Konoha Village, Hokage's office.
Hiruzen Sarutobi sat behind his desk, puffing on his pipe, his brows furrowed. Five or six cigarette butts were already piled up in the ashtray on the desk.
Before him, a disheveled Ninja was kneeling.
It was Hyuga Sosuke, a Chunin from the Hyuga branch family.
His forehead was covered in sweat, his white eyes were bloodshot, and his breathing was ragged—a sign of excessive Chakra consumption—but there were no visible wounds on his body.
"You're the only one who came back?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi's voice was low and grave.
Hyuga Sosuke lowered his head, his voice hoarse:
"Yes... Third Hokage, I am the only one who escaped."
"Tell me slowly, from beginning to end."
Hyuga Sosuke took a deep breath, trying to steady his breathing.
"Our three search squads, a total of twelve people, were ordered to enter Yufu Forest to find the whereabouts of Kurenai Yuhi's squad."
"At first, everything was normal, but after penetrating about five kilometers into the forest, I habitually activated my Byakugan to scout—"
His pupils contracted slightly.
"Then I saw them."
"What?"
"Wolves." Hyuga Sosuke's voice trembled slightly. "Ninja Wolves, at least fifty or sixty of them, scattered in an ambush within a three-hundred-meter radius around us. They all had Chakra, and... they were organized, in formation, as if they were waiting for us to enter their encirclement."
Hiruzen Sarutobi's pipe paused in mid-air.
"I immediately ordered a retreat, but those wolves were too fast—"
"Much faster than ordinary Ninja Beasts, at least twice as fast. My Byakugan could see their movements, but my team members couldn't."
"We fought while retreating, trying our best to break through, but there were too many of those wolves... and they coordinated well, giving us no chance to catch our breath."
Hyuga Sosuke clenched his fists.
"My team members fell one by one, pinned to the ground by those wolves. I wanted to go back to save them, but the three wolves leading them—one with a Scarface, one pure black, and one largest gray wolf—they targeted me."
"I used my Byakugan to predict their movements, running and dodging all the way. I ran for half a day before I finally shook them off."
He looked up at Hiruzen Sarutobi.
"Third Hokage, those three wolves... they aren't simple. They can command, they can coordinate, they are harder to deal with than ordinary Chunin."
Hiruzen Sarutobi was silent for a long time.
"Three squads, twelve people, and only you returned."
Hyuga Sosuke lowered his head: "Yes. I... I am incompetent."
Hiruzen Sarutobi waved his hand.
"It is not easy that you were able to return alive."
He stood up and walked to the window, looking at the continuous forest in the distance.
"Kurenai Yuhi's squad also went missing in that area. Including your squad, nineteen Ninjas have now lost contact over there."
He turned around.
"There must be a commander behind those wolves. A Wolf King."
Hyuga Sosuke nodded heavily: "I think so too. Those Ninja Wolves' actions were too organized; they don't behave like ordinary wild beasts."
Hiruzen Sarutobi pondered for a moment.
"Go rest first. I will handle this matter."
"Yes."
Hyuga Sosuke retreated.
The office fell into a deathly silence.
A moment later, Hiruzen Sarutobi spoke:
"Send Kakashi Hatake to see me."
An answer came from outside the door.
—
The next day.
Outside Yufu Forest, on an ancient tree dozens of meters high.
The thick trunk stretched out like a giant's arm, and the dense branches and leaves swayed gently in the night wind.
Deep in the canopy, more than twenty meters above the ground, a huge silvery-white figure lay quietly.
The four-meter-long body was almost integrated with the tree trunk, its silvery-white fur shimmering with a soft luster in the sunlight, as if draped in a layer of flowing moonlight. Blue electric arcs occasionally jumped between the hairs, then quietly vanished, as natural as breathing.
His eyes were slightly closed, his eyelids covering those soul-stirring pupils.
His breathing was steady and long, each exhalation accompanied by a faint sound of electricity, almost imperceptible in the quiet night.
He just lay there, motionless, like a sleeping statue.
It was Yang Jiu.
I don't know how much time passed.
Yang Jiu slowly opened his eyes.
Deep in his azure blue pupils, a flash of lightning quietly flickered, then quickly vanished.
"Finally here..."
