HxH: I Will Be Supreme

Brown received the news as soon as he stepped off the airship: his residence had been occupied by Oboro, the eldest of the Fells family. Every single Nen user under his command had been eliminated, with no survivors.

Despite having anticipated this outcome, Brown's heart pounded in his chest, his composure barely maintained. His armed forces currently controlling the various families remained in position, having not returned to the palace without direct orders.

Brown immediately sent word to his subordinates to abandon their posts monitoring the gangs and evacuate quickly. Eliminating Oboro had become the paramount priority.

He returned to the base first, accompanied by Sato and the other two. Within half a day, more than a dozen black cars drove into the normally restricted palace grounds, making their way to the square. Their path was lined with maggot-infested corpses emitting a nauseating stench.

Brown stepped out of his car, his face dark as pitch. His eyes fixed on the man by the fountain, whose clothes were dirty and crusted with dried blood. Uncontrollable murderous intent radiated from his gaze. Never since securing his position among the Ten Old Men had he suffered such a devastating blow. If word of this got out, his reputation would be irreparably damaged.

"I've been waiting quite a while. What took you so long to return?" Oboro lounged against the stone platform, his posture relaxed, greeting them as if they were old friends. He showed no sign of concern.

"You did a great job!" Brown forced the words through clenched teeth. Everyone present could see the pile of decomposing bodies arranged before Oboro.

"I'm not interested in you," Oboro said, raising the corner of his mouth as his gaze shifted to the black-clothed ninja. "Sato, that's your name, right? This isn't our first meeting. During my stay here, you were always watching from the shadows. Tell me, have you formed an opinion of me?"

Brown's fists clenched at being ignored. "Why?" he asked, struggling to maintain his composure.

"No particular reason. I just feel I could hold the position of the Tenth Old Man better than you," Oboro said softly, baring his teeth in a grin. "Besides, you've wanted to eliminate me for a long time. Isn't this how things work in the underworld? Do we need reasons?"

"Ignorance," Brown spat out.

Oboro smiled, studying Brown's face as he slowly stood, running fingers through his hair. "Don't count on your armed forces. They won't be coming."

Brown's heart skipped a beat.

"Doesn't it strike you as strange? How I knew exactly when you left? Your confusion means nothing to me. I even know how many people you brought with you."

Realization dawned on Brown's face. "Who? Who betrayed me?!"

Someone among the Ten Old Men had broken their sacred rules. Internal matters were supposed to be handled internally only.

"Two people, actually. One for profit, the other bearing a grudge against you," Oboro explained. "Nothing is absolute. You're not the only one with well-trained forces. Though she can't move openly, she's experienced in the underground. Once you're dead, your contracts and rules become meaningless." His words made it clear that another member of the Ten Old Men had sent forces to interfere in Brown's territory, not to help him, but to aid Oboro.

At its core, it stemmed from the nature of underground forces and human nature. The Ten Old Men were no exception.

"It seems you're not very popular," Oboro observed.

"Damn that bitch!" Brown cursed, a woman's face flashing in his mind as his eyes grew bloodshot. Then suddenly, something occurred to him. He exhaled, regaining his composure.

He pulled out a cigarette, letting one of his men light it. After taking a deep drag, he said, "Very good. Excellent work! But you missed one crucial point."

"Once you're dead, everything ends. That woman won't dare move against me, or she'll lose her place among the Ten Old Men!"

He gave Sato a subtle signal. The ninja stepped forward silently, instructing another Nen user to protect Brown.

Oboro walked toward Sato, excitement building on his face. "Your aura is different from the others. It's powerful."

"Thanks," Sato replied quietly as they drew closer.

Oboro raised his hand, revealing a human face button. "Turn it on!" he commanded with familiar rhythm.

"Oh?" Seeing Oboro openly use his Nen, Sato let out a faint sneer.

"What?" Oboro sensed something wrong, danger signals flaring in his mind.

Before he could react, a small bullet cut silently through the air toward him.

Though just a bullet, its impact resembled a missile strike. Thick black smoke and flames erupted with a deafening explosion, its power terrifying.

One kilometer away, atop a palace dome, stood one of Brown's three strongest Nen users. He held a sniper rifle, one eye covered by a high-tech electronic monocle capable of both telescopic and magnifying functions.

