66. Test in Forest of Death

Three months later,

Inside a forest,

"Haru, it's on your left. Be careful!" Yuji hides on top of a tree as he warns Haru.

"Leave it to me!" Haru pulls out a giant rod from his back and rapidly swings it in front of him.

Whoosh…

Suddenly, a shadow leaps out from a nearby bush and attacks him from his blind spot.

"Do you think you can sneak up on me?" Haru clenches his fists and presses his right foot firmly on the ground and rotates his body while swinging his rod to generate a powerful force.

BANG…

His metal rod slams into the body of the shadow. The shadow is sent flying by Haru's powerful swing. It crashes into a nearby tree and falls.

Awoo…

The shadow yelps in pain and growls at Haru. A trace of sunlight falls on the shadow's figure from the gap between the leaves to reveal a wolf with pitch-black fur. The wolf has red eyes and razor-sharp claws. It scrapes the trunk of the tree with its claws and howls madly.

AWOO…

"It's summoning its pack." Yuji's expression turns aghast.

Grr…

The wolf spits out its broken teeth and some blood and stares at Haru with a savage expression.

A frenzied expression appears on the wolf's face and its body increases slightly in size.

Shiing…

It further extends its claws from its socket and charges toward Haru.

"Damn! It's gone berserk."

Without waiting for any signal from Yuji, Haru turns around and sprints away as if his life depends on it.

He isn't afraid of a shadow wolf in a one-on-one battle. What he is afraid of is being surrounded by a pack of them! A pack of shadow wolves can even tear apart a chunnin if the latter is caught by surprise. Besides, his current task is to capture the shadow wolf, not battle against it.

Shadow wolves always travel in a pack, and they rarely separate from their pack.

It took their group quite some effort to isolate a shadow wolf from its pack.

"Why is it me who always has to be the bait?" A sorry figure joins them on their run.

"It's because you're fat and thus a juicy prey to the shadow wolf," Haru answers Chomu without any hesitation.

"Damn you! And here I thought we were friends." A wronged expression appears on Chomu's face.

"I think Haru is right in this regard." Yuji also dashes alongside the duo while leading the shadow wolf further away from their initial spot.

"Not you too, Yuji!" Chomu almost tears up.

"See! Even Yuji agrees with me." Haru smirks at Chomu.

"But… but… isn't it because of the bait I carry around to attract the shadow wolf's attention?" Chomu takes a piece of meat wrapped in a cloth from his backpack. He hopefully glances at Yuji to wash away his shame.

"Well, the Honshu rabbits are shadow wolf's favorite snack. Their meat emits a special stench that is attractive to the shadow wolf and who among us is the most suitable to carry around that thing?" Both Yuji and Haru turn to him.

"You guys… you are bullying me!" Chomu's eyes turn teary.

Tch…

"Take a look at it from another perspective. Out of us all three, you are the only person with lots of flesh and fat. You can even turn around and look at the saliva dripping from the shadow wolf's mouth as it is intensely staring at you like prey." Haru clicks his tongue.

Huh!

And indeed, Chomu feels an intense greedy gaze locked on his back. He turns around and notices the madness and the greed in the shadow wolf's eyes as it intently glares at him like a delicious prey.

Gulp…

Chomu gulps his saliva in fear.

"Ok! You guys win. I give up."

"Just hold for a few more seconds. We are almost there." Yuji reminds him. Suddenly, Yuji and Haru increase their speed by a notch, exposing Chomu to the wolf's greedy gaze. The trio splits into a group of three, with both Haru and Yuji running away in the left and right direction while Chomu continues to run forward.

The shadow wolf doesn't pay much attention to their escape. For him, it is a lucky day to encounter three timid prey. As for Haru's initial burst of strength, it has already forgotten about it since when did he a prey peacefully enter its mouth? A prey will always struggle first and then run away before eventually entering its stomach. Even though it couldn't capture all three of its prey, it is more than satisfied to feast on the juiciest and the most fragrant prey of them all.

