The Captain's Strength

In a forest, Rita used her Nen.

Then she noticed that the surrounding plants suddenly stretched out their branches and leaves, and when Rita touched these plants with her fingers, it seemed as if they were communicating with each other...

After a short while, the plant returned to its original state.

Rita glanced up at the sky, perched on the tree trunk, constantly scanning her surroundings. Fante, remaining vigilant, telepathically communicated. "Report, Captain! We seem to have entered the territory of a group of people. Others passed through here recently..."

A kilometer away from Rita and Fante, at the very front of the group, Oboro heard the sound in his brain and replied, "Hmm... that's right, I've found an enemy outpost here."

He hid behind a tree trunk, secretly watching a Karasu standing in the shade a hundred meters away, its position very well concealed.

This is no ordinary Karasu... Oboro sensed Nen power; it must be someone's Nen.

"It's a Karasu. Its ability is likely to make a call to alert others or share vision... Keep an eye out for small creatures nearby."

"I can't help but think to myself," Oboro continued.

"Menchi and I also discovered a man-made trap," said Anthony, who was also some distance away from Long.

"Judging from our dispersed formation and the enemy's 'warning line,' their hidden center is most likely at the nine o'clock position, slightly off from the original red dot. They may have changed their location... Be very vigilant," Long instructed.

"Avoid the traps and sentry posts, don't alert them... just sneak in directly."

"Yes."

The four of them said in unison.

After saying that, Long directly avoided the Karasu's blind spot, transformed into a black line, circled around at an extremely fast speed, and disappeared.

After a while, they had traveled a mile.

Long saw a figure standing under a tree, relieving himself.

Not far from it were several makeshift tents... which were even camouflaged.

"You four stay where you are and don't move..." Long said.

"Have you spotted the target? How many are there?"

"Even if we can't confront them head-on, we can still help deal with any that slip through the net."

As soon as Menchi and Anthony received Oboro's mental signal and sensed the captain's tone, they knew that Oboro had found his target.

"Not needed for now, just follow my instructions."

After speaking, Long made his move.

"Um?"

The man who was urinating had just fastened his belt when his previously carefree expression suddenly changed, and a chill ran through him. He looked up and saw a stranger who had appeared in a corner of the woods at some unknown time.

The opponent concealed their presence too well...

Damnation!

Oboro unleashed one of his Nen: a ghostly, eerie green cloud of Nen energy rippled around his body, binding his limbs, accompanied by the menacing howls of ghosts.

He moved about... The green mist made his face look somewhat eerie, like a ghost or god from the underworld.

The man was stunned by the aura and was about to shout to warn his teammates in the tent... The next second, the surging Ghost Mist enveloped his entire body, followed by a large hand digging into his face.

Bang! With just one blow, the man fell to the ground... his head shattered.

After death, as if drawn by the spirits of the dead, a wisp of soul matter burst forth from the man's body and merged into the mist surrounding Oboro.

Armor and spell power each increased by 1 point.

"It seems to have grown a little, but it's too weak... It seems that we still need to accumulate more." Oboro sensed his body and said calmly.

Unfortunately... only the soul fell, not the black mist.

The black mist can increase attack range and critical hit rate.

These two abilities, one active and one passive, don't require activation and their effects are always present... but the drop of souls and black mist both involve probability.

"Enemies!"

Suddenly, a loud shout came from ahead.

There was a commotion coming from several tents, and seven or eight people appeared.

"They're all truly powerful..."

He squinted his eyes slightly.

There was still some distance, and the sound transmission was extremely subtle, but even so, it could still be detected... their senses were very sharp.

"Roar!"

Then, a Nen user with Transmutation Nen rushed towards Oboro.

As the man ran, his body began to writhe and change, sprouting fur, and in the blink of an eye, he transformed into a ferocious beast—a tiger. He leaped up, hovering above Long's head, his sharp claws tearing as he swung down.

However, the next second, Oboro threw One-Punch Man.

The massive tiger's body exploded through its abdomen in mid-air, sending it flying backwards.

After falling to the ground, it reverted to its original form, its abdomen bleeding profusely, leaving a hole.

"Attack together!"

Upon seeing this, the remaining men realized how terrifying the newcomers were, and one of the leaders shouted.

In an instant, the group unleashed their abilities, intending to join forces and kill Oboro.

Long's cold gaze swept over them, instantly giving him a rough assessment of their strength...

One of them whistled, his eyes fixed on the approaching Long, and shouted, "Attention!"

The sound caused Oboro's body to stiffen for a moment.

The other person threw out a rope, which stretched and lengthened in mid-air, like a dog leash, trying to lasso Oboro's neck.

One is Specialization, the other Conjuration? One ability's medium is sound; reducing auditory perception weakens the ability's effect...

Another point is that once you're trapped, you might be forced to obey the other party's orders.

In an instant, Long made an analysis and judgment.

His Nen power surged, instantly freeing him from his sluggish state. Like Inazuma, he lunged at the woman who was blowing the whistle, simultaneously dodging the rope noose.

Originally, the plan was to take out the strongest among them first, but now it seems... it's time to deal with the target whose ability has a control effect!

