Drake woke up.
Rustle… rustle…
The trees in the courtyard swayed gently, greeting him in the breeze.
Stretching lazily, he glanced at his status panel.
Ability: Divine Wood Release Mastery (Trait: Loyalty)
"…Wood Release doubled again?"
Drake was a little surprised.
Over the past few days, it was always his abilities doubling—
never raw attribute points.
"Good thing I don't have many abilities to begin with."
Comforting himself, he stepped out of the courtyard.
Village Gate
When Drake arrived, just as expected—
He was late again.
ANBU had already assembled at the gate, and Danzō Shimura was present as well.
"Drake, you're going to die because of your tardiness sooner or later!" Danzō snapped unhappily.
"Oh? Then I'll wait for it," Drake shrugged, completely unconcerned.
The escort finally set off.
Obito Uchiha crept closer, lowering his voice.
"Drake, the clan head invited you again last night, didn't he?"
"You know about that?" Drake raised an eyebrow.
"Of course I do. Itachi told me," Obito pouted.
"Why does the clan head keep inviting you? Don't tell me you're hiding some secret?"
"You should ask your clan head," Drake replied calmly.
"I will when we get back."
At that moment, Kakashi Hatake also moved closer.
"Any suggestions for this mission?"
"Hm… same standards as before," Drake answered after a brief thought.
"Standards? What standards?" Obito looked completely lost.
"Escorts have standards now? Since when?"
"Kakashi, explain it to him," Drake gestured.
Kakashi cleared his throat and lowered his voice.
"The standard is this:
Stay detached.
The moment we're attacked, withdraw immediately."
He added calmly,
"If Danzō has the upper hand, we watch.
If Danzō is at a disadvantage, we bring his corpse back."
Obito was stunned speechless.
What kind of escort standard was that?
What was the point of escorting at all—
just companionship?
Obito was certain of one thing:
This standard could only have been created by Drake.
No one else would come up with something this absurd.
"Oh right, Kakashi—make sure the rest of Team Nine knows the standard," Drake added.
Kakashi slipped over to Anko Mitarashi and passed on the "core philosophy" of the mission.
"…What?!" Anko gasped, hurriedly covering her mouth.
Then Rin Nohara cried out softly, followed by Yūgao Uzuki.
When Yamato heard it, he started trembling.
"It's over… Lord Danzō is done for."
On the Road
Marching ahead, Danzō heard the commotion behind him and frowned.
"So this is ANBU discipline? Completely inferior to my Root…" he muttered.
Feeling displeased, he glanced around—
Then froze.
Where was ANBU?
Confused, he turned around.
All the ANBU were walking several meters behind him, deliberately keeping their distance.
"This is how you escort me?!" Danzō roared angrily.
He was dumbfounded.
Was this formation meant to protect him—
or was he protecting ANBU?
Was this some kind of joke?!
"Lord Danzō," Vice-Captain Luli (White Zetsu) said coolly,
"this is simply how ANBU operates."
"What did you say?!" Danzō's voice shot up.
He was the Hokage's advisor, the head of Root—
and now an ANBU vice-captain dared to talk back?
"Lord Danzō," another ANBU added even more bluntly,
"we answer to the Hokage. Stop nagging."
"You've got some nerve!" Danzō's anger surged.
But he forced himself to calm down.
Don't act rashly.
ANBU mocking him so openly meant someone was pulling strings.
"Hiruzen Sarutobi…" Danzō thought darkly.
"So you were hiding this kind of scheme."
Without a doubt, this had to be Hiruzen Sarutobi's arrangement—
to prevent him from communicating with ANBU and stealing them away to Root.
From that moment on, Danzō kept a grim expression and walked alone at the front.
The dozen ANBU lagged behind, maintaining a neat ten-meter gap.
Near Noon
The accident finally happened.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
More than ten black-robed figures burst out of the forest, blocking the road.
Seeing this, Danzō frowned and instinctively turned around.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
All the ANBU turned around in unison—
And ran.
Without a single backward glance.
"You—!!!"
Danzō's sense of danger exploded.
At this point, how could he not realize he had been sold out?
"Drake!" he shouted toward the fleeing ANBU—
Only to see Drake running faster than anyone else.
"Bastards…" Danzō ground his teeth in fury.
He wished he could tear every last ANBU member apart.
"Danzō," the black-robed leader said coldly,
"today is your day to die."
His eyes transformed into Sharingan.
"Fugaku Uchiha," Danzō sneered, assuming a fighting stance.
"Do you really think wearing black robes hides your Sharingan?"
He had to escape.
As long as he made it back to the village,
both the Uchiha clan and ANBU would pay a terrible price.
One Kilometer Away
By a small stream.
Drake stood there casually, hands in his pockets, waiting for the outcome.
Obito quietly ran over.
"Drake… that black-robed leader feels kind of familiar."
"Oh?" Drake smiled. "Who do you think it is?"
"…Don't tell me it's our clan head?" Obito guessed.
"You're right," Drake nodded.
"…Ah."
Obito looked depressed.
If the leader was the clan head, then the others had to be clan members as well.
An operation this big—
and he hadn't known anything beforehand?
"Drake… are we going to be labeled traitors?" Obito asked nervously.
Attacking Danzō—
if word reached the village, they'd be finished.
"Careful with your words, Obito," Drake shook his head.
"Our ANBU doctrine is to protect the Hokage."
"Danzō being attacked—what does that have to do with us?"
Whoosh!
At that moment, a figure sprinted toward them—
It was Danzō.
Behind him, Fugaku Uchiha appeared to be injured, leading his clansmen in hot pursuit.
"…They still couldn't finish him?" Drake sighed.
Bending down, he picked up a small stone.
BOOM!
With a casual flick, the stone tore through the air, detonating it with a sonic boom.
◇ I'll be dropping one bonus chapters for every 10 reviews. comment
◇ One bonus chapter will be released for every 100 Power Stones.
◇ You can read 60 chapter ahead on P@treon if you're interested: patreon.com/SwipeSage