"Shh!" The sniper whistled, satisfied his shot had found its mark. "How terrible... killing all those others by himself."

He loaded another special bullet. His ability allowed him to compress the destructive power of various ammunition types into tiny bullets, incendiary rounds, grenades, armor-piercing shells, explosive charges. The bullet he'd just fired contained the compressed power of a tank-launched missile.

Though compression reduced the overall destructive force, it could still demolish a building, let alone a person. His Nen ability was extremely lethal, limited only by his inability to fire rapidly and its high aura consumption.

"One more shot," the sniper murmured, adjusting his aim and concentrating his Nen through his eyes.

But as the smoke cleared, his target had vanished.

"Where did he go?"

He saw Sato running toward him at alarming speed, gesturing urgently in warning.

The sniper's hair stood on end. Oboro was approaching his position!

"You can still move after taking my shot?" The sniper's momentary surprise gave way to a smile. "It won't be easy to catch me."

His ability demanded he fight at range while avoiding detection. His skill at concealing his presence was profound.

The sniper gathered his aura, using his special technique to isolate himself from detection. He leaped down from his perch, gun in hand, moving to a new position to await Sato's signal once the target was engaged.

On the ground, Sato sprinted at full speed, pursuing the figure ahead of him. He could see that Oboro had indeed been struck by the bullet, but it had only grazed him! This was the drawback of his companion's Nen ability, compression reduced the projectile's size. Though this increased its speed and stealth, it created a slight delay before detonation.

Oboro had only been caught in the explosion's aftermath. Sato was terrified, he knew his companion's marksmanship was impeccable. This meant Oboro had made a microscopic adjustment to his body in mere milliseconds with inhuman reaction speed, creating an illusion of being hit. Even Sato doubted he could achieve such precise control.

Half of Oboro's torso was covered in blood, injured only by the initial impact. In the instant his flesh was disrupted, he had stabilized himself through sheer physical prowess, leaping clear of the smoke. He minimized the secondary damage from the explosion's shockwave and tracked the bullet's origin to locate his hidden attacker.

Sato gave chase immediately. They couldn't let Oboro find the sniper!

"At that moment, he focused all his aura on the point of impact," Sato analyzed as he ran. "Rather than simply increasing his aura output, he used condensation to concentrate it in one spot, then layered it with Ken for additional protection, increasing its density. Finally, he used Ko to eliminate excess aura from other areas, achieving 100% defensive focus!"

This strategy allowed Oboro to maximize his defense at the cost of leaving the rest of his body completely vulnerable. An incredibly risky move, but also the most effective.

Initially, Oboro had maintained a balanced Ken state with attack and defense both at 50%. But in an instant, he had redistributed his aura with unprecedented precision and control. This level of Nen mastery terrified even Sato.

No wonder he had managed to eliminate Green and the others. The entire sequence had happened in a flash!

Though Sato, trained as a ninja since childhood, had always prided himself on his speed, the gap between them was actually widening. He couldn't catch Oboro, whose footwork was particularly exceptional.

They raced through the intersecting palace corridors like twin bolts of lightning, one pursuing the other. Suddenly, Oboro leaped upward, using the building's wall as a springboard to reach the roof where the sniper had been positioned.

From his vantage point, after several breaths, he locked onto a shadow several hundred meters away. Someone was there, apparently unaware they'd been spotted.

"Watch out!" Sato shouted from below as Oboro launched himself into the air.

The sniper jolted as if electrocuted, spinning around to see a streak of light zigzagging between buildings, closing the distance with impossible speed.

"How can he be so fast?!" The sniper's face drained of color.

Oboro had calculated his target zone based on the bullet's trajectory and typical sniper ranges. Using his superior speed to create a time differential, he knew that if his target hadn't managed to relocate, he could find them once in close proximity.

Moreover, the sniper wouldn't have used Ko from the start, only concealing his presence after realizing he was discovered. This meant traces of his aura would linger.

Though others might miss it, Oboro could detect it. The time window had been too short for the traces to dissipate completely.

His gamble paid off.

Oboro flipped through the air and landed, driving his fist downward with crushing force. The impact shattered the Nen user's body, killing him instantly.

Ignoring Sato's pursuit, Oboro turned and ran back the way he'd come. The battlefield needed to be elsewhere.