Odin's performance

Beans's voice rang out again.

"Third match: Odin versus Hanzo."

Odin stood up and returned to the center.

Hanzo approached from the other side and stood opposite him.

He looked at Odin, his expression serious.

"I won't surrender either," Hanzo said, looking expectantly at Odin, hoping he would surrender just as he had against Gon.

But Odin merely nodded, then signaled to the referee.

Hanzo was deeply disappointed.

The referee raised his hand.

"Begin."

Hanzo moved.

He was fast, charging straight up to Odin and throwing a punch.

Odin turned sideways to dodge.

Hanzo followed with his other hand, chopping at Odin's neck.

Odin stepped back half a pace and avoided it.

Hanzo kept attacking. His fists, feet, elbows, and knees were all weapons.

His movements flowed together without pause.

Odin simply kept dodging.

He wasn't using his full speed, only keeping himself on Hanzo's level.

Every one of Hanzo's punches brushed past his clothes, but none connected.

Hanzo frowned.

He sped up.

Odin sped up a little too.

He still couldn't land a hit.

Hanzo changed tactics.

His movements became less predictable, no longer attacking in straight lines but mixing in feints.

But Odin's movements changed too.

His footwork grew nimble. Afterimages flickered into view now and then.

This was Odin's Afterimage Fist.

Hanzo's fist passed through Odin's body.

Odin's figure flickered, then dissipated.

In the next instant, he appeared on Hanzo's right, thrusting at him with a knife-hand strike.

Hanzo narrowly dodged, then swung his own knife-hand at Odin.

His strike cut through empty air.

Odin flickered again, this time to the left, but he was already behind Hanzo.

Hanzo turned and threw a punch.

Odin's figure dissipated again.

Hanzo stopped.

He looked at Odin with a deep frown, silently assessing him.

"What kind of fighting technique is that?"

If those afterimages could have lingered or moved, Hanzo would almost have believed Odin knew the clone technique he had always longed for.

Odin said nothing.

Hanzo drew a deep breath and charged again.

This time, he went all out.

He was so fast that an ordinary person would have seen only a blur.

But Odin was faster.

He slipped through Hanzo's attacks like a leaf drifting in the wind.

Every one of Hanzo's punches hit something, but all he struck were Odin's afterimages.

They fought for about two minutes.

Hanzo stopped and began panting, not from exhaustion, but from anger.

Odin stood three meters away, watching him.

"Still want to fight?"

Hanzo stared at him and gritted his teeth.

"Yes."

He charged again.

This time, Odin didn't dodge.

He rushed straight toward Hanzo.

Just as they were about to meet, Odin suddenly accelerated.

Hanzo saw nothing but a blur.

A second later, Odin tapped a finger against his neck.

It was light, like a mosquito bite.

Hanzo froze.

Odin didn't wait for him. His figure darted about.

Hanzo felt touches at his armpit, chest, flank, and thigh.

Vital points and nonvital spots alike were struck before he could react.

Hanzo stood rooted to the spot.

He looked at Odin with a conflicted expression.

"I lost."

He raised his hand.

The referee announced, "Hanzo surrenders. Odin wins."

Hanzo turned and returned to his corner, sat down, and closed his eyes without a word.

The gap was too great, and it had shaken his confidence in his own strength.

Odin returned to Ponzu's side.

Ponzu looked at him, a little dazed.

"I feel like you were even faster just now than when you fought that white-haired kid."

Odin smiled without saying anything and sat down.

Beans's voice rang out again.

"Fourth match: Ponzu versus Hisoka."

Ponzu stood up.

She took a deep breath and walked to the center.

Hisoka stood opposite her, watching her with a smile.

The referee raised his hand.

"Begin."

Ponzu raised her hand.

"I surrender."

Hisoka paused in surprise.

Then he smiled.

"Interesting."

He turned and returned to his corner.

Ponzu breathed a sigh of relief, hurried back to Odin's side, and sat down.

"Good thing I surrendered fast enough," she said.

Odin nodded.

Around the hall, the other examinees watched with varying expressions.

The matches continued.

The fifth match.

Hanzo versus Pokkle.

Pokkle stood in the center of the hall, his face a little pale.

He looked at the bald man opposite him, his palms sweating.

Hanzo stood there too, his expression stern. He had already lost one match; he couldn't lose again.

The referee raised his hand.

"Begin."

Pokkle didn't move.

Neither did Hanzo.

The hall fell silent for a few seconds.

Pokkle swallowed.

He knew Hanzo was strong. He might have lost the previous match, but that had been against Odin, not some ordinary person.

He recalled the fight he had watched earlier, how Odin had dodged every one of Hanzo's dazzling attacks.

But that was Odin.

He wasn't Odin.

"Are we fighting or not?" Hanzo opened his eyes and looked at him.

Pokkle gritted his teeth.

I can't surrender.

I've come this far. Surrendering would be such a waste.

He took a deep breath, clenched his fists, and charged at Hanzo.

He threw a punch at Hanzo's face.

Hanzo turned sideways and dodged.

Pokkle followed with a second punch.

Hanzo dodged again.

Pokkle unleashed a series of punches, each faster than the last.

He had trained. His punches were quick and came from tricky angles.

Although his real strength lay in archery, a bow was clearly ill-suited to close combat like this.

His punches came from tricky angles, but Hanzo dodged them all.

His movements were small, each one just enough to avoid a blow.

Pokkle grew more frantic with every punch.

He sped up, his fists raining down on Hanzo.

Hanzo kept dodging.

After dodging a dozen or so punches, Hanzo seemed to regain his confidence at last and reached for Pokkle.

With a single reach of one hand, he caught Pokkle's arm and twisted it behind his back.

Pokkle was pinned to the floor, his cheek pressed against it, unable to move.

That hand was like an iron clamp. He struggled once but couldn't break free.

Hanzo held Pokkle down, gripping his arm and slowly increasing the pressure.

Pokkle felt his shoulder blade creak.

"Do you surrender?" Hanzo asked.

Pokkle said nothing.

He gritted his teeth, trying to fight back.

He clenched his free hand into a fist and punched at Hanzo's stomach.

Hanzo simply pressed harder on Pokkle's arm, leaving him in too much pain to move.

Hanzo looked at him calmly.

"Back when I was training-" Hanzo began recounting the hardships of his past training.

Pokkle listened, panting.

As Hanzo spoke, he increased the pressure a little more.

Pokkle's shoulder hurt even worse, as though it were about to break.

Hanzo looked at him.

"Do you think you can beat me right now?"

Pokkle said nothing.

He gritted his teeth and tried to get up. But the hand on his back pressed down too heavily, and all he could feel was his arm on the verge of snapping.

Hanzo's expression turned cold. "Next, I'll break your arm."

Pokkle's pupils contracted sharply.