Chapter 123: Hisoka's Defeat
The brief pause in the action only heralded a far more violent storm.
The Susanoo raised its massive skeletal hand again, hammering down toward Hisoka's position. Ronin remained safely ensconced within the glowing red ribcage.
He wove seals for the Phoenix Flower Jutsu. Flaming petals streaked out from the gaps in the Susanoo's armor, systematically incinerating every drop of Bungee Gum Hisoka had left on the arena floor.
Hisoka's movements had become visibly flawed. To track Ronin through the environment, he had to use his black magician's cloth to "sweep" for invisible traps before every step.
Despite the camouflage of Texture Surprise on his "healed" arm, he was constantly on the defensive. He kept firing threads of aura to the floor, using the elasticity to pull his body through high-speed, evasive bursts every time the Susanoo's fist descended.
The Susanoo's strength was absolute. A direct hit would end the match instantly. However, its movement speed wasn't top-tier, giving Hisoka a sliver of room to dance.
But that room vanished when the fire joined the fray.
The intense heat of the Phoenix Flower might not have been lethal on its own, but it acted as a perfect "cleansing" agent. The moment a fireball touched a thread of Hisoka's detached Nen, the aura was consumed by the flames.
Without his Bungee Gum leashes to boost his acceleration, Hisoka was a sitting duck for the skeletal avatar.
The referee's count continued to climb.
By the time Hisoka's arms hung limp at his sides and his clothes were saturated with a mixture of sweat and blood, the referee blew the whistle.
"T.K.O!"
Ronin had landed enough high-scoring "clean hits" with the Susanoo to reach the 10-point victory threshold.
In a final act of desperation, Hisoka had tried a "all-or-nothing" strike.
He had used Bungee Gum to bundle a massive pile of rubble, reinforced it with Shu, and used the full tension of his aura to launch it like a catapult at Ronin's chest.
The impact caused the Susanoo's ribcage to fracture, spiderwebs of red cracks appearing in the aura-construct. But it didn't shatter. The protection held, and Ronin remained untouched.
Ronin was actually impressed. He hadn't expected Hisoka to possess enough destructive power to even crack the Susanoo.
Granted, his Susanoo was still in its initial skeletal stage. Moreover, to conserve Chakra for a possible post-match ambush, Ronin had deliberately throttled his output. The Susanoo was smaller and less dense than its maximum potential.
If Ronin had gone all-out, Hisoka's strike wouldn't have even scratched the surface.
Still, that single punch was the most powerful attack Hisoka currently possessed.
Even Hisoka could tell that Ronin was playing with him. The boy had purposely left an opening for that final strike just to see what the Magician could do.
The match was a masterclass in suppression. From the moment the Susanoo appeared, Hisoka's only hope was to outlast Ronin's stamina.
The Susanoo was a massive drain, but Ronin's ocean of aura (POP) was more than enough to see the fight through to its conclusion.
As the whistle blew, Ronin breathed heavily, sweat stinging his eyes. His vision was slightly blurred from the strain on his Mangekyō, but he was in far better shape than the broken Magician on the floor.
Hisoka simply lay on his back, staring at the arena's high ceiling. His breathing was a ragged rasp, but his expression was one of ecstatic joy.
He had lost. Completely.
But he was satisfied. His current arsenal couldn't pierce Ronin's fortress.
It wasn't a defeat that discouraged him. It was an invitation to grow stronger. He needed more power. Much more.
"Stay a moment," Ronin said, walking over to the fallen Magician. "Once I handle some business, I'll use my medical abilities to fix your arms. I'd rather our next match not be against a cripple."
The Susanoo had vanished, but Ronin kept his Mangekyō Sharingan active.
He knew the real fight was only just beginning. He was waiting for the inevitable intervention from the Zoldyck family.
His "exit strategy" was already prepared: the Flying Raijin marker on Kurapika's kunai. At the first sign of a lethal threat he couldn't tank, he would vanish.
Hisoka didn't decline the offer.
He sat up with a grunt. "You're strong. I prepared for this day, but it seems you still have more toys than I do."
"You were preparing. So was I," Ronin replied with a small smile.
He had respected Hisoka's strength from the start. The Magician's improvisational skills were elite. The way he used Texture Surprise to hide his aura had almost caught Ronin off guard.
If the Susanoo hadn't been an absolute defense, the fight might have gone differently.
Hisoka smiled back. "I'll challenge you again. I hope you'll accept."
"I'd love to say you won't have the chance—that I'll simply outgrow you and leave you in the dust," Ronin said with an arrogant, cool confidence. "But I'll accept. Just bring me some new surprises next time."
"Arrogant brat!" Hisoka laughed. If Ronin kept growing at this rate, his claim was likely true. But the Magician wasn't about to give up his seat at the table easily.
Ronin didn't reply. His head snapped toward the spectator stands.
Through the Sharingan, he spotted a tiny object hovering in the air, moving toward the ring.
It was the size of a honeybee.
To a normal person, it was invisible. To Ronin's dynamic vision, it was a mechanical drone moving in a slow, clumsy arc.
It possessed no aura. It was a pure machine.
The image of a fat, reclusive genius flashed in Ronin's mind.
Milluki Zoldyck. The specialist in cyber-warfare and explosive drones.
POOF!
The bee-drone didn't even get close before it detonated.
The sudden flash of fire and noise was a perfect distraction, drawing every gaze in the stadium.
In that millisecond of blindness, a tiny figure materialized behind Ronin like a ghost.
A skeletal, withered hand—literally skin and bone—lunged for Ronin's heart.
Maha Zoldyck.
☆☆☆
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