Chapter 47: Haze vs. Sato (1)
As soon as Brown disembarked from his spacecraft, he received shocking news: his residence had been taken over.
It was Haze, the head of the Shield family.
All Nen users under Brown's command had been killed without exception.
Although he had expected trouble, Brown's heart still raced at the news, and he could not hide his unease.
His forces were controlling the other families and should not have returned to the palace without his orders.
Brown immediately instructed his subordinates:
Don't worry about the gangs for now. Evacuate quickly.
The top priority now: eliminate Haze.
He, Sato, and the two others returned to the base first.
In less than half a day, more than a dozen black cars entered the normally restricted palace zone and reached the courtyard. On the way, they passed nothing but filthy, worm-infested corpses.
The car stopped, and Brown stepped out, his face as dark as the bottom of a pot.
He looked at the man sitting by the fountain, clothes dirty and crusted with grime.
His eyes were overflowing with uncontrollable murderous intent.
Since rising as one of the Ten Donss, Brown had never experienced such a decline.
If this were known, he would fall from grace.
"I've been waiting for you for centuries. Why have you just returned?"
Haze leaned back, hands resting on the stone platform, looking languid, as if greeting an old friend.
There was no sense of urgency.
"You've done a fine job!"
Brown ground his teeth as he spoke.
Everyone saw the pile of rotting flesh stretching out before Haze.
"I'm not interested in you…"
Haze lifted his lips and fixed his gaze on the black-clad ninja.
"Sato… that's your name, right? This isn't the first time we've met. During my stay here, you've been watching from the shadows… so, do you understand me well?"
Seeing Haze ignore him, Brown clenched his fists.
"Why?"
He managed to keep his composure.
"For nothing… I just thought I could maintain the position of the Ten Donss… maybe even surpass you."
Haze bared his teeth and whispered:
"Anyway… you've wanted to get rid of me for a Haze time… isn't that normal in the mafia? Need a reason?"
"…"
"Ignorance,"
Brown replied in two words.
Haze smiled, looked him in the face, slowly stood, and ruffled his hair.
"Don't count on your armed forces. They won't get through…"
Brown's heart leapt.
"Doesn't it seem strange? How do you know the exact time I left? Your deception… is useless. I even know how many people you brought with you…"
A thought suddenly struck Brown:
"Who? Who?!"
Someone among the Ten Donss had betrayed him!
According to the "rules," this was impossible!
Matters among the Ten Donss should only be handled internally.
"There are two people, one motivated by profit and the other by resentment… Nothing is absolute. Not only do you have well-equipped forces; others do too. Even if she doesn't act openly, she's highly skilled in dirty tactics… as a gangster, she's an expert. If you die, contracts and rules among you can be diluted or abolished…"
Haze's words made Brown realize immediately that one of the Ten Donss had sent troops into his territory not to help him, but to help Haze.
The root of the problem lay in the clandestine nature and human flaws of the underground forces.
"Seems… you're not very popular," said Haze.
"Bitch!"
Brown's mind flashed with the image of a woman. He cursed furiously, eyes bloodshot.
Suddenly, an idea struck him, and he exhaled, calming himself.
He pulled out a cigarette, lit it for his men, and took a deep drag.
"Alright… you did well! But… there's a crucial point you missed…"
"As Haze as you're dead… it's over. That damn woman won't attack me personally… otherwise, she couldn't remain among the Ten Donss!"
He looked at Sato, who understood and stepped forward silently.
He ordered another Nen user:
"Protect the boss."
The man nodded.
Seeing this, Haze also approached Sato, face showing interest.
"Your aura… is different from the others. Very strong…"
"Thanks," said Sato, moving closer to Haze.
Hearing this, Haze muttered two words softly.
He raised his hand and materialized a button with a human face.
"Activated!"
A familiar voice, a familiar rhythm.
"Huh."
Seeing Haze use his telekinesis directly, Sato on the other side sneered slightly.
"Eh?"
Haze sensed something was off; a feeling of crisis washed over him.
Before he could react… a small bullet silently shot through the air and hit him.
It was just a bullet, but Haze seemed hit by a missile. Dense black smoke and flames erupted with the explosion, the power terrifying.
