Fierce battle X Eruption X Unconsciousness

The attacks came without end, but Hisoka looked perfectly relaxed, dodging without striking back.

"Have you learned anything? Found a way to counter it yet?"

"If you haven't, I'll be disappointed~"

"See? Fighting isn't about brute force. It's about brains."

Between dodges, Hisoka even found time for a little live "learning exchange" with Kaya.

Kaya braced one foot against the wall, growing impatient. "Why do you talk so much? Keep yapping, and I'll help him beat you up."

"So heartless~" Hisoka looked at Kaya with a smile.

He had already fully grasped the throwing knives' trajectories and no longer even needed to watch them.

"Why? Why won't you attack?"

Hisoka's casual, cheerful approach infuriated the scarred man, making him feel deeply insulted.

Hisoka raised an eyebrow and reluctantly looked at him. "You want me to fight back? Fine! Agree to one condition."

"What condition?"

Kaya's curiosity was piqued too, and he pricked up his ears to listen.

Hisoka slowly raised a hand to point at Kaya, enunciating each word.

"Beat him first, and I'll fight you."

??????

"Me?" Kaya pointed at his own nose, utterly bewildered. "Are you nuts? What does this have to do with me?"

He turned and shouted at the scarred man, "Don't listen to his bullshit! Hurry up and kill him!"

But that didn't do a damn thing. Reasoning with a battle maniac like this was pointless.

"Sorry, kid."

Seeing the mad-dog look in the man's eyes, Kaya immediately straightened up.

"Seriously? You'll do whatever he tells you? Why won't you kill him when I tell you to?"

The man said nothing. The throwing knives in his hands shot out, hurtling straight toward Kaya.

Running into someone like this was just his rotten luck!

Kaya sighed and twisted slightly in midair, slipping through the gap between two throwing knives.

What was that? As the knives brushed past him, Kaya keenly sensed an unusual presence.

Although the scarred man's Nen was weak, the malice within it still made Kaya uncomfortable all over.

The throwing knives behind him spun back at high speed. Kaya quickly turned to dodge them, circling to one side to prepare an attack.

The man had to catch the knives from the front, and that brief opening was enough for Kaya to close in and restrain him.

Kaya pushed off lightly, reaching the scarred man's side in an instant and swinging a fist hard at his waist.

Unlike what he had expected, the force of his punch seemed to vanish into a bottomless sea the moment it neared the scarred man, inexplicably losing some of its power.

An attack of that strength couldn't inflict any real damage on him.

Aside from feeling pain, the scarred man didn't even blink.

Kaya, on the other hand, was flung backward by an inexplicable force.

As he flew off balance, the throwing knives followed close behind.

Kaya didn't dare attack recklessly again. He could only use the wall as a foothold and dart to one side.

But the knives seemed to have GPS built in, swiftly pursuing him in whatever direction he moved.

Fuck~

With no other choice, Kaya predicted the knives' trajectories, drew his long whip, and struck their bases.

That was the only way to keep his whip from being sliced apart.

Hisoka sat quietly to one side, building his card tower while keeping a close eye on the fight.

Kaya was now doing everything he could to dodge, using his whip at the right moments to alter the knives' trajectories. He looked rather bedraggled.

Was it still too early? Hisoka wondered.

Despite Kaya's limitless potential, he still didn't know how to use Nen.

The scarred man, by contrast, was only a beginner, but he had already mastered the basic techniques of the four major principles.

Unless Kaya caught him by surprise, never mind attacking-even defending could leave him injured by Nen aura.

After half an hour of fighting, Kaya gradually adapted to the rhythm, his dodges becoming calm and unhurried.

He could even deftly avoid the Nen attached to the throwing knives.

Could he use Gyo?

That surprised Hisoka, and he quickly used Gyo to check.

Judging by the aura coming from Kaya's body, he couldn't even use Ten, let alone Gyo.

It seemed he was detecting the malicious energy through nothing more than his own sharp senses and adaptability.

Seeing that even his prized Four-Blade Style couldn't quickly defeat this kid who knew nothing about Nen, the scarred man grew anxious.

He threw the two remaining knives in his hands, then charged toward Kaya.

