Aburame Ryoma

"Our identities are somewhat unusual. Captain Nightingale, you should actually be able to guess. We've met before."

Since he could not deal with it, he could only make proper arrangements for everything.

The man spoke to Xia Yan in the calmest of voices. He had already decided what to do.

"We've met before?"

Xia Yan had known who they were all along, but he still earnestly played along.

He frowned as though thinking for a moment, then looked as if realization had dawned on him.

"So it's... it's you."

"It seems you understand now, Captain Nightingale." The man nodded. "I'm very sorry about what happened today. Special circumstances led to an unnecessary misunderstanding. I'll punish them when I return. However..."

"I understand, sir." Without waiting for him to finish, Xia Yan said, "I'll forget this incident, and I'll forget this place. I certainly won't put it in my written report. At most, if Lord Hokage asks, I'll tell him the truth."

Xia Yan knew exactly how to play along. Naturally, he knew what he should and should not say, and even whom he could say it to.

In fact, he would have preferred to say outright that he would only report the truth to the Third Hokage, but he had not forgotten that Kakashi was standing right beside him.

So he used the vague, general title of Lord Hokage, while his gaze also drifted casually toward Kakashi.

When the man before him saw Xia Yan's gesture, he immediately understood what he meant and nodded solemnly.

Seeing this, Xia Yan knew the matter was settled. Although he was truly annoyed at running into these people, he knew even more clearly that he really had no power to resist.

Fortunately, for the time being, these people had no time to bother with him-or rather, with the already fallen Senju Clan.

For people like Danzo and the Third Hokage, who had inherited the Second Hokage's will, their primary targets would always be those lunatics in the Uchiha.

Besides, even if they wanted to deal with the Senju Clan, they would never do so openly.

After all, it was the clan of the First and Second Hokage, the clan of Konoha's founders. They did not dare go too far.

Even when they did act, they mostly relied on the Second Hokage's own policies.

By making the Senju Clan serve as "model examples," they made it look as though the clan had declined on its own. That way, at least on the surface, it would not appear too cold and heartless.

"Who were they?"

Once the matter was settled, Xia Yan immediately pulled Kakashi away from the place. After they had gone far enough, Kakashi finally could not hold back any longer.

Before this, he had never dealt with these people and had not even known they existed. How could he not be curious after suddenly encountering them today?

Especially when the way they had looked ready to attack them had already shown just how utterly unrestrained they were!

"Them?" Xia Yan glanced behind him before turning his gaze to Kakashi. "You'd better not ask too much about them. If you can, forget what happened today. We have to follow the Anbu's confidentiality regulations."

"Is that so..." Kakashi frowned, then fell silent.

Naturally, that answer left him endlessly frustrated. They had nearly come to blows, yet he did not even know who the other party was.

However, he could find nothing wrong with Xia Yan's words, because those were the Anbu's rules, and Kakashi knew those rules himself.

Just as Kakashi shook his head helplessly and decided not to pursue the question, Xia Yan suddenly made a discreet hand signal to him-someone was listening.

When Kakashi saw the signal, his eyes instantly became extremely wary. These people even eavesdropped on the Anbu?

Xia Yan had no idea what Kakashi was thinking, but his gaze shifted discreetly toward the little insects constantly flying through the air beside him.

Xia Yan had always been very careful. Especially when dealing with Root, he did not dare relax in the slightest.

Ever since leaving, he had been using his sensory abilities to probe their surroundings. Sure enough, he soon noticed that there were actually insects carrying faint traces of chakra all around him!

Someone from the Aburame Clan?

Xia Yan could now identify the specific clan of the person following him. Moreover, according to his memories, Root seemed to have always been very interested in members of the Aburame Clan.

In the original story, when Danzo had broken the rules by forcibly demanding recruits from the major clans, his primary target had been the Aburame Clan.

If Aburame Torune had not volunteered to enter Root in Shino Aburame's place, many of Team 8's later stories probably would never have happened, nor would there have been a Shino Aburame who lived in the sunlight.

Still, speaking of which, it was precisely because Danzo had broken the rules like that with Hiruzen Sarutobi's tacit approval.

That had directly alienated Hiruzen Sarutobi from Konoha's various clans, to the point that no one had come out to save him during the Chunin Ninja Exams!

But who is this one now?

Xia Yan silently wondered as he pretended not to have noticed anything, but soon, something seemed to occur to him.

I remember that when Danzo went to see Yakushi Nonō, he brought two people with him. One was Orochimaru, and the other...

Aburame Ryoma!

Xia Yan narrowed his eyes slightly. He was now essentially certain who this man was. Barring anything unexpected, he was definitely Aburame Ryoma.

Anyone who could stand alongside Orochimaru to protect Danzo was certainly no ordinary figure. Just now, Xia Yan had noticed that this man's chakra was terrifying!

In Xia Yan's view, both its quality and quantity already surpassed those of an ordinary Jonin.

Not only that, but the insects inside this man's body were also terrifying. Merely sensing those densely packed insects carrying faint traces of chakra made his scalp prickle.

No wonder members of the Hyuga Clan did not like being around members of the Aburame Clan. Accidentally catching sight of that with the Byakugan would absolutely qualify as a disaster of epic proportions.

Xia Yan did not know whether these insects were poisonous, but given Root's nature, even if they had not originally been poisonous, they would definitely have been bred into something lethally toxic!

He did not dare take that gamble, nor would he ever let these insects touch him.

One bite from an insect like that would definitely end in "accidental death." Xia Yan absolutely did not want that sort of rotten thing happening to him.

It looks like that basement just now was, barring anything unexpected, a Root laboratory-or rather, a joint laboratory run by Root and Orochimaru!

With the place so tightly sealed and protected, and with an exceptionally powerful ninja like Aburame Ryoma guarding it, its importance was presumably beyond words.

Of course, he could not rule out the possibility that someone inside needed tight protection, such as Shimura Danzō.

Xia Yan did not know which it was, but whichever the case, he did not want to go near it.

What made him breathe a sigh of relief was that the insects stopped following them once they left the forest.

Clearly, his and Kakashi's performance had put Aburame Ryoma at ease for the time being...