Chapter 10: Ch10 Almost X Won
– Training Room.
< Around 12'o >
Akira who had been meditating since earlier slowly opened his eyes with a frustrated expression. ' I don't know why despite the feeling I was close to unlocking it, something is blocking me from going further.'
Akira couldn't help but grit his teeth from frustration. He felt he just needed one step from unlocking it but he doesn't know why he still can't take that step.
He then looks at his two friends who team up to get the ball from Chairman Netero. Both of them struggle even though Netero can only use one of his hands while the other has a restraint.
Netero himself added one more handicap to himself after using Nen to get back the ball earlier.
Gon dashed forward making Netero frown and said.
" Your attacks are getting simpler and boring."
Netero then steps back just barely enough to not get hit by Gon's kick. but he didn't expect that Gon would kick off his shoes to increase his attack range and make it reach him.
Killua didn't waste the opening Gon created and followed it with an attack to the back of Netero's head making him stumbled and lose the grip on the ball
" A chance!." Killua shouted as he jumped to catch the ball in the air.
Netero used his feet to kick the ball up to the front to distance the ball from Killua. He then positioned his body and dashed to get the ball.
Then a shoe flew towards the ball making it escape from Netero's grasp, It was Gon's other shoes. He kicked it seeing how Netero almost got the ball again.
" You and your little tricks!." Netero blurted out.
Gon and Killua flickered forward almost at the same time. Although it seems both of them would get the ball now just like what happened earlier before the two could ever snatch the ball it disappeared from their sight.
Netero used his Nen to amplify his speed by using Nen on his feet. He bumped into the two on action making them fly side and fall to the floor.
This time Akira felt the aura much clearer than before, He could see a faint whitish aura from Netero. Akira showed a delightful look since if he could see the aura meant that he succeeded in unlocking the aura nodes.
( A/N: As I said he won't unlock his Nen anytime soon. He can't use Nen Aura, It's just his aura nodes in the eyes being opened. The reason why, Akira opened his aura nodes in the eyes is because of his sensitivity to aura.)
" I commend you on your efforts," Netero said as he spun the ball on his finger. " Finally giving up now?." Netero smiled looking at the two kids who were on the floor now after chasing and attacking him for an hour.
Killua looks irked seeing how they still cannot defeat Netero despite the handicap he had. ' Damn... he's making a fool of me!.'
Killua then slowly walked to the side circling Netero and then all of a sudden another killua appeared and then became two, or three until a lot of killua appeared.
A lot of after images of Killua appeared, Netero, Gon, and even Akira were surprised at Killua's technique. Akira despite having already seen it before in the anime, was still in awe seeing the real thing with his eyes.
" A lots of killuas!." Gon exclaimed with sparkling eyes.
Killua used Rhythm Echo wanting to make an opening.
But it wasn't enough to fool Netero. Killua silently rushed from behind but Netero easily saw through his attack.
Killua kept on attacking Netero although it wasn't really Netero but the ball, Killua's focus wasn't entirely on the ball but also on Netero's movement. Gon also joined in wanting to join the fun and suddenly dashed seeing a chance but it was stopped by Netero. He ducked down and let Gon dash past him and then Gon and Killua crashed into each other making them fall down again.
Akira burned down the memory of how Killua used Rhythm Echo to learn it from him after the exam. He was also amazed at how Netero kept up with the stamina of the two despite how he looked. But he remembered the effect of Ten on the body and just thought of it as normal in the fiction world.
Killua looked pretty frustrated but he calmed himself quickly"Forget it... I give up. I lose!."
Then Killua slowly stood up and walked toward the door.
" Why? We still have time though." Gon asked as he looked at the clock. He then looks to Killua before continuing. " And we had a lot of close calls like just now."
" Jeez. Do really think so? Exclude his right arm handicap, he barely uses his left foot. But we're still powerless against him." Killua said looking more irked than before.
" What?." Gon couldn't help but blurt out looking at Netero.
" We could chase him around for a year, but will never take the ball from him," Killua said as he put his clothes on his shoulder.
Netero just looks at the two arguing with each other while waiting to resume the game.
" But we still have Akira, If we team up we should be able to take the ball now," Gon said as he pointed his finger to Akira.
" No, Akira wasn't athletic type. And even if he was we couldn't still beat that Old man. Let's go Gon!." Killua said as he walked out the door.
" Oh, I'm gonna play a little longer," Gon said.
Killua came back and pounded at Gon. " Are you an idiot!."
" Go and take a rest now Gon, We still have a third phase tomorrow," Akira said as he shook his head at Gon.
" Yeah, tell him Akira!." Killua said as he dragged Gon out of the room.
" But..." Gon said but got interrupted by Akira's words.
" Just take a rest now, I'm the one who's gonna play with this geezer!." Akira said as he pointed his thumb to Netero.
" Ah, didn't you hear what I said?! It's useless! Let's just sleep." Killua yelled to Akira.
" Well, I just wanted to play with this Geezer for a bit. I'll follow you guys after this." Akira said as he pushed Gon out of the room.
" Near the Examiner's private room, that's where Leorio and Kurapika staying," Akira said to the two before closing the door.
