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The link is also in the synopsis
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The Aburame clan requested to meet with the ANBU on the day of the raid and the arrests themselves. They received a reply only on the second day that they would meet them the next day. There was no additional communication regarding the meeting. That one day between the reply and ANBU's arrival was the longest for many in the clan.
The same meeting hall that had been the venue for many discussions for the past few days was opened up and prepared for the meeting with ANBU. The simple cushion where the Aburame clan head took his seat was replaced by a raised, wide platform where Shibi sat with clan representatives flanking him on either side, putting them above the ANBU, who settled down on comfortable cushions on the tatami floor. Shibi gazed down at the ANBU party of six: three white-cloaked operatives accompanied by three blank-masked staff members. The white cloaks indicated that they were squad leaders and above, but he just needed to look at their masks to know that there wasn't a squad leader among them.
"I hope you have been well, Lord Shibi," said the deer-masked ANBU Commander Stag, the Hokage's elder son and the highest domestic ANBU authority in the Hidden Leaf.
"You have placed us in somewhat murky waters," Shibi said.
"That'd be false, Lord Shibi," said ANBU Captain Weasel. "There's nothing murky about this."
Shibi gazed at the young generation prodigy and the son of the Uchiha clan head, who had not only broken the rules for ANBU recruitment, but had also climbed to his current rank at record speed that he doubted would be beaten or even matched by anyone for ages to come.
"We wouldn't know. There hasn't been much communication from your side other than arrests and raids," Shibi said. In fact, after their insistence, all they had gotten were copies of warrants.
"Don't worry, we are here to clear everything up," Stag said.
Shibi nodded. He moved only his eyes to gaze at the third operative sitting to Stag's left. It was his first time seeing the badger mask, but he had heard much about the ANBU lieutenant—especially in the past couple of days—who only one year ago was given command over one of the most infamous squads in ANBU. The squad didn't have an official name, but they were widely known as the Arborists and were in charge of observing the shinobi clans and punishing them every time they stepped out of line and harmed the village. They were a conscious measure from the village's side to keep the clans in check.
For nearly a decade, the squad had been under the command of a neutral party in Hatake Kakashi, formerly ANBU Captain Fox, whom people first suspected of being aligned with the Uchiha, but who showed otherwise through his track record. Last year, however, the squad fell under the command of the young Uchiha prodigy, who promptly passed it onto his brand-new lieutenant, Ratel, the rising star within ANBU; the hound who hunted down ROOT and sealed the fate of Shimura Danzō.
Disregarding the dissatisfaction that the squad now sat within the Uchiha's sphere of influence, many thought the leadership appointment to be a rash decision. The lieutenant in charge of the Arborists had always been an experienced operative chosen specifically for the squad, even if they had other squads in their unit. The former lieutenant had been strict and anything but a pushover, but he knew how to play the game to uphold the delicate balance where both sides respected each other.
That relationship vanished under the new lieutenant, who made no effort to introduce himself to the major clans.
The Arborist squad was promptly closed off from the clans and went dark. Shibi clenched his fist. That was precisely why they hadn't heard anything before the Arborists were already at their doors.
"You are the new lieutenant," Shibi said.
Ratel wordlessly bowed his head lightly in greeting.
Shibi hid his discomfort. For the past year, the Arborist squad's actions were similar to before the leadership change, and many were coaxed into a false sense of safety, thinking that things would remain the same even if the clans didn't have a direct line to the new lieutenant. However, Shibi didn't share their opinion.
He had looked into Ratel's track record until then: aggressive prosecution against narcotics during his time at the Police Force; surviving an assassination attempt at his home; going to war, successfully interrogating infiltrators before reaching his post, contributing to a recapture confrontation, and then participating in a high-stakes mission beyond the enemy lines where he killed a Frost jōnin as a genin. He then joined ANBU and participated in one landmark case after another. He survived another assassination attempt. Finally, he allowed the Hidden Leaf to track down Shimura Danzō.
It was one thing after another that showed a clear pattern of aggression and extremism in his approach. Ratel had done more things in his short career than most operatives did over three contract periods. And it was clear that he hadn't stumbled into them; instead, he had been proactive in seeking out each opportunity.
Anything Ratel had set his sights on had been rolled over.
Just for a moment, Shibi met Ratel's eyes through the mask and knew that the young, hungry eyes were now set on the Aburame clan.
———
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"Can you repeat that?" Shibi asked, his posture stiffening.
He was not alone. The words knocked the wind out of the entire Aburame representative party. None of them could even muster a token show of outrage—the accusation was simply too preposterous and absurd to process.
Stag studied their stunned reactions closely before reiterating. "ANBU's position is that the Aburame clan deliberately engineered the chakra pest to manufacture a crisis, solved it with the specially-bred pale beetles, and reaped massive profits from the scheme."
"Wait a minute, that's not…"
Shibi uttered, his stomach dropping. He thought he'd already braced for the worst-case scenario by assuming that Shigeki was culturing the chakra pests to spread the infestation so he could further inflate the demand for their beetles. But the ANBU commander, who wouldn't joke in this situation, was accusing the clan of engineering the entire thing from top to bottom for profit.
