These Floor Masters had seen glimpses of Kaizen's strength before—but not the full picture.
They knew he was powerful, but just how powerful remained unclear.
As for Hisoka, his previous opponents had been too weak to pose a real challenge. He was just entertaining himself, so nothing meaningful could be gleaned from those bouts.
But now, with Kaizen and Hisoka facing off directly, the Floor Masters finally saw it:
The difference.
Both of them stood head and shoulders above the rest of the Heavens Arena Floor Masters.
Top-tier. No doubt about it.
"I didn't expect Kaizen to have grown this strong…"
"Do you think he'll enter the next tournament?"
"And Hisoka… good thing he picked Kaizen for his match."
"If he'd challenged any of us, we wouldn't have stood a chance."
Most of the Floor Masters present were from the mid and lower ranks. When they said "we," they were referring to themselves—fighters who now seemed hopelessly outclassed.
Sadaso stared at the ring with a faint trace of longing in his eyes, before quickly reining it in.
"I'm me," he murmured to himself. "There's no point being jealous. I just need to accept that."
"I'll fight my own battles. I don't expect to ever reach Kaizen or Hisoka's level."
That thought calmed him. Accepting reality helped steady his nerves.
...
In a quiet corner of the audience sat a figure with long purple hair—Machi. Her mood was hard to read, but she was clearly thinking deeply.
Images from the Kurta Clan extermination flashed in her mind.
Kaizen had been involved then. Back then, he wasn't nearly as proactive or overwhelming as he was now.
"I wouldn't stand a chance against him."
"Shalnark was right… Kaizen's talent really does merit an invitation to join the Phantom Troupe."
"Honestly… even Uvogin and Nobunaga might not be able to take him."
"Though… it might be too late now."
"Would someone who's grown this strong alone even want to join us anymore?"
...
Killua leaned toward his teacher, Wing watching intently.
"Wing-san, who's got the advantage?"
"Kaizen," Wing replied calmly. "Earlier, his conjured beast held the upper hand. It restricted Hisoka's movements, and those aura bombs gave him real trouble."
"That's why Hisoka destroyed the ring. He didn't want to give Kaizen a stable terrain to fight on."
"But minor advantages like that don't decide a battle on their own."
"Let's keep watching."
Wing was calm, composed as always. But inwardly, he couldn't help projecting himself into the battle.
First imagining himself as Kaizen.
Then as Hisoka.
No matter which perspective he took, it was clear: both were nightmarish opponents.
The risk of losing was extraordinarily high.
...
Kaizen glanced around at the uneven terrain left by the ring's destruction.
"So this is your counter to my aura bombs."
He channeled aura into his Hexflare Bomb.
"Blasting."
"Blasting."
"Blasting!"
Three consecutive aura bombs launched—not at Hisoka, but toward the shattered terrain.
A massive shockwave followed.
The arena floor trembled. But in the aftermath, Kaizen now stood at the center of a cleared, flat zone—roughly ten meters in diameter.
Hisoka's eyes narrowed from behind a toppled slab of stone.
"So that's your play."
"You don't want me getting close."
"But why waste effort flattening the ground instead of summoning a second Nen beast?"
If it were a typical Nen beast user-type, Hisoka would think it was just to keep distance.
But Kaizen was different.
Hisoka knew that Kaizen wasn't limited to just one or two tricks.
He remembered Raiken. The boy had shown an even greater level of power back then.
...
Natsu, Kaizen's conjured beast, returned to his side.
A ring of aura spread outward—over 100 meters in diameter.
Everything within that circle was now under Kaizen's perception.
"There you are."
The instant Kaizen sensed Hisoka on the edge of the circle, he fired an aura bomb.
"Blasting."
Hisoka dodged quickly, flipping out of the way.
But Kaizen followed up with a second shot.
Then a third.
Then a fourth…
Aura bombs rained down in quick succession, forcing Hisoka to retreat beyond Kaizen's detection circle.
Hisoka's breathing turned slightly ragged.
He couldn't block these attacks. Dodging was the only option. But even then, he was still getting clipped by the shockwaves.
And constantly dodging drained stamina fast.
"Where does he get all that energy?"
Hisoka crouched behind a chunk of rubble, peering at Kaizen.
He was still calm. No heavy breathing. No sweat. Not even an accelerated pulse.
But Kaizen had already used:
A powerful long-lasting Nen beast
Dozens—no, hundreds—of high-powered aura projectiles
And yet…
He looked completely fine.
That could only mean one thing:
Kaizen wasn't even close to running out of aura.
Hisoka muttered.
He'd seen Franklin from the Phantom Troupe—a powerful specialist with an aura-based machine gun ability.
Strong, yes. But not like this.
On the Zoldyck side, even Illumi—deadly as he was—didn't possess this level of stamina and firepower.
Which meant…
Kaizen was an anomaly.
A special case.
...
Hisoka didn't rest long.
He stepped cautiously toward Kaizen's circle again.
"Blasting!"
A bomb instantly detonated in his path.
The ground erupted, leaving a massive crater.
"He saw me? No… he can't see through things. So that must be…"
"En."
Kaizen's aura field—his En—had a diameter of over 100 meters.
"Maintaining something that wide with that kind of precision? That's excessive."
The wider and more sensitive an En, the more aura it consumed.
"Let's test it," Hisoka smirked. "Let's see how long you can keep that up."
He danced along the edge of Kaizen's En, darting in and out.
Kaizen didn't react.
Or rather—he pretended not to.
But each time Hisoka breached the perimeter, Kaizen unleashed another aura bomb.
One shot after another.
Kaizen was like a mobile fortress—like a spell-based machine gun.
He rained down explosive blasts nonstop, giving Hisoka no opportunity to close the distance.
And finally, after what must have been hundreds of aura bombs...
Kaizen stopped.
"That should be enough."
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Fanfic is completed on patreon.com/FanficsHub (1047 chapters in total)