Netero just standing looking at Akira with interest."Don't tell me you think you had a chance of winning against me alone?."
" Y'see it. But before starting I wanted to ask. What are the rewards you said I wouldn't want to pass?." Akira said while stretching.
" Well, I don't plan to hide it, I've been wondering since before if I'll take a disciple or not. And I am considering picking one from this year's hunter examinees." Netero said as he put the ball on top of his head while balancing it.
Akira removed his red vest and his yellow neckerchief. He began to jump and down before taking a deep breath. " So it's an apprenticeship, I would gladly take it for myself!."
Akira then walked slowly toward Netero before rushing out. Although he knew Netero would likely read his attack since that old man had a lot of fighting experience is what he was really aiming for. To fought a strong experienced fighter to make sure he survived until the end of the exam.
He then suddenly throws a punch in Netero's stomach but stops before the contact. Since he knows that Netero can compress his muscle to make it tougher. The punch was a feint and he sent a kick to his face but it was blocked by his arm.
He jumped back distancing himself from Netero. " So a simple feint won't work..." Akira mumbled to himself.
" Hoho~, it's 10 years too early for you to try and fool me," Netero said as he dribbled the ball. 'He is too focused on attacking me rather than the ball.'
He then circled Netero while fastening his pace. He keeps on doing it until Netero is in his attack range. He launches a kick to the back of Netero's knees wanting him to fall to create an opening. But just like earlier, it was easily blocked by his arm. He then followed his attack with another kick towards his arm holding the ball making Netero lift the ball to dodge his attack. He then stabilized his body before twisting it launching another kick toward Netero.
It was blocked again but it was followed by a punch in the abdomen which connected and made Netero grin. ' A combo... Interesting. Look like I won't be bored until sunrise.'
***
– Training Room.
< Around 2'o in the morning >
Inside the training room, two people were chasing around the room, it was Akira and Netero. Akira keeps on sending a barrage of attacks to Netero which the latter dodges and blocks the attack.
Netero then jumped up escaping from the tackles from Akira. Netero frowned seemingly confused about Akira's intention.
' Since earlier even once he didn't try to get the ball. ' Netero thought as he dodged another attack from Akira.
Akira is drenched in sweat right now. It was almost two hours since they started but only a few times his attack reached Netero although it was still guarded by his technique of toughening the body by tightening his muscles.
' I did get used to using my body now, It's time to end it.' Akira thought as he suddenly stopped moving before closing his eyes.
' Does he finally give up?.' Netero thought while he kept on looking at Akira.
Akira took a deep breath before slowly opening his eyes and taking a small step forward and then the next happened surprised Netero to the core. He saw three Akira in front of him.
It was Rhythm Echo that Killua used before. After Akira got used to his new body, He applied what he saw controlling his rhythm and copying what he saw before. The boost sense he got from the body plus his opened nodes in the eyes makes it possible.
Unlike how Killua used his rhythm echo earlier. Akira used the afterimage of himself to attack Netero and rather than Killua who was using a silent gait making his footstep soundless, Akira did the opposite by simultaneously producing a sound. Akira devised it wanting to confuse the old geezer and create a chance for him to land an attack. He knew that a normal Rhythm Echo wouldn't work just by seeing how he responded to Killua's rhythm echo.
Akira wanted to use his newly learned Rhythm Echo like Shadow Clones that's also the reason why he devised it. So he also attacked Netero with his created afterimages. Because of Netero's shock, he didn't notice Akira was already closing their distance but when he came back to himself it was already too late. Akira's punch connected to his gut.
Netero felt the punch and quickly stepped back with a puzzled look. He was confused about what was happening. He didn't expect to see someone using Rhythm Echo as he owned it after just seeing it once.
On the other hand, Akira's showing a delighted look with a wide smile seeing his attacks connected to the Oldman despite knowing he couldn't deal any damage. " I WON!!!."
Akira shouted at the top of his lungs because of the excitement of successfully landing an attack from Netero. He also fulfilled his tasks of learning the Rhythm Echo much faster than he initially planned.
Netero looked stunned by how happy Akira was even though he didn't get the ball. ' Rather why he didn't snatch the ball? That was his only chance?'
" But you didn't win," Netero said with a smirk pointing his finger to the ball on his hand.
" Ah, that's right! the ball!." Akira cried out before suddenly falling down from exhaustion.
He looks up at the ceiling before speaking. " But I'm satisfied with the outcome. I did get land a solid hit to the former strongest Nen user after all!."
Netero looks more surprised at the fact Akira was satisfied not winning the match than how he knows Nen or his former title. Netero couldn't help but chuckle at how Akira's smile didn't leave his face despite being asleep.
" Who cares, I did get some fun." Netero then took out his phone and dialed the pilot of his airship. He contacted the pilot to ask him to slow down the travel pace.
***
Hi, Sooyoung here!
It's been a while since I updated because of the nonstop schoolwork. Please understand and to make up for it. I did make this chapter much longer. Well, the other reason why this chapter is longer is because I already uploaded 10 chapters.
I hope you guys enjoy it. If you have some questions or Ideas please just comment them.
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