"Huh?"
Seimei's shadow clone looked at the white wolf with a puzzled expression on his face.
What did the wolf mean by stop? We were just getting started.
The shadow clone narrowed his eyes and looked at the wolf with a questioning look before asking, "You want us to stop? Weren't we just fighting to the death just a moment ago?"
"What are you playing at, beast?"
The white wolf rolled its eyes with an almost human-like expression.
It didn't move its mouth too much, but its crisp and clear voice still reached Seimei's shadow clone's ears.
"Hehe…"
"Spare me the trickery, human child. I can clearly see that you are not your real body, but rather some kind of physical clone. Even if I bombarded you with everything I have, it would only be a waste of energy, wouldn't it?"
"Besides, it wasn't me who attacked you. It's the other way around. I'm clearly the victim here."
The giant wolf complained. Its voice was full of grievance, as if it had suffered an unjust calamity.
You expect me to believe that? Seimei complained inwardly while eyeing the wolf suspiciously.
Everyone knew that chakra beasts were the enemies of humanity.
They were driven by overwhelming bloodthirst.
Most of them achieved passive evolution or growth through constant consumption of flesh and natural treasures.
Although feasting on normal humans and chakra beasts worked just fine for them, just relying on it would take the chakra beasts a lot of time to grow and achieve evolution or rank ascension.
The best nutrients for them were undoubtedly high-level ninja, samurai, chakra beasts, or any organic entity with an abundant amount of chakra.
Of course, the chakra beast knew that hunting high-ranking ninjas, samurai, or chakra beasts carried immense risk.
But the allure of evolution and growth seemed to outweigh the cons in their minds.
Even the chakra beasts with AA-rank or above, who had gained the ability to talk and intelligence similar to or exceeding most humans, were no exception.
The minds of those high-ranking chakra beasts might be more lucid, but the inherent instinct of wanting to achieve evolution by any means necessary still made them ruthless enough.
They would happily watch the world burn if it meant that they could continue to increase their strength.
That was exactly why Seimei's shadow clone was suspicious of the wolf.
He simply didn't believe that the wolf here wanted peace. It probably lost motivation to continue battling him after deducing his true nature, which was a shadow clone.
This white wolf must be trying to deceive him.
It was definitely born as a wrong species.
With its cunning, it should have been a vixen instead of a wolf.
You, an S-rank chakra beast, had stooped so low that you were trying to deceive a weak, innocent child like me?
Shameless! Absolutely shameless.
Damn it…and here he thought that the chakra beasts were incapable of scheming.
What a despicable fellow!
No martial ethics at all.
Meanwhile, on the other side, the giant white wolf's eyelids twitched slightly. It suddenly felt that someone was slandering its name and insulting it.
The wolf quickly looked left and right before settling its gaze on Seimei's shadow clone.
The White Wolf:I have a feeling that you are saying something deeply insulting about me in your mind. But I have no proof.
That said, it understood Seimei's innate hesitation.
Believing something you had just met wasn't just unwise. It was downright stupid and utterly suicidal.
The wolf wouldn't believe it either.
Additionally, in this cruel world, naivety and trusting individuals often meet an early demise, regardless of their talent.
The future of the gullible people would always be dark.
Plus, the wolf also understood the bloodthirsty nature of the chakra beasts. So, it was even more unlikely for the human in front of it to believe in its words.
However, it wasn't as if it had no way to make the human child believe in its words.
The giant white wolf truly didn't hold any hostility toward the human in front of it.
Even if the real body of this person stayed here and fought it, the wolf still wouldn't try to kill him. At most, the human would suffer from some lacerations, frigid temperatures, and if he was truly unlucky and weak, then broken bones were also not completely out of the picture.
Why?
Because there was no point.
After all, it wasn't even a genuine chakra beast to begin with.
It wouldn't need to feast on human or chakra beast flesh indiscriminately to achieve its growth or the next stage of evolution.
Seeing the still disbelieving expression on the human child's clone, the wolf decided that it should probably clarify everything.
Otherwise, this human in front of him might just unleash more unpredictable and powerful techniques that would only lead to meaningless battles.
"Okay, human. We have had enough excitement for the day."
"And I'm not even those ferocious beasts who only know how to murder and devour all day long."
"I'm a Nature Beast."
Hearing the wolf's words, Seimei's shadow clone's face showed a hint of doubt.
"Nature beast? What's that?" The shadow clone asked.
At the shadow clone's words, the wolf couldn't help but sigh in exasperation.
How could this guy not know about nature beasts? Hadn't we formed many contracts with the humans in the past, humans who had achieved great mastery over chakra?
This boy here seems very young, but also has incredible strength that doesn't match his age. He should be from a good ninja clan, right?
And the ninja clans all had at least some knowledge about summoning contracts with nature beasts, right?
Prominent clans even had generational summoning contracts with sage beasts, who were nature beasts that could create Sage Arts usable by humans to unlock the Sage Mode.
Did it really stumble upon an overpowered country bumpkin who did not know anything about nature energy or nature beasts?
If that were the case, then it would be even more difficult to communicate with the boy's shadow clone in front of it.
The white wolf couldn't help but curse its luck.
Did it really have to duke it out?
No, no!
Why the heck was it even fighting with the clone of this human boy anyway? What was the point?
And why was this clone hellbent on attacking it?
It was only growing peacefully in the inner region of the Deepwood Forest by absorbing the ambient nature energy and occasionally snacking on random chakra (ferocious) beasts.
Tonight, the wolf was just bored and strolled around the peripheral zone of the forest. And at some point, it detected a large-scale fluctuation of chakra, which made it curious.
But who knew coming here would lead to such a meaningless fight?
What the heck? It was the victim here.
Thinking of this, the wolf couldn't help but sigh. Under the dark, moonless, and cloudy sky, it suddenly felt a little emo.
Next, it sighed again and tried to explain the difference between the nature beasts and ferocious chakra beasts as clearly as possible. The wolf even released a bit of nature energy and Senjutsu chakra to prove its words.
Hearing the wolf's explanation and feeling the Senjutsu chakra, Seimei's shadow clone was astonished.
"What the heck? Nature Energy!!!" The shadow clone exclaimed. "So, you are a summoning beast?"
The wolf looked a little confused before voicing its doubt, "Summoning beasts? Is that what you call us nowadays?"
The shadow clone nodded and replied, "Well, yeah…that's what I was taught at least…"
The shadow clone's voice trailed off, and he fell into deep thought.
After a few moments, his expression suddenly became a bit strange.
If what the wolf is saying is true…then…
Doesn't that mean I just fought for nothing?
Seimei's shadow clone couldn't help but think inwardly.
-------------------------------------------------------
A/N: If you like my story and want to read ahead, you can check out my P@treon page and read up to 17 Advanced chapters!
patreon.com/Seigan
You can also help me by sharing the story around. Thank you for reading!