Leave It to That Man

"Hello?"

By late January, Oboro was working on Exorcism developing Thresh's abilities while also training his teammates, including Menchi.

One day, he received a phone call from an unexpected person.

Yorkshire in the Zodiacs.

"What's up?"

Fuza on a thick tree branch, the forest below shrouded in a Ghost Mist, from which the screams of Anthony and Rita could be heard intermittently. This forest had completely become Oboro's domain; he could sense every blade of grass and tree within the thick fog, and through Gabe Vich's telepathic abilities, he controlled himself and Menchi to hide in the shadows and launch a sneak attack on Anthony and Rita.

Two people form a team and take turns attacking, defending, and acting.

When he outputs his Nen power to the maximum, the fog's erosion and shielding effect on other mental energies will be more pronounced, thereby reducing the five senses of others.

When the enemy is in the dark and we are in the light, this situation will simulate unknown dangers.

It can train the alertness of several teammates, including their intuition and sixth sense.

Consider this a trial run for the Dark Continent...

That's all Oboro can do, after all, his understanding of the Dark Continent comes from his previous life.

I've never actually set foot on that land in my life, so in terms of real experience, I'm definitely not as good Beyond and Netero.

Long silently told Gabe Vich and Rita the plan for the next sneak attack, while smiling and asking the person on the other end of the phone.

"Oboro, as a three-star Hunter x Hunter of the Association, you must return immediately! The situation is urgent..." Yorkshire said in a deep voice.

"I've heard about it..."

Before the former could finish speaking, Oboro interrupted, "The chairman has been captured by a group of people, and many staff members have been injured or killed in this year's Hunter Exam... What demands have they made?"

"Not yet, but in just over half a month, many of our members who are on missions outside have been attacked by them... The other party seems to be quite familiar with our Association's operating model. According to the information we have collected, these people seem to be related to the Association's past history... but they are not Crime Hunter have been identified as members of the Association," Yorkshire said coldly.

"You've only investigated this much in just over half a month?"

Long rested one hand on his thigh, speaking in a teasing tone.

"You!"

Yorkshire was furious upon hearing this.

"Don't worry, the old man is not in danger. He is Isaac Netero... Besides, the enemy's target for revenge is not the Association, but V5! The leader is called Jed, who was the leader of the Hunter Association's underground organization in the past. He won't take the chairman's life easily... What he wants to do is make the old man reveal the truth that was hidden back then. As long as the chairman doesn't agree, he won't die for the time being... However, he may suffer some torture."

Oboro explained in a joking tone.

"You know that?!"

Yorkshire was shocked.

"Not only do I know, Pariston must also know about the other party's background... Let's deal with him, I'm very busy right now."

Long replied with a sentence and prepared to put down his phone.

"Hazy!!!"

From the other end came an angry shout from the Yorkshire Terrier.

Long pulled the phone a meter away from his ear...

"Although you are a three-star Hunter x Hunter, you are still under the management of the Association, and I still have the right to issue orders to you! Nothing is absolute. Now the chairman is in danger, and other members of the Association have been kidnapped and their fates are unknown... You must come back and cooperate with us to deal with this matter!"

"Hmm... it seems Pariston isn't planning on getting involved."

Oboro understood... That's right, as an opponent.

Netero's predicament is something Pariston is quite pleased to see.

"Did he send you to find me?"

Long said it casually.

"..."

Yorkshire remained silent, which was taken as tacit agreement.

"Aren't you Zodiacs a bit too useless? It was definitely a wise decision of mine not to join you in the first place..." Long said with a half-smile, completely disregarding Yorkshire's pride and feelings, "This was clearly a great opportunity for you to demonstrate your abilities... to consolidate the prestige of the Zodiacs within the Association, but in the end... you just handed it over to me like that! This won't do... I really can't trust you with the management of the Association."

"I don't really care about power, but I have to think about it now. If there's an opportunity in the future, how about I become the president? I feel... I would do a good job, at least I can help you develop your abilities... Otherwise, your business skills are not a good match for your management position."

"Oboro, that's enough!"

Yorkshire said coldly, "We just want to minimize the impact of this matter as soon as possible. It concerns the chairman himself, so we don't want things to get complicated."

"Stop being stubborn."

"..."

"If you can save the president, I can consider nominating you as a candidate for the next president at some point in the future. Anyway... you've been eyeing the president's position for a while now, haven't you? Isn't this exactly what you've been aiming for?" Yorkshire stopped beating around the bush and said it directly.

"Finally figured it out?"

Long did not deny it.

His plan had been figured out by Ging Freecss and Pariston long ago, but the Zodiacs were still kept in the dark. After so much time, Yorkshire, the strategist of the Zodiacs, finally figured out what he wanted. From this point of view, this woman still has an excellent mind.

However, compared to the other two, he is far inferior.