Facing four throwing knives, two ahead and two behind, Kaya remained calm and slid on his knees beneath the two approaching from behind.

Just as he was about to flick his whip to redirect the knives in front, the scarred man suddenly appeared behind him, locked both his arms in a crushing grip, and hauled him off the ground.

"Kid, blame your bad luck."

Kaya struggled with all his strength, but he still couldn't break free. He could only watch the knives race toward him from the front as the fear of death wrapped around his entire body like icy tentacles.

I don't want to die! That was the only thing Kaya could scream in his mind.

After all these years of grueling training, was this how it ended?

Gon, Killua, Kurapika, Leorio, Kite, Mito, Grandma...

Their faces flashed through Kaya's mind like a revolving lantern, every one of them a reason for his existence in this world.

The silver gleam reflected by the throwing knives was already clearly visible in Kaya's eyes.

It was a warning of death, a countdown to the end of his life.

Hisoka wasn't about to let Kaya die so easily. He immediately drew a card, ready to intervene.

But at that very moment, the despairing Kaya closed his eyes, and an enormous surge of aura erupted from his body.

With two clangs, the speeding knives struck the aura surrounding Kaya and were instantly deflected.

The scarred man was also hurled away by the powerful shock wave. He slammed heavily into the wall and spat out a mouthful of blood.

The wall behind him crumbled into rubble under the impact.

But releasing such an enormous amount of aura also made Kaya lose consciousness instantly. He collapsed limply to the floor, though the aura inside him continued pouring out without end.

After all, he hadn't learned Ten yet and couldn't keep his aura contained around his body.

"So that's it."

Hisoka rose and walked over to Kaya, looking down at him as his expression became terrifying.

"In that desperate moment, his own will forced open his Aura Nodes."

"Just the amount of aura he naturally possesses is enough to be astounding."

This also explained why people sometimes unleashed extraordinary strength in moments of utter despair.

In this world, every person possessed a life energy called aura within their body.

Nen was the power produced by transforming that aura.

The human body had numerous Aura Nodes. Although they remained closed most of the time, they could still release faint traces of aura.

In other words, people constantly released the aura within them from the moment they were born.

Some had come to understand this power, creating the concept of Nen and further developing the four major principles.

However, very few people could truly sense this power through meditation.

As a result, Nen users were uncommon in this world.

The Hunter Association took a highly conservative stance toward Nen, insisting that it neither be taught to outsiders nor disclosed.

Only those who became official Hunters were given training in Nen.

After all, if everyone mastered Nen, the world would likely descend into chaos.

"Ah~ I almost~ can't hold back."

As Hisoka gazed at Kaya, his eyes rolled almost all the way upward, exposing their whites, while his entire lower body twitched.

"No, I have to hold back. I have to hold back."

Hisoka breathed heavily, struggling to control his emotions.

Watching Kaya's aura drain away rapidly, he knew that unless he sealed his Aura Nodes soon, Kaya's body would suffer severe damage.

Hisoka tensed, and pink Nen instantly enveloped him.

Then he used Gyo to concentrate all his aura in his hands, forcibly broke through the wall of aura surrounding Kaya, and successfully sealed his Aura Nodes.

He continued until the aura flowing from Kaya's body gradually diminished to a normal level.

Hisoka straightened and slowly walked toward the scarred man lying nearby.

"See that? That's Nen. You're not remotely qualified to fight me."

The scarred man struggled to get up, only to discover that he could no longer move.

He could only watch Hisoka slowly approach, his eyes filled with resentment.

"None of that really matters."

"What truly angers me is that you nearly ruined my fruit."

Swish!

A streak of silver flashed past.

The scarred man's head suddenly flew off. Blood sprayed through the air, tracing a crimson arc before splattering across the floor.

Hisoka coldly withdrew the card in his hand, picked up the unconscious Kaya, and walked calmly toward the exit.

Lippo had watched everything from the surveillance room. He didn't care about the scarred man's death.

What shocked him was the amount of aura inside Kaya.

"It looks like I'll have to report this to the Hunter Association."

With that thought, Lippo quickly copied the surveillance footage and reported the incident, hoping it would receive serious attention.