A True Hero Ignores Peer Pressure

The alliance slope was dead silent. The crowd looked at each other.

The three-clan-alliance would always hold a Gu battle tournament. Not only was it to show off the clan's individual strength, it was also to promote conversation and temporarily alleviate their grudges, to achieve the aims of working together.

But who will stand out first?

If the first Gu Master to stand up failed in public, it would be shameful on their own reputation, and it even shames the clan elders up in the rock building.

Last time, Haku stood up. But this time…...

The crowd continued to hesitate. Suddenly at the Iwa Clan's side, a group of Gu Masters stood first, it was Akatsuchi's group.

Immediately, the group of five invited numerous people's attention and gaze.

The Akatsuchi group walked past the Konoha clan's area, and under everyone's watchful eye, he stood at the Kiri Clan's territory.

"It's Akatsuchi."

"Elemental Mountain's strongest man?"

"That's right. It seems that not too long ago, the Konoha clan's Torune lost to him in public. His title is unmovable, not even Haku can take it away."

"Damn it, the Konoha clan isn't going over, are they trying to bully our Kiri Clan?"

At the Kiri Clan territory, there was a mild disturbance. Many people knew Akatsuchi's strength, and felt a sense of pressure.

But Akatsuchi looked around, and did not move from his spot; instead, Kitsuchi who was beside him stood out.

Kitsuchi had a thin body, and at the Iwa Clan's area with lots of burly men, he was very striking.

He took a few steps forward, facing the Kiri Clan's Gu Masters, cupping his fist, "Iwa Clan Kitsuchi, challenges brother Chojuro."

Once he spoke, astonished noises could be heard below the rock building.

Chojuro's status was around the same as Torune and Akatsuchi etc. Among the Kiri Clan's young Gu Masters, he is only inferior to Haku. For Kitsuchi to challenge him, he was evidently trying to overcome the stronger foe.

But could he?

Chojuro stood up with a grim face. His body was small and his face was pale; he was like a patient who had just recovered from a serious illness, giving off a feeling of being weak and sickly. But no one dared to underestimate him.

"You, Kitsuchi dare to challenge me, you have some courage. How do you want to compete? Say it, I'll accept it," He said to Kitsuchi.

Kitsuchi laughed darkly, "I specialize in defense, and you specialize in attack. How about this, I defend and you attack. I'll give you three attacking opportunities, and we'll compare the results.

This was not a life and death match, it was only sparring.

But Kitsuchi had such confidence, he was obviously prepared, and this caused many people to mutter among themselves.

Chojuro raised his brows, "Kitsuchi, no matter what Gu worm, you are still a Rank two Gu Master, your cultivation is like that. Do you really think you can block my Water Drill Gu? If I injure you, don't complain."

Kitsuchi snickered, "We wouldn't know unless we try right? Come."

Saying so, he activated the Gu in his body and his body changed colour, becoming dry and green like a dead block of wood.

At the same time his teeth turned sharp and long, and four fangs were exposed out of his lips.

His iris also turned green.

This was the Rank two Gu, Roaming Zombie Gu.

Once activated, it could turn one into a zombie.

Compared to living people, zombies are better at resisting punches and kicks and have greater regeneration, but is afraid of fire, lightning and light, although it has greater resistance towards water, wind and poison.

At the same time, zombies when fighting under the sunlight are not as strong as in the night, and thus are weakened by the time of the day.

"Even so, I am not afraid," Chojuro laughed coldly, raising his right arm.

Under everyone's watchful gaze, he gathered his five fingers at one point and contracted his fist.

First, a droplet of water formed on his five fingers, then in the blink of an eye, the droplet expanded, turning into a fast flowing current, and from his fingertips, the water coiled around his palm in a spiral manner.

In two breath's time, Chojuro's fist was already covered by a light-blue colored spiral drill that rotated non-stop.

Rank two Water drill Gu!

Able to drill through rocks and steel with very strong attack power, barely any Gu worm could defend against it.

