Something with no owner

Kakashi had not been wrong. This matter was indeed very complicated.

Of course, from Xia Yan's perspective, it was not actually all that complicated.

Xia Yan really was not worried that reporting things this way within the Anbu would cause him any trouble. In fact, the Anbu's internal surveillance of its members was the weakest.

Although that weakness was only relative, and none of the required checks would be any less stringent, Xia Yan did not care about those checks at all.

For one thing, there was the question of whether anyone had seen him, since the place he had chosen was secluded enough.

Besides, he actually hoped someone would see him and then report it to the Third Hokage. It would not be too dangerous, either.

Still, he would not be too blatant about it. That would leave overly obvious traces and make his performance far too clumsy.

Since Xia Yan had already reached an agreement with Minato Namikaze, he would naturally prepare some material, such as what he had seen and heard within the Anbu.

For instance, there were the Root members he had encountered that time he returned from a mission with Kakashi. He would even report the existence of that Underground Laboratory.

He had not reported these things when he met Minato Namikaze, and Minato Namikaze had not been in a hurry to have him do so, either.

That was because Minato Namikaze knew Xia Yan was still on guard duty. Night patrols were required not only of Konoha's regular guard ninja, but of the Anbu as well.

Moreover, the patrols the Anbu had to carry out were even more dangerous and troublesome. They were meant to prevent spies in the village from passing intelligence outside, even if this was not actually of much use.

Every village had large numbers of spies within it. This was an unspoken rule everyone understood, and sometimes a village's Kage would even make use of these spies.

But they still had to be rooted out, especially those who had previously gone undetected yet managed to obtain intelligence. Such people were a priority for every village to capture.

And once they encountered those people, the task of Anbu members like Xia Yan was to eliminate them on the spot!

Fighting always carried risks, and letting those people escape would be an even greater dereliction of duty, so Minato Namikaze had not wasted too much of Xia Yan's time.

Besides, Minato himself had sneaked out, and he still needed to return to keep his wife company.

Xia Yan's preparations now were for his next meeting with Minato Namikaze. When Minato taught him the Flying Thunder God Technique, he could also hand over this token of "sincerity."

Once I learn the Flying Thunder God Technique, my strength should shoot up again. I wonder what my strength rating will become.

Xia Yan really was quite curious about this. His current strength rating had already reached jonin because his basic attributes were simply so high.

Together with his two kinds of Chakra Fruit and his Earth Release and Water Release jutsu, they had brought his overall strength to the jonin level, even though the amount of chakra he could use was only at the chunin level.

As for the Flying Thunder God Technique, its chakra consumption depended entirely on distance.

That meant that if Xia Yan only fought at close range, his usable chakra reserves would definitely be enough to support it, even if they were only at the chunin level.

The only issue would be how many times he could use it.

Moreover, the Flying Thunder God Technique's combat power was truly terrifying. Xia Yan was even wondering whether learning it would bring his overall strength rating to elite jonin, or even Kage level!

Of course, that was only his speculation. He would have to wait until he learned it to see how things actually stood.

And even after Xia Yan learned it, his use of the Flying Thunder God Technique would have to remain limited to close combat for the time being.

As for escaping over long distances, he felt he should forget about that for now, unless he could obtain more chakra sources.

Come to think of it, there are quite a few options for chakra sources. Tailed beasts would be a good choice, but with my current strength and position, there's no way I could lay a hand on them, even if they were released.

The thought of tailed beasts did tempt Xia Yan. If he mastered Sealing Jutsu now, he might be able to do something during the Nine-Tails Incident in just over half a year's time.

Yet he simply did not dare. He had no intention of running off to the Akatsuki, and his sights were already set on the position of Hokage. How could he flee?

He was a member of the Senju Clan himself, with an impeccable background. As long as he handled things properly, Xia Yan felt his chances were very good.

He would not, and had never even considered, foolishly running off to join Madara Uchiha, whom Hashirama Senju had beaten utterly back then.

So even if the Nine-Tails emerged, he would not dare touch him.

The other tailed beasts were troublesome too. Some had yet to revive, such as the Three-Tails.

Others were inside jinchūriki, kept under strict watch by their villages.

And as for the wandering jinchūriki, Xia Yan simply did not think he could beat them-the one from Iwagakure, for example.

Besides, who knew whether that Four-Tails jinchūriki had run off yet? Although the Anbu had access to such intelligence, one should never underestimate a village's or a powerful ninja's ability to conceal themselves.

Tailed beasts are out of the question, then... hmm?

As he thought, Xia Yan suddenly froze, because something had just occurred to him.

There actually seemed to be two other chakra sources. One seemed to be the Zero-Tails inside Amaru of the Sky Ninja Village-but that woman probably had not been born yet.

Moreover, Xia Yan knew absolutely nothing about when the Zero-Tails had come into being, how it had been created, or what exactly that fellow Shinnō had done. He only knew that such a thing existed.

Beyond that, he did not know much about the Sky Ninja Village's specific circumstances, either. He only knew it had an enormous fortress, and little else.

After all, the Sky Ninja Village had been destroyed many years ago, and Xia Yan had only a passing interest in this sort of "original storyline."

It was already quite good that he could remember those characters' names, the general information, and the circumstances of the Sky Ninja Village's fortress.

As for the other one, that was much simpler.

Although it also belonged to an "original storyline," this one involved the meeting between father and son, Minato Namikaze and Naruto Uzumaki, which interested Xia Yan far more.

Besides, it involved traveling through time and space. How could Xia Yan not be interested?

So he did remember many details and pieces of information about this chakra source.

He knew it was called the Ryūmyaku, and he knew its specific details, its precise condition, and its exact location!

Most importantly, Xia Yan also knew that, at present, probably no one would pay any attention to this chakra source at all.

Konoha should originally have been interested, but Minato Namikaze had already sealed it, and had also sealed his own memories, so he had naturally forgotten many of the details.

As for Sunagakure's Sealing Jutsu, the less said about it, the better. Although the One-Tail's Sealing Jutsu was powerful, their own was poor.

One look at Gaara's condition made that perfectly clear. That fellow supposedly had never had a proper rest!

The Ryūmyaku hidden in Rōran...

Xia Yan narrowed his eyes slightly.

Once I learn Sealing Jutsu, I could find an opportunity to go take a good look.

After all, something like that with no owner would be a great help to me...