Hyūga Akira chose Comprehension.
After thinking it through carefully, he came to a clear conclusion:
there were many ways to obtain skills—but experience points were hard to farm.
At his current level, it looked like he had plenty of experience to spare.
But later on, that surplus would disappear quickly.
In the early game, having many skills was indeed an advantage.
In the late game, however, skill levels were what truly mattered.
To fuse higher-tier skills, multiple max-level skills were required—and that meant an ever-growing demand for experience.
A player's strength was never sustained by level alone.
In the endgame, the real bottleneck was always skill progression.
As his choice locked in, a method of using chakra to stimulate and develop the brain surfaced in his mind.
From now on, activating [Brain Enzyme] would no longer just suppress pain or regulate emotions—it would also dramatically enhance his comprehension.
[Brain Enzyme (Lv.10)]
Status: Max Level
Trait: Comprehension
Akira immediately began channeling chakra and activated Brain Enzyme, wanting to test its effects.
In an instant, his vision seemed to brighten.
His mind entered a state of unprecedented clarity—like someone who had been half-asleep for their entire life suddenly waking up completely.
The world itself felt different.
Colors became vivid.
The green of plants was sharper.
On the brown bark of a tree, ants crawled clearly into view.
Even the moisture suspended in the air felt tangible.
"It's like… becoming a god," Akira murmured.
For a brief moment, he felt as if nothing were beyond his grasp.
He quickly pulled his thoughts together and focused on taijutsu—his own, and Hanzo's.
The two combat styles were dismantled and recombined in his mind at lightning speed.
Gentle Fist, which had once lain dormant, was drawn in as well.
Gentle Fist subtly triggered Eight Trigrams: Air Palm.
A new taijutsu framework—one perfectly suited to him—began to take shape.
At the same time, something hidden deep within Gentle Fist slowly surfaced.
Just as Akira was about to dig deeper—
The world suddenly dimmed.
The rapid, blazing flow of thought came to an abrupt halt.
Akira rubbed his brow.
Only a trace of chakra remained in his body.
His instincts had detected danger and forcibly cut off chakra usage.
"This state is dangerous," Akira said, taking a deep breath.
The sudden termination of Brain Enzyme felt like falling straight from the sky into a muddy pit.
The sense of loss was intense—almost unbearable.
He quickly adjusted himself, took out a Low-Grade Mana Potion, and drank it in one gulp.
His depleted chakra began to recover slowly.
He opened his status panel.
[Skills]
Transformation Technique (Lv.10)
Substitution Technique (Lv.10)
Brain Enzyme (Lv.10)
Gentle Fist (Lv.6)
Fire Release: Shiranui (Lv.4)
Bear-Force Hand (Lv.4)
Eight Trigrams: Air Palm (Lv.4)
Byakugan (Lv.3)
Clone Technique (Lv.2)
Medical Ninjutsu (Lv.2)
Two-Tiger Style: Fire Heavens (Lv.1)
Fire Release: Great Fire Dragon Technique (Lv.1)
Rotation (Lv.1)
[Experience Pool: 1236]
Both Gentle Fist and Air Palm had increased by one level, and a new skill had appeared.
[Rotation (Lv.1)]
EXP: 0/500
Trait: None
"I've basically squeezed everything out of the Hyūga main family," Akira muttered as he carefully felt through Rotation.
If he were to use Rotation, it would probably be on par with Hyūga Hizashi.
"Max-level skills really are broken," Akira sighed.
"But Brain Enzyme can't be used often. The side effects are too heavy."
Brain Enzyme consumed an enormous amount of chakra.
In just a short activation, it had raised two skills.
Of course, that was also because Gentle Fist and Eight Trigrams techniques were things he'd practiced since childhood—once the key ideas clicked, a level-up was natural.
Other skills wouldn't see results this dramatic.
Hanzo's taijutsu had also been successfully integrated into Gentle Fist.
However…
The godlike sensation during Brain Enzyme activation, followed by the crushing sense of loss when it ended, was genuinely dangerous.
A world of vivid color collapsing into one covered in gray dust—
all in the span of moments.
It felt like falling from heaven straight into hell.
Akira glanced at the unconscious Hanzo, then leapt into the trees and left.
Hanzo was no longer of any use to him.
A cold wind passed through the forest.
The unconscious Hanzo shivered.
The next day.
Akira moved swiftly through the forest, Byakugan scanning his surroundings.
The island wasn't large, and most examinees were quickly picked up by his vision.
Soon, he spotted two familiar figures.
"Found you."
He changed direction and closed in rapidly from the treetops.
Ahead, Leorio and Kurapika were gathered together, discussing something in low voices.
Akira's speed was completely undisguised.
Kurapika sensed it instantly.
He turned sharply toward the forest, twin blades appearing in his hands.
"Something's coming."
"Kurapika, what is it?" Leorio spun around as well, pulling out a short knife and bracing himself.
A moment later, they saw Akira land lightly on a tree branch, waving casually.
"Yo. You two."
"It's that weird guy!" Leorio shouted in shock.
"The one who walked on the cliff!"
Akira's temple twitched.
"Calling someone 'weird' to their face is pretty rude, you know."
Kurapika asked coldly, "Which one of us is your target?"
Akira chuckled.
"Asking that so directly… what, planning to hand your badge over voluntarily?"
Kurapika shook his head.
"No. But you're facing two of us alone. That's not an easy fight. I suggest you reconsider."
He genuinely didn't want to fight Akira.
In his eyes, Akira was the same kind of dangerous existence as Hisoka.
Akira snorted and jumped down from the tree.
"Sorry, but right now—
you're both far too weak."
He kicked off the ground and rushed them.
"Bastard! Don't underestimate us!" Leorio roared, slashing forward with his knife.
Akira barely paused.
He slipped past the blade and kicked Leorio squarely in the chest, sending him flying.
Kurapika hurled a blade connected by a chain.
Akira summoned his bronze blade and knocked Kurapika's weapon aside, stepped in half a pace, and slammed the back of his blade into Kurapika, sending him flying as well.
Together, they weren't even close to his level.
"The outcome's obvious," Akira said, shrugging.
He twisted his body, dodging Leorio's desperate sneak attack from behind, and snapped his hand like a whip into the back of Leorio's neck.
Leorio's eyes rolled back as he collapsed unconscious.
Before Leorio hit the ground, Akira smoothly took the hidden badge from his chest.
[Experience +34]
Akira turned to Kurapika, who had just regained his footing and was preparing to attack again.
"Still want to fight? The gap between us is pretty obvious."
Kurapika took a deep breath… then lowered his weapons.
Akira nodded at him, then leapt back into the trees.
He had no interest in getting entangled with the protagonist group any further.
A few bounds later, his figure vanished completely.
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