Shinku was still checking on Sakumo's injuries when he suddenly heard a noise. He turned around—and nearly lost his soul from the shock.
White Wolf's sharp claws had slammed into Hoshiyomi's chest. On Hoshiyomi's face was a clear expression of disbelief.
Shinku's eyes widened like bronze bells. Was this some kind of joke? Hoshiyomi—the one he had always thought of as unbeatable—had actually been hit. Defeated. By that white wolf.
Sakumo had just taken a hit from that tail and broke two ribs from it. Hoshiyomi, though—he got pierced straight through the chest by those claws. With an injury like that, could he still survive?
Shinku's mind was a mess. He instinctively reached for his signal flare. He had to notify Torifu-sensei as soon as possible. Otherwise, it wasn't just Hoshiyomi who would die—he and Sakumo wouldn't make it out either.
While Shinku was fumbling with the flare, White Wolf was already celebrating its victory.
Looking at Hoshiyomi, still hanging from its claws, White Wolf's eyes flashed with satisfaction. It had won this fight. It was the hunter. Hoshiyomi and the others were nothing more than prey.
Unlike before, this time it wasn't a substitution. White Wolf was sure it had hit the real body. That meant this human was dead for sure.
But—things didn't go the way White Wolf expected.
"Puff—"
With a soft sound, the Hoshiyomi that had been in pain, hanging from its claws, suddenly turned into smoke and disappeared.
How could that be?
White Wolf froze. This made no sense. The substitution technique from before, fine—it could understand that. But this time, it had clearly hit real flesh. So how—
Right at that moment, the signal flare shot up from Shinku's hand, piercing the quiet night sky with a sharp whistling sound.
Far away, Torifu was sitting under the stars, happily chewing on beef jerky. When he saw the bright light of the signal flare in the distance, his heart sank for no reason. The beef jerky in his hand fell to the ground.
But for someone who treated food like his life, Torifu didn't even look at the jerky this time. He suddenly jumped up from the ground, expression serious, and rushed toward the direction of the flare.
Even with his round body, Torifu moved with a speed completely unfitting of his build—disappearing into the forest like a shadow.
At the same time the flare went up, two silver arcs of light slashed through the smoke in front of White Wolf.
The two silver-white blades formed a large X-shape—like judgment from the Moon Goddess—cutting straight into White Wolf's waist.
This attack was one of Hoshiyomi's original jutsu: Silver Moon Cross Slash.
The situation changed so fast that no one had time to react. Shinku still hadn't even released the ring on his signal flare when he saw that familiar silver blade cut right through White Wolf's huge body.
White Wolf had just realized something was off, but before it could even get into a defensive stance, it felt a sudden chill at its waist—followed by a piercing pain. It let out a miserable howl and collapsed to the ground, unable to even get up.
It turned its head with difficulty, only to see that same human who had just been hanging on its claw, now standing under the moonlight, slowly sheathing his sword.
As Hoshiyomi let go, the Mikazuki Munechika slid slowly back into the sheath at his waist.
(Side note: Kind of like Sasuke's smooth sheath technique—say what you want, but it really looks cool.)
There's an old saying about wolves: "iron skin, copper bones… tofu waist." It's said that a wolf's waist is made of a single fragile bone—get hit there, and it's done.
That's exactly why Hoshiyomi chose to strike the waist. The result didn't let him down. Even though White Wolf had taken hits to its legs and claws earlier, it was still fighting strong. But once its waist got hit, it collapsed completely—totally losing the ability to fight.
Of course, Hoshiyomi knew that bleeding would give away his position. But he had no intention of hiding. That first substitution was just a lure—to confuse White Wolf and buy time.
His plan was simple: first, use Substitution Jutsu to escape into the bushes, then activate Transparent Escape Technique and Shadow Clone Jutsu.
The clone ran out under the moonlight and let itself get killed on purpose, creating smoke to block vision. Meanwhile, the real Hoshiyomi used that moment to strike with Silver Moon Cross Slash and finish it.
This kind of basic tactic might not work against a careful shinobi, but White Wolf wasn't human. No matter how clever it was, it had its limits.
In the end, it had underestimated human intelligence. It had underestimated the power of ninjutsu. Just one Substitution and one Shadow Clone… and that was the end of its story.
"You're okay? Thank goodness." Shinku's voice came at that moment. "You scared me to death. I really thought that wolf got you."
Hoshiyomi smiled and patted Shinkus shoulder, letting him know he was fine. Then he asked, "How's Sakumo doing?"
Shinku shook his head.
"Not good. Two broken ribs, and he's still unconscious. I don't know how to treat that—I'm afraid to mess it up. Let's finish off the wolf and go meet up with Torifu-sensei. He definitely knows what to do."
Hoshiyomi frowned slightly when he heard how bad Sakumo's condition was. If that's the case, then there's no time to waste.
He picked up his kunai and walked toward the white wolf. The wolf seemed to know this was the end—it was ready. Lying on the ground, it looked up at Hoshiyomi and let out a low cry.
The meaning was clear: I've lost. Finish it quickly.
Blood was pouring from the wound at its waist, along with the other injuries it had taken earlier. It couldn't even lift a paw anymore. It had lost all ability to fight back.
Seeing the almost human-like expression on the wolf's face, Hoshiyomi felt a bit complicated inside—but he didn't feel sorry for it. From the moment this wolf started attacking humans, its fate had already been sealed.
Hoshiyomi raised his kunai, ready to end it. But just then, the wolf let out another cry. His hand paused.
He instinctively looked down—and saw that the white wolf… was crying?
Its eyes, which had been closed, were now open again, and tears the size of beans were falling nonstop.
It called out twice toward a certain direction in the distance, then cried at Hoshiyomi again. This time, the tone was different—not despair, but… pleading.
Is it asking me to do something? Hoshiyomi thought, and subconsciously looked in the direction the wolf had just faced.
White Wolf, seeing Hoshiyomi notice its movement, nodded firmly. After that final cry, it closed its eyes for good.
Hoshiyomi looked at the wolf, then looked in that direction. He said softly, not knowing if the wolf could hear:
"…If you're asking me to help, then I'll take care of it."
PS: Read Advance Chapters at https://www.patreon.com/c/ReadJin