Sometimes, to drive someone insane, you don't need insults at all —
all it takes is exposure.
Deep underground cave.
"Lord Madara, something big has happened."
Black Zetsu arrived, carrying White Zetsu with him, his tone anxious.
"Hmm?"
Madara slowly opened his eyes and saw the information scroll in White Zetsu's hands.
"Whose intel?" he asked.
"About you," White Zetsu replied.
"Me?" Madara frowned slightly.
"It's on sale, half price, so I bought one," White Zetsu added helpfully.
On sale? Half price?
Madara's expression froze. He snatched the scroll and opened it.
His face shifted from calm → shock → rage → murderous intent.
[The elderly Uchiha Madara is hiding near Kannabi Bridge, suspected to be concealed in an underground cave.]
[This man is secretly controlling the Hidden Mist Village from behind the scenes.]
Just two lines.
Yet Madara's blood pressure skyrocketed, and killing intent poured out like a physical storm.
That his hiding place was roughly guessed, he could somewhat accept — after all, he had fought Minato's team yesterday.
But secretly controlling the Mist Village?
How could anyone possibly know that?!
"Find the source of this information," Madara said coldly.
"We can't," Black Zetsu replied.
"…What?"
"This morning, every intelligence point in the Grass Country started selling it together…"
"And it's at a 50% discount!" White Zetsu cheerfully added.
PFF!
Madara directly impaled White Zetsu, ending his life.
That irritating way of talking… unbearable.
Then his thoughts turned to Minato's squad.
"Where is Minato's team?"
"They've already left the Land of Grass."
"They left?"
Madara murmured to himself.
If it were Minato, some exposure might make sense…
But the Mist Village manipulation was far too deep — Minato couldn't possibly know that.
"So who exactly leaked my secrets…?"
On the road back to the village.
Drake couldn't help noticing how strange Obito was today — unusually quiet.
That definitely wasn't like him.
"Drake."
Minato came over and gestured.
The two slowed down, falling to the back of the group.
"Yes, Sensei?"
"The information you gave Kenjiro… it's true?"
"Yeah."
"Then what you said about Madara controlling the Mist is true as well?"
"That came from the trees," Drake replied casually, once again shifting the blame.
Minato stopped walking and stared at him, feeling his intelligence being deeply insulted.
"Drake… how could trees possibly know things like that?"
"Sensei, you can't talk to trees, so how do you know they don't know?"
Drake countered smoothly.
"And the trees told me more than that."
"Oh? Go on," Minato said, half doubtful.
"They said that once upon a time, a little boy was carrying a red-haired girl. And that boy looked a lot like you."
"..."
Minato froze.
How could a tree know that?
And what's more disturbing —
the place where he carried Kushina was along the border, not in the Grass Country.
Yet the tree here somehow knew?
"Maybe… trees have their own social circles," Drake shrugged.
That sentence struck Minato like lightning.
Humans had circles.
Why wouldn't trees?
In fact, the network between trees might be even purer, more interconnected.
To verify this, all he had to do was ask Kushina when they returned.
"If she never told anyone… then what Drake said is real."
Regaining focus, Minato asked if there were more secrets.
"Plenty, but the trees say everything in a messy way," Drake replied.
"It's fine. Just tell me," Minato gestured.
"They mentioned a black shadow-like thing that constantly follows Madara. Very creepy."
"Black… shadow?" Minato pondered.
"Something like the Nara clan's Shadow Jutsu?" he guessed.
"No, this shadow can move freely and even talk," Drake clarified.
"I see…" Minato muttered.
"That might involve a higher-level Yin Release transformation… possibly even a fusion of spiritual will."
Once again, Minato's analytical mind hit frighteningly close to the truth.
Drake truly admired him for that.
After that, Drake casually revealed a few more secrets, leaving Minato utterly shaken.
After a long silence, Minato finally spoke:
"Drake, your ability to communicate with trees must never be revealed too openly. Otherwise, you'll invite great danger."
At first glance, the ability seemed useless.
But what truly terrified Minato was this —
Drake could uncover some of the deepest secrets of the shinobi world just by talking to trees.
If someone targeted him for this… the consequences would be unthinkable.
"I understand," Drake nodded.
He knew his teacher had fully activated Protect Drake Mode again.
"Let's catch up. They've already left us behind."
Minato grabbed Drake's hand and started moving.
For a moment, the two walked side by side, hand in hand —
so much so that anyone looking from afar might mistake them for a couple.
Along the way, Drake casually checked his status panel.
Name: Drake
Age: 12
Strength: 458[Super]
Constitution: 2304[Sage Level]
Agility: 186[Kage Level]
Spirit: 1280[Ultimate Immunity]
Chakra: 4228
Skills: None
Ninjutsu: Chibaku Tensei (S+ Rank) [Mass Evolution]
Ability: Advanced Wood Release Control (Trait: Intimacy)
Overall Combat Rating: Genin
"Eh? Today's double ability is Chibaku Tensei? It's S+ rank now?"
He closed the panel, feeling slightly disappointed.
"Bad review."
"Why didn't agility get doubled…?"
His biggest weakness right now
was still his speed.
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