'Am I being targeted now...? Well, it certainly fits his personality.'
Based on his understanding of Hisoka, those few words were enough to let him know he had caught the eye of this 'fruit farr.'
He didn't feel any fear regarding this developnt.
If the other man wanted a fight, Zane had nothing to fear.
After all, as a pirate, he was notoriously headstrong.
Moreover, he had gained quite a lot from this battle.
Zane looked down at his right fist, which was still wrapped in Armant Haki.
As he released the Haki, a faint, steam-like aura began to seep from his fist.
During that last punch, Hisoka had reacted quickly, using [KEN] just in ti to defend.
In other words, at the mont of impact, Zane had also been hit by a counter-shock of Hisoka's Nen aura.
Armant Haki had blocked so of that counter-shock, but Zane had intentionally allowed a portion of it to bypass his defenses.
The result was exactly what was happening now—the steam-like aura emanating from his right fist.
The aura nodes on Zane's right fist had been forcibly pried open by Hisoka's Nen.
That was right.
Zane possessed aura nodes too.
Whether it was part of his pirate physiology or a benefit from the Bronze Gate, the existence of these nodes was undoubtedly a boon for Zane.
It ant he could fully master Nen.
Holding his breath, he focused his mind.
Watching the Nen aura leaking from his right fist without the pressure of Hisoka's presence, Zane imdiately began attempting to control it.
To Zane, the opened aura nodes on his right fist were like receiving a key.
With his physical conditioning and willpower, it was hardly a challenge; he quickly brought the Nen aura under control.
BOOM!!!
Using the aura from his fist as a source, the Nen quickly spread up his arm and throughout his entire body.
Within a breath or two, all of Zane's aura nodes were flung wide open, causing a torrential surge of Nen to erupt from him like a blazing fla.
The powerful impact shook the surrounding air, cracking the grass beneath his feet and whipping up waves of pressure.
"What's going on?"
"What happened?"
"Zane, are you okay?"
Gon and the others behind him were caught off guard and pushed back by the shockwave.
The three of them stumbled to steady themselves, looking at Zane with shock and uncertainty.
They couldn't see the Nen aura itself, but they could certainly feel the gusts of wind it generated.
Seeing Zane suddenly engulfed in a whirlwind of air, how could they not be stunned?
Of course, this was only because the Nen Zane released wasn't laced with malice; otherwise, Gon's group wouldn't have gotten off so easily.
The surging Nen aura continued to pour out of Zane's body through his aura nodes.
Even though his nodes had just been opened, the sheer volu of Nen Zane displayed was extraordinary.
"Oh? He's adapted that quickly? And such a massive amount of aura... he really is becoming more and more exciting."
Deep in the foggy forest, Hisoka, who had already distanced himself, suddenly stopped and looked back.
Sensing the turbulent Nen emanating from behind him, Hisoka's grin widened almost to his ears.
His pupils quivered.
Hisoka gripped his own arms so hard his fingernails dug in, drawing blood.
"Calm down... it's not ti yet..."
Hisoka muttered in a hollow, demonic whisper.
He exerted every ounce of his will to suppress the excitent in his heart and the urge to turn back.
Zane had clearly opened his aura nodes during their recent fight.
In other words, Zane still had plenty of room to grow.
The fruit he wished to taste needed to ripen; it was still green, and he had to wait.
The sharp pain from his self-inflicted scratches helped him regain so composure, and he quickly hurried away.
He was afraid that if he stayed any longer, he wouldn't be able to resist the temptation to harvest Zane before the fruit was ripe.
Hisoka's figure soon vanished into the thick fog.
Back to Zane.
The eruption of surging aura didn't last long, subsiding into tranquility after just a few monts.
But this didn't an the Nen had run out or disappeared.
Instead, within that short span of ti, Zane had firmly brought the wild aura under control, making it flow slowly and wrap around his body like an invisible film.
This was precisely the basic Nen technique: [TEN].
"I'm fine. I just learned a new power from Hisoka."
After getting the Nen under control, Zane let out a slow breath. He turned back to reassure the anxious trio while loosening up his limbs.
Controlling Nen was much easier than he had anticipated.
'Well, compared to Armant Haki, Nen is actually easier to manipulate.'
"A new power?"
Zane's words left Gon and the others dazed.
"I'll explain the details later. For now, let's catch up with the others!"
At Zane's call, the three of them snapped out of it. Pushing their questions aside, they hurried after Zane once more.
Gon was born with a keen sense of sll, allowing him to track by following even the faintest scents.
Thanks to this, even though Zane and the others had fallen far behind because of Hisoka, they finally managed to reach their destination in ti.
"Whew, glad we're not late."
"Looks like we made it."
Standing before a manor and successfully regrouping with the other candidates, Leorio and Kurapika both breathed sighs of relief.
Zane ruffled Gon's spiky hair and praised him, "Nice job, Gon. You really saved us this ti!"
Though Zane could have found the way by following the trails left by the other examinees, Gon's sharp nose had undoubtedly saved them a lot of trouble.
"It was nothing!"
Gon gave an embarrassed chuckle at the praise.
Suddenly, his eyes lit up as he spotted Killua jogging toward them.
"Gon!"
"Killua!"
Reunited, the two boys imdiately greeted each other with excitent.
"I'm surprised you guys made it in ti. I thought you were done for," Killua remarked as he approached.
"There were so unexpected issues along the way, but we managed to pull through," Kurapika added with feeling.
"Exactly!"
Hearing this, Leorio and Gon nodded in firm agreent.
Then, the three of them simultaneously cast subtle glances toward Hisoka, who was standing in the crowd not far away.
Hisoka had, of course, passed as well.
Killua was sharp enough to notice their behavior.
Following their gaze, he imdiately spotted Hisoka nearby.
He beca thoughtful.
'Did Gon and the others really clash with Hisoka?'
With that thought, he carefully observed the state of the group.
He soon noticed signs of battle on both Zane and Hisoka.
In contrast, Gon and the other two looked relatively unscathed.
Killua imdiately drew a conclusion in his mind.
'From the looks of it, Zane was likely the only one who actually fought Hisoka.'
He marveled silently.
'Who knew Gon's friend was actually this strong?'
While he didn't know the full extent of Hisoka's strength, the man's terrifying aura was unmistakable—he was definitely a dangerous expert.
'To engage with such a master and erge unscathed, Zane's own strength was surely nothing to scoff at.'
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