The corners of his mouth curled up slightly, a hint of playfulness appearing in his eyes.
"It's the 'Five-Fifty' Kakashi Hatake—interesting."
His gaze pierced through the forest ahead, as if he could see something.
One of the abilities of the Rumble-Rumble Fruit is to turn radio waves into intangible perception.
Although it cannot compare to the monstrous range of Enel, which covers the entire island, nor can it predict the opponent's actions like true Observation Haki, any creature within a one-kilometer radius centered on him cannot escape his "sight."
At this moment, within his "sight."
In the forest five hundred meters ahead, five figures were jumping rapidly between the canopies.
Their movements were light and agile, their toes lightly touching the branches, allowing them to cross several meters of distance without making a sound.
Leading them was a man with a mask and a head of silver-white hair.
The silver-white hair was particularly eye-catching in the sunlight, and a black mask covered most of his face, revealing only one half-squinted eye.
Kakashi Hatake.
Konoha's First Technician, the Copy Ninja Kakashi Hatake.
Elite Jonin.
"I wonder if the 'Five-Fifty' can manage a five-fifty draw in front of me..."
Yang Jiu's mouth curled up slightly.
He didn't move, just lay quietly on the tree trunk. His silvery-white body almost blended into the branches of the ancient tree, and the sunlight spilled through the gaps in the leaves, casting mottled light and shadows on him.
In his radio wave perception, those five figures were approaching rapidly.
Four hundred meters.
Three hundred meters.
Two hundred meters.
—One hundred and fifty meters.
Kakashi Hatake suddenly raised his hand and clenched it into a fist.
The five figures stopped simultaneously, landing on different branches without making a sound.
"What's wrong, Senior Kakashi Hatake?" Inuzuka Hana asked in a low voice.
Kakashi Hatake didn't answer immediately.
His exposed eye narrowed slightly, scanning the forest ahead.
"Something is wrong."
"What?"
"It's too quiet." Kakashi Hatake's voice was very soft, "At the edge of this forest, there isn't even a bird."
Hyuga Sosuke immediately performed hand seals.
"Byakugan—Activate!"
The grayish-white field of vision instantly expanded.
He carefully scanned every inch of land within five hundred meters—trees, branches, squirrels hidden in tree holes, insects crawling in the distance.
His pupils contracted violently.
At the top of an ancient tree dozens of meters high.
A silvery-white figure was lying quietly on the trunk.
It was a wolf.
A huge wolf.
The silvery-white fur shimmered with a cold luster in the sunlight, its body over four meters long like a small mountain. It was not hiding, nor was it moving; it just lay on the tree, eyes slightly closed, as if basking in the sun.
But it also seemed—
To be looking at them.
Hyuga Sosuke's heart skipped a beat.
The memory of that escape yesterday flooded his mind instantly—the Ninja Wolves that chased him for half a day, that giant wolf with the Scarface, and the Wolf King that hadn't appeared yet, but always made him feel terrified.
It was it.
It must be it.
"Sosuke, what did you see?" Kakashi Hatake noticed his abnormality.
Hyuga Sosuke didn't answer immediately.
His Byakugan stared fixedly at the silvery-white figure, cold sweat seeping from his forehead.
The Chakra on that figure...
It was too terrifying.
Silvery-white Chakra jumped around it like flames, countless blue electric arcs intertwined to form a layer of flowing lightning cloak. The intensity of that Chakra was stronger than any Jonin he had ever seen—
Even stronger than Kakashi Hatake.
And—
It moved.
The silvery-white figure slowly raised its head and glanced in their direction.
Across a distance of more than one hundred meters, Hyuga Sosuke clearly saw—
It opened its eyes.
Lightning flickered in its golden pupils, and it was looking at them.
Hyuga Sosuke felt like he had fallen into an ice cellar.
"It... It found us."
His voice was hoarse and trembling, with a hint of undeniable tension.
"Who?"
Kakashi Hatake's voice became grave.
Hyuga Sosuke took a deep breath and pointed into the depths of the forest.
"One hundred and fifty meters away."
"A huge silvery-white wolf."
"It's it—"
He paused, swallowing a mouthful of saliva.
"It should be the King of those Ninja Wolves—the Wolf King."
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