As soon as the referee announced the start of the match,
Hyūga Akira looked at Killua with clear interest.
"So? Not making a move?"
Killua's body trembled faintly.
To his eyes, Akira was full of openings—yet he simply couldn't bring himself to attack.
"If you don't move," Akira said calmly,
"then I will."
The voice suddenly came from behind him.
Killua spun around instantly and whipped out a sweeping kick.
Akira lifted a finger and tapped a pressure point on Killua's leg, then took a single step back—perfectly dodging the strike.
The moment Killua's foot hit the ground, he gritted his teeth and charged forward again.
"What a ridiculous physique," Akira muttered.
He defended against Killua's flurry with just one hand.
He had clearly struck a pressure point meant to numb the leg and disrupt movement—but Killua showed no reaction at all.
No hesitation. No stiffness.
The assault remained ferocious.
Then—
Akira's palm suddenly passed through Killua's arm, as if striking an afterimage.
In the blink of an eye, the Killua in front of him split into countless figures.
"Rhythm Echo."
All of them attacked at once.
"Byakugan!"
Veins bulged around Akira's eyes as his vision turned transparent, layered with depth.
At the same time, he used Gyo, focusing chakra into his eyes.
Instantly, he could clearly see the vibrations of Killua's muscles—
But because Killua had no internal energy flow at all, Akira couldn't distinguish which body was real.
"Gentle Fist · Willow Drift."
Using his body as the medium, Akira expanded his perception, sensing the flow of air itself.
Killua had multiplied into countless images—
Yet the one who couldn't land a hit was him.
Seeing that his attacks were ineffective, Killua retreated.
An assassin didn't engage in prolonged exchanges.
Akira didn't pursue either.
He clenched his fist lightly, as if thinking something over.
In the stands—
Gon had somehow ended up standing with Wing and Zushi.
"Killua and Akira fight in really similar ways," Gon said suddenly.
Wing looked at Gon in surprise.
He hadn't expected such insight.
On the surface, Killua and Akira's techniques were completely different—yet Gon had seen through to their essence.
"That's an assassin's combat style," Wing explained.
"An assassin doesn't fight to win—they fight to kill. Every strike targets a vital point."
Even though one fought seriously and the other seemed almost playful, their habits hadn't changed.
Wing recognized it through experience.
Gon, however, had sensed it purely through instinct.
Normally, when two assassins of equal level clashed, the fight ended only with one death.
But judging from the battlefield—
The gap between them was enormous.
Akira finished thinking and looked at Killua, who was circling for another opening.
"That's enough."
"Got anything else?"
He kicked off the ground and rushed forward.
In the next instant, his body split into multiple afterimages.
"My Rhythm Echo?!" Killua stared in shock.
He could tell immediately—Akira's execution was still rough, but it was his technique.
"Twisting the body and altering tempo to create afterimages," Akira said calmly.
"It's not hard to learn."
It was all about force control and body movement.
All of Akira's afterimages vanished at once.
He appeared right in front of Killua and tapped a finger against his forehead.
"If that's all you've got, then this is where you exit."
"Gulp…"
Killua swallowed hard.
The urge to run screamed through his entire body.
"Calm down—!"
Only when Akira deliberately stepped back a few paces did Killua finally regain control.
Every time he faced danger, his body instinctively tried to flee.
So instinctively that Killua believed it was his own will.
"Then I'll change tactics."
Killua's eyes turned cold.
His arms hung loosely at his sides as he suddenly dashed forward.
"Serpent Strike!"
Both arms snapped out like whips, leaving streaks of afterimages.
Razor-sharp claws extended from his fingers, capable of tearing through flesh.
"This one's harder to copy," Akira admitted.
He spread his stance, and a faint Eight Trigrams pattern appeared beneath his feet.
"Eight Trigrams · Sixty-Four Palms!"
His palms turned into blurs of motion, colliding head-on with Killua's arms.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
The sound of flesh colliding echoed continuously.
Step by step, Akira forced Killua backward—until Killua's arms suddenly dropped limply to his sides.
"My arms… won't move?" Killua's expression changed.
After being struck repeatedly at key points, loss of mobility was inevitable.
Even someone as gifted as Killua couldn't shrug that off indefinitely.
And Akira didn't stop there.
Once Killua's arms fell, the remaining strikes landed cleanly.
Fifty-four palms.
Fifty-five.
Sixty.
Sixty-four.
Boom!
Killua was sent flying, crashing into the edge of the ring.
"…Hmm?" Akira frowned when no experience prompt appeared.
He looked at Killua, who was lying there.
"What kind of body does this guy even have?"
He'd struck multiple vital points—enough to knock out even chakra-using ninja.
Yet Killua was still conscious.
And then—
Killua stood back up, casually rubbing his shoulder with arms that should've been useless.
"Pressure points, huh? Cutting off blood flow and disrupting the nervous system."
"…You really are something special," Akira said sincerely.
Breaking through sealed pressure points purely through blood circulation—
Countless ninja killed by Gentle Fist would be crying if they saw this.
Since Killua hadn't fallen, the fight could continue.
"Anything else you want to show me?"
That method, Akira couldn't learn—it was pure talent backed by brutal training.
As for Serpent Strike, it wasn't something he could master quickly either.
Restructuring the bones in the hands was possible with chakra—but it required long-term practice.
Killua grinned.
"Heh. I surrender."
Akira wasn't someone he could handle right now.
Akira rolled his eyes and turned to leave the ring.
"Winner—Vanishing Akira!"
The crowd erupted into cheers.
They cheered no matter who won—unless the match was blatantly fake.
Akira walked up and sat beside Wing in the audience.
"Yo. You're Zushi's teacher, right? Nice to meet you."
"M-Master, he—" Zushi started, about to explain that Akira could use Nen.
Wing raised a hand, stopping him, and looked at Akira.
"That was a very impressive duel."
Akira glanced at the serious Wing, then at the frustrated Zushi.
"There are some aspects of Nen I don't quite understand," Akira said casually.
"Mind discussing them with me?"
"…Huh?! You can use Nen?!" Wing stared at him in shock.
Beside him, Zushi slapped a hand to his forehead.
That's what I was trying to say…
Akira looked at Wing in silence.
As expected… a textbook Enhancer.
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