Issho slowly exhaled while still holding the dead deer tightly in his grasp.
Issho took several steady breaths to calm himself down after the intense chase and struggle.
The fight against the deer had consumed quite a bit of stamina, especially because he had needed to physically overpower the creature while preventing it from escaping.
For now, Issho decided to simply wait for the deer to properly bleed out so that he could later place it inside the sack and carry it back to Sidian County.
Technically, he could have simply dragged the deer away from here just like he had done previously with the wild boar he hunted.
However, Issho did not choose to do that this time.
Because if he dragged the deer through the rough forest ground, the skin of the deer might get damaged.
And Issho clearly understood that the skin of a deer could itself sell for quite a good price.
Wealthier households especially liked high-quality deer hide for various uses.
So naturally, damaging it unnecessarily would only reduce the amount of money he could earn.
Keeping this in mind, Issho carefully lifted the deer’s body and positioned it across a lower tree branch nearby so that the blood could properly drip downward without ruining the skin too much.
He did not want to give buyers any sort of excuse to lower the price of his prey later.
After arranging everything, Issho quietly stood nearby and waited.
The forest gradually became silent once more.
Only the faint sound of blood dripping onto the soil and the rustling of leaves caused by the wind could occasionally be heard.
As Issho waited, time slowly passed.
Then suddenly—
Issho’s nose twitched slightly.
A different smell entered his senses.
It was definitely the scent of some creature that had approached nearby.
The smell carried a faint wildness along with the scent of fur and dirt.
The instant Issho sensed it, his expression immediately sharpened.
He quickly focused his hearing.
And yes—
He could now hear an extremely faint rhythm of breathing nearby.
Slow.
Careful.
Hidden.
Without hesitation, Issho immediately expanded his Observation Haki outward.
Until now, he had only maintained it within roughly a one-meter radius around himself.
That range was enough to react against sudden sneak attacks while conserving his stamina and focus.
But now, Issho expanded it to the full seventy-meter range once again.
The invisible sensing field rapidly spread outward through the forest.
And very soon, Issho located the creature.
It was nearby.
From the outline he sensed through Observation Haki, the creature’s body structure resembled that of a dog.
However, in a forest like this, ordinary dogs obviously would not appear wandering around alone.
So with that thought, Issho immediately became fully alert.
It appears to be a wolf or perhaps a fox; it seems the scent of blood from the deer attracted it, Issho thought inwardly.
Although Issho could not accurately determine whether it was a wolf or a fox, the creature was in fact a wolf.
Issho slowly tightened his grip around the handle of his sword while directly facing the wolf’s location.
The wolf also seemed to realize that it had already been discovered.
Soon, the sound of bushes rustling could be heard.
Then the wolf slowly emerged from its hiding place.
A low growl escaped from its throat.
Grrrrrr…
The sound immediately made the atmosphere around them tense.
Issho remained standing calmly in place, his sword tightly held in his hand.
“Most probably, it is a wolf,” Issho muttered quietly.
Then his expression became slightly heavier.
“Hopefully, this is not some scouting wolf and doesn’t alert its pack…
otherwise, I will have no choice but to run away from here.”
Issho genuinely felt nervous about that possibility.
After all, wolves generally moved in packs.
Facing one wolf was manageable.
Facing an entire pack was a completely different matter altogether.
Because of that, Issho kept his Observation Haki spread to its maximum range, carefully scanning every direction around him for signs of additional wolves nearby.
The forest once again became eerily quiet.
Issho maintained a defensive stance without moving recklessly.
Meanwhile, the wolf continued staring at him while letting out low growls from time to time.
Neither side attacked immediately.
So Issho simply waited.
Waiting to see whether the wolf would decide to retreat on its own…
Or gamble its life and attack him instead.
Well, what Issho had been expecting finally happened next.
The wolf decided to attack him.
It crouched slightly, getting ready to pounce.
And honestly, it was not surprising at all.
The smell of fresh blood from the deer was far too tempting for a predator like this to simply walk away from.
The atmosphere in the forest instantly became tense.
Then suddenly—
The wolf lunged toward Issho.
Its body burst forward at high speed while its jaws opened wide, directly aiming for Issho’s throat.
The moment the wolf moved, Issho reacted instantly.
Clang!
Issho immediately raised his fully sheathed sword horizontally in front of himself, directly blocking the wolf’s jaws from biting into him.
Sharp fangs slammed against the wooden sheath with force, and using the impact itself, Issho immediately pushed himself several steps backward.
At almost the same moment—
Swish!
The wolf’s claws slashed through the air right where Issho had been standing earlier.
But they hit nothing.
Dry leaves scattered across the ground as Issho retreated smoothly while maintaining his balance.
The wolf landed back on the ground with a growl and quickly turned toward him once again.
Its breathing had already become more aggressive.
Without wasting much time, the wolf charged again.
This time, however, Issho did not intend to defend passively anymore.
The moment the wolf lunged forward again, Issho instantly unsheathed his sword in a reverse grip.
Shing!
The sharp steel blade finally revealed itself from within the wooden sheath.
At the same time, Issho slightly sidestepped toward the left and swung his sword upward from below.
Slash!
The blade directly grazed across the wolf’s right side.
A deep cut instantly opened on its body, and blood immediately began dripping down onto the forest floor.
The wolf let out a loud, furious howl.
Awooooo!
Its eyes turned even more ferocious as pain and rage mixed together.
Instead of retreating, the injured wolf once again charged directly toward Issho in anger.
But this time—
Issho also moved forward.
The distance between them rapidly shrank.
At the very moment the wolf prepared to leap again, Issho swung his sword downward while activating his gravity ability simultaneously.
Gravity Pressure.
Buzz!
An invisible pressure suddenly descended around the wolf.
The air itself seemed to become tremendously heavy.
The wolf’s body, which had been in motion moments earlier, abruptly slammed downward toward the ground.
Boom!
Its limbs bent unnaturally under the sudden pressure as its entire body was forcefully crushed against the earth.
(A/N: Image in the comments.)
And before the wolf could even properly react—
Puchi!
Issho’s sword directly pierced through the wolf’s head.
The blade stabbed cleanly through while the wolf remained pinned against the ground by the overwhelming gravity pressure.
The wolf’s body twitched violently for a brief moment.
Then slowly became still.
Silence returned to the forest once more.
Issho stood there quietly while holding the sword firmly in his hand.
The faint smell of blood spread through the surrounding air as the pressure from the battle gradually faded.
The wolf was dead.
Issho had just hunted his very first wolf in this world.