"Receive my blow," Chojuro coughed, throwing out his fist.

Kitsuchi raised both arms, forming an arm shield.

The water drill hit his arm, and a large amount of water splattered. The two were at a deadlock for a few breaths when suddenly the water drill's rotation intensified, and Kitsuchi flew five to six steps back.

Kitsuchi laid on the ground, but quickly did a belly-flip, standing again.

One could see that the muscles on both his arms were torn by the water drill, showing his pale white bones.

Kiri Clan's Gu Masters upon seeing this scene uncontrollably cheered, but a small number frowned.

"Hehehe..." Kitsuchi laughed slyly, not minding his injury as a zombie; his pain sensors had been reduced to zero.

Chojuro stood on the spot, but suddenly his pale face changed, and he vomited a mouthful of blood.

Kiri Clan Gu Master's cheers ended.

"What happened?!" someone exclaimed.

"It's the Shadow Bond Gu!" Chojuro stared deeply at the ground, where Kitsuchi's shadow was distorted at a creepy angle, pasted on top of the snow. It connected both Kitsuchi and Chojuro together.

"It seems I win, brother Chojuro. With this Shadow Bond Gu, no matter how much injury I suffer, you will take 10% of it. I specialize in defense, but you are a pure attacker, and you have poor health, so even 10% of the damage is deadly to you," Kitsuchi said plainly.

Chojuro wiped the blood traces off his lips, staring deeply at Kitsuchi for a while before saying, "Good. Very good. You planned well with such great tactics. I lost."

He admitted defeat on the spot.

"Too unscrupulous."

"Absolutely cunning and shameless!"

"To think he had a Shadow Bond Gu, senior Chojuro was completely outplayed."

Kiri Clan's Gu Masters exploded into a series of discussions.

Kitsuchi cupped his fist, "I'm flattered. If we really fought, the final winner would still be brother Chojuro. The Shadow Bond Gu's range is limited, it can only bully close-ranged Gu Masters, I hope brother Chojuro can take good care of me in this upcoming wolf tide!"

"Of course." Chojuro's expression softened a little, and nodded.

Kiri Clan's Gu Masters also started to quieten down.

Standing on the rock building, the three clan's higher-ups who had been observing, nodded discreetly at this scene.

The Gu fighting competition was only for sparring and not ruthless assault. Kitsuchi exposing a trump card also increased each other's trust and understanding.

Whether it was Kitsuchi or Chojuro's attitude, they were good.

Resolving it like this, the Kiri Clan's Gu Masters, even if they did not admit it, felt admiration towards Kitsuchi.

After all, the strong were respected.

"Akatsuchi's group had a good start," Hiruzen Sarutobi lightly praised.

"Hehehe." Iwa Clan head beside him laughed lightly, Kitsuchi had given him face.

Kiri Clan head at the other end had a tough expression.

But Akatsuchi's group did not quit while they were ahead, the five left the Kiri Clan's area, and came to the Konoha clan.

"After challenging the Kiri Clan, they are challenging the Konoha clan now?"

"Oh no, Akatsuchi himself is stepping up now!"

Konoha clansmen were slightly nervous, many of their gazes were gathered on Torune, Hana and Hashirama.

But who knew Akatsuchi shouted loudly, "Who is Yami, please stand up. I heard you could chase away the River Swallowing Toad alone, why don't we have a contest of strength!"

Instantly, the crowd exploded.

Akatsuchi stood up, yet he did not challenge Hashirama, Torune or Hana, but instead pointed out a newbie junior.

"Yami? who is Yami?" Some of the other village's Gu Masters had never heard this name before.

"Chasing away the River Swallowing Toad alone, oh my god, that's a Rank five Gu, is he so absurd?" Some shot glances of shock and curiosity.

Konoha clan's Gu Masters took the initiative and opened up a path, and Yami who was among them was exposed.

Without anything hindering their vision, Akatsuchi and Yami stared at each other.

Akatsuchi's lips curled to an angle, saying with a very manly elegance, "I hope Yami would generously teach me."

