Inoichi Yamanaka?
Looking at the blond man before him, Xia Yan had almost immediately recalled his name.
As the father of Ino, a future member of the Konoha 12, and the head of Konoha's Intelligence Gathering Squad, he was someone Xia Yan could not possibly be unfamiliar with.
Konoha's intelligence system was divided into two branches. One was the Intelligence Interrogation Squad within the Anbu, which would also produce a very famous figure in the future.
That was Ibiki Morino, who oversaw the matches in the Chunin Ninja Exams. And if Xia Yan remembered correctly, when Kisame killed the woman most important to him with his own hands, it was Ibiki Morino who had led the team that surrounded them.
The other was the Intelligence Gathering Squad, which answered directly to the Hokage and was headed by Inoichi Yamanaka.
This squad had broad authority in its assignments, and sometimes even stepped in to handle the Anbu's intelligence work.
For instance, when someone brought back a head, it was ultimately handed over to this squad to deal with.
Xia Yan had dealt with members of the Intelligence Gathering Squad quite often, and had seen Inoichi Yamanaka many times.
But as for actually interacting with him, that had practically never happened, because the gap between their standing was simply too great.
Although Inoichi Yamanaka was only the head of a squad, and his position seemed to be just one rank above Xia Yan's, that was misleading.
In reality, even the Anbu Director would not dare casually give him orders.
His political backing was simply too substantial, because he was allied with the Nara and the Akimichi.
But why has Inoichi Yamanaka come to see me? Could it be...
Xia Yan's thoughts moved quickly, and something soon occurred to him.
Naturally, Inoichi Yamanaka