Tetsuro looked weak and was kicked out of the ring.
Netero's left foot hadn't moved an inch from the center of the training ground. He looked around at everyone with a smile. "Who's next?"
Liam was full of energy. He jumped up and stood opposite Netero.
Wing, Tetsuro, and others who'd long known or witnessed Liam's strength all watched the match attentively. Although there was no doubt about the final result, it was worth observing how far Liam could push Netero, how many techniques he could display, and how he compared to themselves.
Being taught by a martial arts master like Netero was an opportunity many martial artists in the world couldn't dream of, let alone being able to watch so many matches from the sidelines.
Liam tightened his belt and asked, "Can I use Nen?"
"Of course." Netero stroked his brush-like goatee. "Didn't the last one secretly use it?"
The old man winked at Tetsuro, who was bruised and swollen on the sidelines.
How old are you to still act cute?
Liam glanced at Tetsuro. He'd been busy chatting with Wing just now and hadn't noticed that Tetsuro had actually used his Nen ability in the match with Netero—the one that only worked in ring competitions. What was it called... "Judgment on the Stage"?
It was indeed judgment.
Although the aura on his body was suppressed by this Nen ability to the point where it was 50/50 equal to Tetsuro's, Netero still beat Tetsuro into a pig's head like it was nothing.
This was because Netero loved to play. Otherwise, if he'd come up and used Manipulation to attack, Tetsuro would've gotten beaten even worse.
Liam's Star Mark was so convenient and easy to use, but he wouldn't just slap it on people for no reason.
It had been so long, and it was only when he saw Killua that he couldn't help testing with the Star Mark to see if his brother had stuck a needle in his head.
Tetsuro, pig-headed as he was, was thoroughly convinced of Netero's skills.
Liam activated the aura in his body and entered Ken.
Netero put his hands on his hips, lifted his right foot to rest on his left calf, and stood as steady as a loose-rooted tree on one foot. He smiled. "Why don't you try your new Nen ability?"
Liam said, "I don't have a new ability!"
He spread his arms and activated the Star Mark on the back of his neck, entering Flowing Star Strike.
When Pyon had analyzed Reflection's ability on the cliff, Netero had been present and naturally knew the ability required the target's blood to activate.
Liam figured if he didn't have the strength to compete, he'd just beat Netero until he bled.
What's more, with so many people watching the match, Liam had no time to show off his Nen abilities in public anyway.
Liam swayed and rushed toward Netero.
The old man was very playful, but also very arrogant. Since he'd decided at the start to stand still on his left foot and toy with the juniors, he wouldn't take the initiative to make an exception.
If Liam hadn't rushed over, the old man might've been able to wait until dark...
Killua's grandfather had commented that the reason Netero had lived so long was because his "spiritual level is already in a plant-like state."
Liam didn't want to compete with such a monster in patience.
So let's test this old man's compassionate heart instead.
Liam rushed to Netero's side like an afterimage. The aura accumulated in his legs formed a concentrated mass, approaching Netero's body.
Seeing this, even Wing was shocked.
Is that necessary?
Ko was risky.
The most basic requirement of this move was to gather all the aura in the entire body into one point.
In other words, the body beyond this point was basically in a completely undefended state. Defense in this state was, to some extent, inferior even to ordinary people.
Ordinary people who hadn't mastered Nen still had naturally radiating aura on their body's surface.
This was why one way to awaken ordinary people was to use a strike to impact the aura on their bodies and forcefully open the aura nodes all over.
Ordinary people could withstand this "awakening attack" under normal conditions. Even if awakening failed and they died, they'd die from aura depletion rather than being killed by the strike.
But if a Nen user actively entered Zetsu state and tried to withstand an attack full of aura, they might lose half their life even if they didn't die...
Ko was exactly this kind of technique—trading high risk for high destructive power.
Netero raised his arms to block Liam's side kick.
The Ko formed by all the concentrated aura on his feet was slowly deformed by the pressure of the layer of aura on Netero's arms.