"This Yami, who in the world is he, he doesn't have three heads or six limbs anyway."

"Chasing away the River Swallowing Toad is also by coincidence and luck, it is nothing hard. Heh, being targeted by this muscled man Akatsuchi, he is in big trouble now."

"Yami, you can't avoid it anymore. Sigh, in that case, just hope for the best and go ahead and battle!" Torune sighed in his heart.

"Oh, is that so..." Yami shrugged with a plain expression, "Then I admit defeat."

The moment he said so, the crowd all went dumbfounded.

Admit defeat…..

Yami's words were still lingering in the crowd's ears.

Instantly, almost all the Rank two Gu Masters below the rock building looked at Yami with surprise.

Yami ignored them; he held his arms and stood on the spot with an indifferent expression.

"Admit defeat? He directly admitted defeat, did I hear that wrongly?"

"He is Yami? He doesn't even have the guts to come out, haha."

"We recognize Akatsuchi's power, he is indeed strong. But even if you want to admit defeat, at least do that after the formalities. By directly admitting defeat, he is not only showing that he is a coward, he is even tarnishing the clan."

The whispers were like ripples in a calm lake.

The Gu Masters' gazes turned from surprise to despise, scorn and gloating.

Many Konoha clan Gu Masters felt unease; the gazes from the Iwa and Kiri Clan's Gu Masters were like invisible needles, piercing their self-esteem.

Yami was a member of the Konoha clan, with him directly admitting defeat, this made them feel absolutely humiliated.

"How could you admit defeat? Yami, you are a man of Konoha Village, stand up and fight bravely with Akatsuchi!"

"Even if you lost, it wouldn't be anything serious."

"If you don't even have the guts to go out, then that would really be throwing away our dignity!"

Some Konoha clan Gu Masters shouted and urged Yami to take the challenge.

Yami was indifferent; to him, these words were like dogs barking.

The so-called name, face and honor was only a pie painted on a paper; shackles used by the higher-ups to bind the organization members.

These Gu Masters were also dogs on a leash.

Akatsuchi gazed at Yami and suddenly laughed, "I am truly disappointed. Is this what Konoha Village's bravery looks like?"

Konoha clan Gu Masters looked unsightly when they heard this.

Hoots of laughter came from Iwa Village's side, and even Kiri Village's Gu Masters looked at Konoha clan with mockery.

The people around Yami started moving away. Everyone made some distance from him; their faces were filled with embarrassment.

Soon, there was no one within five steps from Yami.

Yami stood alone. My way or the highway, his expression was calm as opposed to the surroundings.

Others fancied a courageous reputation, but Yami scoffed at it. This made others loathe him.

Because Yami loathed fame, he was rejecting the society's values. Denying this system of values was rejecting the people who lived their lives following these values.

Others naturally wouldn't deny their own values, otherwise they would feel that they were living in a wrong way. Thus, they had subconsciously started to reject and boycott Yami.

A weak-hearted person would be defeated by such rejection and they would change themselves to suit the public.

However, Yami needed such rejection. He had too many secrets on him and so he needed to be solitary. At the same time, these people weren't worth being friends with. In his memories, Elemental Mountain's three villages barely survived the wolf tide, but the accident two years later would totally destroy them and turn the entire Elemental Mountain into a desolate area.

What Yami needed was to use this time to improve himself as much as possible, then leave the clan and avoid the fatal disaster.

Hashirama - the number one Rank two Gu Master in the Konoha Clan - couldn't help but stand up seeing this situation.

"Akatsuchi, how about sparring with me?"

"Hehe, what will we compete on?" Akatsuchi was smiling, but his expression was serious.

Hashirama didn't look at Akatsuchi; he slightly raised his palm and silently moved his primeval essence, his eye watchfully looked at the green vine that was slowly growing out from his palm.

He calmly said, "Let's compete on your strength. If you can break away from my green vine's binding, I will admit defeat. Is that okay?"

"Hehe, good suggestion, let's do it that way." Akatsuchi grinned, his eyes revealing a bright light.

