Jed Three

PS: With only 231 votes, can't you let me do one extra update? Baa, baa, baa~ But thank you all for your support. Thanks as well to Wrong Way to Open the Door and Gold Au Silver Ag for the tips.

"Ah, hahaha, ora ora ora, take this!" Evil Spirit relentlessly fired attacks from both hands, moves like the Energy Blasts from Dragon Ball, at his opponent. But his opponent was not one of those Self-Defense Forces soldiers from the Movie Version or a floor master from Heaven's Arena. He was Shen Hou, one of the elite Chimera Ant Squad Captains and a member of the Anbu Twelve Stars.

Known for his agility, Shen Hou easily dodged wave after wave of incoming attacks.

"Not bad. Then I'll get serious." Pale blue flames began burning around Evil Spirit's two enormous fists. With a kick of his legs, he charged fiercely at Shen Hou. Close-quarters combat and brute strength were what Evil Spirit excelled at most.

"If you want to fight, then I'll fight!" Shen Hou's body rapidly swelled. If he had previously looked like a skinny little monkey, now he looked like a great black gorilla. His massive arms and bulging chest made it seem as though he was not much weaker than his opponent in terms of strength.

"Ah-da-da-da." Just as Shen Hou's arms were about to meet Evil Spirit's fists in a fist-to-fist clash, they changed again. The hair on his arms turned into steel-like needles, while their color shifted from black to a cold metallic sheen.

But Evil Spirit did not care in the slightest. He still swung his fists into a fierce collision with Shen Hou's. When they met, they produced a shrill sound like metal scraping across the ground.

"Not bad, kid." Evil Spirit rubbed his aching right hand, and the blue flames around it dimmed somewhat. Flesh striking metal was painful no matter how one put it, but Shen Hou was not doing much better than Evil Spirit.

Some of the hair that had been like steel needles showed signs of melting, and his right fist, which had met Evil Spirit's blow, had become red and swollen. The flames on Evil Spirit's hands were no ordinary flames. That exchange had left both of them startled by the other's strength, and they began taking each other seriously.

Even fiercer, hotter blue flames erupted from Evil Spirit's fists, while Shen Hou's arms became somewhat translucent this time. This was an even stronger state than metalization: diamondization.

"Mechanical Devourer - Phantom!" Countless dark-blue threads appeared between the fingers of Asura, the tall, black-haired man. Using those threads, he created another figure with Xu Gou's appearance in front of Xu Gou.

"Heh heh. No matter what move you use, my Mechanical Devourer - Phantom will use the same move. You have no chance of winning!"

"Not necessarily!" Xu Gou said confidently. Then he began continuously inhaling toward Asura's position, inhaling again and again. With Xu Gou as the center, a tremendous suction force arose, pulling in the surrounding flowers and grass.

"Trying to mystify things. Do you think that little bit of suction can deal with me?" Asura and the Xu Gou phantom he had created remained perfectly still amid the enormous suction force generated by Xu Gou. They did not take Xu Gou's inhaling technique seriously at all.

Xu Gou's belly grew larger and larger as he inhaled, until it finally reached a critical point. It looked as though his stomach was about to explode.

"Are you planning to blow yourself up and kill me?" With his arms folded, Asura watched Xu Gou's next move as though he were watching a show. He clearly did not take Xu Gou seriously.

Although Asura did not move, the Xu Gou phantom he had created rushed toward Xu Gou at high speed.

"Fuck, that damn dog is going to use that move! Quick, cover your ears!" Apart from Wei Yang, Shen Hou, and Xu Gou, the remaining three members of the Anbu Twelve Stars immediately covered their ears upon seeing Xu Gou's actions. They all watched Asura with teasing expressions.

"Hm? This is bad. Something's wrong. Attack now!" Only then did Asura realize that Xu Gou's previous actions had merely been preparation for the technique to come. What he was about to unleash was likely his true killing move.

"Too late." Xu Gou's lips curled upward.

"Woof! Woof! Woof! Woof! Woof!" A thunderous roar burst from Xu Gou's mouth. The sound took physical form, becoming ring after ring of sonic blasts. Their target was Asura, who had realized something was wrong and was preparing to attack. But the sonic blasts also temporarily deafened everyone nearby.

"Ah, damn dog! Fuck, you could've warned us before using that move." Shen Hou and Mohawk—oh, Evil Spirit—were forced to stop their fight by Xu Gou's canine roar, both clutching their ears. Shen Hou cursed while digging at his ears, then pulled out a huge lump of shit-yellow earwax. "Ah, it's out. That feels much better."

"Damn it, that hurts!" Asura, positioned directly in the center of the sonic blasts, was in far worse shape than the others. His clothes had been shredded as though countless flying knives had struck them, and dark-red blood flowed from his ear canals. Xu Gou's move had probably deafened him. It was like Zhonghua Family's Lion's Roar technique, an attack using sound that was impossible to guard against. Even if one covered one's ears, sound could still attack the target. Even bulletproof glass would be crushed by this move, let alone the fragile eardrums of a human body.

