Moritonio's End

Cards flickered back and forth between Hisoka's fingers, continuously being thrown.

With Nen aura added to them, the cards were every bit as sharp as throwing knives...

The cards sealed off every angle Moritonio could use to dodge, leaving him nowhere to escape.

After rushing in close, Hisoka immediately swung his leg in a flying kick.

But all it sent flying was the old man's top hat... Moritonio had already bent down, preparing to counterattack.

Hisoka's speed was undeniably fast. Seeing that he had missed, he bent his elbow and smashed it toward the ringmaster's crown.

Bang! Moritonio raised his arm, and their arms collided.

At the instant they exchanged blows, Hisoka noticed that Moritonio's body was slightly tilted. Using the angle of his arm, he perfectly blocked Hisoka's vision, allowing his other hand, hidden behind it, to catch the falling hat and press it over Hisoka's face.

The hat came down, plunging Hisoka's vision into darkness.

A heavy punch seized the chance and struck Hisoka in the abdomen.

Hisoka's expression changed, crimson blood spilling from the corner of his mouth.

His body sprang backward like a coiled spring, opening the distance between them.

"Talent needs time to grow... No matter how outstanding your aptitude is, you're still only a newcomer who has just stepped onto the path of training." Moritonio did not pursue. He slowly lowered his arm and spoke blandly.

He appeared extremely confident.

Their probing exchange had ended in the blink of an eye... Hisoka had suffered a hidden loss.

"I haven't gotten serious yet... Can you hold up?" The old man spread his arms.

"Be my guest."

Hisoka wiped the blood from his mouth and answered with a smile.

"Oh, right... Since you managed to see through my true identity, let me reveal it to you... the secret and principle behind John Doe." Moritonio seemed to be in the mood to perform. He took a handkerchief from his pocket. "This is a handkerchief with no mechanisms whatsoever..."

As he spoke, the old man unfolded the handkerchief and pressed it against his face. "After pressing it onto your face, imagine the appearance you wish to transform into..."

Along with his voice, the handkerchief began to contract and distort, and Moritonio's facial features changed with it.

After several crackling sounds.

A completely new face entered view.

It was precisely the face of the serial killer from the wanted poster.

"This is the magic of the murderous fiend Doe... My ability, Stitched Reality!"

Oboro watched from not far away, utterly unmoved.

This move was the predecessor of Hisoka's Texture Surprise.

"Interesting..."

Hisoka smiled.

"Then next... comes my own magic, filled with mechanisms and calculations... Hisoka, you should be careful."

His tone shifted, and Moritonio suddenly extended a palm toward Hisoka.

Boom! For no apparent reason, Hisoka, standing where he was, was struck by a tremendous force. His right arm twisted out of shape, and his whole body was sent flying.

Hisoka's face was filled with surprise. He had clearly been completely unprepared.

"It feels... like something is crushing me..."

After landing, Hisoka's mind raced. His injuries did not affect his thoughts or movements in the slightest.

"Minced meat, minced meat... It's time to happily make hamburger patties again..."

Moritonio's excited expression began to turn savage as well, muttering to himself.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Moritonio slowly rose into the air, like a king descending upon the mortal world. He looked down from above at Hisoka, who ran back and forth across the arena only to be sent flying again and again by some unseen force.

"It carries over... that slight trembling of yours... that fragile life creaking beneath the pressure..."

Moritonio, suspended in the air, sneered softly as if a cat playing with a mouse.

Hisoka was in a miserable state! Even though he instinctively used Nen to defend himself, every hit continued to worsen his injuries.

At this rate, Moritonio might toy with him until he died.

"Oboro... aren't you going to help him?"

In the sky, Moritonio looked toward Oboro, who stood on the ground as a spectator, utterly calm.

"No need... In my eyes, you're already dead."

Oboro replied calmly.

"Oh?"

Moritonio did not take it seriously.

No one understood Hisoka's monstrosity better than Oboro... His growth during battle, his insight, his ability to think on the spot—all of it was exceptional! Moritonio thought he had Hisoka cornered only because he did not understand Hisoka at all and had no idea how strong he truly was... The fact that Hisoka had figured out how to use Zetsu on his own meant that a Nen technique like Gyo would not be difficult for him either.

Snap! Sure enough, the moment Oboro finished speaking.

On the other side, after sensing something approaching through the empty air, Hisoka immediately acted, gathering Nen power in his eyes... In his field of vision, two thick iron pillars appeared, closing in from either side.

Using his momentum and forward force, he locked them in place with both arms before they could strike him.

Defusing the danger.

"What?!!!"

At that moment, Moritonio's expression finally changed.

"That's... Gyo! When did he learn it? How is that possible... I never taught him... I even deliberately fed him false information to keep him from figuring it out..."

The old man froze for a brief moment.

But he recovered quickly, immediately increasing the magnetic force of his Nen power and drawing the two iron pillars together, intending to crush Hisoka into a meat patty.

Whoosh.

However, his wish fell through.

Hisoka shot upward, slipping through the gap between the iron pillars.

"He got out! He actually... got away..."

Watching Hisoka leap into the air and land atop the arena's roof, Moritonio's eyes darkened.

