of Orochimaru?"
Tree: "No."
"What about Obito?"
Tree: "Still none."
"What about Drake?"
Tree: "Honored Drake-sama, aren't you standing right here?"
"…Alright."
He opened his eyes, slightly disappointed.
"Orochimaru is probably hiding in Ryūchi Cave now…"
"And Obito is still somewhere desolate…"
Kakashi walked over.
"Drake."
"Hmm?"
"You noticed something too, didn't you?"
"One ANBU is missing, right?"
"You knew?" Kakashi looked shocked.
"Of course. I counted while watching the battle."
There were 22 ANBU deployed.
He only saw 15 fighting.
Add Team Nine's 6… total 21.
One was unaccounted for.
"I was thinking… maybe that person already died somewhere we didn't see," Kakashi guessed.
"Could be anything," Drake replied.
"Report it when we get back. That's all we can do."
The Next Morning
Team Nine gathered some of Manda's blood and остатки, then began heading home.
On the road, Drake glanced at his status panel — and froze in delight.
Name: Drake
Age: 12
Strength: 3664 [Sage Level]
Constitution: 4608 [Sage Level]
Agility: 372 (*) [Super-tier] ✅
Spirit: 5120
Chakra: 13764
Skills: None
Ninjutsu: Planetary Devastation (S+ Rank) [Quality Evolution]
Ability: Ultimate Wood Release Control (Trait: Loyalty)
Overall Rating: Genin
His eyes lit up.
"My agility… finally doubled!"
He had waited over half a month for this moment.
At last, he could proudly say:
"I, Drake, am a Taijutsu powerhouse!"
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