"So I'm just deaf. Do you think that means you've won? I told you, the phantom created by my Mechanical Devourer can perfectly copy your moves." Asura's expression became somewhat crazed. That damn dog had such a disgusting technique, and it had made him lose face before Jed-sama. Unforgivable. "Next, you'll get a taste of your own technique!"

"He's lost." Jed's expression darkened as well. Had that idiot Asura's mind been thrown into disarray? He still had not noticed.

"Idiot, haven't you noticed yet?" Xu Gou sneered. Although Asura could not hear what Xu Gou was saying, he could roughly understand from the movement of his lips.

"Noticed... what? Why is my Mechanical Devourer Phantom..." Asura panicked. His prized Mechanical Devourer - Phantom had disappeared. Worse, he could not summon it again. What kind of bizarre situation was this? Damn it, it had to be that dog's doing.

"Nen Remover." Jed slowly spoke the three words. He had not expected such an extremely rare Nen Remover to appear in such a remote place, someone capable of sealing the Resentment he had bestowed. And this Nen Remover had appeared as a combatant. It was not unjust for Asura to lose to such a powerful Nen Remover. The dog's earlier suction force and massive sonic blasts had merely been a façade created for Nen removal. His true purpose had only been to remove and seal Asura's Nen.

A Nen Remover was someone who removed the Nen used by Nen Users. Generally speaking, Nen Removers were even rarer than Nen Users. If one Nen User appeared in every ten thousand people, then only one Nen Remover appeared among every ten thousand Nen Users. Nen Removers themselves had little combat power compared to Nen Users of the same level, and their methods of removing Nen were extremely cumbersome. Many Nen Removers could not perform Nen removal again until several months after conducting a Nen removal ritual. But the dog before him had overturned that understanding. This man called Xu Gou by his companions seemed to still have strength to spare. It appeared that performing Nen removal again would not be impossible for him.

And the man fighting Evil Spirit was no weakling either. At the very least, he did not seem to have used his full strength yet. The three people at his side could be considered experts throughout the world after accepting his Resentment, yet they had unexpectedly encountered a few people who could suppress them in every respect. Had the number of experts in the world increased during his absence, or was this organization called the Chimera Ants simply capable of cultivating such experts? That was worth looking into. Regardless, he became increasingly curious what kind of existence this King they spoke of was. Perhaps he was someone worth fighting. How interesting.

"All right, Asura, withdraw for now. You're not his opponent." Jed's voice directly rang out in Asura's heart. Though Asura was currently deaf, he only needed a little time to recover from such minor injuries.

"Jed-sama, I can still fight." Asura was somewhat unwilling, but he had no way to disregard Jed's words and could only obey helplessly. "Yes, Jed-sama."

At present, Shadow vs. Anbu Twelve Stars: 1:0. (Shadow: an organization Jed established during his time in the Hunter Association. Because its later actions were not accepted, it was purged by Netero.)

The final member of the trio, Wei Yang, faced Purgatory. Since both were girls and neither had a warlike personality, and, most importantly, Purgatory's ability, Refuge Vajra, was something Jed had prepared for a long time specifically to deal with Netero, it could not be used here. Therefore, this match was naturally the most boring of the three. Setting aside their appearances, there was not much to see in a battle between two cute girls—one emotionless type (Purgatory), the other timid type (Wei Yang).

Their battle went as follows:

"Stare." Wei Yang used "Big Sheep Stare." The effect was not bad. Wei Yang opened her large eyes and glared at Purgatory.

"Eek!" Wei Yang's sudden action startled Purgatory. Hmph, take this! "Stare!" Purgatory used "Eyes Kill You." The effect was outstanding!

"I can do that too!" "Stare!" Unwilling to be outdone, Wei Yang used "Death Gaze" again. The effect was not bad.

"Again!" "Stare!" Purgatory used "Eyes Kill You 1.2 Revised." The effect was outstanding!

"..."

"Sigh, Purgatory, I told you already. You're actually very strong." Jed looked slightly helpless. It seemed he had no solution for such a timid girl either.

"Wei Yang. You can use Nen! Use Nen!" Chou Niu cheered her on from the side.

"Mm!" Wei Yang puffed out her cheeks and pouted, looking as though she were angry. But it did not do a damn thing. It only made her seem rather cute.

Those chosen as the strongest twelve among the Squad Captains and assigned to the Anbu were inherently not weak. Chimera Ants were generally battle-hungry as well. But there were exceptions. Wei Yang had a very gentle personality and loved peace and quiet. She was the sort who could spend an entire day alone staring at the road if no one bothered her. But setting aside her personality, her Nen ability was immensely powerful—one could even call it terrifying. When she had fully developed her Nen ability, even Meruem had been startled. The only flaw was that unless someone pushed Wei Yang to a certain point, they would never see her Nen ability for the rest of their life.