"Heisha, not bad."
Yang Jiu nodded.
For a wolf to be able to give itself such a name showed some level of thought; at least it was better than names like Great Remnant or Scar that were based purely on physical characteristics.
He pulled back his thoughts and continued to ask,
"How much do you know about this forest?"
Heisha raised his head, his gaze turning serious.
"Patriarch, the strongest in this forest are over at Tiger Mountain to the east."
"Tiger Mountain?"
"Yes, there's a male and a female tiger occupying the entire mountain peak." Heisha paused and added, "They are very strong, much stronger than us wolves. I personally witnessed them hunting once. An adult wild ox had its spine snapped by a single paw strike from that male tiger."
Yang Jiu narrowed his eyes.
Tigers.
Two of them, even.
"What about the south?"
"To the south, there is a brown bear much larger than ordinary bears. It occupies a river valley. It generally doesn't wander out, but as long as something enters its territory, basically nothing comes out alive."
As Heisha spoke to this point, he remembered something else:
"As for humans..."
He paused, seemingly organizing his words.
"In the forest to the west, there is a mountain stronghold with people living inside. Probably... I'm not quite sure how many there are, but anyway, there are more than us wolves."
"Have they ever entered the forest?"
"Yes." Heisha nodded. "Occasionally they enter the woods to hunt. We've encountered them a few times and avoided them. They have those... flying things in their hands that can hurt us."
Yang Jiu's eyes lit up.
Flying things?
Kunai? Shuriken?
Are those Ninjas?
No.
If they were Ninjas, they wouldn't just "occasionally enter the woods to hunt," and they wouldn't be living in a mountain stronghold.
They should be bandits, or perhaps Wandering Samurai.
He continued to ask, "Is there anything else?"
Heisha thought for a moment, suddenly showing a somewhat confused expression.
"Patriarch, I also wanted to ask..."
He looked at Yang Jiu cautiously.
"What... is a Ninja?"
The corners of Yang Jiu's mouth twitched a few times.
Fine, he'd asked the wrong person.
He only then remembered, what concept could an ordinary animal have of a "Ninja"? In Heisha's eyes, humans were just humans, at most divided into two types—those with "flying things" in their hands and those without.
As for Genin, Chunin, or Jonin, or things like Chakra and Bloodline Limits, they were all completely outside his scope of knowledge.
After all, they were just ordinary wild beasts before, not Ninja Beasts, and had no chance to come into contact with the Ninja World.
Yang Jiu cleared his throat and explained:
"Ninjas are powerful humans."
Heisha's gaze focused.
"They can use a power called 'Chakra' to do many things ordinary humans cannot. Their speed, strength, and destructive power—all far exceed ordinary people."
He paused and added:
"The stronger Ninjas can hunt ordinary wolves like us as easily as playing a game."
Heisha's pupils contracted slightly.
"However—"
The corner of Yang Jiu's mouth curled as he changed the subject.
"That was before."
"Now you have all transformed into Ninja Beasts. The Chakra Refining Technique can refine Chakra, and Chakra can release powerful Ninjutsu like the Storm Blade. Ordinary Genin—the weakest group of Ninjas—are no longer your match."
"So that's how it is."
Heisha nodded slowly, though the gravity in his eyes didn't diminish at all.
He looked up at Yang Jiu.
"Patriarch, then... what about the even stronger Ninjas?"
"That's not something you can consider right now."
Yang Jiu shook his head, his tone carrying a hint of warning.
"Chunin and Jonin have many tricks. They won't be so stupid as to face you head-on—Fire Release, Water Release, Shuriken, Explosive Tags... after a full set of those, no matter how strong your physique is, you're finished."
He looked at Heisha, his gaze becoming more serious:
"So, if you encounter stronger Ninjas, run if you can. Don't think about resisting."
"Understood."
Heisha nodded heavily, a flash of solemnity in his eyes.
He understood the Patriarch's meaning.
Although they had become stronger, they hadn't reached the point where they could walk around without a care.
Yang Jiu withdrew his gaze and scanned the den—surrounded by stone on three sides, it was easy to defend and hard to attack; it was indeed a good place for an ordinary wolf pack.
But for him, it was too remote.
It was too far from Wolf Valley, which wasn't conducive to management.
"Alright, pack up, we're leaving this place."
He stepped toward the valley entrance and said without looking back:
"We don't want this territory and den anymore."
"Whatever needs to be taken, take it."
Heisha was stunned for a moment.
Don't want it anymore?
He opened his mouth to say something, but looking at Yang Jiu's receding back, he ultimately swallowed his words.
He turned around and let out a low growl at the group of black wolves still dazed behind him:
"What are you all standing there for? Move it!"
"Pups in your mouths, the old and weak follow—the Patriarch said we're moving!"
—
Over fifty wolves traveled through the forest in a grand procession.
Their gray and black figures intertwined into a continuous mass, like a silent river winding through the woods.
Their footsteps crushed withered leaves, merging into a low rumble that startled birds into the sky, sent rabbits frantically shrinking back into their burrows, and caused distant herds of deer to scatter and flee without looking back.
Everywhere they passed, birds flew and beasts fled; all things gave way.
The wolf pack paid no mind to these panicked little creatures, merely following quietly behind the gray figure at the very front of the line with steady steps and calm gazes.
Yang Jiu walked at the very front of the group, leading the way while pondering matters.
As the wolf tribe grew stronger by the day, there were more and more things that needed consideration.
For example—
Food.
Wolves are carnivores; without meat, they starve. Now with sixty-eight members in the tribe, even if the old, weak, and pups averaged at least five pounds of meat a day, and the adult wolves needed more—a rough calculation meant they needed over three hundred pounds a day.
Three hundred pounds didn't sound like much; it was just the weight of an ordinary bear.
But in this forest, could there be a bear to kill every day?
Obviously not.
With the wolf tribe's current appetite, it wouldn't be long before the large animals in this forest were eaten clean.
Including those two Tiger Kings on Tiger Mountain to the east.
Yang Jiu narrowed his eyes.
That wasn't a long-term solution.
"I need to start ranching."
He muttered to himself, his pace never stopping.
He would pen up some large animals that bred quickly and were easy to keep, like wild boars and deer.
Designate an area to let them live and multiply, and the wolf pack would take what they needed according to demand, ensuring a steady stream.
This way, they could guarantee a stable food supply and wouldn't have to chase prey all over the forest.
Furthermore—
Yang Jiu looked back at the old and weak black wolves in the group.
Several of them had teeth that were heavily worn and were half a beat slower when running. If they were sent to hunt again, they probably couldn't even catch a rabbit.
But what if they looked after the ranch?
Enclosing a territory and guarding it to prevent prey from escaping—the old wolves could still handle that kind of work.
It could be considered finding something for them to do, so they wouldn't feel like they'd become a burden to the tribe.
Yang Jiu withdrew his gaze, the corners of his mouth curling slightly.
Two birds with one stone.