Chapter Summaries

Jiang Ye suppressed Max Elephant in the cast-steel workshop, but the effort left him injured and exhausted. When Worm attacked from underground, Jiang Ye ordered his forces to pull back and prepared to confront Grey Elder, who sent another man toward the workshop.

• Jiang Ye used Rabbit Escape, Divine Dog: Totality, Nue, and a bomb to knock Max Elephant down, then forced it back into his shadow, weakening its resistance.
• Jiang Ye sensed something moving beneath the workshop and realized Grey Elder’s Worm had arrived underground.
• Iron Wall opened the workshop door and reported that Worm could regenerate after being cut apart.
• Jiang Ye told Iron Wall to inform Gray Beak not to buy signal flares and ordered Shattered Eye to pull back the northern perimeter by two hundred meters.
• Jiang Ye stepped out to confront Worm as Divine Dog: Totality emerged from his shadow.
• Grey Elder watched from an armored sedan, suspected Jiang Ye was suppressing Worm’s Aura, and ordered the man in sunglasses to go to the workshop.

Jiang Ye and his allies fought the Shadow Beasts Owl and Worm outside the steel foundry, but neither enemy could be easily hurt. The battle left the alliance outnumbered and exhausted, with Iron Wall warning that they could not keep fighting this way.

• Owl and Worm approached the steel foundry, where Jiang Ye, Iron Wall, Gray Beak, Shattered Eye, and Bago prepared to meet them.
• Jiang Ye assigned Iron Wall and Bago to fight Worm, then charged Owl while Shattered Eye circled to attack Worm.
• Owl conjured a cloth that shifted between a whip and armor, blocking Jiang Ye's attacks and dispersing Divine Dog: Totality's bite.
• Worm repeatedly regenerated its mud body from the ground, while Iron Wall, Bago, and Shattered Eye struggled to hold it back.
• As both Shadow Beasts kept fighting, the alliance's Aura dwindled, and Iron Wall warned Jiang Ye that they could not continue this way.

Jiang Ye’s confrontation with the Shadow Beasts ended when Chrollo and Illumi intervened, forcing Owl and Worm to retreat. Grey Elder decided to wait until Jiang Ye fully tamed Max Elephant before making another move.

• Chrollo arrived at the steel foundry and claimed half of District 13, telling Owl to have Grey Elder meet him in person.
• Illumi appeared and identified himself as the Zoldyck Family’s agent in District 13, making Owl withdraw Worm and retreat.
• Chrollo and Illumi explained why they had come to Jiang Ye’s aid, and Jiang Ye said he would return Grey Elder’s probe by visiting him after resting for two days.
• Jiang Ye recalled Divine Dog: Totality, ordered Iron Wall to clear a five-hundred-meter perimeter, and focused on finishing Max Elephant’s subjugation.
• Owl reported the failed attempt to Grey Elder, who chose to wait until Jiang Ye tamed Max Elephant and expected the Ten Dons to send the Shadow Beasts after him.

Jiang Ye assessed Iron Wall, Gray Beak, and Shattered Eye’s Nen skills and decided to teach them Hatsu. He sent them to develop abilities suited to their fighting styles, leaving their training to begin the next morning.

• Jiang Ye asked Iron Wall, Gray Beak, and Shattered Eye how well they could use Ten and Zetsu.
• Jiang Ye explained that their reliance on Ten and Zetsu left them vulnerable in combat and said he planned to teach them Hatsu.
• Jiang Ye demonstrated how his own Hatsu shaped aura into Shadow Spike, Shadow Curtain, Shadow Space, and Nen Beasts.
• Jiang Ye asked each man what troubled him most in combat and connected Iron Wall’s shield, Gray Beak’s attacks, and Shattered Eye’s reconnaissance to possible abilities.
• Jiang Ye gave the three blank Nen Ability record cards and told them to skip missions and practice shaping their aura at the camp’s northern open ground.

Jiang Ye prepared to meet Grey Elder after assigning Nen training to Iron Wall, Gray Beak, and Shattered Eye. After Grey Elder invited him to a banquet the next night, Jiang Ye agreed to attend and resolved to tame Max Elephant when he returned.

• Jiang Ye gave Iron Wall, Gray Beak, and Shattered Eye Nen exercises to experiment with and asked them to report their findings in three days.
• Jiang Ye told the three men he planned to visit Grey Elder and instructed them to stay out of the workshop when he dealt with Max Elephant.
• Jiang Ye advised Iron Wall to make a new shield from an intact alloy plate in the warehouse.
• Gray Beak brought Grey Elder's invitation to a banquet the following night, and Jiang Ye accepted.
• Jiang Ye told Gray Beak to extend the northern perimeter and assigned Iron Wall to accompany him while Gray Beak and Shattered Eye guarded the camp.
• Jiang Ye practiced Max Elephant's hand sign as a watcher outside the workshop perimeter observed the camp and then left.

