In less than two minutes, more than a dozen Mist ninja lay dead.
Drake counted casually.
Minato had taken out twelve.
Kakashi had killed one.
"You guys moved too fast… you didn't even leave me one," Drake complained.
Obito rushed forward with his kunai, only after the fighting was already over.
This earned him a wave of silent glares.
"Let's go. Change route," Minato ordered.
They didn't bother cleaning up the scene and quickly moved away.
But when they switched to a different path, the entire squad froze.
Several Mist ninja corpses lay scattered on the ground, their chests brutally pierced through.
Drake walked forward and stared at the bodies in confusion.
"Did I kill these too?"
He scratched his head, genuinely puzzled. He was certain he had never passed through this route.
"This feels strange… we definitely didn't come this way before," Anko muttered.
"Then who killed them?" Rin asked, bewildered.
Minato examined the area carefully and detected traces of faint lightning-chakra residue.
"This was done by Cloud ninja."
"Cloud?" Drake narrowed his eyes.
Those shameless bastards…
"Let's change routes again," Minato said decisively.
If they kept walking here, the Mist would surely blame Team Nine.
So once again, they detoured — and soon…
More corpses.
This time, the Mist ninja were riddled with kunai holes, their bodies resembling pin cushions.
"Damn! Who did this now?" Drake cursed.
"These wound patterns look familiar…" Kakashi frowned.
"Yeah… I've seen this before too," Obito added.
"Wait! The Third Supply Station incident!" Rin suddenly remembered.
"Anko stabbed those three Root ninja like crazy. These look exactly the same!"
"What? Anko killed Root ninja?" Yugao covered her mouth in shock.
At that moment, Anko looked completely innocent.
Those Root ninja were obviously beaten to death by Drake — she had only been forced to stab their corpses afterward.
Minato checked the wounds again and shook his head.
"The fatal blow was already destroyed. These extra stabs were meant as camouflage."
"Most likely Sand ninja," Drake concluded.
Minato nodded in agreement.
Then they switched routes again.
And of course—
More bodies.
Cracked earth. Pierced torsos. Explosive residue.
"Definitely Stone ninja," Drake judged immediately.
"They tried to hide the earth-style traces with explosive tags."
Now they faced a serious problem.
There were only four main paths leading to the Hidden Mist Village.
And all four were littered with corpses.
So what now?
The squad fell into deep thought.
"Stop thinking. We'll take this road," Drake decided.
"But what if we get blamed again?" Rin asked nervously.
"We won't," Drake said calmly.
"There must be other squads ahead of us. If anyone dies in front, it's obviously their fault."
Minato's eyes lit up.
Kakashi understood immediately.
The remaining four half-understood.
"But what if the people ahead don't run into Mist ninja, and we do?" Obito asked.
Drake smirked.
"Oh? Do you have proof they didn't run into them?"
Obito was left speechless.
Once again, Drake's logic ruled supreme.
Approaching Hidden Mist
At noon, the squad rested briefly. Minato unfolded the map.
"We're less than fifty li from the Hidden Mist now."
"When we get closer, Kakashi and I will infiltrate the village. Drake, you'll stay outside and cover the others."
Drake considered it briefly.
"Sensei, are you sure you can get any real intelligence?"
"We should manage," Minato replied.
"Alright." Drake nodded.
He wasn't worried. With Flying Thunder God, Minato wasn't exactly in danger.
By afternoon, they continued forward.
The fog grew thicker. A towering mountain loomed faintly in the distance.
"Hidden Mist lies deep within the mountains. Once we pass that peak, we'll see it," Minato explained.
"Pretty fitting terrain," Drake muttered, moving to the front of the group.
Fog. Mountains. Hidden Mist.
Very poetic.
Meanwhile — Mountain Slope
At the midpoint of the mountain, three forces stood locked in confrontation.
On one side:
Killer B and A of the Cloud Village stood in combat stance.
Opposite them:
Maki and Pakura of the Sand Village, wind and scorched orbs swirling around them.
To the other side:
Huangtu of the Stone Village, hands pressed to the ground, chakra ready to erupt.
A three-way standoff.
"大哥,我们先上吧!"
"大哥,咱们动手吧."
"Not yet," A muttered.
"If we attack first, Sand and Stone will instantly join against us."
Elsewhere:
"Maki, I can't keep this up forever," Pakura warned, chakra steadily draining.
"You have to. If you stop, our deterrence weakens," Maki replied.
Huangtu's arms were numb from maintaining his stance.
"How long do we have to keep this pose, Lord Huangtu?" his subordinate whispered.
"Until they die or we do," Huangtu growled.
Footsteps
Step… step…
Soft crunching echoed up the slope.
All three factions turned at once.
Moments later—
Drake casually walked up the hill.
"Eh?"
He blinked at the standoff scene.
◇ 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