"What was that... It was so simple. I thought your magic would be something profound, but it's just magnets..."

"At the beginning, the reason you deliberately used a handkerchief to activate your Nen ability was to give me the illusion that all your Nen power could be seen..."

Above them, Hisoka shrugged. His disheveled state seemed not to affect him at all as he ran a hand through his red hair. "Strong mutual attraction, and invisible magnets... That's your trump card? A little boring..."

"..."

Seeing Moritonio remain silent.

Hisoka continued, "The essence of magic is concealment... In that regard, you were far too crude."

"The victor hasn't been decided yet... Boy, as you can see... my ability allows me to transform Nen aura into magnetic iron pillars, but I haven't used my full strength yet... You're celebrating too soon!"

Bipolar Iron Dyeing!

With the old man's sharp cry, the iron rods appearing in the air suddenly became even denser.

"Stop playing around... Hurry up."

At that moment, Oboro, standing on the ground, coldly called out to Hisoka.

He had no interest in watching any longer.

"Hehe..."

Hisoka chuckled. The next second, he vanished from sight.

Moritonio controlled the iron rods and frantically fired them at the afterimages flickering around him, but every strike missed.

"Impossible... His speed... How can it be this fast?!"

"Where is he... Where did he go?"

The old man kept turning his head, his eyes darting about as he tried to catch Hisoka's position.

But he discovered that Hisoka was repeatedly appearing atop the iron pillars, standing or crouching, only to flash away again without ever lingering.

Even worse... the old man did not know what was happening, but the iron pillars formed from his Nen power seemed to be breaking free of his control. They had become Hisoka's toys, changing direction in midair.

"Why?"

"Is he copying my ability? Or... is this his Nen ability? That can't be... He doesn't even understand the basic training knowledge of Nen, and he hasn't even developed Hatsu to maturity. He's merely using Nen aura—how could he possibly have an ability?"

"Impossible! Absolutely impossible!"

"Copying? This feeling... It's the same as that person back then..."

In a daze, Moritonio recalled someone: Ging Freecss.

The next moment, Hisoka finally circled behind Moritonio, descending from above and landing in a crouch.

"I'll use my magic to bring this performance to an end..."

Hisoka said softly.

Then, he gave a tug with his hand.

High in the air, the enormous magnets that had already gathered around the old man were instantly pulled inward, all crashing toward the target at their center.

Bang! A deafening sound erupted. Air currents churned, and even the arena structure trembled.

Hisoka snapped his fingers, admiring the masterpiece he had created.

A mangled, blood-covered figure fell from dozens of meters in the air and crashed onto the ground.

"Cough, cough, cough..."

Moritonio lay on the ground, continuously coughing up blood.

His pupils were somewhat unfocused.

"My ability... Bipolar Iron Dyeing... So this is how it was meant to be used? Hisoka... did it better than I did... I never imagined my Nen power could be this perfect..."

The old man murmured lifelessly.

"My Nen has the properties of both rubber and chewing gum. I stuck one end to the magnets and changed their trajectory. Then I stuck the other end to you, and made it contract all at once... I call this move Bungee Gum."

Hisoka slowly walked over.

"Chewing gum... Bungee Gum? A child's snack... Hehe... It suits your style..."

The blood spilling from Moritonio's mouth had begun flowing back into his nasal cavity.

"This... should be your... first time using Nen in battle... Why... can you do this much?" Moritonio's breath had become incredibly weak.

"To him, your use of Nen and your application of it were far too simple... Ever since he entered the Circus, he had been observing you..."

"Slaughtering ordinary people also erased your upper limit. You thought a Nen ability alone could settle everything. You clearly knew far more Nen techniques than he did—using Ten to reinforce your defense, Zetsu to conceal yourself, Ren to increase your fighting spirit... You had so many methods available, yet not one of them showed any advantage... Your battle sense still remained at the level of an ordinary Nen user. That is why you... failed."

Oboro's cold voice reached him, causing the old man's stiff eyes to turn toward him.

"So... the full strength I believed in... was actually so... full of flaws and laughable... in your eyes..."

"Hisoka... Oboro... you two... and him... truly are... monsters... from the same... world."

After stumbling through his final words, Moritonio breathed his last and died.

The person he referred to was undoubtedly Ging Freecss.

Hisoka slowly crouched down, picked up the handkerchief that had fallen from Moritonio's face, infused it with Nen power, and followed the principle the old man had just described to use Texture Surprise, changing it into the appearance of the killer John.

The properties of his Nen were highly suited to this move.

"Mm... This face suits you better."

Hisoka smiled. "I was actually looking forward to this fight... But... it was a little anticlimactic."

"Was I... just too strong after all?"

"..."

Oboro did not respond. He turned and left.

Moritonio was already dead. There was no point remaining at the Circus, so he prepared to leave.

Seeing this, Hisoka immediately followed with quick steps. The two left the arena side by side.

The night grew darker, while the circus troupe members were still celebrating.

Abachi, who had finally gotten free, also came out to look for the three of them, but she could not find them for the moment...

"Strange... Aah... Those two guys... where the hell did they run off to?"