But Kurapika didn't notice anything at all.
At this moment, he wasn't a match for the thin, middle-aged man in front of him.
Kaizen hesitated.
"Never mind."
"I've already gained plenty from the Kurta Clan."
"This last one percent of progress... I'll make up for it through Kurapika."
"This trouble—I'll handle it."
Just as the thin man was about to make his move, Kaizen flicked his wrist.
Whoosh!
A needle shot toward the middle-aged man at an astonishing speed.
It struck true.
The poison from the Crystal Feather Bone spread instantly.
The man was a Nen user, but not a strong one. He couldn't withstand the poison at all.
Thud!
A moment later, the man collapsed.
Kurapika remained oblivious.
Kaizen continued trailing him.
...
Two days later.
Finally.
Kurapika entered a city, and at that moment, the progress bar within Kaizen's crystal sphere reached 100%.
Kaizen focused.
A door appeared before him.
He stepped through, entering the Sumas Space.
An empty expanse stretched out before him.
"Sumas really is convenient."
"Before, whenever I wanted to create a new Nen Beast, I had to invest a massive amount of aura and concentrate fully. That left me vulnerable to attacks."
"But now, things are different."
"I can enter Sumas Space directly."
"No one can threaten me here."
Kaizen closed his eyes.
"Begin."
In an instant, he felt his aura surging into the crystal sphere at an incredible rate.
It was the same as before.
The color of the crystal sphere began to shift.
Boom!
A sound echoed in his mind. Immediately, Kaizen felt his consciousness being pulled into another space. Shadows flickered into view.
A boy with short black hair and a manic grin.
A one-eyed youth with dark, piercing eyes.
A little girl with short hair and thick-rimmed glasses.
A plump cat sitting upright.
A middle-aged man with long black hair, clad in crimson armor.
The next moment, all the figures rushed into the crystal sphere.
Crack!
Kaizen's consciousness snapped back at a dizzying speed.
Moments later, he opened his eyes.
With a single thought, a figure materialized before him.
Short black hair. A gray short-sleeved top. Dark ninja pants. A thick purple rope tied around his waist. His aura carried a shadowy intensity.
A name surfaced in Kaizen's mind.
"Sasuke Uchiha."
Kaizen wasn't entirely surprised.
After all, the Kurta Clan and the Uchiha Clan shared many similarities.
Scarlet eyes.
Genocide.
A lone survivor.
Eyes that granted powerful abilities.
Kaizen focused again.
Raiken, Natsu, Killer Queen, and the Lantern Ghost materialized one by one.
He distributed energy evenly among them.
Yet, the Nen Beasts' aura levels varied significantly.
Natsu's aura remained the strongest.
However, to Kaizen's surprise, Sasuke Uchiha's aura surpassed both Raiken and Killer Queen.
The power of Kaizen's Nen Beasts stemmed from three key factors:
The aura he provided.
The depth of knowledge he had about them—their background information.
Their inherent traits.
At this moment, the aura he supplied was equal among them.
Thus, the real differences lay in background information and innate characteristics.
For traits, the Fiora Kingdom far surpassed the Zoldyck Estate, and the Zoldyck Estate was greater than Heavens Arena.
The Kurta Clan, at best, rivaled Heavens Arena, but they weren't stronger than the Zoldycks.
"Could it be because of the Scarlet Eyes?"
"That disease from the Dark Continent... did it somehow surpass the Zoldyck Estate?"
"Or is it due to Sumas?"
Several theories flashed through Kaizen's mind.
"Regardless, this is a good outcome."
Initially, he hadn't expected much from absorbing the Kurta Clan's traits.
But now, it was clear that his journey to their hidden settlement had yielded tremendous gains.
He had successfully fused Natsu and Akutagawa Ryunosuke into a single Nen Beast, significantly boosting its power.
He had acquired an ability akin to Sumas.
He had captured an A-rank and a B-rank adversary.
And Sasuke Uchiha—his newly created Nen Beast—had far exceeded his expectations.
"This secluded place of the Kurta Clan turned out to be my lucky break."
Kaizen turned his gaze to Sasuke Uchiha.
"Right now, Sasuke possesses the Three-Tomoe Sharingan, Fire Release, and Lightning Release."
"His Fire Release isn't particularly valuable—Natsu's flames surpass it. But his Lightning Release... that's an ability I didn't have before."
"The Three-Tomoe Sharingan grants incredible dynamic vision."
"As for the Clone Technique and Substitution Technique, they won't see much use."
"The Transformation Technique, however, could prove handy."
"Sasuke isn't particularly skilled in genjutsu, and against Nen users, illusions have limited effectiveness. People with strong mental fortitude are less likely to be affected."
"And Nen users tend to have formidable mental strength."
Suddenly, Kaizen noticed something.
A crystal sphere, almost identical to his Observer's Will, had appeared on Sasuke's body.
A flood of information surged into Kaizen's mind.
His eyes widened.
"Sasuke isn't at his full potential yet."
"If I can absorb more traits related to Scarlet Eyes, he'll evolve even further."
"Right now, he's at the Three-Tomoe stage."
"But if he evolves again... wouldn't that mean a Mangekyō Sharingan?"
A Three-Tomoe Sharingan was already impressive, but a Mangekyō?
That would be a game-changer.
Amaterasu, Tsukuyomi, Susanoo...
Those were abilities of the Mangekyō Sharingan—devastatingly powerful.
Kaizen couldn't help but feel excited.
"But according to the old man, the Scarlet Eyes are a disease. If Sasuke wants to absorb that trait, I'll have to go to the Dark Continent—the place where the Kurta Clan was first infected."
His journey was far from over.
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