Yorkshire's president candidate asked Oboro to take the plunge because she believed that as long as Netero was alive, Oboro would never have a chance.

She was completely unaware of everything happening in the outside world.

"Pariston didn't get involved and just watched from the sidelines, which is understandable. If the chairman were really in danger, Ging Freecss would have shown up. In other words, you don't need to worry about it at all. Have you ever thought about why... even though the chairman has been arrested, V5 hasn't made a statement and has left it to the Association to handle it themselves?" Oboro reminded him.

"Oboro, if you don't return to the Association immediately, we will all jointly petition the higher authorities to make an exception and revoke your Association!" Yorkshire threatened.

Do you think... it's useful?

Long chuckled silently.

"..."

Yorkshire.

"Sigh... Pariston sent you to me just to play you."

"Really... I'll help you this once because you're so pitiful."

Long sighed softly, then hung up the phone.

Then, he withdrew his Nen, and the mist in the forest below immediately dissipated in wisps.

The site has been restored to visibility.

"Team leader?"

Upon seeing this, the group of people who were still training and fighting quickly approached the location of Oboro, unaware of what had happened.

Long jumped down from the tree, clapped her hands, and said, "I need to go back to the Association."

"For that matter?"

Menchi thought of something.

They had all heard about the recent turmoil within the Association... It had caused quite a stir, after all, Netero had been kidnapped, and the kidnapper had even sent one of his men to break into the Association's headquarters, where he was burned to death in public, and a video of Netero being imprisoned was played.

Although the outside world is unaware of this matter... the enemy's declaration of war sends chills down the spines of the Hunter x Hunter.

As Oboro had said before, they shouldn't worry, this was just a minor incident that would soon pass... Netero would return safely.

Looking at it now... it's probably the Zodiacs that are being developed.

"Didn't the captain say we don't need to worry about it?" Anthony glanced at Long.

"Netero is bound by some kind of Vows and Restrictions... but this ability comes at the cost of self-sacrifice; in other words, it has a time limit. If the truth about the 'Kage' from back then isn't revealed by the Association time it's up, the other party might really kill him. And V5, the real culprits, are just watching the show... watching the old guard vent their anger on the Hunter Association. They really don't take the Hunter Association seriously at all..."

Long rubbed his hair. "The old man can't die yet. Although the chances are slim, it's not absolute... If something really happens to him, the big show later on will be in trouble if he doesn't have a one-on-one fight with the Chimera Ant King..."

Oboro had already told his teammates about some of the situations he had foreseen.

Of course, it was said under the guise of conjecture.

Menchi and the others were surprised by his knowledge of Chimera Ant, but more than that, they believed him.

So many unbelievable things have happened to Oboro that the group has gotten used to it.

"Even without your involvement, the Association can handle it, right?"

Menchi raised an eyebrow. "This organization called Shadow is very powerful?"

"So-so, just a bunch of rotten apples, except for that Jed... The Association can definitely handle it, but Pariston clearly did something to leave the Zodiacs alone and helpless within the Association. That guy just likes to do these disgusting things... He seems to enjoy watching others get anxious and frustrated."

Long pouted, "That's fine... I'll go first and be right back."

After speaking, Long waved his hand and walked away.

"Is that vice president out of his mind? He's a member of the Association too, watching the Association fall into danger and doing something that harms the Association... What benefit does he get from that?" Anthony spat.

"Mice just like to hide in the dark and gnaw on things everywhere..."

Fante said casually, puffing on his cigarette.

Long agreed to step in.

It wasn't for Yorkshire... Of course, there was also a tiny bit of doing a favor involved.

Originally, in his initial plans when he first joined the Association, Oboro wasn't sure if the character would appear in the movie... but after learning about Netero's achievements in making the Hunter Association great, he did indeed glean some clues from it.

A portion of it has clearly been erased.

It was in the early days of the Association's rise... now there are traces to it, and Netero's famous achievements all happened later.

It's important to understand that for the Hunter Association to achieve a certain level of status, it must gain international recognition. This means that the Hunter Association's rise is inseparable from the governments of various countries. Consequently, the Association will inevitably have to deal with politicians. And once political power is involved, it will certainly face obstacles in getting countries to issue documents to promote and recognize the Hunter x Hunter system.

The rise of the Hunter Association is inseparable from V5's favor and backdoor connections, which is one of the reasons why the Hunter Association obeys V5's orders now... If Netero wants to have a certain social status and secure various benefits and rights for Hunter x Hunter, he must bow down.

Even with V5's endorsement, pushing something forward is far from as easy as it seems.

Judging from the Fills Family's control over the governments of various countries, many countries... are not actually under v5's control.

In the early days, V5 faced some international obstacles that it couldn't openly resolve... and that's how the organization 'Shadow' came into being.

Once Oboro realized this, she guessed that Kage might appear...

