I'm Really Not A Nen Exorcist (HxH Fanfic)

"I'll go get the number plate."

Pokkle stowed his bow and cautiously moved past the unconscious snakes and bees.

These venomous creatures were Bourbon and Ponzu's treasures. If he accidentally steps on one or two of them to death, they'd undoubtedly give him a hard time.

Soon, Pokkle came to the unconscious Moses, and bent down to reach for the number plate on his chest.

But at this moment-

Moses's eyes snapped open and he looked straight at Pokkle.

Pokkle's face changed instantly. He jerked his right hand back, and at the same time, he pulled out the small knife he carried with his left hand and swung it towards Moses without hesitation.

Unfazed by the knife's gleaming edge, Moses's hand darted forward, bypassed the blade, and grabbed Pokkle's wrist.

Immediately afterwards, with a casual tug, Moses slammed Pokkle into the ground.

Thud-!

Several unconscious venomous snakes were crushed under Pokkle, instantly ceasing to breathe.

After subduing Pokkle, Moses slowly stood up under the astonished gazes of Urtaido, Ponzu and Bourbon.

"Let me teach you two things."

Moses glanced at the shocked trio and said calmly: "First, never celebrate too early. Second, when you decide to go all out, don't give your opponent any room to breathe."

Before he finished speaking, Moses raised his foot and kicked Pokkle in the side.

Bang.

Pokkle's body was sent flying, colliding with Bourbon.

Both of them were launched, crashing heavily against a tree.

Bourbon, who was used as a cushion, fainted on the spot, while Pokkle was better off. He did not lose consciousness, though he was left gasping and coughing.

"My arrow… cough cough… it definitely hit him..."

While coughing, Pokkle stood up and looked at Moses, who was completely unharmed.

Urtaido and Ponzu hurried to Pokkle's side, their expressions tense as if facing a formidable enemy.

The methods used by their team are mainly based on poisons and anesthetic.

First, the venomous creatures turned against them, and then the double anesthetics failed to work.

At this moment, they are at their wits' end.

"How can you be so certain that your arrow 'definitely hit me'?"

Moses raised his finger and lightly touched the small scratch on the collarbone, then moved his fingertips slightly and, under the trembling gaze of Pokkle's eyes, gently cut a similar scratch.

"As long as the timing is right, even a minor sacrifice can turn into a fatal trap. The 'reality' you see has never existed in the first place."

Facing Pokkle's incredulous gaze, Moses put his index and middle fingers together and wiped the two wounds. A small amount of blood adhered to his fingertips, and the wound that looked like it had been scratched by the arrow disappeared without a trace.

At this moment, Urtaido and Ponzu, who were standing next to Pokkle, also understood why Moses hadn't been knocked out.

'That wound—'

'It was a trick from this examiner to mislead us!'

After realizing this, they couldn't help but feel a chill run down their spines.

This strength, which was beyond mere physical prowess, left them unnerved.

Pokkle's pupils dilated, his body trembling.

'We've been had...'

With indescribable emotions surging in his heart, Pokkle took a deep breath. He didn't want to give up just like that, so he asked:

"The sixth rule clearly states that the examiner can't initiate attacks against the examinees, right?"

"So, do you think what I did just now was retaliation or an attack?"

When Moses heard Pokkle mention the sixth rule, he asked back calmly.

Pokkle was suddenly speechless.

'Indeed-'

The rule only state that examiner wouldn't initiate attacks, but it doesn't not say that they cannot fight back.

Ponzu thought of something and continued, "But the sixth rule also says that the examiner won't inflict any substantial harm on examinees!"

"That's right."

Moses turned his gaze toward Ponzu and smiled, "That's why Pokkle still has the energy to recite the sixth rule for me."

The implication is that-

If it weren't for this rule, Pokkle would be flat on the ground by now, unable to muster the strength to speak.

Ponzu was speechless for a moment when she heard this.

"Hmm?"

Pokkle's eyes suddenly shrank, and he reflexively raised his hand to touch the part of his body where he'd been struck, realizing there was no pain left at all.

'What's going on?'

'Those two attacks I just received didn't seem like acting, did they?'

Pokkle was dazed for a moment.

Moses noticed that Pokkle was checking his injuries and said, "There's no need to be so surprised. I just simply controlled my strength a bit. That's why you weren't actually harmed."

"…"

A heavy silence blanketed the area.

These words, which were said twice in a short period of time, made Urtaido, Pokkle, and Ponzu feel an indescribable sense of suffocation.

'Trying to snatch the number plate from this monstrous examiner...'

'Was a mission doomed to fail!'

'If it weren't for the protection of the rules and this examiner's super leniency…'

'Maybe we won't even have a chance to carry out our plan.'

Seeing the undisguised despair on their faces, Moses offered a final reminder:

"Take some time to understand the rules better."

After saying that, Moses simply stood there without making any further moves against Ponzu and her team.

Pokkle thought they'd already failed the third phase, but after hearing Moses's reminder, he suddenly realized something.

'It's not over yet!'

'As long as we don't take action, he won't take action either.'

'Therefore, under the premise of 'not suffering substantial damage', even if we fail in one attack, we can always regroup and try again the second, third, and fourth time...'

After understanding this, new hope was ignited in Pokkle's heart. At the same time, he also deeply understood how much of an advantage the sixth rule gave examinees like them.

But even so…

Pokkle still felt a chasm between them and Moses, a gap that seemed insurmountable.

'Such power, such terror!'

'This is... Moses Isaac!'

…

Bang!

Crack, crack-

A figure went flying, crashing through several treess.

The loud commotion echoed for a great distance.

But in the next moment, the figure got up as if nothing had happened and shouted, "Examiner, you broke the rules!"

That figure was none other than Hanzo.

And the one who sent him flying was one of Moses's shadow clones.

For the third stage, six locator devices had been prepared, two each in red, yellow, and green.

Hanzo's team's red locator was broken by Hisoka, so they'd snatched a yellow one from another team, leading to this current battle.

"…"

Facing Hanzo's loud protest, the shadow clone remained expressionless and said nothing.

Not one to let things go, Hanzo looked off in one direction, raising his hand and shouting: "Hey, over there! You're with the Review Committee, right? The examiner just violated the rules—what are you planning to do about it?"

"…"

The cheeks of the Review Committee's member hiding in the dark twitched several times, and he ignored Hanzo.

Kurapika, who was on the same team as Hanzo, couldn't stand it anymore and sighed, "The rule only states that the examiner won't attack first, and the examiner's actions just now can only be defined as a counterattack at best."

"Huh?"