A kilometer away, atop a palace dome, a man watched.
One of the three strongest telekinesis users under Brown's command.
He held a sniper rifle, a monocle over one eye
a high-tech device with telescopic and zoom functions.
"Shh!"
Seeing his shot hit, he whistled and sighed:
"Terrifying… I took out all those guys by myself!"
He loaded another special bullet.
His ability compressed destructive power and effect into a tiny projectile incendiary, grenade, piercing, or explosive.
The last shot had been a tank-fired missile, compressed to fit a bullet. Though slightly weaker, it could still destroy a building or a person.
His telekinesis made him deadly, but he couldn't fire continuously, and it consumed much telekinesis.
"Another shot…"
He adjusted aim and angle, activated telekinesis, and focused.
But…
he saw no target among the smoke and flames.
"Where's the target?"
He saw Sato running at incredible speed, waving his hand as a warning.
He shuddered Haze was approaching his hiding spot!
"You can still move after being shot?"
The sniper smirked:
"Not so easy to catch me…"
His skills required fighting from a distance, without detection.
He mastered aura concealment.
Not easy to spot…
He unleashed supreme power, isolating his energy from the outside his unique skill.
Then, holding his weapon, he jumped from a strategic high point, repositioning.
He waited for Sato to locate the target, signaling him.
On the ground, Sato chased frantically.
He could clearly see Haze had been hit, but dodged narrowly.
This was a disadvantage of his Nen technique; the compressed bullet increased speed and stealth but delayed detonation.
Haze was struck by the force after the bullet exploded, not the explosion itself.
Sato was horrified his comrade's aim was flawless; impossible to miss.
In other words, Haze adjusted his body in a fraction of a second with supernatural reflexes, creating an illusion.
Few could react so efficiently.
Blood ran down Haze's torso from the initial force.
In that split second, he stabilized with incredible agility, shooting out of the smoke minimizing secondary damage.
Following the bullet's direction, he lunged at the enemy in the shadows.
Sato followed immediately.
He could not let Haze reach his comrade.
"At that moment, he concentrated all his nootropics in the affected area… not just practicing, but using concentration technique: focusing, entangling, increasing density, and removing excess… achieving 100% nootropic defense!"
Sato's mind raced, eyes cautious.
Haze maximized defense, but the rest of his body, unprotected by nootropics, was exposed.
A risky yet effective move.
Audacity and caution.
Originally, Haze used his Jian state 50% attack and defense covering the body.
In a blink, he redistributed nootropics meticulously beyond anything Sato had ever seen.
Even without considering his Nen skills, his nootropic techniques alone terrified Sato.
No wonder he had killed everyone in Green…
It all happened instantly.
Truly on another level.
As a ninja trained from childhood, Sato had confidence in his speed but even closing the distance, he couldn't immediately stop the sniper.
Their footwork was extraordinary.
They were like two ethereal lightning bolts, dashing through the palace streets.
Moments later, Haze leapt into the air, bouncing aHaze building walls, landing on the roof where the sniper had been.
From his position, he scanned the area seconds later, he spotted a dark zone several hundred meters away. Someone was there.
The sniper, seemingly unaware, held his weapon, hurriedly retreating.
"Watch out!"
Sato, arriving at the palace base, looked up Haze already airborne. He shouted.
The sniper's body trembled as if electrified.
He turned suddenly, seeing a lightning-fast figure zigzagging between buildings, then dropping from above.
"How… so fast!"
The sniper's face turned pale.
Haze had jumped from the rooftop his arrival unimaginable.
Initially, Haze couldn't detect the target too far away.
But judging from the bullet's trajectory, he approximated the sniper's position.
Using speed to manipulate timing, he could locate the target before they closed in.
Even if others couldn't detect it, he could.
The short time left a "trail," which he used.
And indeed… he succeeded.
Wham!
Haze hit the ground, clenched his fists, and attacked fiercely.
He struck the Nen user; with a blast, the body shattered and died instantly.
Ignoring Sato, Haze escaped, returning the way he came.
The battlefield shouldn't be here…
(End of Chapter)