Chapter 23: Grey Wolf

Chapter 23: Grey Wolf

After being kicked out of the Inuzuka Clan's compound, Kazama assumed the deal might not go through. However, the very next day, Inuzuka Kiba, with his face painted in dog-like war paint, came bickering all the way to the treehouse alongside Naruto.

"Kazama-nii! I told Kiba I come here all the time, but he didn't believe me! Said I was making it up!" Naruto complained, looking for support.

"You actually know him?" Kiba snorted, surprised. He hadn't expected Kazama and Naruto to be acquainted. "Well, can you blame me? You exaggerate all the time and pull pranks on everyone. Of course, no one believes you!"

"Alright, quit arguing, you two. If you have that much energy, why not put it into training instead?" Kazama sighed. Kids bickering was both annoying and exhausting.

"Kazama-nii, what's for lunch?" Naruto asked eagerly. He usually came here when he ran out of food or spending money, knowing Kazama would feed him. The treehouse was too remote for his liking, but since starting at the Ninja Academy, the different clans of Konoha had been less hostile toward him, and he had started making friends. With Naruto's excitable personality, he couldn't sit still for long.

"Go find something in the forest. Whatever we catch is what we eat."

"Eh?! No menu?!"

Kazama ignored him and turned to Kiba, feigning ignorance. "And who might you be?"

"Name's Inuzuka Kiba, from the Inuzuka Clan. My mom sent me to teach you how to train ninja beasts."

That confirmed it—the deal had gone through.

"Ninja beast training?" Naruto looked confused.

"Yeah, training those three wolf pups," Kazama pointed toward the trio, who were sunbathing under Yataro and Kutarou's watchful eyes.

"Oh, I know how to do that!" Naruto strutted over confidently, picked up one of the wolf pups, and barked, "Alright, follow me! Woof woof!"

The pup blinked sleepily.

"Come on! Bark! Woof woof!"

Both Kazama and Kiba sighed at the same time. Sometimes, Naruto's lack of common sense made them want to pry open his head to see what exactly was inside.

"Naruto, go hunt."

"On it!"

"Kiba, you too. Let's go."

All three of them were still academy students, with Kazama being two years ahead. Leading the younger two, Kiba was in charge of tracking. Despite only just starting school, his sense of smell was already comparable to a ninja dog's. Meanwhile, Naruto was all bark and no bite, only good for carrying things.

With Kiba's tracking skills, Kazama quickly shot down two pheasants, along with a handful of eggs and a rabbit—enough for all three of them. Naruto, feeling useless, loudly declared that he was going to catch some fish, to which Kazama simply waved him off. A bit of fish soup wouldn't be bad.

After a meal, Kazama finally began his lesson on awakening ninja beast chakra.

As Kiba explained, Kazama started to feel scammed.

The so-called "ninja beast chakra awakening method" wasn't some arcane secret technique—it was just a guided process. By combining targeted training, medicinal supplements, and communication, it was possible to gradually awaken a ninja beast's chakra.

From a theoretical standpoint, chakra was a fusion of spiritual and physical energy. This applied to both humans and ninja beasts. In fact, ninja beasts typically had far stronger bodies than humans, so their physical energy was abundant. The reason why wild animals rarely awakened chakra wasn't due to their bodies—it was due to their lack of spiritual energy.

Wild animals couldn't be expected to have advanced thought processes, and mental energy was tied to intelligence. That's why the rare beasts that naturally awakened chakra tended to have intelligence equal to or greater than humans.

Spiritual energy was not the same as intelligence, but intelligent beings always had stronger spiritual energy.

The Inuzuka Clan's "secret medicine" was actually just a mental stimulant. It gradually enhanced intelligence over time by controlling dosage adjustments, strengthening the ninja beast's spiritual energy and, consequently, its chakra.

The three wolf pups were still in their clueless puppy stage—spending most of their time eating and sleeping, with the rest spent playing under Yataro and Kutarou's supervision. They were completely unaware that they had already been enlisted into Kazama's training regimen.

Kiba's pup, Akamaru, had only recently awakened chakra. Since this was a critical bonding period, Kiba decided to stay at the treehouse for training. Surprisingly, no one from the Inuzuka Clan even came to check on him—their trust was that strong.

Akamaru, still small, found himself bullied by the larger wolf pups. With Yataro acting as a translator, they managed basic communication.

The pups' daily routine became eating, sleeping, training, and causing trouble. Their "training" was mostly just running, sniffing, and roughhousing. Seeing limited progress, Kazama introduced police dog training techniques. After a few days, both humans and wolves were exhausted.

Since the pups had to be constantly supervised, Kazama had to run alongside them. He was too soft-hearted to scold them, and instead of withholding food, he encouraged them to eat even more.

After half a month, the wolf pups had visibly grown larger. Akamaru, still small, started struggling to keep up. As the pups became rougher in their play, Yataro stepped in to defend Akamaru, while Kutarou, too big to join, could only cheer from the sidelines.

Kiba wasn't happy about Akamaru getting bullied. Though he couldn't fight, he cheered him on and offered advice.

Yataro, clever as ever, fought two-on-one without hurting the pups, but still kept them completely outmatched.

The wolf pups were tough—if they lost a fight, they simply got back up and tried again. As the playfighting intensified, their instincts began to surface.

Low growls filled the air, and the three pups started getting aggressive. Their bloodlines stirred, and they began attacking with real intent. Everything they had learned in training was now being put to use in this intense mock battle.

The problem was, they were getting too serious. Their eyes turned red, and they ignored everything except biting Yataro. They were furious that he kept dodging their attacks.

Suddenly, one of the wolf pups moved faster than the others, lunging forward and biting Yataro's tail.

"Zzzzzt!" Yataro let out a panicked squeak. Even though they were still young, their size was nearly equal to his. With his tail trapped, his speed plummeted, and the other two closed in for the kill.

As the first ninja beast Kazama had tamed, Yataro wasn't just smart—he also knew genjutsu. In desperation, he cast a quick illusion, causing two of the wolf pups to freeze in place.

However, the third pup, the one who had bitten his tail, simply shook its head and shrugged it off—completely unaffected.

If it were any other opponent, Yataro would've fought back with all he had. But this was just a baby wolf with barely-grown teeth. Instead of biting back, Yataro slapped it twice with lightning-fast paw strikes, making the pup squint and recoil.

Instinctively, the pup released its grip, giving Yataro the chance to escape up a tree.

Kazama rushed over to check on the pups. Fortunately, Yataro had held back, and none of them were hurt.

More importantly—this wolf pup was immune to genjutsu. That meant it had successfully awakened chakra.

The other two were close, but not quite there yet. Still, with one successful awakening, Kazama wasn't worried. He could train them gradually.

Now, for the name…

Looking at its ashen fur, Kazama smirked.

"Let's call him Grey Wolf."