Chapter 23: Restriction X Reward
The bald ninja's dagger dissipated in the blue smoke due to the condition he set on this specialized Nen Smoke. So, he blitzed as fast as he could toward Sinbad.
It took Sinbad a three tenths of a second to understand his current circumstance, even though Hanzo shouted the name of the previous smoke bomb, this was entirely different. With his vision completely gone, he relied on his memory. Since the dagger didn't come, Sinbad assumed that Hanzo teleported.
Sinbad unleashed his Nen in the form of Ren to protect himself from every angle. The overwhelming pressure from the sudden eruption of his Nen shook the stadium.
However, the man didn't come within the expected time frame.
'He can't teleport within this cloud of smoke,' Sinbad deduced. With his vision and aura sense turned completely off, Sinbad focused his attention on his ears, listening for any minute detail. The ninja's footsteps were silent, devoid of any sound, however as the sword sliced through the air. Sinbad's ears picked up the sound of the cutting air.
Sinbad twisted his body to dodge the downward diagonally slash, however the edge of the blade sliced along a three centimeters across his flesh, cutting him and his purple coat. Unbothered, Sinbad spun and backpedaled, taking three long jumps to return to the center of the square arena.
"Wow! Hanzo is the first to draw blood!" Cocco screamed from shock. "Sinbad is acting strange since Hanzo unleashed this second smoke bomb!"
The referee waved his hands. "Clean hit! One point to Hanzo!"
"This is different," Gilgamesh mumbled. "Only Sinbad can't see from within the smoke."
Zushi leaned forward, scared for his fellow student. "Is this true, Sensei?"
"Yes, Zushi," Wing answered, sensing the other students' attention falling onto him waiting for his explanation. "As I mentioned before, one dedicated to defeating a singular person for revenge can be dangerous."
In distress, Killua stuffed his mouth with popcorn. "How is this happening?"
"This is called a Nen Restriction," Wing revealed, keeping his gaze on the dangerous situation Sinbad got himself in. His focus locked onto Sinbad as he forced Hanzo to move in his calculated predictions by haphazardly swinging his sword but due to limited eyesight and sensing, he still received damage from Hanzo. "A self imposed rule to achieve the goal of the Nen User by limiting the usage to only one person will further enhance the ability. Since everyone could see Hanzo that would mean, he only restricted this blindness to Sinbad. He is fighting in complete darkness."
Sinbad suffered two punches to the stomach, an elbow to his right shoulder, a deep cut into his left forearm, numerous numbing kicks into his thighs, a laceration into his right calf, and a thin gash into his right cheek. Thanks to Sinbad's overwhelming amounts of Nen, these were the only damages he sustained, if it were to be anyone else in the audience, they would have been dead by now, except for Gilgamesh and Hisoka.
Hanzo accumulated nine total points and only needed one more point to win.
However, all this time, Sinbad remained cemented at the center of the arena. He would have taken much less damage but he was eager to complete the condition for his Nen Ability rather than winning the match because Sinbad always thought for the future.
Sinbad King's Court: This Nen Ability allows for Sinbad to manipulate the area that has now been claimed as his Kingly Court that all parties inside of his court must follow his rules or restrictions. Sinbad must infuse his Nen from the center of the vicinity for it to work.
As the tile fighting arena bursted in a golden brillaince, signally the completion of Sinbad's Nen Condition, Hanzo distanced himself from him as a precaution.
"Nothing in my Court shall go unseen!" Sinbad announced as his golden crowd shined. His word became law within the space he claimed which was the entirety of the fighting arena, manipulating the rules to his own benefit. He opened his eyes and as light poured in, his vision returned to see the stress on the ninja's face. With this command, Hanzo's Nen Restriction was negated.
Sinbad pointed the end of his curved blade at Hanzo and smiled. "Found ya."
At this reveal, the crowd buzzed from excitement, feeling the wind of the fight shift in Sinbad's favor. However, this only brought him to square one, he still needed to earn ten points to win. The girls in his fan club cheered, squealed, and sighed in relief as Sinbad regained his ability to see.
"Would you look at this, folks!" Coccoshouted, rising from her seat. "Sinbad has regained his vision and that confident beautiful smile of his."
In fear of Sinbad's unexpected defeat, Pokkle and Killua clung onto each other like scared girls as they imagined monsters lurking in the darkness. Now, with Sinbad regaining his vision, they unlatched themselves from each other a bit embarrassed and cheered for him.
'He imbued the arena with his Aura and is manipulating the rules within his territory,' Wing concluded Sinbad's Nen Ability more accurately than anyone since he witnessed the boy's Water Divination results. 'This boy is much scarier than I thought.'
In response, Hisoke rose from his seat, watching the boy's arrogant smile. His hands shook and trembled with excitement at the reveal of Sinbad's Nen Ability, restraining himself from jumping down from the audience and killing him.
Machi's eyes widened in stupor. 'What are the limits to this Nen Ability? Thankfully, his rules are applied to everyone within his claimed territory. Wait… What would happen if he were to leave the King's Court and then make his rule?'
She shook her head, hoping to never find out the results.
Gilgamesh continued watching with disinterest and disappointment.
Back at the center of the arena, Sinbad felt the loss of Nen required to make his command and the Nen released to limit the injuries accumulated during the fight. Still on the outside appearances, Sinbad looked in perfect condition.
