Sudden Changes

Facing the assault of the wolves, Veigar remained completely unmoved. His cold gaze locked onto the Wolf King in the rear.

In two or three seconds, the Ninja Sword in Veigar's hands had already been dyed red with boiling wolf blood. Of the seventeen wild wolves before him, only the isolated Wolf King remained.

Seeing the wild wolves lying around Veigar, the Wolf King, though merely an ordinary beast, understood what that meant.

When hunting other animals in the past, it had also witnessed this happen many times—the fallen wolves never getting back up.

"Awwoooooo..."

At that moment, the Wolf King sensed immense danger from Veigar. Instinctively, it threw its head back and howled again, as if calling for its companions, or perhaps mourning!

"I'll use you to test my new jutsu."

Veigar lowered the Ninja Sword stained red with wolf blood. At the same time, as he thought about testing the Rasengan, a dark-blue ball of Chakra appeared in the palm of his right hand.

Behind Veigar, Kakashi Hatake and Takeuchi Joji, who had just climbed to his feet after hearing the Wolf King's first howl, were both staring at Veigar in shock.

What shocked Takeuchi Joji was that Veigar, despite his young age, had managed to kill more than a dozen wild wolves alone without suffering so much as a scratch. For the first time, Takeuchi Joji found himself longing for the power possessed by ninjas.

Kakashi Hatake, meanwhile, was astonished by the jutsu Veigar was using. He had never expected Veigar to have completely learned Minato Namikaze's signature jutsu—the Rasengan—without anyone realizing it.

Since Veigar had not yet practiced the Rasengan to proficiency and was currently only at the comprehension stage, he spent a little extra time condensing it.

Just as he expected the Wolf King to attack him after howling at the sky, he never imagined that the king of the wolves would turn around and flee, nimbly disappearing into a dark forest.

"Hey, hey, you're the Wolf King!"

"You just ran away???"

"One-star review!"

If he had time to spare, Veigar would definitely have mocked the Wolf King, but he was still in the middle of a battle.

Seeing the Wolf King turn and flee, Veigar chased after it without hesitation. All he wanted now was to test the power of the Rasengan in his hand.

Before it could get far, the Wolf King was struck on the head by Veigar descending from above with the Rasengan, and it died instantly.

At the same time, a sudden change occurred.

The instant the Wolf King was killed, Veigar's body, which had not yet landed safely, lost control and stiffened. He crashed to the ground in an extremely awkward manner.

At that moment, Veigar suddenly discovered that something inside his body seemed to be drilling toward the palm of his right hand.

The next moment, the Superior Evil Power icon, which ordinarily could only be "seen" with his eyes closed in meditation, appeared inside the Rasengan in his hand and began shining brightly.

At that very moment, Veigar regained control of his body and recovered his ability to move, while the light emitted by the Superior Evil Power icon also vanished.

The same happened to the Source of Life on the Wolf King, which should have gradually dispersed.

In the nearby camp, Kakashi Hatake, who was protecting Takeuchi Joji, also saw that fleeting dark-green glow. Worried about Veigar's safety but unable to leave, he shouted anxiously, "Veigar, are you all right?"

Hearing Kakashi Hatake's call from the forest, Veigar hurriedly shouted back, "I'm fine. I'll be back right now."

With no time to consider what had happened to his body or why the Source of Life on the Wolf King had vanished in an instant, Veigar quickly grabbed the Wolf King's corpse and got up to leave.

When he returned to the area illuminated by the swaying firelight, Kakashi Hatake noticed that Veigar's clothes had become dirty from his fall and asked worriedly, "Veigar, what was that green light just now?"

"Why are you so dirty?"

Veigar knew that Kakashi Hatake must have seen the light that had just appeared. Otherwise, he would not be asking these questions.

Veigar nodded, secretly made a ninja hand sign meaning they would talk later, and replied, "I'm fine. I accidentally tripped and fell."

Kakashi Hatake understood what Veigar meant. Veigar had encountered some trouble but did not want Takeuchi Joji to know.

Kakashi Hatake nodded as well and replied, "As long as you're fine."

After tossing the Wolf King's corpse into the pack of dead wolves, Veigar saw that the Source of Life on all of them had completely dissipated. He walked to the center and picked up the Ninja Sword he had set down earlier.

At the same time, he wondered how he could give Kakashi Hatake a reasonable explanation.

Taking out the handkerchief he usually used to wipe his Ninja Sword, Veigar cleaned the blood from its blade and slid it back into the sheath on his back.

He had also come up with an excuse.

After fully confirming that the surrounding area was safe, Kakashi Hatake walked over to Veigar. Takeuchi Joji came over as well, and the two stood among the corpses of more than a dozen wild wolves.

Looking at the wolf corpses, Takeuchi Joji, who had been jolted awake, no longer felt sleepy. He said, "Thank you for saving me. If it weren't for you, I might have died here."

As long as they could live, no one wanted to die. Takeuchi Joji was no exception.

He was also relieved that Veigar and Kakashi Hatake had not left after agreeing to his earlier plea. Otherwise, he would have certainly ended up in the wolves' stomachs.

Veigar and Kakashi Hatake shook their heads at Takeuchi Joji at the same time to indicate that there was no need to thank them. Then Veigar said, "Mr. Jōji, protecting your safety is our mission. You don't need to thank us for it."

Takeuchi Joji nodded to show that he understood, but he still engraved Veigar and Kakashi Hatake's kindness in his heart.

Then Takeuchi Joji volunteered, "The pelts of these wild wolves should fetch quite a bit of money, and pelts this intact aren't common."

"Especially the Wolf King's pelt. It's missing the head, but that won't affect its selling price."

"What do you think? Do you need my help skinning all of them?"

Veigar and Kakashi Hatake exchanged a glance. Veigar quickly replied, "Mr. Jōji, you know how to skin wolves?"

Takeuchi Joji laughed heartily and said proudly, "Don't underestimate me. When I was young, I was the best hunter in our village."

Since Takeuchi Joji was willing to help, Veigar was quite pleased. He smiled at Takeuchi Joji and said, "Then, Mr. Jōji, I'll leave this to you."