The Cause of Your Defeat

"Your defeat was caused by your reckless use of a Nen Clone to deal with the Needle People."

That was the conclusion Illumi had reached during the battle.

In fact—

Every subsequent opportunity, whether good or bad, victory or defeat, had begun at that very moment.

Using the Needle People's assault, Illumi had gathered intelligence on "when Moyu used his ability."

The Nen Clone that used a shadow as its vessel had further deepened his understanding of that ability.

Thus, having obtained the relevant information, Illumi began laying out his plan.

The Needle People descending from the sky had been the crucial first step in opening up the situation.

By using them to pin down the Nen Clone, he could then strike directly at Moyu and apply pressure.

From that moment onward, Moyu had fallen into a disadvantage and been thoroughly suppressed by Illumi.

Throughout the process, Illumi used his superior hand-to-hand combat and Nen techniques, combined with the inherently threatening aura of his Nen Needles, to force Moyu to consciously avoid the risk of being pierced by them during close combat.

"Once I'm hit by a needle, it's over."

"So I can't get hit. I have to wait for the Nen Clone to return. That'll ease the pressure and might even let me fight back."

Moyu's actions—doing everything he could to avoid the Nen Needles even at the cost of injury—were given the most natural possible reasoning and motive by Illumi.

By the time the battle had reached this point, Illumi realized that he had overestimated Moyu's strength.

In the end—

Setting Nen Abilities aside, Moyu's hand-to-hand combat and Nen techniques were far inferior to his.

Therefore, once he had restrained Moyu's Nen Ability, claiming victory in this battle was merely a matter of time.

Reality had unfolded exactly