In the slice-of-life world he came from, Aoki Hiroshi had never encountered an opponent this powerful.
Which was precisely why he treasured Neferpitou.
He held back—carefully, deliberately—making sure not to strike too hard, lest he kill her too soon.
She was more than an enemy. She was his whetstone—for honing his mastery over Nen.
"Ten, Zetsu, Ren, Hatsu… the Four Major Principles."
"Aside from Hatsu, which requires emotion and will to form a personal ability, the rest are essentially reflexes—instinctive once you understand them."
"Any halfway-decent Nen user can learn them."
As Hiroshi thought this over, he remained perfectly calm.
Within the Gene-Lock system, the "Four Principles" weren't even considered real techniques.
"The next level: Shu, In, Gyo. Those three are still relatively simple."
Shu strengthened objects with aura. In suppressed one's aura completely. Gyo concentrated it in specific body parts.
"After that comes En, Ko, Ken, Ryu—true high-level Nen control."
"Advanced techniques."
A normal Nen user might need years to master them. But me? I don't need that kind of time."
Gene-Lock was inherently compatible with all supernatural systems.
No grinding. No endless training arcs.
Just unlock. Unlock. Unlock.
Until he reached Stage Four—where power synergy became perfect, and he could wield any supernatural force at 100% capacity.
He was only at Stage One.
But with Nen's C-rank simplicity, Hiroshi had already figured out all the advanced techniques.
…
Of course, that's not what it looked like to Kite.
"Out of stamina?" Kite muttered, his face tightening. His giant scythe faded and reformed into Crazy Slots.
The roulette spun—landing on number 3.
A unique wand appeared in his hand, short and strange in shape.
"Yeah… that fight lasted a full minute," Kite murmured. "No way he's still got energy left."
"Rookie… you've done enough."
"I'll take it from here."
With solemn resolve, Kite stepped forward, wand in hand.
But neither Neferpitou nor Hiroshi even acknowledged him.
Kite paused, mildly embarrassed.
…
In the distance—
"Did big bro run out of strength?" Gon asked, tilting his head. He glanced at Kite's comments, confused.
But something didn't feel right.
No—it felt wrong.
Quite the opposite.
Aoki Hiroshi's threat level was rising.
"It doesn't feel like he's weakening at all," Gon murmured, scratching his head."If anything… he's getting stronger."
…
…
"Hah! DIE!"
Thinking she'd correctly read his limits, Neferpitou launched herself once again.
But this time—Hiroshi didn't dodge.
He raised his fist—and punched.
Ten + Zetsu + Ren + Hatsu + Gyo =
Ken.
All of his aura instantly condensed into his fist.
"No—NO WAY!"
Terror twisted Neferpitou's face.
But she was mid-air. She couldn't dodge. Couldn't change course.
She could only watch in horror as that glowing fist slammed into her chest.
BOOOOM!!
The sheer force of aura exploded like a cannon blast, shredding through her aura shield and annihilating her chest cavity—destroying her heart in a single blow.
Her body was sent flying.
Scalding blood rained down in a crimson arc.
Expression calm, Hiroshi shifted into Ryu, adjusting his aura flow. He activated Ren to reinforce his defense and blocked the incoming blood splatter with subtle aura movement.
THUMP THUMP THUMP—!
Neferpitou's limp form smashed through several thick trees before crashing to a halt.
She crumpled into the ground.
The entire upper half of her body was mangled, reduced to a grotesque heap of flesh.
"…Ken?"
Kite's pupils contracted. He nearly shouted.
His gaze locked onto Hiroshi, stunned.
"That was an advanced Nen technique?"
"You're kidding me. Who taught him that?"
"Don't tell me… he figured it out himself?!"
Kite instinctively looked toward where Neferpitou had landed.
Through his Gyo-enhanced vision, he saw her aura rapidly dispersing—gone in mere breaths.
She was dead.
This terrifying creature—one of the Royal Guards of the Chimera Ant King—had been killed… in a single punch… by a rookie.
"That warm-up you mentioned… you were serious?!"
Kite turned back, utterly shocked.
"Wait… don't tell me she was your training dummy?"
A terrifying realization dawned.
"You were using her… to practice Nen techniques?"
It sounded absurd. But every instinct screamed it was true.
To Hiroshi, that terrifying beast wasn't frightening at all.
She was a training partner.
"That technique was called Ken, huh?" Hiroshi said lightly, not denying it.
He masked the truth with a smile.
"Didn't feel that difficult. At its core, it's just concentrating aura in one spot, right?"
Kite's jaw fell open.
He wanted to yell: That's an elite-level technique! Something only the best Nen users could hope to master!
But when he thought about what he'd just witnessed—Hiroshi awakening Nen, mastering Ten, and now executing Ken with no teacher—Kite couldn't speak.
"So this is what the world of geniuses looks like…"
"Where things we sweat blood to grasp… are just 'basic' to them."
…
Elsewhere—
Gon was equally speechless, jaw dropped in awe.
"That was Ken, wasn't it…?"
"A perfect Ken. Full aura compression, flawless execution, and a seamless retraction into full-body flow afterward…"
"Even Biscuit-sensei can't pull it off that smoothly."
He remembered his own struggles.
On Greed Island, he'd spent months training just to learn high-level Nen techniques.
And even now, his mastery was incomplete.
"But that big brother… he figured it all out on his own."
Gon exhaled, wide-eyed.
"I've been called a genius too…"
"But this guy—he's a genius among geniuses."
"Biscuit-sensei would probably have her eyes popping out right now…"
Just imagining that made Gon grin.
…
…
"I'm Kite. Two-Star Biological Hunter from the Hunter Association."
Kite introduced himself, then asked:
"And you are…?"
"Aoki Hiroshi," Hiroshi replied casually, sitting down on a broken stump. "As for where I came from, who I am, or why I'm here—don't ask. I'm not going to answer."
Kite choked.
The question died in his throat, forced back with a bitter swallow.
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