Liam focused with Gyo, but he couldn't tell at all when Netero had used Ryu to mobilize his aura to his arms for defense. Even though he'd kicked Netero on the arm, Liam still couldn't sense how much aura Netero had gathered there.
Whoosh—Liam used the momentum to spin around, used Ryu to gather all the aura from his feet into his right fist, and punched toward Netero's face.
Netero subconsciously wanted to slap Liam's exposed body, but stopped midway.
This kid has no aura left anywhere else!
And Netero's palm wrapped with aura was like a divine weapon, while his opponent came up with bare arms.
If Netero touched this flesh and blood body, even if he didn't disembowel the kid, he'd at least break several bones.
Retracting his hand, Netero had no choice but to turn his palm and block Liam's Ko fist.
The impact made Liam's finger bones numb and his clenched fist loosened.
"Ow, that hurts!" Liam grimaced.
"Treacherous brat." Netero grabbed Liam's wrist and threw him out.
Liam flipped nimbly, slapped his hands on the ground, bounced back, and rushed forward with his fist again without hesitation.
Wing's forehead broke out in sweat. He could tell Liam was confident that President Netero wouldn't intentionally hurt a junior, so he had the nerve to use Ko recklessly.
Even though President Netero could see exactly where Liam's Ko was aimed at a glance, even though President Netero could accurately target the gaps in Liam's body that had lost aura protection and easily seriously injure him... President Netero definitely wouldn't do that.
In this case, the biggest risk of Ko no longer existed.
On the contrary, this compressed President Netero's counterattack strategies. He was forced to either defend or attack Liam's Ko-concentrated parts.
How shameless!
The martial artists watching the battle had good eyesight and quick minds. They understood immediately. At the same time, they felt very regretful. Why didn't I think of such a shameless tactic?
If using normal methods, they'd have been thrown out of the ring after receiving some pointers from Netero, just like so many before.
Even Tetsuro, who'd used his Nen ability to force a 50-50 split, was no exception.
Until Liam came on stage. Now under everyone's gaze...
Bang bang bang! Bang bang bang!
Constant sounds of impacts echoed across the field. Around Netero, who stood with his left foot like a pillar, a figure flashed from time to time—punching, sweeping legs. In a continuous offensive, every move was Ko, hitting Netero all over his body without restraint.
This, this was simply treating Netero, the President of the Hunter Association and founder of Shingen-ryu, as the most useful wooden training dummy!
"Idiots! So what if it's a tactical trick?"
Tetsuro, holding his pig-headed, bruised and swollen face, was secretly alarmed while watching the battle. "How many of you can use Ko and fire it off this quickly?"
"And in such a high-density offensive, every punch and kick condenses Ko in different positions... Which one of you can do it?"
"Who can be as fluid as him?"
Anyway, Tetsuro admitted he couldn't do it.
If you asked him to use Ko, he had to concentrate hard. He had to practice combining all the techniques together to achieve Ko. Every step required high proficiency to avoid distraction and truly harden his aura.
Just watching Liam's Ko punches and kicks was enough to make people's scalps tingle. The more knowledgeable they were, the more frightened they became.
Wing was frightened.
Even Pyon and Gel, who'd come to watch the excitement, were very interested. They hadn't expected this young Nen user to be so proficient in the fundamentals.
No matter how talented he was, without day-after-day practice, he wouldn't be able to perform as freely as Liam did.
But Liam, who was fighting Netero on the field—uh, beating Netero like a wooden training dummy—was the one who became more and more alarmed the more he fought.
Old man Netero had truly mastered the use of aura. Liam couldn't see the slightest fluctuation in his movements.
Liam threw a Ko punch, but Netero's palm was already blocking it, as if he wasn't trying to parry at all but Liam was purposely aiming at his hand.
Liam's Ko couldn't even break through Netero's Ten.
Ten could increase defensive power, but it would never increase it this horrifyingly.
No matter how powerful Netero was and how much aura he had, if he wanted to defend against Ko that poured all of Liam's aura into it... even if you added a layer of aura on top of Ten, even just 1%?