Chomu slows down his speed as he notices a patch of fallen leaves on the ground. The wolf quickly closes up on him and leaps at his back to press him down on the ground.

However, at the very last moment, Chomu showcases extraordinary speed by pressing his feet on the ground and leaping forward with a sudden burst of strength.

The wolf misses its target and crashes into the patch of leaves.

Swish… whoosh… Fwoosh…

Suddenly, Yuji and Haru jump from the side and both of them pull a rope hanging down from the top of nearby trees.

As soon as they pull down the rope, a net made of various vines reveals itself from the patch of leaf and snares the wolf.

Awoo…

The wolf howls pitifully as its front and hind legs are restricted inside the net. It struggles to free itself from the vines, however, its struggles ensnare it further.

"You want to eat me, huh? Why don't you give it a shot?" The fatty Chomu kicks the shin of the wolf.

"I look tasty to you, huh? Why don't I roast and feed you to fish or eat you myself? I wonder what the wolf meat tastes like. I never ate a wolf before." Chomu gulps his drool.

The wolf shivers in fear from Chomu's scary expression.

"Alright! Alright! Hold your horses. Our current task was to capture a shadow wolf alive without any external aid. It took us three days to capture him. I don't want to capture another wolf if you eat this one." Haru stops Chomu from kicking the wolf.

Yuji cuts a few more ropes from the nearby tree and a giant wooden cage falls from the top of the tree. They lock the wolf in the wooden cage and prepare to exit the forest.

"How should we carry this bastard?" Chomu glares at the shadow wolf.

These past three days have been hellish for him. He was always the bait to lure away the wolfs. He almost got eaten a few times, if not for Yuji's timely intervention; he might have been pooped out by one of the wolves by now.

"I already made some arrangements for it!" Haru pulls out a few wooden wheels from the base of a nearby tree and attaches them to the base of the cage.

"Now all we have to do is to carry his over!"

Sigh…

Chomu stares at the skies and sighs.

"It's my turn to be a donkey again!" Without speaking any further, he ties the rope around his stomach and rolls forward. Chomu turns into a human Yo-Yo and spins forward.

"Well, who asked you to be only capable of using this jutsu from a multitude of other jutsus from your clan?" Haru rolls his eyes.

"What can I say except that I am natural at this?" Chomu proudly boasts as he swiftly drags the cage away. The wolf in the cage has already passed out from motion sickness.

"Natural at being a donkey?" Haru's lips curl into a smile.

"…"

Yuji maintains his silence while Chomu curses him.

"Who is the donkey? Do you want to fight? Why don't we settle this?"

"Never mind! I am not interested in fighting with you. Hitting you felt like I am hitting a pillow with all that flab on your body." Haru raises his hands in surrender.

"We are already there!"

Yuji opens his mouth as the trio reach the exit of the forest.

Koga, who is sitting on a boulder outside the forest, opens his eyes.

"Looks like another ground made it out!"

HAAH…

Chomu crashes to the ground, exhausted.

A rabbit hops near the cage and glances at the shadow wolf.

"Hmm… they passed the test!" The rabbit nods his head.

Awoo…

The shadow wolf opens its eyes and stares at the rabbit. Its mouth salivates at the sight of the rabbit.

"Huh? Who are you glaring at with such a dirty expression?" The rabbit snaps in anger.

"Would you believe me if I said I will pull out those beady eyes of yours?" The rabbit suddenly increases in size and almost towers over the wolf.

It picks up the cage and smashes it on the ground. The wooden cage is smashed open and frees the wolf. However, the wolf doesn't dare make a move. The current aura of the rabbit is too frightening for it.

"This rabbit is evil. I am starting to feel pity for this wolf." Haru shakes his head.

"Huh! Do you also want to share this wolf's feelings?" The rabbit glares at him with its red eyes.

"No, of course not!" Haru quickly shakes his head.

'Who wants to torture himself by deliberately falling into this petty rabbit's genjutsu?'