Hyūga Akira finished registering without any issues. Since he chose the option to fight at any time, he was scheduled for his first match the very next day.
As he stepped onto the arena, cheers from the audience surged like waves.
"Hehahahaha…"
Standing opposite him was a man completely wrapped in a red cloak. His lower body, however, was supported by a metal cane.
He was one of the victims of malicious Nen—someone whose body had been crippled by hostile aura and who later awakened Nen as a result.
This kind of situation was fairly common in Heaven's Arena. Some fighters with outstanding combat ability managed to reach the 200th floor, only to be "welcomed" by veterans. Even if they awakened Nen, they often paid the price with permanent bodily damage.
This man was originally supposed to be Gon's opponent—Gido.
"Because I'm a newcomer, you picked me?" Hyūga Akira stood casually on the arena floor.
These people, desperate not to be eliminated, always looked for newcomers to fight.
Perfect—he could use this chance to test the Nen ability he'd just developed.
As the referee announced the start of the match—
"Battle Waltz!"
More than a dozen spinning tops were flung out by Gido using his cane.
Hyūga Akira didn't move at all, allowing the tops to fly straight toward him.
They passed cleanly through his body, as if slicing through air, rippling his form like waves on water.
"Transformation Technique—barely usable, but the chakra cost is still enormous."
His chakra had surpassed two thousand, enough to support the use of the Transformation Technique.
By altering his own mass, he directly turned himself into a gust of wind.
But that single use consumed nearly 500 points of chakra.
"What!? How is that possible?!"
Gido cried out in shock. His tops had actually passed through Akira.
What kind of ability was this? Refusing to believe it, he launched another attack.
This time, Akira didn't dare continue using the Transformation Technique—four uses would completely drain his chakra.
As the tops came in again, he raised both hands. Flames ignited around his palms.
"Fire Release: Unknown Fire."
"Flame Rotation."
Using Gentle Fist, he struck out, shaping the flames into a hemispherical barrier that blocked the spinning tops.
Two ninjutsu in succession—yet Akira hadn't formed a single hand seal.
This was his new ability.
"Chakra Nature Manipulation."
He could directly alter the nature of his chakra according to the characteristics of a jutsu, skipping hand seals entirely and casting techniques instantly.
From now on, as long as he understood the chakra transformation behind a technique, he could use it without seals.
In other words, all his skills were now effectively cooldown-free.
His skills never had cooldowns to begin with—just like real-world ninjutsu—but hand seals themselves imposed a delay.
With this Nen-derived ability, that delay was gone.
For ninja combat, this was absolutely lethal.
(Right, Kisame? Zabuza?)
Akira leapt from the spot, took a deep breath, and—
"Fire Release: Great Fire Dragon Technique!"
A blazing fire dragon erupted from his mouth, roaring forward with scorching heat straight toward Gido.
Gido immediately began moving at high speed, trying to dodge—but the fire dragon chased relentlessly behind him.
"No—NO!!"
Amid his terrified scream, the fire dragon slammed into his body.
[Experience +1562]
On the charred remains, a single drop item lay quietly.
"Winner: Hyūga Akira!"
As the referee's voice rang out, the entire audience exploded into cheers.
Akira stepped forward and picked up the drop.
[Skill: Whip Strike]
"This thing has a pretty wide range."
He chose to learn it immediately.
[Whip Strike (Lv.1) EXP (0/100) Trait (None)]
The method of use flowed into his mind.
"So this is Snake Awakens."
But it wasn't Killua's version—it was the technique from Baki, where the arm becomes soft and whiplike.
Killua's Snake Awakens involved dislocating arm bones; this one used force control to soften the limb.
"As expected—pure martial arts."
This drop overlapped with Cloud Village–style skills.
"So Hunter Association drops Konoha-type items, while Heaven's Arena drops martial arts."
Having figured out two drop patterns, Akira shook his head and left the arena.
The next four battles left him somewhat disappointed.
In total, they gave him [Experience +5121].
The main issue was that matches couldn't be fought consecutively—only one match per day.
After five straight victories, he reached an awkward situation:
No one dared to fight him anymore.
Five opponents, all dead. Everyone began refusing matches against Hyūga Akira.
Just like Hisoka—very few people were truly willing to fight him.
Still, among the five drops, there was one particularly good item:
[Ogre Back (Lv.1) EXP (0/100) Trait (None)]
The rest were things like:
[Skill: Niko Style – Adamantine Kata: Indestructible]
[Nichirin Blade: +55~60 ATK, +10 vs Yin-type enemies]
[Skill: Triceratops Fist]
Akira had no intention of going full muscle-build.
His early combat power was already established; he didn't need martial arts skills to carry the early game.
The Nichirin Blade was nowhere near as good as his Dark Battle Blade.
To him, they were all useless—he tossed them straight into his inventory.
He found Hisoka watching a match. Gon was fighting on the arena, and Hisoka's eyes were locked onto the stage.
Only then did Akira realize that Gon and Killua had also reached the 200th floor.
This was Gon's first match. His original opponent, Gido, had already died by Akira's hand.
The person fighting Gon now was someone Akira didn't recognize.
"Hey, Hisoka. Fight me once," Akira said bluntly, stating his goal.
He didn't want to keep wasting time here. One match per day was unbearable.
Hisoka turned his gaze from the arena to Akira, a brilliant smile spreading across his face.
"Sure. People have been comparing the two of us a lot lately."
Two fighters notorious for killing their opponents—it was only natural people would talk.
"Tomorrow," Hisoka said.
After saying goodbye, Akira turned and left.
To fight Hisoka, he needed to prepare carefully.
Against others, knowing their Nen abilities meant he'd already won half the battle.
But Hisoka was different.
Even if you knew everything about his abilities, victory was never guaranteed.
Akira was on his way back to his room to rest when someone blocked his path.
"Hyūga Akira, are you really going to fight Hisoka?"
Gon, dressed in green, stood in front of him and asked.
"That's right. After that fight, I'm leaving," Akira replied casually.
He was going to start hunting the Phantom Troupe.
Hisoka was connected to the Troupe—Machì, for example.
But Akira had no intention of touching Machì for now. Otherwise, he'd have to deal with Hisoka at the same time, which would be troublesome.
Gon clenched his fist, then turned and walked away.
Akira stared at his retreating back, completely baffled.
"So… what did he come here for?"
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