His initial plan was to recruit Jed and the others, since these people deeply hated V5 and could be used as a trump card or surprise weapon. However, Oboro has now abandoned this idea, because Jed's bloodline, being descended from those 'Shadows,' is of little use...

In terms of ability, apart from Jed who is quite outstanding, the rest are all weaklings.

Moreover, they have too few people... Especially after the Fills Family unified the entire world's mafia, Oboro realized that Jed and his group were far less dangerous than the Phantom Troupe, let alone shaking a country... They just look intimidating.

Oboro now has a more thorough understanding of the true power of this world.

Humans... are social creatures; what's terrifying... is the nation.

It is a large ethnic organization.

Compared to this, the reappearance of 'Shadow' is nothing more than a faint flame that has been reignited.

However, Oboro is quite interested in the energy of Cursed Grudge... In addition, if he gets rid of these people, he can also collect some souls and black mist, so he can just consider it as earning some extra money.

That woman from Yorkshire was indeed quite pitiful.

The building housing the Association's headquarters.

In the conference room, Yorkshire put down her phone, her hands clenched into fists, her face full of resentment.

She had been humiliated by the phone call, which left her blushing and feeling powerless.

Because what Long said makes sense...

She genuinely didn't want to contact Oboro... unless absolutely necessary.

Or rather, whether it was Oboro or Pariston, Yorkshire intended to handle this matter on her own from the beginning, but she didn't expect to be restricted at every turn, completely unable to exert her influence. Many people within the Association used various excuses to prevent her from finding loopholes in making arrangements and issuing orders.

She has very few people at her disposal.

Yorkshire knew that Pariston was behind it all... and with no other choice, she called Oboro.

Compared to her personal feelings, she cared more about the Association.

We can't let this go on, or the impact will only get bigger and bigger.

Another point is that she was genuinely worried about the president's safety. Even though Oboro said that nothing would happen, she was still uneasy.

In the end... we still have to rely on Oboro.

"So? Did he agree?"

Gel, sitting opposite Yorkshire, looked at her expression and asked.

"Um."

Yorkshire lowered its head and replied softly.

A hint of tears welled up in the corner of his eye behind his glasses.

I cried...

The harder a person works, and the higher their expectations of themselves are, the more painful it will be when reality falls short of their expectations.

Yorkshire is undoubtedly one of the most powerful members of the Zodiacs.

"Actually... you don't need to put so much pressure on yourself. As long as things can be handled properly, that's fine..." Gel saw Yorkshire's emotions, rested her chin on her hand, and said softly, "The Association belongs to all members, and the burden is naturally shared by everyone... you don't need to bear it all by yourself."

"But... if it were any of them, they would have done a better job than me."

Yorkshire looked at its companion with red eyes.

"Not necessarily. There are many different ways to handle things well, and everyone does it differently. For you, it might be difficult to see any results in the short term, and it might take a long time, but once it's done, it will be a safe and secure end. As for Oboro and Pariston... they might be able to quell this turmoil in the short term, but what about the consequences?"

Gel smiled slightly, "Don't be sad, you have your strengths... I believe in you, and everyone can see your abilities."

"Thanks..."

Yorkshire was encouraged by these words and regained its spirits.

"That guy Jin has absolutely no interest in management and is rarely seen. Although his personality is also rather terrible... in my eyes, in terms of ability alone, if the chairman were to step down one day, he would be the best candidate! But unfortunately, considering other factors, he doesn't even meet the minimum requirements."

"Hehe..."

Gel smiled.

"Actually, if Oboro and Pariston weren't harboring ulterior motives, I would support either of them... But the problem is, they each have their own agendas and are unlikely to consider the Association's interests. To them, the Association is nothing more than a toy... Once they gain complete control, they might abandon the Association and everyone else for some reason! I absolutely cannot let them succeed; I must protect everyone..."

Yorkshire said with a strong sense of justice.

However, halfway through her sentence, her pupils suddenly contracted as she remembered what Gel had just said.

Everyone does things differently.

"Oops!"

"What's wrong?"

Gel was taken aback.

"Oboro... he probably won't go back to headquarters, but will go directly to the other party!"

After thinking it over, Yorkshire hurriedly dialed Oboro's number again.

But the phone was constantly busy and no one answered.

"That bastard is going too far!"

Yorkshire angrily cursed.

"Knowing him as we do, he's a very meticulous person. He must have some confidence to go alone... Let's leave it to him. Besides, I think his understanding of the enemy seems to surpass ours..."

Gel looked enlightened.

"But... even the student council president..."

"Although I can't say I like or dislike Oboro... there's one thing you have to admit. He will definitely accomplish what he sets his mind to... those who oppose him generally don't have a good ending... just look at Pariston. When I think back on Saiyu's death now, I'm sure it was related to Pariston."

Yorkshire took a deep breath and calmed down.