But things did not go as smoothly as Sakumo and the others had expected. The three of them waited where they were for nearly ten minutes, yet still did not sense the monster approaching. The sound had only lasted a brief moment before abruptly vanishing.
Just as the three stared at one another, Hoshi leaped down from a tree and snatched a skewer of grilled meat from Sakumo's hand. "Stop waiting. That thing's smart—it's already gone."
Shinku perked up at those words.
"Did you see what it really was?"
"Couldn't see it clearly, but I'm sure it wasn't some monster. It looked more like an animal. It was pretty big, maybe three to five meters long, covered in white fur. A wolf, maybe? It was too fast—I couldn't make out exactly what it was."
Sakumo asked curiously, "But don't wolves usually travel in packs? And if it was an animal, why would it turn around and leave after smelling the food?"
Before Hoshi could continue, Torikaze took over.
"Maybe that wolf has evolved into a Ninja Beast. If it's a Ninja Beast, it would be perfectly normal for ordinary people to mistake it for a monster."
Hoshi and the others immediately understood upon hearing this. The Ninja Academy textbooks contained records about Ninja Beasts.
Some animals with exceptional talent and instincts could awaken Chakra by chance. Once they awakened Chakra, their intelligence would naturally surpass that of their fellow species by far.
Such animals were called Ninja Beasts. The less gifted ones were often merely much larger and faster than ordinary animals, like that group of enormous creatures in the Forest of Death.
Those with greater talent could use rudimentary ninjutsu. Some Ninja Beasts with exceptionally high intelligence could even learn human language and converse with humans.
These exceptionally talented