Even if it only increased by a negligible 0.1%, the flow and condensation of that little bit of aura should be traceable.
But the result was that Liam couldn't see any movement.
Netero stood there like a stone statue carved into human form. He could talk, laugh, and hit people, but you couldn't feel the slightest movement from him.
Liam was grabbed by the ankles by Netero for who knows how many times and thrown out.
Netero could only throw like this. Liam's feet were condensed with Ko. Other than that, there was no aura at all in his body. They were as fragile as paper. Unless Netero also entered Zetsu, if he touched any other part with his hand, he'd shatter Liam's body... This was the kid's scheme to deceive an old gentleman like him, and Netero was willing to fall for it.
"This kid is progressing so fast."
Netero thought to himself. Maintaining the attack for about twenty minutes, he saw with his own eyes that Liam was condensing Ko faster and faster, and the flow and accumulation of aura on his body surface became smoother and smoother.
"It's like he's trying to imitate me."
As soon as Liam, who'd been thrown away, landed on the ground, he pushed off with one hand and once again left an afterimage of aura on the spot, attacking Netero tirelessly.
Netero stretched out his hand sideways, grabbed Liam's Ko right fist, pushed forward with his palm heel, and punched out with majestic force, shocking Liam backward several steps. Liam clutched his fist and blew on it.
Compared to twenty minutes ago, Liam's Ko intensity hadn't declined at all.
It was clear his potential aura was still abundant.
"Hiss!" Liam grimaced and waved his hand.
The healing power of the Star Mark on the back of his neck quickly eliminated the discomfort in his numb and aching fists.
The fighting—uh, dummy beating—continued with lots of banging sounds.
Liam was working in full swing. It was rare to catch an old man, the world's number one martial arts master, to train with him. How could he give up so easily?
Netero also found it interesting. This kid's moves were perfect, without any flaws. Most valuable was that he persisted for so long without slacking off at all. His fists and kicks didn't lose form at all, as if he were a fighting machine executing martial arts performances meticulously.
You could call him a machine, but he could adapt to situations quickly and without any lag, which really made Netero happy.
Liam's match lasted a full hour.
Everyone watching went from being shocked at the beginning to gradually becoming numb. Ordinary people would lie down from exhaustion even if they just stood still for an hour pumping their fists, let alone fighting with continuous aura? And every punch and kick was Ko filled with all his aura!
Liam could no longer attack Netero like the wind. At this moment, he was drenched in sweat and exhausted. He gathered all his remaining aura in his fist and struck Netero in the chest.
"He's so tired, how can he still muster the aura to complete Ko?"
Gel watched as Liam's last punch landed "lightly" on Netero's chest. It was still enough to crack a stone monument, but it failed to shake Netero in the slightest.
Netero looked the same as he had an hour ago, without a trace of sweat on his forehead. He dispersed the aura in his palms and patted Liam on the head with a smile.
Liam collapsed with a heavy thud. He sprawled out, motionless and dead to the world, eyes fixed on the sky while he caught his breath.
This was the first time he'd used this method—using Ko actual combat to squander all his aura.
"Looks like a full hour of fighting..." Pyon's mind moved, and the calculation was complete. "His total aura is about 19,000 or more, close to 20,000. That's almost an intermediate combatant. But judging from his Ko and Ryu proficiency, how many intermediate combatants in the Association can compare with him?"
"Hehehe, not bad, not bad." Netero waved at Shizuku on the sidelines.
Shizuku walked over and helped Liam up. Liam was so tired his whole body was as limp as a ball of mud, and the sweat all over his body stuck to Shizuku's clothes. Shizuku didn't care at all and helped him back to the sidelines to rest.
Netero was in a good mood and said to everyone, "The exhibition at the front mountain won't end for another three to five days. Let's do this—we'll gather here at 7 AM for the next three to five days like today."
"Who's next?" the old man asked with a smile.
Everyone swallowed. Wing took a deep breath and stepped out. He was thrown out ten minutes later with a bruised nose and swollen face.