"Puqin, step back!"

One of the men on the other side realized his intention and took the opportunity to attack.

Prepare to stop them!

During this time, countless pebbles floated up and shot towards Long like bullets.

The combination of several abilities makes the situations that Oboro has to face extremely difficult.

However... his performance instilled fear and shivering in the enemy's Nen user.

There was no special countermeasure... his extraordinary physical abilities, along with his strange movements and footwork, made him appear like a ghost, elusive and unpredictable. None of the dense pebbles could hit him; they were all dodged.

Not only that, his speed doesn't seem to have slowed down at all...

"Stop right there!"

The Nen user, attempting a direct confrontation with Oboro, delivered One-Punch Man powerful punch, shouting as he spoke.

But what made the man's pupils shrink was that before his fist even arrived, his opponent had already bent down to dodge, as if he had anticipated his attack trajectory... Time seemed to slow down at this moment of close combat...

He clearly saw that the man leaned forward, avoiding his arm, his face unchanged, his cold eyes showing no ripples... he didn't even look at him.

Pfft!

Then, the man felt a chill in his chest and looked down.

His heart was ripped out by a hand and crushed.

The Nen suddenly tumbled and collapsed, overwhelmed by a feeling of powerlessness...

It ended after just one meeting?

"Stand at attention!"

"Stand at attention!"

"Stand at attention!"

The woman kept backing away, her face pale as she whistled wildly and shouted at Oboro.

However, the effect seems to have no impact on the target...

"Aaaaaaah!"

The woman screamed.

Immediately afterwards, his body was engulfed and enveloped by Oboro and the Ghost Mist he emanated.

In just a second, the mist followed Oboro's figure toward another person. When it dissipated, all that remained was the woman's corpse lying in a pool of blood, her eyes wide open in death, and the whistle that had slipped from her hand and was stained with blood.

One, two...

Like a grim Bleach wielding a scythe, Oboro swept away everything in his path, and one by one, people fell as soon as he got close.

None of the various Nen could harm or affect it.

Soon, a few minutes later, the camp returned to silence.

"There's one more..."

Long's eyes darted around, glancing at a Little Tree in the woods.

They slowly moved closer.

As he moved, the Little Tree suddenly trembled...

The ability to mimic is also Transmutation.

The limitation should be that when mimicking, one cannot act.

Oboro stopped in front of the tree, reached out and grabbed a branch. The Little Tree swayed and transformed into a weasel-faced creature. The man stared at Oboro in disbelief, trembling, "Impossible... how could I have been discovered? When I use my ability, it automatically enters a deep 'Zetsu' state, undetectable unless you saw me with your eyes from the start... But you were fighting the whole time, how could you still have the energy to detect me? I was certain you didn't notice this side..."

"No, it's just that before the battle started, I had already etched the surrounding terrain and environment into my mind like a picture, so... it was easy to spot an extra tree. It wasn't through perception or ability, it was purely information gathered here." Long smiled slightly at him, pointing to his brain as he said this.

"..."

The former was stunned.

This incident involving the ruins has implicated multiple parties.

Those who can intervene are all Nen user... in other words, none of them are nobody.

They all had considerable 'work' experience and strength... This was the first time he had encountered such terrifyingly powerful individuals head-on.

If it weren't for this kind of person... with his abilities, he could have survived! The difference is too great...

This applies to both strength and the analysis, collection, and processing of battle information.

That's very comprehensive.

With a swift chop, Long decapitated the man...

Amidst the swirling Ghost Mist, a wisp of spiritual matter and a cloud of black energy rose up.

The soul was absorbed by the Ghost Mist, while the black energy surged into Oboro's body.

"Four souls, two layers of black mist... Not bad." Oboro clenched his fist.

I crouched down, extended a finger, and kept it half a centimeter away from a blade of grass... I didn't actually touch it.

Then, he moved his fingertips.

The blade of grass was suddenly split in two.

Attack range increased...

Although it is small, as the quantity increases, there will eventually be a qualitative change.

After thinking it over, he stood up and began to receive the signals from inside his head again.

"Captain, how is it?"

"Has something happened?"

Should we... go help... him...?

"Let's wait a little longer..."

In my mind, the voices of five people were constantly communicating.

"It's over, come over here." Suddenly, Oboro spoke.

"Ah?!"

"It's over..." means...

"Dead."

He answered vaguely.

"This...this...so...fast?!" Gabe Vich stammered.

It took about fifteen minutes from start to finish?

Wasn't it said that this time the opposing forces all consisted of troublesome Nen user...?

However, before they could be surprised, they were able to 'contact' the captain, which put their minds at ease.

After all, Oboro accomplished this all by himself...

Therefore, they thought there weren't many enemies, maybe four or five at most.

However, upon arrival, they discovered nine corpses, and the team members fell silent.

Although they had a superficial understanding of Oboro's strength before, it was only at the level of Nen, and they were not clear about the kind of suppressive power and manifestation that Oboro had in actual combat.

Now... they probably know.

Their captain... seems to be exceptionally strong.