"Escaping the heat?"
Danzo's mouth twitched.
No wonder you're holding a shovel — so you planned to dig a hole here?
"This is not a place you should be. Leave immediately."
"Oh…"
Drake looked disappointed, picked up his shovel and backpack, and obediently left.
As he walked away, he couldn't figure it out.
Why was Danzo even on the back mountain?
"Whatever. If the shady side won't work, I'll just find another spot."
He circled around to the sunlit side of the mountain and chose a new location.
Dense forest, a nearby stream — perfect again.
The only downside was that this side faced the village directly.
"As long as I'm careful, people from the village shouldn't notice me."
Meanwhile…
Danzo arrived before a concealed rock wall on the shaded side of the mountain and pressed a hidden mechanism.
Kacha!
The stone gate slowly rose as the mechanism activated, and Danzo's figure vanished into the depths of the cave.
"You're here?"
A hoarse voice echoed from the darkness as Orochimaru emerged from within his underground laboratory.
"Sunagakure has launched a surprise attack on the Land of Rivers. Your experiments will have to be put on hold for now," Danzo said bluntly.
"Oh? I see…"
Orochimaru's face filled with regret.
His experiments had already begun to bear fruit, yet now he was being forced to suspend them.
After all, the Third Hokage would definitely summon him to the frontlines.
"By the way," Danzo suddenly asked, "have you told anyone about this secret laboratory?"
His mind flashed to Drake from earlier.
The timing felt far too suspicious.
A Genin wandering on the shaded side of the back mountain?
Escaping the heat? That excuse was flimsy at best.
The more he thought about it, the more uneasy he felt.
"Told someone?" Orochimaru's tone turned cold. "Do you take me for an idiot?"
Everything here was illegal experimentation.
How could he possibly let anyone know?
"In that case, let me inform you regretfully — your secret lab may already be exposed," Danzo warned.
"Exposed?" Orochimaru's eyes narrowed.
"Just now, I saw a dead-last from Team Nine wandering nearby."
"Team Nine? Minato's team?"
Orochimaru instantly became alert.
If it were anyone else, he wouldn't care.
But Minato Namikaze was a genius even he had to acknowledge.
Now the problem was this:
Why would Minato's student appear near his secret lab… digging a hole?
Was he really just escaping the heat?
Only a fool would believe that.
"Why didn't you kill him on the spot?" Orochimaru demanded.
"This is your hidden laboratory. Naturally, you should handle it yourself," Danzo retorted, pushing the responsibility back.
Besides, Minato had already begun mastering space-time ninjutsu — who knew what countermeasures he'd left for his disciple?
And even if the lab was exposed, that was Orochimaru's mess, not his.
Boom…
Suddenly, a faint tremor reverberated through the cave wall.
It lasted only a moment — but both men noticed it.
Elsewhere
Staring at the bent, deformed shovel, Drake looked like he might cry.
"I messed up… I forgot a shovel can't dig through rock."
Squatting before the stone wall, he tossed the ruined shovel aside.
He'd been so focused on digging a cave that he forgot the most important part — he was digging into solid stone.
Now the cave wasn't made, and his tool was scrap.
"If I go back to the village to get new tools, I'll definitely be discovered."
"But without tools, how am I supposed to dig?"
He couldn't just hide under a tree forever.
What if it rained? He'd be finished.
His eyes drifted to his status panel.
Strength: 114 [Kage Level]
A thought sparked.
Tools?
Why would he need tools?
He himself was the ultimate tool.
"Nothing is more reliable than your own hands!"
Taking a deep breath, Drake raised his right fist and poured strength into it.
Then—
BOOM!!!
The instant his fist struck the rock wall, terrifying power exploded outward.
The solid stone shattered, cracks spreading like spiderwebs.
Crack… crack…
Stepping back, Drake stared at the collapsing debris, eyes shining.
That single punch had created a hole large enough to fit a person.
"Only problem is… my hand kinda hurts."
He glanced at his reddened knuckles and rubbed them.
No big deal.
"My Constitution is Kage-tier too. It'll recover fast."
Among his four attributes, Constitution was now the highest — even surpassing Strength by thirty points.
Clearing away the rubble, he even stacked some stones into a crude stove.
Then, backpack in hand, he crawled into his freshly-made hideout.
On the Mountainside
Danzo and Orochimaru stood silently atop the trees, watching Drake disappear into the cave.
At last, Danzo broke the silence.
"So… we overthought it? That dead-last was just afraid of war and ran here to hide?"
"Dead-last?" Orochimaru muttered.
Based on that tremor alone, he knew that cave had been blasted open by Drake's fist.
One punch. A mountain cave.
And not a single fluctuation of chakra.
Which meant one thing — pure physical strength.
Only the body.
He couldn't help but compare it to his own hideout.
His tunnels were carved using Wind Release.
If he tried punching them with raw strength, his fists would shatter long before the stone did.
"Pure taijutsu cultivation…" Orochimaru murmured.
His thoughts drifted to Might Dai and Might Guy.
Another shinobi with no talent for ninjutsu —
but someone who walked the extreme path of physical training.
Happy Hot Springs
Meanwhile…
Obito was fuming.
Kakashi's hair had gone limp with exhaustion.
Rin was drenched in sweat.
At long last, they finished cleaning the bathhouse.
"That bastard Drake! He vanished from the start and left us three to do all the work!" Obito exploded.
"Completely outrageous," Kakashi agreed.
"Let's go find him and submit the mission together," Rin suggested, wiping her forehead.
But when the three searched the entire bathhouse…
They didn't find a single trace of him.
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