Strange Uncle with Sunglasses

The destination was far away, and as they traveled, the group remained highly vigilant.

After walking for some distance, passing through several groves and following a small stream, something felt off. To be precise, there were simply too many living creatures around.

The buzzing sound made Yang Xing feel a bit irritable.

"Are there still mosquitoes in this season? There are so many of them in this forest, flying all over the place. It's so annoying." Waving his hand to shoo away the insects, Yang Xing wore a look of frustration.

Rin Nohara, walking beside him, heard Yang Xing's words and thought for a moment. "Speaking of mosquitoes, right, I remember there are ninjas who use insects as weapons. What were they called again?"

"Oh, that would be the Aburame Clan of Konoha. Well, they aren't very famous, so it's natural not to know them. Actually, other villages have insect users too." The female jonin leading the way smiled and explained to Rin, but halfway through her sentence, her expression shifted. "Wait, insects?"

Seeing the change in their teacher's face, Yang Xing also sensed that something was wrong; there were simply too many insects.

"Step back." Yang Xing reached out and pulled Rin behind him.

Little did he know, this small gesture made the young girl's face flush, and a sweet smile tugged at the corners of her lips.

At that moment, Yang Xing had no time to look behind him, for the bushes stirred and a dark shadow suddenly lunged out.

Without a second thought, Yang Xing raised his hands and unleashed a jutsu without the slightest hesitation.

"Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique!"

The event happened too suddenly and too bizarrely.

It left some unable to react, and others unable to stop it in time.

"Wait, Yang Xing!"

Unfortunately, the fireball shot straight ahead and could no longer be halted.

The dark shadow dodged with extreme speed, moving in an incredibly strange manner; it soared into the air as if flying, narrowly evading the massive fireball.

The fireball slammed into the forest, and the power of the explosion made the female jonin's expression turn grave, forcing her to take another deep look at the little guy.

He has impressive strength, different from what the Fourth Hokage said. It seems this guy hid his true power in front of the Fourth. Why would he do that? Well, that's not my business. I'll report it to the Fourth when we get back. After that thought, the female jonin immediately stepped forward and pressed down on Yang Xing, who was still ready to charge.

"Don't be impulsive. This is one of our own."

"One of our own?"

Looking at the dark shadow, Yang Xing's expression was one of surprise.

The dark mass falling from the sky finally revealed its form: a middle-aged man wearing sunglasses.

His attire was quite peculiar, but most importantly, the dark shadow covering his entire body was actually countless tiny insects. The insects scurried rapidly over him, keeping him afloat, and were now crawling into the large gourd-like bottle on his back.

"Huh, so he really isn't an enemy." Yang Xing scratched his head and laughed, trying to cover his tracks. "Haha, this uncle's outfit is so strange, I thought he was an enemy."

Tch, why didn't I just blast this guy with a fireball earlier?

Wouldn't the mission have been completed then!

No, no, why am I thinking such evil thoughts? He's a comrade, after all; I should get along with him.

Yosh, yosh, that thought just now definitely wasn't mine.

"Hmm." The uncle nodded, unaware of Yang Xing's inner monologue.

It was rare for this jonin uncle to be so calm, but his strange chakra proved that the man before them possessed considerable strength.

What a strange uncle.

How come I feel like this guy is even more reserved than Kakashi?

The newcomer was too eerie, especially with insects all over his body, which forced Kakashi and the others to remain on guard.

The two girls both looked like they didn't dare to get close; after all, no girl likes insects.

"Alright, let me introduce you." Seeing the group's wariness, the female jonin smiled and pointed at the man. "This is the person I mentioned earlier, the head of the Aburame Clan, Shibi Aburame. Well, he is solely responsible for the frontline investigation for this mission."

"Alone?" Kakashi scanned the man in front of him with confusion. Executing a mission alone clearly indicated that this person's strength was not simple.

In fact, just by sensing the man's chakra, one could tell that his strength was at the jonin level, and if nothing else, he was definitely an elite jonin.

Facing Kakashi's doubt, the female jonin only gave a vague explanation: "Well, the Aburame Clan's insects are very special."

She turned her head to look at Shibi Aburame, her expression full of surprise. "Um, I don't know why the head of the Aburame Clan is here?"

"Those people were chasing, so I followed." Shibi Aburame's words were brief, as if speaking another sentence would be a luxury.

Hearing this, the female jonin's expression soured. "Who are 'those people'?"

"Enemies!"

"I know that. I wanted to ask, who exactly are those enemies?"

"Enemies from the Land of Earth."

The female jonin: "..."

Yang Xing could clearly see that the female jonin's smile was very forced; looking at that strained expression, she probably wanted to punch someone.

The female jonin instructor took a deep breath, suppressing the urge to beat this man to a pulp, and asked with forced patience, "So, we already knew that much. What I want to ask is..."

"Hm, they've arrived. They're already here!"

To her dismay, Shibi Aburame furrowed his brows as if he had sensed something, and without a second thought, he leaped away.

His speed was blinding, and he left without so much as a greeting, leaving the female jonin standing there in a daze.

"Hey, don't just leave without finishing your sentence! Who exactly has arrived? I need to give a report to the Fourth Hokage!" Watching him vanish into the distance, the female jonin sighed helplessly. "This is exactly why the Aburame Clan never achieves anything significant."

The members of the Aburame Clan were indeed all incredibly withdrawn; not only did this make them easy to overlook, but it also made it difficult for them to earn the appreciation of Konoha's upper echelons.

They had always been a rather declining clan.

Not wanting to dwell on him any longer, the female jonin turned her head, intending to tell the members of her team to be careful. However, upon turning, she noticed something amiss. "We need to pick up the pace, forget about that guy for now. Wait, where is that little brat? Where is Yang Xing?"

"He followed him just now," Obito said, pointing toward the distance.

This realization dawned on the others; looking at the receding figures, it was clear that the boy had chased after Shibi the moment he had left.

"What is he doing? Forget it, I'll go check on him later. With Shibi Aburame there, there shouldn't be any problems; he is a jonin, after all." The female jonin frowned, deciding not to give chase for the moment, and turned back to the others. "You all need to be careful. It's very likely the enemy is nearby, everyone must—wait, let me finish! Kakashi, Rin Nohara, and you too, Anko, don't you dare run off to join the commotion!"

Three figures were already racing away, following swiftly without a moment's hesitation, charging toward a specific location.