He inwardly thought, I already have the strength of a bear and combining it with the strength-increase from Grand Bear Gu, I possess the strength of two bears. Although green vine is tough, I have absolute guarantee of breaking it away with the strength of two bears. Kitsuchi won against Chojuro and if I defeat Hashirama, it would give us great reputation!

Hashirama gently smiled. Without speaking, he extended his two hands; two green vines grew out from his palms. Like two nimble green pythons, the two vines climbed up Akatsuchi and twisted around his body.

Akatsuchi's hands were at his waist; the green vines coiled around both his arms and instantly made a dozen circles around them, tightly binding his hands with his back.

The Gu Masters on the scene couldn't take their eyes off this contest.

"Please." Hashirama said to Akatsuchi.

Akatsuchi opened his eyes. He tightly clenched his fists and started putting strength.

Every muscle on his body seemed to stand out like lumps on a huge rock.

Strength of a bear!

Boom.

The green vines started to snap under his enormous strength.

"Hahaha, brother Hashirama, it seems the winner of this contest belongs to me!" Akatsuchi was using his strength to break free, but he still had enough energy to make a conversation.

"Senior Hashirama…." Naruto was nervous and his hands were sweating

The other Konoha clan's Gu Masters were also the same. Hashirama was the number one among them and if he lost the contest, the Konoha Clan would have thoroughly lost their face this time!

"Not necessarily." Hashirama smiled, his eyes showing confidence.

When he finished speaking, the green vines on his hands started changing. The originally green-like jade color suddenly changed to a dark green color. At the same time, the vines also became thicker and green wide leaves started growing on it.

Akatsuchi's face changed, he sensed the green vine's coiling strength had increased by more than ten times.

What made him more apprehensive was that those green vines which he had broken away from started growing and reconnected with the broken areas.

Grand Bear Gu!

He sensed the situation going bad and immediately used the Grand Bear Gu in his aperture.

Immediately, his hair started stiffening up like steel needles. The muscles on his whole body enlarged and he seemed to have become much taller and bulkier.

Strength of two bears!

The green vines gave creaking noises but it was still able to resist this terrifying strength, firmly confining Akatsuchi.

Akatsuchi's face became very red, and he brought out all his strength to break the green vines. But finally, he was only able to snap one green vine and couldn't continue anymore.

"I lost." He released the supporting strength of Grand Bear Gu and said while gasping.

"You let me win." Hashirama cupped his hands and retrieved the green vines.

"Senior Hashirama, you are the best." Konoha Clan's Gu Masters were jubilant.

"Senior Hashirama really deserves his name. Big brother can't compare to him at all." Naruto stood beside Hashirama and looked at the latter with reverence.

Akatsuchi's gaze was complicated as he looked at Hashirama. He had progressed and obtained Brown Bear Innate Strength Gu, but Hashirama had also progressed. Although he didn't know what the latter used, but this was his true rival. As for that Yami, he was only a newbie and was nothing to worry about.

"It really is the Wood Charm Gu," Yami thought as he observed Hashirama from afar.

Akatsuchi hadn't discovered anything when facing Hashirama. Two emerald-green leaves had grown on Hashirama's hair.

This was the sign of using the Wood Charm Gu.

The so-called Wood Charm was a tree spirit.

Using the Wood Charm Gu could let one battle as a tree spirit.

The tree spirit was an unusual creature. It could directly absorb the natural essence in the air and use it.

Gu Masters couldn't do this, they could only use the primeval essence in their aperture.

When one used the Wood Charm gu, they could become an embodiment of a Wood Charm tree spirit and would be able to directly absorb the natural essence in the air and replenish their primeval essence. It was the same as absorbing the primeval essence from primeval stones.

When normal Gu Masters battle, they are unable to divide their mind and absorb primeval essence from primeval stones while fighting.

