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——Boundary Line——
Leo rolled his shoulders, his bones letting out a faint clicking sound.
The black linear patterns on his body writhed slowly. He looked up at Sliva and Zeno, a slight smile playing on his lips.
"Out of respect for you two Seniors, I let you have the first move. Now, it's my turn."
His voice was calm, but a blazing Battle Intent burned in his eyes.
"I hope you can hold out."
"Shift."
The black patterns on his body flowed with light.
Agility, increased by fifty percent.
Strength, Defense, and Regeneration decreased simultaneously.
Increasing Agility was enough—to be so fast they couldn't react, so fast they couldn't block.
The moment the words left his lips, Leo vanished from before them.
The ground where he had been standing exploded into a pit, soil flying and debris scattering, but no one saw how he had left.
Only a violent gust of wind whistled past Sliva's ear.
Sliva's pupils constricted suddenly.
His body reacted instinctively—it was too late to dodge or parry, so he could only barely manage to use 'Ryu,' frantically gathering his Nen into his left arm.
In that split second, he felt the air to his left being torn apart.
Leo's right foot lashed out violently toward Sliva's left side.
"Bang—!!"
A dull thud exploded, accompanied by the crisp sound of bone cracking.
Sliva didn't even see the trajectory of the kick; he only felt an irresistible force surge through his left arm, and then the entire world began to spin.
He flew dozens of meters, his body tumbling through the air as he smashed through four large trees in succession—crack, crack, crack, crack—each one snapped in half as wood chips flew everywhere.
Finally, he was embedded into a massive boulder, with rubble falling and burying half his body beneath it.
Leo did not give chase.
The moment he kicked Sliva away, his figure vanished again, reappearing before Zeno in the next instant.
Zeno's pupils shrank to the size of pinheads.
He saw Leo's fist enlarging before his eyes.
It was a plain, unadorned straight punch. There was no technique, no flashiness—only pure speed and power.
But he couldn't dodge; it was too fast.
So fast that even though he saw it clearly, his body couldn't keep up.
His combat instincts forced him to cross his arms in front of his chest while a massive amount of Nen frantically gathered in his forearms to form 'Ko.'
"Boom—!!"
The fist smashed into Zeno's crossed arms.
Zeno felt a colossal force transfer from his arms; it was as if he had been struck by a meteorite. His feet left the ground, and he was sent flying backward.
He flew over ten meters, desperately trying to adjust his posture in mid-air to stabilize himself.
The very moment he landed—
Leo had already appeared behind him.
A chill ran down Zeno's spine.
He didn't even have time to turn around before Leo's right leg was raised high and brought down like a guillotine, sweeping across Zeno's back.
"Bang!!"
"Pfft!"
Blood seeped from the corner of Zeno's mouth. His body was like a ball being kicked away, flying forward once more.
He crashed through several large trees, kicking up a cloud of dust, slammed heavily onto the ground, and bounced twice before finally coming to a stop.
Leo retracted his leg and stood where he was.
His breathing was steady, and the black patterns on his body shimmered with a dark luster under the sunlight.
He looked toward where Zeno and Sliva had fallen; he didn't pursue them, just stood there quietly.
The situation had reversed.
Kalluto stood by a distant rock, looking utterly dazed.
His mouth was slightly agape, his eyes wide, and his fiery red pupils were filled with disbelief.
He looked at his fallen father, then at his fallen grandfather, and then at Leo standing in the center of the clearing. His mind was a total blank.
He never expected that in the blink of an eye, his father and grandfather would be beaten by Leo to the point where they couldn't even fight back.
It seemed his worries were in vain...
But now, he was more worried that Leo might actually kill his father and grandfather.
He was even more conflicted now...
"Leo!"
Kalluto finally couldn't help but shout out loud.
"Can you please show some mercy! I'm begging you!"
His voice echoed through the valley, tinged with urgency.
Leo heard him.
He turned his head, looked at Kalluto, and waved his hand.
"Don't worry. Your family isn't that easy to kill."