Jiang Ye used two Gifts of Destruction to subjugate Max Elephant, then went to Grey Elder’s residence to inspect the route before the banquet. He introduced himself at the gate and was invited inside for tea.

• Jiang Ye summoned Max Elephant in the workshop and used a Gift of Destruction to wound it before binding it with the Shadow Curtain.
• Jiang Ye used a second bomb to weaken Max Elephant, then finished subjugating it with Shadow Spikes, making it his fifth Shikigami.
• Jiang Ye told Iron Wall to guard the workshop and extend the northern cordon, then left to scout Grey Elder’s residence.
• Jiang Ye spotted seven sentry posts and sensed a Nen user on the porch before announcing himself as the leader of the Rust Remains Alliance.
• Grey Elder opened the gate after Jiang Ye said he had come early to ask for tea.

Jiang Ye confronted Grey Elder in his villa and demanded that they divide control of District 13 and stay out of each other’s affairs. He left after warning Grey Elder about tomorrow night’s banquet, unaware that Grey Elder had decided to keep a powerful hidden figure away from the table.

• Jiang Ye entered Grey Elder’s villa after slipping past its guards and demonstrated that he could reach Grey Elder before anyone noticed.
• Jiang Ye demanded that Grey Elder respect their separate shares of District 13 and keep the Council of Elders and Rust Remains Alliance from interfering with each other.
• Jiang Ye threatened to stay in the villa if Grey Elder refused and warned him not to use the banquet to trap him.
• Jiang Ye threatened to cut apart Grey Elder’s Worm if it burrowed under his workshop again, then left the villa.
• Jiang Ye sensed a powerful Aura hidden behind the villa’s second-floor curtains and realized Grey Elder had another fighter concealed there.
• Grey Elder asked the hidden figure what it thought, then ordered the banquet to proceed and told it not to join them at the table.

Jiang Ye returned to camp and practiced projecting the Ten Shadows Technique’s Shadow Space outward, making his first brief, incomplete Chimera Shadow Garden. He realized the domain could be a powerful advantage, but its short duration and heavy aura cost left him needing more practice before Grey Elder’s banquet.

• Jiang Ye told Iron Wall that Grey Elder’s banquet would go ahead as planned and reflected on the powerful hidden presence in Grey Elder’s villa.
• Jiang Ye decided he needed a trump card beyond his five Shikigami and attempted to create Chimera Shadow Garden inside his container.
• His first attempt spread Shadow Curtain across the floor and partway up the walls, but failed because his mental image of the domain was too vague.
• Jiang Ye studied the Shadow Space and used its precise appearance as a template, successfully projecting a darker, more solid version into the container for just over ten seconds.
• The incomplete domain consumed nearly thirty percent of his aura, and Jiang Ye recognized that he needed more practice before the banquet; then someone knocked on his door.

Jiang Ye prepared the Rust Remains Alliance for Grey Elder’s looming attack while training his combat skills and trying to extend his domain. After realizing he needed to project Shadow Space exactly as it was, he enclosed the steel foundry in Chimera Shadow Garden for nearly twenty seconds, though it consumed half his Aura.

• Shattered Eye told Jiang Ye that Grey Elder had gathered more than a hundred armed men and modified pickup trucks in the Dark Red area, so Jiang Ye ordered the northern checkpoint extended and supplies monitored.
• Jiang Ye told Shattered Eye to have Iron Wall add an angled iron-spike barricade outside the steel foundry’s shield wall.
• Jiang Ye began morning sparring sessions with Bago and ordered him to attack without holding back, improving his timing and reactions over their first twenty-minute bout.
• For half a month, Jiang Ye sparred with Bago, practiced his domain at the foundry, and received reports from Gray Beak and Shattered Eye while his attempts to extend the domain repeatedly failed.
• Jiang Ye stopped trying to alter Shadow Space and instead projected it exactly as it appeared, enclosing the steel foundry in a complete Shadow Curtain.
• Jiang Ye maintained the domain for nearly twenty seconds before releasing it, having spent half his Aura.

As Grey Elder gathered over 1,200 armed men at Dark Red, Jiang Ye left the Rust Remains Alliance in the hands of Iron Wall, Gray Beak, and Shattered Eye so he could push himself toward mastering his domain. He headed alone into the abandoned northern zone while Grey Elder prepared to attack in three days.

