I Dare Risk My Life-Do You?

Moriyue could not say he was unaffected by the overwhelming tide of public pressure; he could only say that he remained calm. He had seen far greater storms than this. Say whatever you wanted—if you could break his guard, he would count it as your win.

"Still, Kumogakure is a village where strength reigns supreme. If we get bullied and don't strike back, people will talk about it for the rest of our lives." Moriyue rubbed his forearm. It still throbbed faintly, but it should be fine for hitting people.

After letting out a soft breath, Moriyue held his head high and chest out, then took a long stride and stamped heavily onto the dojo floor.

Thump, thump! The dull sound spread through the hall, suppressing all the discussions inside by himself. His expression was exceptionally humble as he cupped his hands toward the crowd, though there was not the slightest hint of retreat in his words.

"Everyone, if you have any objections to Captain Darui's decision, you may challenge me now. I hope none of you will chirp like women. If you're dissatisfied, come up here. Don't make me look down on you."

Polite and refined, gentle as jade—Moriyue delivered the most arrogant words in the most elegant tone. Still playing keyboard warrior from the sidelines? Come on, come on. We could settle it face-to-face now. Come and see whether I would hammer you or not.

At first, the dojo fell utterly silent. The entire space was deathly quiet; even the sound of sweat dripping onto the floor could be heard clearly. But after that brief silence, the dojo erupted into an uproar. Countless voices mixed together in a chaotic din that seemed ready to blow the roof off the building.

"Did I hear that right? This guy said he wants to challenge us? Everyone heard him, right? He asked for this himself—we didn't force him."

"You can all bear witness. This guy probably got carried away after Darui took a liking to him and forgot who he was. Fine, I'll knock some sense into him for everyone. Consider it a lesson for him."

"This is the first time I've seen an ordinary person who's practiced a forbidden technique for less than two days challenge battle-hardened Genin. This time, this time he's completely lost himself."

Most people did not think highly of Moriyue. They believed he had gotten swollen-headed. People who had just obtained great power were often like that, and they could understand that mentality. But how could they possibly miss such a perfect chance? Beat him up—they had to beat him up. How dare a mere forbidden-technique user show off before proud Genin? One Body Flicker Technique and a Lightning Blade would settle it!

Of course, some people supported Moriyue. They believed Darui had his own judgment. That lazy fellow never did anything pointless.

"I wouldn't be so sure. This kid definitely has something special about him. Otherwise, why would Darui have chosen him? Something fishy is going on here." Naturally, this group was only a small minority, and their voices were quickly drowned out by public opinion.

Once the crowd quieted down somewhat, Moriyue impatiently crooked a finger and unleashed a forbidden technique.

"One Yang Finger + Roar of the Eastern Lion!"

His middle finger flashed, and Moriyue shouted with full force, "Who dares fight me?"

"I do!"

A braised egg emerged from the crowd of muscular men. His gleaming bald head, so shiny one wanted to rub it twice, reflected the ceiling lights with dazzling brilliance.

The bald man stood well over two meters tall. The muscles all over his body had been tempered into extraordinary bulk by years of electrical stimulation. From afar, he looked like a piece of chocolate that had come to life.

The bald man tossed aside the wooden sword in his hand, apparently considering it beneath him to use a weapon against Moriyue. He took a few small hops forward and spoke in a deep, muffled voice.

"My name is Wuk. I challenge you." Wuk was clearly the ruthless, quiet type. He was a traditional Nintaijutsu practitioner and had always disdained those who rapidly gained strength through forbidden techniques. Only power earned through one's own training belonged to oneself; everything else was heretical nonsense.

Yet he seemed to have forgotten that the price of practicing forbidden techniques was often the greatest of all. Power did not appear from nothing. Why should power gained by burning one's life not be strong? And wasn't the power he claimed to have gained through his own efforts still fundamentally reliant on Chakra?

"Good. I hope that after this, you'll learn to control yourselves." Moriyue walked toward Wuk. The practitioners automatically made room for the two of them. The show was about to begin, and no one wanted to miss such a fine spectacle.

The two exchanged greetings, assumed fighting stances, and the battle was ready to erupt at any moment.

Wuk was the first to move. The man truly deserved his reputation as a lifelong Genin. Setting aside however many advanced ninjutsu he had learned, his fundamentals were exceptionally solid.

Wuk's figure instantly blurred, his body seeming to stretch endlessly into slender streaks. In the blink of an eye, he vanished from where he stood. When he reappeared, he was already less than two meters behind Moriyue. This was the Body Flicker Technique.

Wuk moved as swiftly and smoothly as flowing clouds. Before flickering, he had already drawn his arm slightly back. By the time he reached Moriyue's rear, he had used the brief stiffness after the Body Flicker Technique to complete his charge-up. A fist crackling with lightning shot toward Moriyue's back with razor-sharp force.

To the onlookers' senses, that was no longer a fist.

It was a blade—an invisible edge.

"That guy is finished. Wuk may not have learned many advanced ninjutsu, but he put all his effort into the basic Three Body Technique and swordsmanship. He's practically a Genin quality inspector. No, his foundational combat ability is already stronger than that of most Chunin. The outcome is decided."

"It's a guaranteed loss. People have to take responsibility for what they say. Unless he activates his forbidden technique at the cost of his life—but how stupid would he have to be to burn his life over something so trivial?"

The practitioners laughed and joked. There was no need to watch any further; victory and defeat had already been decided. They could start thinking about how to humiliate Moriyue afterward.

However, surging bloodlust erupted with Moriyue at its center. Wild, chaotic red Chakra resembled an enraged Red Eye rhinoceros, destroying everything within sight.

Moriyue stood where he was, his eyes faintly red. His black hair stirred without wind as one hand caught Wuk's incoming fist. A somewhat crazed smile spread across his lips.

"Want to fight? The kind where we wager our lives. I dare risk my life—do you?" Moriyue smiled with unrestrained arrogance. Perhaps because of the forbidden technique, his mind was also somewhat exhilarated. His heroic spirit soared to the heavens, and the burly men present all fell silent.

"Come!" Moriyue lacked real combat experience, but he had watched others fight. He tightened his palm and coiled half a circle around Wuk's arm like a dragon, while lifting one foot to gather force. The instant Wuk lost his balance, he sent out a kick.

Pfft! The white smoke dispersed. Although Wuk had used the Substitution Technique in advance, he still could not completely dispel the force. After adjusting his posture in midair, he landed on one knee and spat out a mouthful of blood.

This guy was serious. He risked his life at the drop of a hat. He might actually be crazy.

"Damn! This kid doesn't care about his life? He activated a forbidden technique already? Doesn't he know that every activation is slow suicide?"

"This guy is completely insane. Does he not want to live at all? I'm backing off, I'm backing off. I'd better provoke him less in the future. I don't want this lunatic setting his sights on me."

"Is there something wrong with him? This is simply... simply outrageous!"

Moriyue's life-risking actions drew cries of shock from everyone present. No one could understand what he had done. In their eyes, he had become synonymous with a lunatic who did not value his own life.

But there was one thing they had no choice but to admit: Moriyue had truly intimidated them. From now on, perhaps no one would continue speaking ill of him. After all, being targeted by a lunatic who did not care about his own life was unpleasant no matter how one thought about it.