His lips curled up slightly, his tone relaxed.
"I'm holding back."
Hearing Leo's words, Kalluto let out a long breath.
His shoulders relaxed, and his fingers gripping the Paper Fan loosened.
Looking at Leo's calm face, a surge of complex emotions filled his heart—gratitude, admiration, and an inexplicable bitterness.
Two seconds later, there was movement in the ruins.
Sliva pushed aside the rubble weighing on him and stood up from the crater in the boulder.
His left arm hung unnaturally at his side—it was broken. Blood flowed down his arm, dripping onto the rubble and soaking into a small patch of dark red.
But there was no expression of pain on his face; he didn't even frown.
He flexed his right hand, his gaze remaining cold and sharp.
Zeno also stood up from the wreckage of the trees.
He brushed the dust off his clothes with a composed manner.
Blood seeped from the corner of his mouth, but it was only a minor bone fracture that didn't affect his movement.
His eyes remained sharp, perhaps even brighter than before.
Leo looked at the two of them, a slight smile on his face.
"Do you two still want to fight?"
Zeno didn't speak.
He brushed the wood chips off his sleeves, straightened his collar, and then looked up at Leo.
There was no anger or resentment in those eyes; it was as if he were looking at an old friend, or perhaps a junior.
"As expected of a Disciple of Shingen-ryu."
He spoke slowly, his voice raspy but steady.
"That old fellow Netero finally has a successor."
He remembered that when he was still an infant, Netero was already an old man.
That old guy always used to tease him with a smile, making him cry, and then laughing heartily.
Now he was old, and Netero was even older, yet still so powerful.
And now that old guy's Disciple stood before him, beating him and his son to the point where they couldn't fight back.
It made him sigh with emotion; the world truly was unpredictable!
Zeno took a step forward, walking toward Leo.
Sliva glanced at Zeno, said nothing, and followed beside him.
Their pace was neither fast nor slow, but every step was steady.
There was no retreat or fear in their eyes, only the kind of persistence that belonged to an assassin.
Leo watched them approach and grinned.
That smile wasn't one of mockery; it was excitement.
It was rare to encounter such good opponents and rare to experience a battle of this level.
His blood was boiling, his heart was racing, and every cell in his body was screaming—Come! Come! Come!
He kicked off the ground, causing it to explode into a pit as soil flew and debris scattered.
His figure vanished and reappeared between the two of them in the next instant.
Zeno and Sliva reacted simultaneously.
Years of combat experience meant they didn't need communication or eye contact; their bodies moved faster than their consciousness.
Sliva instantly condensed a Nen Bullet in his right hand and thrust it directly toward Leo's chest.
Zeno raised his hand like a blade, stabbing straight for Leo's throat.
Their attacks arrived at the same time, without delay or opening.
Leo didn't dodge.
He ignored their attacks and threw both fists toward their chests.
"Bang! Bang!"
Four sounds rang out almost simultaneously.
Sliva and Zeno were sent flying, their bodies tracing two arcs through the air.
Two blooms of blood also erupted from Leo's chest—Sliva's Nen Bullet had blasted a bowl-sized wound in his chest, leaving it a bloody mess, while Zeno's hand-blade had pierced a hole below his collarbone, causing blood to spurt out.
But he didn't budge an inch, nor did he take a single step back.
Granulation tissue at the edges of his wounds began to proliferate, weave together, and heal at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Three seconds.
In less than three seconds, the bleeding stopped.
In five seconds, the wounds shrank by half.
In ten seconds, his skin was restored as if new, leaving not even a scar.
Trading injury for injury—this was Leo's fighting style.
His physical toughness combined with the recovery power of 'Final Moment' allowed him to endure any damage, as long as it wasn't a fatal blow.
But his opponents could not withstand his fists.
Zeno and Sliva landed, staggering a few steps before stabilizing themselves.
Their expressions were even more solemn than before.
It wasn't because they were powerless to fight back, but because—the wounds they had inflicted had already healed.
While their own bodies were still in pain.