Chapter 24: The Monster Appears
As for the space-time ninjutsu, the beast certainly wouldn't be able to do it. However, Asuma's words suddenly made Uchiha Feiyu think:
"If it can't fly, then could it hide underground?"

"There are only a few people in the entire ninja world who know time and space ninjutsu. Earth escape techniques are only available on the mainland. There are not many ninja beasts that can awaken earth-walking techniques, so the number of them is not too rare."

"Besides, it's not easy to block the observation ability of the Byakugan. The most likely possibility is to hide underground!"

The Byakugan's range of vision is one kilometer in radius, but if you hide underground, it will be basically difficult to see through if the distance exceeds a dozen meters.

If the other party is really some kind of chakra animal that is proficient in the art of walking on the ground, it would be easy for it to build a nest more than ten meters underground.

"That makes sense! The other party is most likely hiding underground!"

Hinata Hizashi nodded in sudden realization, but then frowned again:

"If you hide underground, it will be difficult to deal with!"

It’s not that it’s really impossible to catch the tail of this monster, it’s just a C-level mission. Hinata Hizashi doesn’t want to waste too much time here. If he really wastes a few days waiting, even if he catches the so-called monster, he will still lose in the end.

Uchiha Feiyu also had a headache. He didn't want to waste too much time on this task. Thinking of this, he turned his head to look at Asuma and Hong and asked:
"Do you have any good ideas?"

"Hiding underground... If it's a ninja, it will definitely come out for air eventually. But if it's an animal that has natural earth-moving skills, I'm afraid I won't be able to catch it."

Asuma couldn't think of any good tricks, but Yuhi Kurenai spoke directly:
"These chakra animals are usually ordinary animals that suddenly gained chakra and evolved. Perhaps we can look for clues in this regard!"

"That makes sense. After ordinary animals first gain chakra, they usually grow in size, and their intelligence also slowly increases. Maybe we can ask around to see if there's anything strange happening nearby, and then we can find the monster's lair!"

Hong’s suggestion was not bad, and the most important thing was that no one had any good solution now, so they could only listen to Hong’s opinion.

Several people acted separately and spent half an hour summarizing the information obtained from the village and finally came to the conclusion.

"About half a year ago, many large holes suddenly appeared on the hillside west of the village, as if they were dug by some animal."

"In addition, all the animals there, big and small, have fled. It's very similar to the behavior of chakra animals dividing up their territory after obtaining chakra."

Several people compared the information in detail, and then demarcated the suspicious area on the hillside of West Mountain.

When Uchiha Feiyu and his group arrived here, they confirmed their guess. They did find some huge scales and claw marks here. After comparison, the claw marks were exactly the same as the claw marks at the scene of devouring humans and animals.

In addition to the Gentle Fist, the senior ninja Hyuga Hizashi also learned some ninjutsu of other attributes to enrich his skills. Among them, the best one is the Earth Release Ninjutsu - Earth Release can restrain the Gentle Fist to some extent. Among the Hyuga clan, anyone with earth attribute chakra will basically study it.

He casually performed an earth-shaking technique, and the whole earth trembled. At this moment, Uchiha Feiyu immediately felt a soul much more powerful than that of an ordinary animal floating up from the ground.

"Be careful, the enemy is coming!"

Hinata Hizashi's Byakugan naturally saw the monster's trace, and he immediately spoke up to warn them. Then several people jumped onto the tree, and a lizard as big as a van, covered with golden scales and with sharp claws, jumped out from the ground.

The ground was like a stream to this strange lizard. After the lizard jumped out, there was not even a hole left on the ground. Obviously, the lizard's ground-walking technique was extremely advanced. "Is this... a pangolin?! No wonder it has such an advanced earth-escaping technique!"

Hong spoke in surprise. Upon closer inspection, this lizard was indeed almost identical to a pangolin. The only difference was its mouth full of sharp teeth.

Hyuga Hizashi took a look at the pangolin and said to Hong and Asuma:
"You two, go ahead. This pangolin probably hasn't reached the level of a Chunin yet, so it's perfect for you two to train."

"But be careful not to let it hide underground again."

"Don't worry, I'll take care of him in one go!"

Asma confidently brandished a pair of fist blades, jumped down from the tree, and stabbed the pangolin's head directly, but there was a crackling sound, and a series of sparks came out of the scales on the pangolin's head, leaving a white mark.

"What a tough armor!"

Asma showed a hint of surprise on his face, and at this moment, the pangolin became ferocious after being attacked. It swung its long tail and smashed it on Asma's body with a bang, breaking him into two pieces.

With a bang, Asuma, which was split into two parts, turned into shattered wooden stakes and escaped the disaster by using the substitution technique.

However, this guy didn't look good. The toughness of the pangolin's outer shell was beyond his imagination. He couldn't even scrape the pangolin's outer shell with his fist blade alone.

Seeing that the enemy it hit turned into a wooden stake, the pangolin was stunned for a moment. Then the pangolin retracted its limbs, hugged its head and tail, and suddenly shrank into a shell ball.

The shell ball rolled with a rumbling sound. A pangolin as big as a van formed a shell ball three meters high and smashed directly at Asma like a bomb.

"Wow wow wow!! What is this? Could it be that the pangolin has the bloodline of the Akimichi clan?!"

Asma dodged the pangolin's shell ball attack with great difficulty. Fortunately, this place was a forest, so the pangolin's shell ball could not rotate at full speed, otherwise Asma would have been even more embarrassed.

He finally found an opportunity and used Fire Release, however, the huge shelled ball crushed directly out of the Fire Release and almost turned Asuma into teppanyaki.

Hong, who had been on the tree, narrowed her eyes and stared at the pangolin with her fiery red eyes until the pangolin finally became dizzy and tired and its shell ball stopped spinning. Then she jumped down from the tree.

As he jumped down, Hong formed seals with his hands and cast an illusion:

"Magic——Naraku-seeing technique!"

The pangolin's shell ball, which was originally curled up into a ball, suddenly began to tremble under Hong's illusion. No one knew what horrible scene the pangolin saw, and its body, which was curled up into a ball, spread out, revealing its tender abdomen.

Asma said nothing and used the Great Flame Technique to hit the pangolin's abdomen. The burnt smell of protein immediately spread.

(End of this chapter)