At some point, the small animals in the forest began fleeing in every direction. Birds silently flapped their wings and flew high into the sky.
The large predators also grew restless, running around like headless flies.
The forest grew extremely quiet, almost deathly still.
It was as if a natural disaster were about to strike.
Even the Magic Plants rooted in the ground settled down and stayed perfectly still, just like ordinary plants.
The white-haired, blue-eyed boy sat casually beneath a tree, one leg stretched out and the other bent. His head hung low, his face hidden in the shadows cast by the leaves above.
Suddenly, he braced one hand against the ground and dodged the objects that came flying at him with several quick rolls.
As soon as he looked up, he saw several playing cards embedded deep in the ground, buried more than halfway.
The red-haired man seemed to move at an unhurried pace, yet in the blink of an eye, he had appeared within ten meters of the boy.
"...What a fine fruit..." The man grinned exaggeratedly, the corners of his mouth curling up noticeably. His voice was low, with a hint of hoarseness.
As if... he were extremely excited.
"Tch." Su Wu straightened up and clicked his tongue in displeasure.
"Come on, play with me properly..."
"Hohohohohoho—" Hisoka folded his arms and laughed, his whole body trembling uncontrollably.
He released his Nen silently. It stretched out like extremely elastic chewing gum, able to extend endlessly, and moved incredibly fast.
The moment he sensed that energy, Su Wu retreated without hesitation, while also raising his left hand. An invisible slash suddenly shot out.
The slash collided with the rapidly extending pink Nen. As the Nen was cut off, a thoughtful expression appeared on Hisoka's face.
"You can see my Nen—and cut it too..."
"Heh heh heh..." He chuckled softly as he spoke. "I feel like you've become even more delicious." He stuck out his tongue and licked his upper lip.
At the same time, more and stronger pink Nen extended out from Hisoka.
An invisible aura enveloped everything within a hundred meters.
The white-haired boy lowered his brows. As he leapt into the air, he spoke irritably. "Don't treat me like an apple in your orchard!"
As he finished speaking, several more slashes shot out.
Nen, invisible to ordinary people, collided with the invisible slashes.
Because of the rubbery softness of Hisoka's Nen, the collision made no sound at all.
But this time, the slashes failed.
"Can't cut through it?" Su Wu frowned.
Ah, so sharp attacks have trouble cutting through sticky things? No...
Hisoka strengthened his Nen.
[ Dismantle ]'s power depended on the amount of Cursed Energy he had.
And with his current abilities, since he couldn't open a Domain or use Eight Strokes, he could only use Dismantle. In a sense, that severely limited his strength.
Hisoka stood where he was with his hands raised, his fingers manipulating the Nen he had released.
"Not bad. Very good, hehehe—" The aura around Hisoka grew stronger and stronger.
The white-haired boy lifted his head. Instead of dodging, he quickly put more distance between them.
Hisoka's Nen was everywhere around him. Through the Six Eyes, he could see remnants of pink energy packed densely all around.
Disgusting.
"Spell Rotation: Cang." Su Wu raised both hands, gathering dark blue Cursed Energy in front of his palms.
"Maximum output." The dark blue sphere of energy grew larger and larger, drawing in the playing cards scattered on the ground nearby.
The powerful attraction made both their hair stand on end.
"Get out of my way!" He hurled Cang toward Hisoka. It blasted a huge crater into the ground and wiped away all traces of the Nen left nearby.
Even the trees all around them were blown away, leaving only their roots.
But Hisoka was nowhere in the crater.
He's gone. So fast...
The life energy that marked Hisoka streaked through the surrounding forest, his figure concealed by the trees as he changed position constantly.
Su Wu couldn't lock on to him.
This guy really is difficult to deal with.
Su Wu raised his hand and attacked again.
Whenever Hisoka's life energy appeared in a new spot, he sent either Cang or Dismantle flying toward it.
Trees within a three-hundred-meter radius kept falling, but Hisoka's figure remained active all around him.
"Drip—" Bright red drops fell to the ground, splashing into little flowers of blood.
Su Wu panted and wiped the nosebleed from his face.
I can't keep following him and using skills like this. My Mana Bar will run dry.
If it runs dry, I won't be able to fight.
And... keeping my eyes on him with the Six Eyes is exhausting my brain, too.
"Your eyes seem rather special." A voice suddenly came from behind him.
At the same time, a tremendous force struck him from behind, kicking him into the air.
Su Wu curled up in midair, spun to absorb the force, and landed back on the ground.
Hisoka disappeared again.
This guy really is good at fighting on the move.
The life energy marking Hisoka flickered all around him again, never staying in one place. And every spot he had passed through was left with his pink Nen.
It could both disrupt Su Wu's vision and disgust him.
Ah, right. A Nen user's strength comes down to combat experience and brains.
His combat experience is obviously nowhere near Hisoka's.
Dozens of strands of pink Nen attached to playing cards rushed toward him once more.
Su Wu leapt several times in succession, dodging the Nen attacks.
The area in which they fought grew wider and wider.
"What do you use to locate me? What can your eyes see?" Hisoka appeared behind him again, soundlessly and at incredible speed.
This time, Su Wu had expected him. He raised his hand and unleashed Cang, vanishing from where he stood.
The life energy representing Hisoka disappeared from that spot once again.
We're in a drawn-out battle now...
This is bad.
"Is it Nen? Do you use Nen to find me?" Hisoka clung to him like a parasite, asking in a low, hoarse voice.
Su Wu didn't turn around. He vanished again, reappearing at a safe distance.
With his current Mana Bar and attack options, a drawn-out battle favored Hisoka.
"Are you a mouse? How can you be so good at hiding? I've had enough." The white-haired boy taunted him expressionlessly.
But the Six Eyes remained fixed on Hisoka's movements.
"Drip..." Blood kept dripping from his nose.
He wiped away the blood, then suddenly collapsed to the ground.
The figure that had been changing positions rapidly came to a halt.
Hisoka, who had been eagerly watching his newly discovered little apple, froze at the sight of him fainting with a nosebleed.
It was like reaching the climax of a fight, getting to the point where they had even taken off their clothes, only for the other person to suddenly call it quits. It was so frustrating to be left hanging.
He even wanted to go over and check what was wrong with him.
Hisoka was quite concerned about promising young talents he'd taken an interest in.
"Ah, found you." The unconscious Su Wu suddenly opened his eyes.
Dear readers, the next chapter might get held up by the review team because Hisoka is too perverted. We'll have to wait a bit for it to be released.
Before you continue