But as an embodiment of the tree spirit, the absorption of natural essence is an instinct and does not need one to divide their minds. This meant that the Gu Masters who used Wood Charm Gu were experts in war of attrition. Although one couldn't say that they could use the natural essence endlessly, they could fight for as much as three times longer because of the continuous replenishment.

And once one became an embodiment of the tree spirit, Gu worms like Green Vine Gu and Pine Needle Gu would also have their strength amplified.

Yami instantly connected the dots, "Wood Charm Gu's fusion advancement can be said to be one of the most extravagant advancement routes. It is a Rank three Gu and needs to fuse with a hundred-years Lifespan Gu to advance to a Rank four hundred-years Wood Charm gu. The hundred-years Wood Charm Gu needs to fuse with a thousand years Lifespan Gu to advance into a Rank five thousand-years Wood Charm gu. Everyone knows this fusion route, but Gu Masters rarely use this recipe. The reason is due to the preciousness of the Lifespan Gu. When the Gu Masters finds Lifespan Gu, they will usually use it directly to increase their own lifespan."

In this world, a human could live for at most a hundred years if they didn't encounter any accidents or illnesses. A hundred years was the lifespan limit of the humans.

But a Lifespan Gu can increase lifespan.

A hundred years Lifespan Gu can increase the lifespan of a person by a hundred years and a thousand years Lifespan Gu could increase it by a thousand.

Lifespan Gu were extremely rare and everyone sought after them.

Yami had lived for five hundred years in his previous life because he used five hundred-year Lifespan Gu in his previous life, thus adding five hundred years to his lifespan — his one hundred years lifespan had turned to six hundred years. But in the end halfway through, he was attacked by the righteous factions and had no choice but to self-detonate and die.

Lifespan Gu represented 'long life' and could let people live for long, but it didn't mean 'undying'.

"The Wood Charm Gu is powerful but has its weakness; Gu Masters can't use it for a long period. If they use it for too long, the Wood Charm Gu's strength will affect their body and will transform their body to that of wood, finally changing the body into a wooden corpse. In my previous life, Hashirama had died in this way."

Thinking of this, Yami's eyes flashed.

Ordinarily, powerful Gu worms had huge side effects and needed to be used with other Gu worms. Otherwise, there would be harmful influences on the Gu Masters' body.

Kitsuchi's Roaming Zombie Gu was best used with the Bloodline gu. If not, the blood in his body would decrease when used for too long and he would change into a true zombie.

The Akatsuchi group returned to their camp. They first won against Chojuro, then met defeat against Hashirama. Even so, the group still received a lot of applause and praises.

"Hana, I challenge you."

"Come, Kurotsuchi, I will fight you!"

After the Akatsuchi group, the whole scene suddenly became noisy. Many Gu Masters continuously came out and challenged the powerful opponents in their minds, demonstrating their bravery.

The Alliance slope turned chaotic, and all kinds of brilliant and varied Gu battles were occurring.

The true Gu battle had started.

Only until evening did the Gu tournament come to an end.

On the alliance slope, the Gu Masters from all three clans were no longer as divided as earlier. Gu Masters plastered the slope and only three densely packed groups could be vaguely seen remaining.

Gu battle sparring was both a form of venting and also compromise.

In this world where the greatest value is strength, only with strength comes respect, and that forms the basis for cooperation.

After Akatsuchi challenged Yami, no one else came to look for him.

Yami was only a newbie and did not have much interactions with the other two clan's Gu Masters, not to mention any animosity. As for his own clansmen, they would not challenge someone from their own clan in this situation.

Especially after Yami admitting defeat, it caused other Gu Masters to lose interest in him. Towards this 'lazy', 'cowardly' opponent, what value is there in winning?

Not wanting to be trampled on, there are two ways. One is to become strong, strong until no one dares to step on you. Another is to turn into dog shit, something no one would want to step on.

Yami did not care about dog shit, or the reputation of the strong. He always acted unscrupulous, and only cared about the results. Without anyone challenging him, it made his life easier.

The surrounding people's contempt and disdain, he treated it like air. If he could not endure even these gazes, what right did he have to pursue the demonic way?