Konoha's central street.
With an onigiri in his mouth, Drake jogged all the way to the entrance of Happy Hot Springs.
Staring at the tightly shut doors and the four bold characters pasted on them — "Closed for Renovation" — his expression turned complicated.
"The good news is, this bathhouse belongs to me now."
"But the bad news? Reopening it is going to cost a fortune."
"Staff, repairs, electricity… all of that costs money."
Just thinking about it made his heart ache.
After all, last night's celebratory dinner… he'd paid for that himself too.
Leaving the central district, Drake first gathered Team Nine, then, amidst Obito's nonstop complaints, led them toward the Hokage Tower.
"Oi, Drake, we're supposed to be in our rest period! Why are you dragging us to pick up missions?"
"Are you even my brother anymore? You just became captain and you're already exploiting us?"
"Say something!"
Obito grumbled the entire way, nearly yelling into a megaphone—
but the moment they stepped into the Hokage building, he suddenly went quiet.
Mission Office.
After scanning the bulletin board, Drake rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
"If you feel these missions are too low-level, you can go to the Hokage's office for higher-ranked ones," the clerk kindly reminded him.
After some consideration, Drake selected a D-rank task:
[Clean an Abandoned House]
The instant they walked out, Obito exploded.
"THIS IS CLEANING DUTY! Are you kidding me?! You're usually smart — did Red Bean infect your brain?!"
"We're Team Nine! And you made us come sweep some old shack?!"
If other teams found out, they'd never hear the end of it — especially Anko.
Even Kakashi frowned.
"Drake, instead of doing meaningless tasks like this, we should focus on training," he said bluntly.
Drake shot them both a sideways glance and then looked at Rin.
"I actually think this mission is pretty good," Rin said after a moment's thought.
Drake smiled.
As long as Rin agreed, the others didn't matter.
"In that case, I'll just do it with Rin."
"That's not happening!" Obito immediately took the bait.
Kakashi didn't say anything — but he didn't leave either.
Half an hour later.
Team Nine stood in front of a dilapidated old house, brooms in hand, all wearing the same stunned expression.
Two crows cawed and flew out from a hole in the collapsed roof.
Knee-high serrated weeds covered almost the entire yard — even creeping into the house.
Worse still, the wooden beams were crooked. One glance told you: this place looked like it might collapse any second.
"T-This isn't cleaning! Just knock it down and rebuild it!" Obito nearly screamed.
"Agreed. There's no point in cleaning this," Kakashi muttered.
"This is strange… why would anyone request a mission like this?" Rin asked softly.
Drake felt it too. Any normal person would've demolished it long ago.
"The village probably just doesn't want to spend money," he reasoned.
A rundown building hurt the village's appearance, but rebuilding meant funding. So instead, they issued a cheap D-rank mission to make it look better.
Since they were already here, they had no choice but to start.
Obito rolled up his sleeves and grabbed a clump of serrated weed.
These things had incredibly tenacious roots.
He strained… and strained…
But no matter how hard he tried, it wouldn't budge.
"This stuff is ridiculous!"
Just as he complained, his eyes suddenly widened.
Not far away, Drake casually pulled out a massive clump of weeds with one hand — like he was picking mushrooms.
"…What? Is the dirt over there looser or something?"
Scratching his head, Obito hurried over and grabbed a patch beside Drake.
"NGHHHH!!!"
His face turned red as he used every ounce of strength.
Plop.
He fell backward onto the ground, hands burning with red marks.
The weed?
Unmoved.
"Drake, why can you pull them out so easily and I can't?!" he demanded.
"Did you forget to eat today?" Drake replied lazily, casually yanking out another clump.
Obito fell silent.
He was being defeated… by a simple weed.
" There has to be some trick... "
He started closely observing Drake's movements.
Not just him — Kakashi was silently watching too.
"His strength… is even greater than mine," Kakashi realized, stunned.
The difference was staggering. In the time they'd cleared a handful, Drake had already cleaned most of the yard alone.
Soon enough, the weeds were gone.
Drake had done ninety percent of the work.
The other three? Barely ten.
"You clean and move the weeds. I'll check inside."
Carrying the noble air of a hardworking captain, Drake entered the ancient house alone.
Outside, Kakashi, Obito, and Rin gathered together.
"Did you guys notice? His strength is insane," Obito whispered.
"You've been with him for two years and only noticing now?" Kakashi frowned.
"How would I know? He's always been lazy and half-asleep!"
Rin, however, remembered something else.
"If he's this strong… then why did he only score 21 in the graduation physical test?"
Exactly.
With this level of power, 21 points made no sense.
"…Could it be," Rin said hesitantly,
"that he was holding back so you wouldn't come in last…?"
Her words struck like lightning.
"You're saying… Drake was protecting my dignity?" Obito's face stiffened.
"I think she's right," Kakashi nodded gravely.
Meaning one thing very clearly:
The real dead-last wasn't Drake.
It was Obito.
Inside the house.
Drake stood before a cracked wall, staring at the peeling plaster in silence.
Because beneath the fallen layer…
was a single, perfectly concealed explosive tag.
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