Control

Emerging from the shadows, he revealed himself. This was clearly an Emission-type Nen ability imbued with spatial properties.

However, the broker knew nothing of Nen abilities, so even as he died, he never understood how his opponent had done it.

Only in his final moments, drawing on what little knowledge he had, did he recognize the other man's origin from his attire—

A Ninja!

But something was different—or rather, out of place.

A Ninja was using a katana?

The broker's doubts were buried in darkness along with his death.

Seeing their boss suddenly killed, the underlings in the room froze for a moment before angrily drawing their guns.

Unfortunately, before Nen users, even with a gun in every hand, they had no way to avenge their boss.

A few minutes later.

The slaughter was over. More than a dozen corpses lay on the ground amid countless scattered shell casings.

From beginning to end, Scarred Man remained seated, watching coldly as his subordinates slaughtered everyone the broker had brought.

During that time, quite a few bullets flew toward him, but all were stopped by his Enhancement-type defense.

Amid the bodies strewn across the floor, the tightly wrapped Ninja flicked his wrist, shaking the blood from his blade.

He looked at Shinra in Scarred Man's hand and asked, "Chief, Shinra's 'Nen intent' has vanished. Does that mean..."

"Yes."

As if knowing what his subordinate wanted to ask, Scarred Man cut him off. "Without Nen intent, there is no way to use it for spirit communication. However..."

Scarred Man paused, thinking of the Onmyoji gentleman who possessed "Spirit Communication Power."

Even though he knew the other man's ability was unfathomably mysterious, even the cleverest housewife could not cook without rice.

The prerequisite for spirit communication was Nen intent attached to an object. Without Nen intent, there was no place to begin.

Scarred Man shook his head, rose while holding Shinra, and stepped over the bodies covering the floor.

"There is no need to worry. The 'keys' we can find... are not limited to this one."

Stopping before the Ninja, Scarred Man's gaze was as hard as stone.

Feeling Scarred Man's gaze, the Ninja lowered his head in shame. "I lost my composure."

Scarred Man slowly withdrew his gaze before looking once more at Shinra in his hand.

He had originally intended to take Shinra back to Ryuuou Country first, but he could not help wondering how the Nen intent on the blade had disappeared.

It would be best to get to the bottom of this...

Perhaps there was a way to restore the Nen intent. At the very least, if he could obtain the method for dispelling Nen intent, he could use it to weaken those Ninjas of Kumogakure Style.

And the Dream Scroll, Ryuuou Country's national treasure, which was still missing...

That damned "inheritance" mechanism prevented them from laying a hand on it.

If that was the case, perhaps they would have a chance to destroy it in the future.

But the prerequisite was uncovering the truth behind the disappearance of the Nen intent...

"Kawahara."

Scarred Man's thoughts returned to the present, and he suddenly looked at his subordinate.

Kawahara immediately met Scarred Man's gaze.

Scarred Man said in a deep voice, "You will not be returning home. I need you to handle something..."

At those words, fervor flashed in Kawahara's eyes.

To him, carrying out missions was everything in life, an irreplaceable purpose.

A home-invasion murder and robbery had brought the wealthy man's many collectibles to light, and they had entered the market one after another.

Famous Sword Senra was merely one of those collectibles.

What made it special, aside from the conspicuous Nen aura attached to it, was probably the risk that came with handling Shinra.

Moro remembered it clearly...

The colleague who had told him about Shinra had once said that it might be cursed.

When he mentioned it, his colleague had sounded as though he were joking—or perhaps envious of its exorbitant sale price.

Now—

Moro more or less agreed with that assessment.

Except it was not a curse attached to it, but rather the risk inherent in Shinra itself.

Moro had been mentally prepared from the beginning.

But the reason he wanted to sell Shinra off as soon as possible was that he did not want to become a target himself.

For that reason, he did not mind earning less. Even if the price were cut in half, he would agree.

Yet that attitude had instead transferred the risk to the broker's boss.

"What a pity..."

After learning that the broker's boss had been double-crossed by other criminals, Moro mourned for him.

He had been planning to let the broker's boss handle the things he found in the future, but life was unpredictable.

Still, when it came to criminals double-crossing criminals, in this world...

Or rather, within the commercial reach of Yorknew City, such things were actually far from rare.

Before Moro had learned Nen abilities, he had nearly died in one such double-cross.

It was only after learning Nen abilities that such incidents became less frequent.

That experience not only gave Moro a deeper understanding of this world, but also taught him that Nen abilities were indispensable capital if he wanted to survive here.

After mourning the broker's boss, Moro resumed his daily training.

With his leveling ability as a safety net, Moro focused on strengthening his foundation.

Naturally, his highest priority was mastering "Hatsu."

That corresponded to the overall effectiveness of a Nen ability.

"Deceptive Flying Stars."

Moro raised a hand. Bright Nen aura gathered in his palm, then, one second later, condensed into a fluorescent green Nen Bullet the size of a shot put.

A trail immediately streaked across the air.

At the end of that trail, an upright target exploded into fragments.

Moro looked at the shattered target and slowly exhaled.

"Too slow..."

"I still can't balance power and speed."

"Once my Hatsu level is higher, maybe it will improve."

"For now... I should solidify my foundation first. Once that is about right, I can consider practicing the technique of 'In.'"

During his break, Moro considered his next training plan.

Deceptive Flying Stars was not purely a direct attack ability; it also possessed a certain mechanism.

In theory, the essence of the flying stars leaned more toward that mechanism.

Just as its name implied, it carried an element of deception.

So rather than focusing on power, he would be better off considering how to use it.

For example, once he had sufficient speed, he could increase the number of flying stars he could steadily control, then use the technique of "In" to conceal their attack trajectories.

But those ideas were still far too distant for Moro as he was now.

Yet with a sword hanging over his head, he had to devote even more effort to this.

After resting, Moro continued training.

Before his foundation was solid, it was basically impossible to learn advanced Nen techniques in a short time.

However, regarding practical application, there was one ability he absolutely had to master.

With a thought, Moro extended his palm and fired a flying star into the air ahead, setting it to remain stationary for one second.

Then, without watching where it went, he immediately closed his eyes.

In midair, after reaching the limit of its range, the fluorescent green flying star snapped back toward Moro at an even faster speed, like a stretched rubber band.

At that moment.

Moro kept his eyes tightly shut as the flying star flew straight at his face.

Just as the flying star was about to strike him—

Relying on his sensitivity to the timing of the flying star, Moro abruptly tilted his head aside.

Whoosh!

The flying star swept past his eyelashes.

Moro slowly opened his eyes.

Without looking at the flying star, he could still precisely grasp its movements.

This was one of the directions of his training.

In the end, would he rely on instinct, or calculate the timing?

Either was fine.

As long as he could reduce the margin of error to an extremely low level...

Then this technique could become a crucial part of his "tactics."