[Experience: 10,021]
[Skill: Dual-Hand Machine Gun]
[Franklin's Earrings: Nen bullets +100 attack power]
[Emitter +1]
[Experience: 5,121]
[Skill: Bulging-Eye Fish]
[Conjurer +1]
"Level up."
Hyuga Arin hovered between agony and ecstasy.
The pain of being on the brink of death, the full recovery brought by leveling up, and the godlike sensation from [Brain Amp]—only to be dragged back down to being mortal again.
That cycle kept tormenting him, but he forced himself to endure it.
Especially when he thought of tonight's massive gains—he barely managed to suppress the discomfort.
At this point, only four members of the Phantom Troupe remained.
"Only one of them is still alone."
Hyuga Arin looked toward the final battlefield still shrouded in smoke.
Cheers were rising from the Mafia's side.
Soon, the Phantom Troupe would realize something was terribly wrong.
Fearing they might notice too early, he had resorted to this life-burning combat style.
He needed to reap faster—before they realized the truth.
"I have to speed this up."
He hurled a shuriken into the distance, then used Substitution Technique the moment it reached a certain range.
After chaining more than ten substitutions in succession, he finally spotted a figure wrapped head to toe in bandages.
"Level up."
There was no time to recover—leveling up was his best form of healing.
Bonolenov stopped moving.
Looking at the city that had been engulfed in smoke and chaos, he realized it had grown strangely quiet, punctuated by distant cheers.
"What's going on?"
The boss had ordered a night of total rampage—none of the Troupe members should have stopped yet.
A sense of danger struck him.
He turned toward another street.
A presence had vanished there—either dead or hidden.
The Mafia had hired many assassins; Bonolenov was well aware of that.
Perhaps this time, he was the target.
Separated by only a single building, Hyuga Arin tightened his grip on the blade.
He silently used [Nobunaga's Swordsmanship].
This was a memory-type item, granting him Nobunaga's lifetime of sword experience—
not quite a skill, but close enough.
He took a deep breath and charged straight at Bonolenov.
"For the Ten Dons!!!"
He roared, perfectly imitating the suicidal fighting style of Mafia thugs.
Bonolenov immediately tore off the bandages covering his body, revealing the hole-riddled physique beneath.
He had noticed.
At that moment, Hyuga Arin understood—Bonolenov had already realized something was wrong.
But the arrow was already loosed.
Five skills activated!!
Bonolenov began to dance.
"Battle Cantabile – Prelude!"
Armor and a mask formed around his body, a spear appearing in his hand as he lunged at Hyuga Arin.
"Not Jupiter…"
Hyuga Arin let out a breath of relief.
If Bonolenov had used Jupiter, killing him within three seconds would've been far from guaranteed.
But this was only the Prelude.
Hyuga Arin tilted his body slightly, dodging the spear with ease.
The blade in his hand swept past Bonolenov's neck.
[Experience: 15,368]
[Skill: Battle Cantabile]
[Jajanken Tribe Wind Hole: All attributes +50]
[Conjurer +1]
"Level up."
Hyuga Arin leveled again and slowly exhaled.
In a single night, he had surged straight to Level 31.
[Name: Hyuga Arin]
[Class: Hunter]
[Level: Lv31 (0/15,500)]
[Chakra / Nen: 2880 / 1810 +50 +20 +1000]
[EXP Pool: 34,387]
"Only three left."
Hyuga Arin looked toward Feitan and Phinks, who had already regrouped.
They had realized the truth behind the Troupe members' deaths.
"Looks like I can't continue."
His Byakugan gazed toward a distant smoking building.
If he hadn't promised to leave Chrollo to Hisoka, he could've harvested one more.
The remaining two were troublesome.
Feitan was a speed-type fighter—he countered Hyuga Arin's life-burning style too well.
With that, Hyuga Arin chose to withdraw at the height of his success.
The next day.
Hisoka and Kurapika came to find him.
"You really did something incredible," Hisoka said with a tone of regret.
"The Troupe's down to only four members now."
He didn't mention Machi's death at all.
Hyuga Arin, however, was thinking about something else.
In the prophecy, he would be ambushed by the remaining Troupe members—
which meant Chrollo and these two would seek revenge.
So what role would Hisoka play in that?
"There are only three left," Hyuga Arin corrected him.
"Chrollo is yours."
He turned to Kurapika.
"Do you want to take one? Kurapika."
"What do you mean—are you giving up killing them yourself?" Kurapika asked curiously.
He still very much wanted to deliver vengeance with his own hands.
"I'll take Feitan. That's enough for me."
Under normal circumstances, Hyuga Arin would've taken both.
If possible, he might've even delivered the final blow to Chrollo himself before fleeing back to the ninja world.
But since the prophecy foretold his death, he had to abandon that original plan.
"So, Hisoka," Hyuga Arin asked bluntly,
"where are they now?"
This time, he intended to break all his old habits.
Originally, he planned to vanish for a while after this, hiding behind the Mafia as cover.
But the prophecy made it clear—he was already exposed.
Continuing to hide was meaningless.
Yet Hisoka said nothing—
whether because he truly didn't know, or for some other reason.
Hyuga Arin smiled at him.
Hisoka smiled back just as cheerfully, flicking playing cards between his fingers.
"They moved to another location.
The boss and the other two are preparing to withdraw~"
"Then we end this today."
Hyuga Arin wouldn't give Chrollo's group any time to think.
As long as he moved fast enough, they wouldn't have time to set a trap.
"Let's split targets.
I'll take Feitan.
Hisoka, you take Chrollo.
Kurapika, you take Phinks.
How about it?"
Hisoka inhaled deeply, his face twisting into a look of ecstatic obsession.
"So this day finally comes."
He had waited a very long time for this.
But compared to Chrollo, Hisoka licked his lips—
he was even more interested in Hyuga Arin now.
After finishing with Chrollo, his next target was already chosen.
"Then, gentlemen—let's move."
Chrollo stood with his head tilted back, eyes closed.
Though his face was expressionless, an overwhelming sorrow radiated from him.
"Bastard!!!"
Feitan roared, kicking a wall into rubble.
In just one night, the Phantom Troupe had nearly been wiped out.
Phinks's face was also twisted with barely contained rage.
"Who the hell did this!?
The Mafia doesn't have this kind of power!!"
"Hyuga Arin," Chrollo said softly.
"A ninja from an unknown organization.
A Hunter Association rookie who once defeated Hisoka.
A man with countless methods."
"If I'm not mistaken," he continued calmly,
"he's the one hunting the Phantom Troupe."
From the very beginning, Chrollo had felt something off about the Mafia stealing the prophecy.
He'd had Illumi investigate in detail—and eventually locked onto Hyuga Arin.
This was a hunt.
"You looking for me?"
A voice suddenly echoed through the area.
A massive fire dragon descended from the sky.
BOOM!!!
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