That put them firmly in bioterrorism because they would have sabotaged the Land of Fire's agricultural supply chain, which the Hidden Leaf relied upon, for mere profit. If ANBU made this accusation public, the Aburame would become enemies of every clan and merchant relying on chakra-dependent crops. Antagonising the Hyūga alone—who had the fūinjutsu chakra ink industry in a stranglehold and had spent years haemorrhaging money on increased raw material costs—would be a deeply consequential problem for the clan.
"You cannot be serious!" an Aburame jōnin snapped. "Where's your proof for such an outrageous claim?!"
"We have it," Weasel replied, his voice even.
"Show us," Shibi demanded.
"The evidence will be presented at the official inquiry," Weasel replied calmly. "Not before."
Shibi's mind reeled. He looked at Stag, who didn't have anything to say. It was at that point that he turned his attention to Ratel, who had been silent since he stepped into the meeting hall. ANBU restricting the flow of information wasn't anything unusual, but to allege something so severe and then refusing to provide even surface-level proof that would validate the claim without jeopardising their case wasn't usual practice. This seemed more like how Ratel operated.
Yesterday, Shibi had familiarised himself with Ratel as the lieutenant who had led the attack against his clan. One thing that stood out was his use of clones. It had started as a rumour, but had become substantiated after so many within ANBU had seen the clones.
According to Seinpachi, those clones were a problem because they allowed Ratel to lead from a much closer distance than his lieutenant peers could due to their lack of time. Ratel was more involved with each operative in all squads under his unit. It helped him build a greater rapport with his teams, but it also made the operatives conscious of him. A squad leader would know what their operatives were doing on a day-to-day basis, but not a lieutenant who was a level separated from them. Even if Ratel didn't intend for it, the awareness that their lieutenant personally followed their work put pressure on the operatives to perform better.
That expanded presence was how Ratel had the Arborists go dark without replacing the old squad with his preferred replacement. Over the year since he took charge, they had been acclimated to his way of doing things.
It was impressive because many would require a year to learn enough about their responsibilities before they could start doing it properly, much less make changes to improve.
It was terrible for the Aburame, who desperately needed information.
"Then we demand that you release our clan members into our custody," Shibi said. "I'll guarantee that they won't flee. You may attach a guard to them in case you don't think my word holds enough weight."
Stag chuckled behind his mask. "Who would dare think such a thing, Lord Shibi? Who doesn't know the tales of your honour…"
"Unfortunately, we can't comply with that," Ratel said, jumping into the conversation before Stag could say anything. "He is being interrogated for further information currently. We'll be holding him until we're satisfied that we have the complete… map of… correct… facts…"
Though he wore a mask, Stag's body language made his displeasure clear. He turned his head to look at Ratel, who quieted at the end of his sentence. The lieutenant had just interrupted the commander before he could respond to a clan head and now couldn't express his opinion because it would seem like they weren't on the same page and that he was disregarding the word of the subordinate who was responsible for developing this case.
Weasel didn't show a similar response, but those in the room could pick up on the clues that the captain was stuck between two sides and was not thrilled about it; but with the reputation he had, whatever he was thinking, he wasn't going to show it in front of outsiders.
During all that, Shibi stared at Ratel in amazement. There it was, the aggression towards achieving his goal that Shibi had heard about. Ratel had risked offending the commander so that he could ensure that Shigeki would remain in his custody so he could torture more information out of him.
Normally, Shibi would see a potential crack in his enemy as a positive and try to deepen it, but even if he judged Ratel's methods to be aggressive, they were not reckless. If reckless was all he was, Ratel wouldn't have survived until now; he had risked his life far too much for it to be luck.
Instead, Shibi saw him as a pragmatic person who only used aggression because it worked for him and not because that's all he was capable of.
He made risky moves often that could sink him, but didn't because he always came through. Right now, Ratel needed Shigeki to be in his custody. Maybe he was even close to getting something crucial out of him. As the clan head, he couldn't allow that, even if Shigeki had greatly sinned and gotten the clan into grave trouble.
"Then, consider this our formal dissent," Shibi declared with a full voice. "We will secure the release of our people, utilising the full authority of the law and complete strength of the Aburame clan."
———
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After leaving the meeting, the ANBU party of six travelled in silence. The three staff who were there to record everything spoken were tense as they perceived a tension between the three operatives—that's until Stag spoke.
"Do you think they bought it?"
Weasel nodded. "I believe they did."
"I certainly hope so," Ratel replied. "Your performance was excellent, Commander."
The tension that was bearing heavily down on the group suddenly vanished into mist. The three operatives chatted with each other as though they hadn't had a silent conflict in front of the Aburame clan head.
"I was nervous because you never know what those Aburame folks are thinking, especially Aburame Shibi. He could be having a crisis, and not a drop of sweat would show on his face," Stag sighed.
"We will only know tomorrow, but given his statement, I think we're safe to think he'd be focusing on Shigeki." Weasel looked at Takuma and said, "That was very good acting on your part. It was subtle enough that it sounded like a slip that would definitely catch someone like Aburame Shibi's attention."
It was only at that point that the three staff members realised that the conflict in the meeting and the tension since then were all an act.
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