• Gray Beak reported that Grey Elder had assembled more than 1,000 armed men at Dark Red, and Jiang Ye recognized that a confrontation was imminent.
• Jiang Ye told Iron Wall, Gray Beak, and Shattered Eye to lead the Rust Remains Alliance together and outlined a plan to retreat to the steel foundry if Grey Elder attacked.
• Jiang Ye gave the three leaders boxes containing sealed Shadow Nen and warned them not to trust or follow anyone bringing Grey Elder's message or ultimatum.
• Jiang Ye left the camp alone for the abandoned zone north of the old industrial district to push himself toward awakening his domain.
• Grey Elder learned that his forces numbered over 1,200, with more arriving, and declared that he would destroy the Rust Remains Alliance after three more days.

After three days of preparation, Grey Elder led more than two thousand armed men toward the Rust Remains Alliance, where Jiang Ye confronted them alone. Jiang Ye evaded their search with Shadow Stealth, but Yixi used Aura Trail Hunt to track his position, forcing Jiang Ye to realize the pursuers knew where he was.

• Iron Wall, Bago, Gray Beak, and Shattered Eye prepared the alliance’s defenses and gathered reports as Grey Elder’s forces approached.
• Grey Elder led his armed column toward District 13, believing Jiang Ye was hiding behind the alliance’s defenses.
• Jiang Ye appeared on the road and used a Shadow Curtain to swallow a volley of bullets without harm.
• Jiang Ye vanished into the scrap heaps, and Grey Elder ordered his men to search for him.
• Yixi recognized Jiang Ye’s Aura and used Aura Trail Hunt to reveal his moving location to the pursuers.
• Jiang Ye repeatedly escaped through shadows but realized the hunters could track him and said, “They know where I am.”

Jiang Ye discovered that Shadow Curtain could devour bullets and nearby material, using what it consumed to strengthen the barrier and replenish his Aura. He trapped the pursuers inside its range and counterattacked with Shadow Spikes as Yixi and Grey Elder noticed his Aura rising.

• Jiang Ye fled north into the factory ruins while Yixi tracked his movements with Aura.
• Jiang Ye summoned Divine Dog: Totality and Rabbit Escape to disrupt the pursuers, but gunfire thinned the rabbits and wounded the Divine Dog.
• Jiang Ye realized Shadow Curtain had absorbed bullets and grown stronger, then recalled his shikigami as the pursuers closed in.
• Jiang Ye raised Shadow Curtain into a shell that swallowed bullets and gravel, reducing his Aura consumption.
• Jiang Ye sent Shadow Spikes through the ground to stab the pursuers’ feet, while Yixi told Grey Elder that Jiang Ye’s Aura was rising because the shadow shell was eating it.

Jiang Ye trapped the scrapyard in his Domain Expansion and unleashed five Shikigami against Grey Elder’s forces. He captured Yixi and pinned Grey Elder, leaving the elder helpless before him.

• Jiang Ye activated Domain Expansion, sealing the scrapyard inside a dome of shadow and summoning Divine Dog: Totality, Toad, Rabbit Escape, Nue, and Max Elephant.
• Jiang Ye told Grey Elder that his Aura was rising because he was eating Grey Elder’s Aura.
• Divine Dog: Totality and Rabbit Escape attacked the pursuers while Shadow Spikes pierced their feet, and Toad dragged Yixi into the Shadow Curtain.
• Jiang Ye’s shadows immobilized Grey Elder’s car, and Max Elephant tore off its roof and knocked Grey Elder to the ground.
• Jiang Ye pinned Grey Elder’s calves with Shadow Spikes and crouched beside him, asking him to guess why his Aura was rising.

Jiang Ye killed Grey Elder, secured the Rust Remains Alliance’s safety through threats, and left Meteor City. As he headed toward the Hunter Exam, Illumi delivered a message that someone was waiting for him there.

• Jiang Ye emerged from the Shadow Curtain with Grey Elder’s head, declared the elder dead, and put Iron Wall, Gray Beak, and Shattered Eye in charge of the Rust Remains Alliance.
• Chrollo Lucilfer and Shalnark concluded that the Council of Elders would leave the alliance alone while it remained bait that could draw Jiang Ye back.
• Jiang Ye left Meteor City, but Illumi Zoldyck caught up with him and passed on a message from the head of the family saying someone was waiting for him at the Hunter Exam.
• Illumi told Jiang Ye that the Ten Dons were holding the Council of Elders back, and that someone had spoken on Jiang Ye’s behalf.
• The Council of Elders decided not to pursue Jiang Ye or touch the Rust Remains Alliance, hoping he would stay away.
• Jiang Ye crossed out of Meteor City and set off toward the Hunter Exam.