Once these three Anbu accepted this account, Xia Yan's plan would be halfway to success.
These three Anbu were important, because their presence would allow word of Xia Yan's achievements and his current strength to spread far and wide.
They belonged to the Third Battalion, an entirely different battalion from Xia Yan's.
But most importantly, Kusunoki was the Captain of the Third Battalion.
In other words, the position Xia Yan needed to compete for was Captain of the Third Battalion.
Building good relations with the battalion's members in advance, while also spreading word of what he had done on this mission, was highly advantageous to him.
Besides that, it would earn him points with the Konoha High Command.
Although Xia Yan could turn his disadvantages into advantages, all of that required time.
So right now, he needed people to spread word of his current strength within the Anbu.
Kakashi alone would not be much use, especially since he was now essentially isolated.
Once the Anbu knew about his situation, that would effectively mean the Third Hokage and the others knew as well. Xia Yan intended to use this method to step onto a larger stage.
Otherwise, why would someone like Xia Yan, who could fool the Yamanaka Clan's secret techniques, bother putting on this whole performance?
Simply letting them all die would have been much easier than keeping them alive and making them believe him.
After dealing with the three Anbu, Xia Yan maintained his gentle, slightly sorrowful demeanor and finally stopped refusing to use the Anbu's last resort.
The Anbu's last resort was, naturally, to dissolve the body, making it disappear from this world forever.
Of course, he could not propose it himself. Someone else had to say it.
It was not that the three Anbu had never considered