"Captain Kakashi, I..."
As everyone fell silent, a voice rang out from the back, filled with nervousness and trembling, yet exceptionally clear.
"I don't want to leave... I like these wolves..."
The voice faded.
The cage fell instantly silent, quiet enough to hear a pin drop.
Everyone turned their heads in unison to look at the source of the voice—it was a Genin as ordinary as could be, wearing a washed-out vest, standing at the very back of the crowd. At this moment, being watched by so many gazes, his face flushed red, and his body trembled slightly.
But he did not lower his head.
Kakashi looked at him, his brows furrowing slightly, but there was no anger, nor any reprimand.
He only asked in a deep voice:
"This is equivalent to betraying the Village. Are you sure?"
The Genin's face turned pale.
Betraying the Village.
These four words weighed on his heart like a giant boulder.
His body began to shake, and his fingers gripped the corner of his clothes tightly until his knuckles turned white.
One second.
Two seconds.
Three seconds.
Then—
He gritted his teeth and nodded fiercely.
He raised his head, meeting Kakashi's gaze. His eyes were full of nervousness, but also full of earnestness.
"I've lived this long, and I still don't know what I want."
His voice was still shaking, but each sentence was clearer than the last.
"I have nothing I like, nothing I pursue; every day is just missions, missions, missions..."
"But here—"
He paused, his eye sockets turning slightly red.
"These ten days are the first time in my life I've felt that living is actually a pretty good thing."
"I like those wolves."
"They can't speak, but their eyes make me feel like I've been accepted."
"I like that wolf god statue."
"Looking at it every day, my heart feels especially peaceful."
"I like something even more—"
He took a deep breath, his gaze passing over Kakashi and landing on the silver-white figure in the distance.
"The Wolf King."
"I admire his strength, and I admire that he locked us here but didn't hurt us."
He withdrew his gaze and looked back at Kakashi.
There were tears in his eyes, but he did not back down.
"So—"
"I choose this place."
"I'm not going back to the Village."
As the last word fell, the surroundings were deathly silent.
No one spoke.
Kakashi was silent for a long time.
He looked at the ordinary Genin before him, watching his trembling yet stubborn body, his red-rimmed eyes, and the determination in his eyes that he had never seen before.
Finally, he sighed softly and looked away.
"This matter—"
Kakashi's voice paused, carrying a hint of complexity.
"It's not my call, and it's not your call."
"It depends on the Wolf King. Only if he agrees can you stay."
Just as he finished speaking.
Within the group, the previously silent Genin all raised their heads in unison.
They looked at each other, and the moment their gazes met, they all saw that hidden... restlessness in each other's eyes.
They also wanted to stay.
Although they couldn't explain why they had such thoughts.
Clearly this was a cage holding them prisoner, and clearly those wolves were the enemies who had captured them.
But they just... just wanted to be closer to them.
Wanted to be closer to that wolf god statue.
Wanted to be closer to those golden eyes.
It wasn't just them.
Hinata's fingers curled slightly, and a trace of imperceptible anticipation flashed in her white eyes.
Inuzuka Kiba instinctively looked toward the direction of the wolf pup.
Even Kurenai Yuhi, in those red pupils of hers, felt a flash of complex emotion.
—She also wanted to stay.
The moment this thought emerged from the bottom of her heart, even she was startled.
Just then—
"Zzzzt—"
A bolt of blue lightning condensed before them.
The light dissipated.
Yang Jiu's massive, silver-white figure appeared before them.
His three-meter-long body, the electric arcs leaping around him, and those golden eyes looking down upon all living things.
He looked down at them from a high position just like that.
He had seen everything that just happened.
"Wolf King...!"
Someone in the crowd whispered, though it wasn't clear who.
The next second—
The eyes of those Genin lit up in unison.
That gaze was fervent, excited, and even carried a hint of... worship.
Just like seeing a deity.
Even Kakashi, who was always composed, had a trace of emotion appear on that face of his that never showed any expression.
Yang Jiu's gaze swept across the faces of these Ninjas one by one.
Those fervent gazes, those restless expressions, that anticipation that couldn't be hidden—
He saw it all.
The corners of his mouth slowly curled into an arc.
"Want to stay?"
His voice was low and calm, yet it was like a pebble thrown into a calm lake, stirring up ripples.
"Yes!"
Those few Genin shouted almost in unison.
After shouting, they were stunned themselves—how did they answer so uniformly?
Yang Jiu smiled.
He looked toward the middle of the group again.
Hinata met his gaze, her little face flushed red, and she instinctively lowered her head, but she didn't look away.
Inuzuka Kiba held Akamaru and nodded vigorously.
Kurenai Yuhi was silent for a few seconds, and finally... nodded gently.
Even Kakashi, under the gaze of those eyes, moved his lips slightly; although he didn't speak, he didn't deny it either.
Yang Jiu withdrew his gaze.
"Those who want to stay, step forward."
Just as he finished speaking.
The crowd moved.
One.
Two.
Five.
Ten.
Fifteen.
In just a few breaths, fifteen Ninjas had actually stepped forward.
There were those few ordinary Genin, there was Hinata, there was Inuzuka Kiba, there was Kurenai Yuhi—
Even two Chunin were among them.
They stood together, facing Yang Jiu, their eyes filled with nervousness, anticipation, and a hint of an indescribable... sense of belonging.
Yang Jiu looked at the fifteen Ninjas standing before him and sighed inwardly.
The wolf god statue... it was still too terrifying.
In just ten days, it could change the beliefs of a group of Konoha Ninjas to this extent.
This effect was even more overbearing than the Mangekyo Sharingan.
However—
The corners of his mouth curled slightly.
He couldn't be happier, after all, he was the one benefiting.
His gaze swept over the back of the group.
Although the five people, Kakashi, Fu Yamanaka, Inuzuka Hana, and others, didn't step forward, the look of temptation on their faces couldn't be hidden at all.
It was just that their strength was greater, their faith deeper, and they were still able to maintain a shred of reason.
Yang Jiu didn't care at all.
He had plenty of ways to make these people continue to miss the wolf clan after returning to Konoha.
He withdrew his gaze.
He looked at the fifteen pairs of expectant eyes before him.
He spoke slowly:
"Want to stay?"
He paused.
"That is impossible."
The expressions of the fifteen people froze instantly.
"I have already reached an agreement with your Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi."
"You must be sent back safe and sound."
Looks of disappointment spread across the fifteen faces.
Some lowered their heads, some bit their lips, and some had their eye sockets turning red again.
Yang Jiu looked at them in this state, but the smile at the corners of his mouth deepened.
"However—"
He drew out his tone.
Fifteen people raised their heads in unison.
"After you return to Konoha, you can come back."
"At that time—"
A flash of brilliance glinted in his golden eyes.
"I will give you a chance."
"To sign a Summoning Contract with members of my wolf clan."
The voice faded.
The eyes of the fifteen people lit up little by little.
That light was brighter than before.
More fervent.
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