Orochimaru was depressed.
He could clearly feel a terrifying mental will inside his mind.
That will was overwhelming.
He could sense that his every thought was being monitored.
At any moment, that will could destroy him.
"I've lost control of my body…"
"And now even my thoughts aren't free."
Orochimaru sighed internally.
His future suddenly looked very dark.
Drake glanced at him calmly.
"What's wrong?"
"Feeling restricted?"
Orochimaru immediately shook his head.
"No, no!"
He realized instantly—
Drake could read his thoughts.
Minato's Body Arrives
At that moment—
A figure dropped from the sky.
It was Drake's Wood Clone returning from the Land of Rain.
"The body is here."
"My consciousness is returning to the original."
Poof.
The clone turned into a piece of wood.
Drake absorbed the returning memories.
His gaze fell on the half-frog corpse on the ground.
He waved at Orochimaru.
"Begin."
How Edo Tensei Works
Edo Tensei sounded mysterious.
But after watching Orochimaru perform it, Drake quickly understood its core principle.
Simply put:
Use flesh or genetic material to locate the soul
Amplify the connection with chakra
Forcefully pull the soul from the Pure Land
Place it inside a new living vessel
Without a vessel—
The soul would simply return to the Pure Land.
The Ritual
Orochimaru cut off a small piece of frog tissue.
Then he approached the White Zetsu vessel.
He knelt down and carved the summoning formula on the ground.
Moments later—
He stood up.
Hand seals formed rapidly.
"Edo Tensei!"
His palms slammed onto the ground.
Buzz—
A faint spiritual fluctuation appeared.
Drake activated his sensory ability and traced the signal.
His eyes narrowed.
"…Interesting."
"The Pure Land isn't a normal space."
"It's an independent dimension."
Minato Returns
The White Zetsu began screaming.
Its body became covered in cracked dirt.
Two breaths later—
The transformation finished.
Minato Namikaze appeared.
He looked at his hands.
"…Drake?"
Drake smiled.
"Sensei."
Minato quickly understood.
"So I've been revived with Edo Tensei."
Strategy Discussion Begins
Drake and Minato began discussing the situation.
Orochimaru stood nearby, listening carefully.
Minato spoke first.
"I'm certain Madara used the Dragon Vein to travel here from the past."
"That means someone in the past predicted your existence."
"And sent Madara to change history."
Drake thought for a moment.
Then shook his head.
"I don't think that's correct."
Orochimaru nodded.
"I agree."
Minato frowned.
"Why?"
Drake's River Theory
Drake explained.
"Think of history like a river."
"The upstream is the past."
"The downstream is the future."
"Changing the present doesn't affect events that already happened."
"If Madara wanted to change history…"
"He should have changed the past, not the present."
Minato asked the obvious question.
"Then why did he come here to retrieve Nagato's Rinnegan?"
Drake gave a shocking answer.
"That Rinnegan already belonged to Madara."
Both Minato and Orochimaru were stunned.
"Madara had the Rinnegan?!"
Drake explained briefly.
"It's the final evolution of the Sharingan."
Minato laughed slightly.
"So the highest stage of the Sharingan is the Rinnegan."
Drake nodded.
Orochimaru instinctively licked his lips in excitement.
Then he noticed Drake looking at him.
He immediately swallowed his tongue back.
Madara's True Goal
Drake continued his analysis.
"Madara came here to reclaim his Rinnegan."
"Then he planned to return to the past."
"And use that power to fight the past version of me."
Minato frowned.
"Why not just go back to when you were a baby and kill you?"
Drake answered calmly.
"The Dragon Vein likely can't control exact time points."
"And traveling backward in time is much harder."
He continued his analogy.
"Just like a river."
"Going downstream is easy."
"But swimming upstream is extremely difficult."
Orochimaru's Deduction
Both Minato and Orochimaru began thinking.
After a while, Orochimaru spoke.
Drake nodded.
"Go ahead."
Orochimaru laid out a theory.
"Let's assume your hypothesis is correct."
"Madara traveled from the past to the present."
"He first recovered his Rinnegan."
"Then he planned to return to the past."
"But because traveling backward is difficult…"
"He couldn't return to his original timeline."
"So the best he could do…"
"Was go back a few days or weeks earlier."
Orochimaru spread his hands.
"In that case…"
"Everything makes perfect sense."
The Situation
Now in Drake's courtyard stood:
Drake – The strongest being in the ninja world
Minato (Edo Tensei) – Tactical genius
Orochimaru – Scientific mastermind
Three of the greatest strategic minds in the ninja world had gathered.
And they were preparing to solve a problem involving:
Time travel
Dragon Vein power
Madara from the past
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