Hisoka Makes a Move

The Circus was on break.

They had to prepare for the Graham Grand Show a few days later.

All the members could relax and take a good look around the city. After all, ever since they had arrived in Graham Galance, they had been performing nonstop... Now that the Circus had made a name for itself and achieved some success, it had received an invitation to the Graham Grand Show.

The troupe members went out in twos and threes to enjoy themselves...

As for Hisoka and Oboro, they were naturally left out.

Hisoka had originally wanted to go for a walk with Oboro, but Oboro ruthlessly refused him.

"Looking at your face puts me in a bad mood."

Those were Oboro's exact words.

Hisoka even put on a hurt expression.

On the street.

With his hands in his pockets, Oboro silently followed behind Abachi. The girl had not noticed him because Oboro had used Zetsu to hide his presence. He still could not fully execute this Nen technique and could only apply it according to its principles... doing his best to approximate Zetsu.

Against a Nen user at Abachi's level, it was more than enough.

"It should be today..."

Oboro murmured to himself.

Abachi was the only member of the troupe whom the leader had instructed to purchase supplies that day.

Based on his memories and the timing... Abachi would run into a disguised Moritonio at night while he was killing someone. The two would fight, then Hisoka would appear and drive the leader away.

He would injure one of the leader's eyes.

As a spectator, Oboro was looking forward to seeing that scene.

It would be interesting...

And it would show how far Hisoka's training had progressed.

Even though they lived under the same roof, Oboro could tell that Hisoka deliberately hid his strength whenever he faced him.

They had become Nen users around the same time. From Oboro's observations, his aura reserves far exceeded Hisoka's... and his understanding of Nen was beyond Hisoka's as well. But that did not mean he was stronger than Hisoka... because in actual combat, the key to deciding victory or defeat was something called combat instinct.

"Moritonio..."

At the thought, Oboro smiled faintly.

The old man was teaching him and Hisoka how to cultivate Nen, but he was clearly only teaching them a fraction of it. He had never revealed the core principles or crucial details of training! It was not because he feared they would bite off more than they could chew. It was more like he was guarding against them.

If Oboro's knowledge of Nen had not surpassed Moritonio's, he might have been grateful to the leader just like Abachi was.

But no matter what, the leader had opened the door to Nen power for him...

It was just that... Moritonio clearly had not expected Hisoka and him to possess such potential. He had assumed they would merely become another Abachi. If the old man were given the choice again now... Oboro felt that he might not help him.

That much could be seen from the leader's attitude after he and Hisoka became Nen users.

Before, the old man had genuinely appreciated Hisoka and taken good care of Oboro. But afterward... he mostly just went through the motions.

His attitude toward Abachi, on the other hand, remained unchanged.

Why was that?

Oboro could not figure it out either.

In the end, he could only guess... that jealousy, or perhaps resentment, was at work.

Like how a poor student might hate a top student for no reason at all.

The existence of Hisoka and himself made the old man increasingly aware of his own inadequacy...

He followed Abachi through several markets and department stores, walking and stopping along the way... Abachi was relatively withdrawn, but when no acquaintances were around, she displayed some of the girlish traits appropriate for her age.

She liked small animals and would stop to admire beautiful scenery.

And just like that... before they knew it, night had fallen.

"It's already evening... There's nothing else on the list to buy, right..."

Carrying large and small shopping bags, the girl walked down from an overpass and entered the alley below, speaking to herself.

"Let's head back..."

Just then, some movement suddenly came from a dark corner.

"Hm?"

Abachi looked toward the sound and frowned.

"Aaaah!"

An indescribable sound followed immediately after.

Abachi hurried forward. She poked her head around the corner at the mouth of the alley and looked into the fork of another narrow passage, her expression instantly changing.

A towering man in a trench coat with slicked-back hair was brutally murdering a victim.

The victim was pressed against the wall, their upper body completely crushed flat. Blood had splattered across the wall and ground, yet they were not dead, as if they still had one last breath left... Upon hearing footsteps, the person weakly muttered, "Save me..."

Crushing someone to death alive?

That appearance...

Was he the serial killer John Doe?

Abachi's pupils constricted. She immediately dropped her shopping bags, gathered aura in her hand, and infused it into the jump rope around her waist as she charged forward. "Stop!"

The jump rope was the prop she used for her Circus act, and she always carried it with her.

As she spoke, she swung the rope. The ordinary jump rope stretched taut in the air like a steel cable and lashed toward its target.

John merely shifted his feet slightly and dodged the seemingly fierce strike.

Bang! The tip of the rope smashed the stone wall to pieces.

Before Abachi could close the distance, she was about to pull back her weapon and repeat the attack.

But she discovered that the jump rope would not come back. John had already grabbed it in his hand.

And his strength clearly surpassed hers.

"This attack contains Nen..."

"And he..."

"This serial killer is a Nen user too!"

At that moment, Abachi was shaken to the core.

Compared to him, her combat experience was clearly far too immature.

