"It's me. You can stand down. Keep watch over the surroundings and don't let anyone irrelevant approach this place."
Ronglin raised a hand and spoke without looking back.
"Yes!! Lord Hokage."
The patrol members who had just arrived froze for a moment, then immediately accepted the order and left. They also passed along Ronglin's instructions. Before long, the back mountain was surrounded by patrol teams and Anbu personnel, and no one was permitted to approach.
"Lord Ronglin."
After roaring wildly for a while, Black Scale felt much better. Luckily, the Nine-Tails was not here—otherwise, it would have made him behave himself right away.
Why the hell was he roaring in broad daylight?!
As a Summoned Beast itself, the Nine-Tails naturally would not tolerate Black Scale howling and roaring in front of it. However, the Nine-Tails was currently some distance away from the village, so it was not keeping Black Scale in check.
Naturally, Ronglin would not forbid Black Scale from roaring either. As long as he did not attack the village, a little shouting was no big deal. Even people sometimes let out wild roars, let alone a giant snake.
Black Scale soon stopped and respectfully lowered his head toward Ronglin.
Looking at Black Scale's enormous head, Ronglin smiled, raised a hand, and patted it as he asked, "Have you been doing well lately?"
"Mm. Thanks to Lord Ronglin's care, I've been doing very well."
A hint of a smile appeared on Black Scale's face, though ordinary people would never be able to tell. To them, Black Scale looked terrifying no matter what mood he was in.
"Hehe~~~"
In truth, after spending time with him, Black Scale gave off a rather honest and simple impression. Unfortunately, he simply looked far too frightening.
Fortunately, people in Konoha no longer panicked when