Drake's slap carried terrifying force.
He brutally smashed the Iwa ninja's head straight into his own chest cavity.
"So brutal…"
The sight made Kenjiro shiver all over.
Coming back to his senses, he quickly ordered a few timid subordinates to clean up the bodies. After that, he shut the inn's doors and led Drake and the others into a hidden back room.
"I've got three pieces of intel here — all related to you. I was planning to send them to you," Kenjiro said as he bent down and pulled out three scrolls from under the bed.
Drake took them and scanned the first one.
It simply stated that the Iwa ninja had purchased information about him a few days ago.
Opening the second scroll, Drake froze slightly.
"Orochimaru? Why is he collecting information about me?" he muttered in confusion.
Minato and Kakashi read it as well, both falling into thought.
"He's probably investigating the incident where the lab was blown up," Minato guessed.
"Could it be you visit the back mountain too often and Orochimaru misunderstood?" Kakashi added.
Drake suddenly realised.
Lab explosion? Misunderstanding?
This isn't a misunderstanding. That was me.
Opening the final scroll, Drake's eyes narrowed.
"Someone is tracking my whereabouts?"
"Yes! And the price is very high," Kenjiro replied.
"How much?"
"Ten million ryo."
Drake stroked his chin.
Ten million, just to know his location?
"This person probably wants to capture you," Minato warned seriously.
In the shinobi world, when someone paid heavily to track a person, kidnapping was usually the next step.
"But why you?" Kakashi questioned. "Could it be the Cloud Village?"
"No," Drake shook his head.
The Cloud already knew his strength. Doing this would be pointless — suicide, even.
Iwa? Also unlikely. They had no direct conflict with him.
"It might be Danzo," Minato suggested.
"Not him either," Drake denied again.
Would Danzo really spend ten million on him? No way.
Although the culprit was unclear, Drake already had a countermeasure.
If he deliberately exposed his movements, the one behind this would surely reveal themselves.
Gathering Iwa Ninja Intel
"Kenjiro, I need to know where the Iwa ninja are operating in the Land of Grass."
"Their positions keep changing," Kenjiro replied, his heavy body making the bed creak.
"But in recent days, many Iwa ninja have entered the Land of Grass and are gathering intel in different inns."
"Not just on Konoha — also on Sand and Cloud. And they don't even pay a single ryo."
He quickly added,
"Not you though. At least you trade properly."
Soon after, Drake took a detailed map of the Land of Grass and the three moved into a guest room.
The map was densely marked with red dots — all representing inns.
"That's way too many..." Kakashi muttered, dizzy just looking.
"Eradicating all Iwa ninja here will be extremely difficult," Minato frowned.
If they attacked one inn, the rest would be alerted immediately. After that, finding the others would become near impossible.
"We skip the inns," Drake suddenly said.
His finger didn't point at the clustered dots.
Instead, it moved to the border between the Land of Grass and the Land of Earth.
There, stood a crucial bridge.
"We go directly to Kannabi Bridge."
"Kannabi Bridge?" Minato stared at the location. Drake's courage was absurd.
This was the main route used by Iwa forces entering Grass. If surrounded, escape would be impossible.
"There's no retreat there," Kakashi warned.
He wasn't afraid — he just thought it was suicide.
Seeing their hesitation, Drake calmly explained:
"If we go to Kannabi Bridge, we can force the Iwa ninja inside the Land of Grass to retreat, and at the same time block the border reinforcements. Isn't that killing two birds with one stone?"
Two birds with one stone?
Minato's eyelid twitched.
Kakashi was speechless.
This wasn't efficiency. This was walking into a double encirclement.
"Sensei, trust me," Drake said seriously.
"Drake, do you have another plan? You can tell me," Minato asked patiently.
After a short silence, Drake sighed.
"Sensei… the truth is… I'm a genius."
"Yes, that much I know."
"No. I mean a genius who surpasses the First Hokage!"
Minato hesitated.
If Drake said he was a taijutsu genius, Minato would agree instantly. But surpassing the First Hokage? That was a bit…
"Drake, how about this?" Minato compromised.
"We destroy Kannabi Bridge first, then sweep the Iwa forces inside the Land of Grass."
Blowing up the bridge would slow Iwa reinforcements and buy time.
"But Sensei, now isn't the best timing," Drake warned.
If the bridge was destroyed before the bulk of the Iwa army arrived, the damage would be minimal. Once rebuilt, it would be heavily guarded.
Better to block it instead.
Let them come.
Whoever arrives… dies.
Seeing Drake's stubborn confidence, Minato stared at him deeply.
"You insist on this for a reason, don't you?"
This time, Minato chose to believe.
"Trust in me, and you'll gain eternal life!" Drake declared heroically.
Minato and Kakashi almost collapsed on the spot.
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