In the brief moment that she froze, John suddenly bent over and appeared before the girl, driving a merciless knee into Abachi's lower abdomen.

"Gah!"

The girl suffered a heavy blow and immediately spat out a mouthful of blood.

The weapon in her hand fell to the ground as well.

Abachi collapsed limply, unable to stand for the moment. She had completely lost her ability to move.

She could not withstand even one blow!

"It's over!"

Looking up at the serial killer standing before her and staring down at her, the girl's mind went blank.

John slowly bent down, spreading his hand as he reached for Abachi.

At that critical moment, a blurred afterimage suddenly struck from behind John... Neither the presence nor the angle and speed of the attack were anything the serial killer had anticipated.

A spray of blood shot through the air.

A sharp object cut across John's left eye.

He only reacted at the instant he was injured... Otherwise, that sudden attack might have sliced off half his head!

Hisoka landed in a crouch, a bloodstained playing card pinched between his fingers.

Turning his head and looking up, he gave the enemy a strange, eerie smile. "Out for a walk? You look... like you're having a lot of fun..."

"..."

John.

The next second, Hisoka suddenly sprang forward and slashed horizontally at the man with the card.

Perhaps sensing that the boy before him was difficult to deal with, the serial killer retreated several steps and avoided the attack... Then his gaze lingered on the two of them for a few seconds before he suddenly leaped up, using the buildings for cover as he flipped away and fled.

He quickly vanished into the night.

"Hisoka!"

Abachi forced herself upright and called out to him.

Hisoka stared in the direction the enemy had vanished without giving chase. Instead, he looked at the bloodstained Ace of Spades between his fingers and fell into thought.

"He got away... That bastard."

"But his eye was injured too. He should get caught, right... Hisoka, thank you..."

"Hisoka?"

Seeing Hisoka lost in thought, the girl asked, "You... what's wrong?"

"Nothing... It just felt... unreal when I cut him." Hisoka came back to himself and smiled casually. "Let's go."

"Okay."

Then the two picked up their things and left.

But before leaving, Hisoka's gaze seemingly casually flicked toward a certain spot.

"Tch... He noticed me?"

Only after they had disappeared did Oboro reveal himself from a dark corner.

Thinking back to Hisoka's gaze just now... a chill ran down his spine.

"Could it be... that just through his familiarity with Nen and its applications, he figured out the state of Zetsu himself?" The longer Oboro spent with Hisoka, the more he could feel the terror of this monster.

Without knowing how Zetsu was used, Oboro had used Nen to seal himself off. For a newcomer like Hisoka, it should have been difficult to see through.

Unless... he had already understood that concept as well.

"That instant attack... the timing of the entry and the choice of a lethal target were both perfect, beyond criticism. And this is still an undeveloped Hisoka. As his practical combat experience grows and his abilities improve..."

"As for Moritonio... his level is... ordinary."

The scenes he had just witnessed flashed through Oboro's mind as he gave his assessment.

The fact that the old man had not noticed the moment Hisoka attacked already explained everything.

The difference between them was obvious.

With that, he left the murder scene as well.

"John... Isn't he that serial killer?"

"Is Abachi all right..."

"The performance is coming up. Everyone should be more careful."

When Oboro returned to their base, he found that everyone had already come back and gathered in the hall, discussing the matter.

They had clearly heard what happened to Abachi.

The leader, Moritonio, sat on the sofa, warning everyone.

There was not the slightest hint of anything unusual in his appearance or condition.

Oboro merely greeted them before returning to the dormitory.

The moment he pushed open the door, he saw that the room was full of steam. The bathroom door stood open, and Hisoka was soaking in the bathtub.

Half his face was submerged beneath the water as he blew bubbles.

"Want to join me?"

When Oboro reached the bathroom entrance, Hisoka sat up and warmly invited him.

Oboro stared at Hisoka, his heart skipping a beat, though his expression did not change in the slightest.

Because... the water in the bathtub seemed different. It was extremely viscous, like gelatin... As Hisoka raised his hand, it clung completely to his arm and fingers in a sticky mass.

"It's only been this long, and his use and understanding of Nen have already reached this level?"

"And he figured it out himself..."

Although he disliked Hisoka, Oboro had to admit that this guy was... inhuman. "Close the door next time you bathe... I don't want to dirty my eyes."

Oboro said coldly.

"Hehehehe..."

Hisoka altered his Nen power. Suddenly, the water clinging to his body returned to normal and fell away.

"You were there too, weren't you?"

Hisoka spoke suddenly with a faint smile.

"We've lived together for so long. I'm very familiar with your presence..."

"..."

Oboro.

His Zetsu was neither perfect nor mature. Theory and practice were two different things. As long as even a trace of his presence leaked out... Hisoka could detect it.

That showed just how terrifying the latter's alertness was.

"Well? Were you satisfied with my performance?"

Hisoka looked at Oboro.

Bang! Oboro's only response was the sound of the bedroom door slamming shut.