Even with his Nen running at about fifty percent, his En returned and since he was still standing at the center of the arena, Sinbad poured more of his Nen into his claimed territory.
Every Nen User in attendance all thought the same thing simultaneously. 'Can he make more than one rule?'
However, this was all a lie to build confusion.
And it worked.
Desperate to get Sinbad out of the middle and stop him from making a second command, Hanzo created another Vanishing Dagger.
"Hanzo created another dagger that allows him to teleport! Is he going to try and stop Sinbad from staying at the center!" Coccoshouted.
"This bald guy is going to lose because he is a scared little insect," said Gilgamesh in a disinterested tone, not caring that his twin brother was going to win because that was only natural to happen. Familiar with Sinbad's manipulative ways, Gilgamesh was the only able to predict what was going to happen next.
"Why?" Coccoshot a glance at Gilgamesh and quickly returned her attention back onto the fight, unwilling to miss the next sequence. "The most important thing is to stop Sinbad from making another rule."
"Just watch," Gilgamesh replied, folding his arms over his bare chest. "I am not going to explain something so simple to a nonce."
As everyone listened to the Floor Master announce his contradicting thoughts of the fight, they're attention locked onto the match. They would all follow the same protocol as she put it.
Hanzo shifted into a throwing motion as he built up the momentum and strength to throw the Vanishing Dagger. Sinbad's keen eyesight and En watched this response as if the ninja was moving in slow motion.
Then, Sinbad vanished from his spot, to him, the amount of effort he put in this movement was as if he were taking a simple step forward. He appeared in front of Hanzo in an unperceived blur and effortlessly slashed the man's left arm off.
Throughout this entire match, Sinbad had purposefully not advanced toward Hanzo. He strictly kept his feet cemented onto the center of the square arena or to return to the center of the square arena. While doing all of this, Hanzo constantly emphasized his attention on Sinbad's speed and agility, making it an important goal to keep his attention on him. Losing his advantage from the Restriction set onto his Smoke Bomb caused mental damage onto Hanzo's psyche, not allowing him to properly think and anticipate the following events.
Due to this, he–like everyone else–didn't want Sinbad to make another command and he desperately wanted to prevent this. So combining both of these efforts, this creates a mind lapse, allowing for Sinbad to capitalize on to surprise Hanzo.
However, the layers of tactic put in place by Sinbad doesn't end here.
Sinbad's Nen Ability: King's Court has a passive ability that is granted to him due to him influencing the entire arena with his own Nen. Surrounded by his own Nen, Sinbad can manipulate the area of effect to benefit him, allowing to perceive everything much clearer, move faster, and be stronger. Even his injuries began to heal on their own.
After all, this was his claimed territory.
As Hanzo's arm was cut off, Sinbad used his free arm to uppercut him in the gut and then spinning, using the back of his right heel, kicked Hanzo's head. The impact knocked Hanzo across the other side of the arena.
"Critical hit plus knockdown! Three points to Sinbad!" The referee shouted as Sinbad sprinted to chase the downed man.
"Sinbad is a man on a mission!" Cocco screamed as she watched Hanzo's body stop on the ground. "He is relentlessly pursuing Hanzo!"
Concussed and pouring out blood, Hanzo refused to give up as he crawled to his feet. He spun and lashed with his elongated forearm blade at Sinbad. Flawlessly, Sinbad front flipped over the attack, landing behind Hanzo and threatening the fatal edge of his sword along Hanzo's exposed neck.
"I yield!" Hanzo announced his defeat, throwing up his only arm in forfeit.
The crowd exploded into cheer and applause for Sinbad's victory, earning himself hundreds of fans for this spectacular comeback victory, fighting back from nine to zero.
Unable to calm himself any further, Hisoka rose from his seat and immediately left the arena.
Machi remained stunned in her seat, keeping her eyes locked onto Sinbad as he turned toward the crowd and prompted his bloody sword into the air, earning himself more cheers and love.
Kilua, Pokkle, and Zushi jumped out of their seats, applauding and screaming from the hype of the fight. Of course, they never doubted Sinbad's victory, especially his two companions.
Wing rested a hand onto his other shaking hand in an effort to calm himself down. The experienced man was still recovering from experiencing Gilgamesh's Nen, sensing the malice and never ending depth to it and now his twin, Sinbad's understanding of Nen, quickly applying it at a near expert level. The freedom of manipulation granted by his King's Court was frightening but more importantly, he feared the boy's mind.
Wing studied Sinbad's every movement, understanding how all of this was a game to him.
Quietly, Gilgamesh left the booth and standing at the door, the dutiful Imane stepped by his side as they left.
Done with his charade, Sinbad sauntered over to Hanzo's despicable condition. His golden King's Crown was still activated on his head.
He knelt over to whisper in Hanzo's ear. "I will claim my reward now."
Hanzo's eyes rattled with fear, not knowing what the man could ask from him. "What do you want from me?"
"With your arm cut off and honor unable to ever be restored, I will do you a favor and relieve you of your duties, Hanzo," Sinbad whispered in the ninja's ears. "Your Nen and Nen Abilities belong to me now."
In utter defeat, Hanzo could only shake his head, sensing his life fade as his blood continued to pour from the open wound in his right arm.
Sinbad raised a hand, placing it on the ninja's bald head. "King's Conqueror."
A golden medallion of Hanzo's Nen and Ability manifested on Sinbad's neck, at center of the golden necklace was a circle and inside of it was a square and diamond overlapping each other.