The versatility of Nen is immense.
Some believe that Enhancers don't need to develop Nen Abilities, and that the value of Enhancers can be fully realized by simply honing their bodies to the limit.
Some people also believe that the 'concept of Enhancement' can be applied to anything beyond the self, increasing strategic diversity.
Most Enhancers would choose the former.
But that doesn't mean the latter path is wrong.
The existence of Nen-
Is somewhat idealistic by nature.
As long as a Nen User doesn't stray from their path, they will usually receive the appropriate feedback from their chosen direction.
Code Four is indeed an Enhancer. Although his chosen path revolves around throwing knives, his close combat skills are no less formidable.
Moreover, he incorporates mechanisms into his throwing knives to enhance their tactical value.
This style allows him to create more possibilities in battle.
According to the data, it is rare for an Enhancer to achieve his level.
Hisoka confirmed his suspicion that Code Four was an expert, and the mechanism hidden in those flying knives are what made him realize just how troublesome this opponent could be.
Drip, drip-
Hisoka was wounded in multiple places, and the blood pooled together before dripping down from the edges of his clothes.
Code Four did not take this opportunity to continue attacking Hisoka, because Kurapika's attack was about to come again.
It was the chain again, flying through the air.
But this time, instead of a thorned tip, the end of the chain was shaped like a miniature sword.
And its speed was noticeably faster than the thorn-shaped chain.
'Two forms? No… judging from the pattern, there are at least five.'
With his eyes fixed on the sword-shaped chain flying towards him, Code Four's thoughts raced.
Even while dealing with Hisoka, he was also constantly collecting all kinds of fleeting combat information.
So he had noticed that Kurapika should be able to use at least two forms of chains at the same time, which is why he could provide support at such a fast speed after the thorn-shaped chains were shattered.
Moreover, when manipulating the chains, it seemed to correspond to different fingers.
This suggested that each finger might represent a different form.
After figuring this out, Code Four retracted his previous assessment of the Chain of Thorns as 'monotonous'.
'I jumped to conclusions too early...'
'But even if your 'chains' possess troublesome abilities, they're meaningless if their 'strength' is lacking.'
Code Four gave up the idea of taking advantage of the situation to pursue Hisoka, and instead waved his hand to throw an extremely sharp edge at the sword chain.
He used his eyes to track it, his precision to lock on, and his power to destroy.
The flying knife, infused with Enhancement-Type Aura, sliced through the air, drawing a straight, deadly white line and arriving at the sword-shaped chain in an instant.
But just before the two were about to collide-
The sword-shaped chain suddenly shrank in size, going from the size of an adult's palm to the thickness of an average human's index finger.
This sudden change in scale caused the flying knife thrown by Code Four to narrowly miss its mark, slicing past the now smaller chain.
The now-thinner blade-tipped chain continued forward, and after passing the flying knife, it grew larger again.
However, this time, it had grown from finger-sized to something like a broadsword, surging with heavy wind force as it flew toward Code Four.
'An ability that freely alters size…'
Seeing the sword-shaped chain suddenly expand, Code Four's expression shifted slightly.
Even though he still had time to throw another knife, Code Four calmly chose to evade instead. After all, smashing the massive chain might carry unpredictable consequences.
The broadsword-sized chain missed and slammed into empty space.
After Code Four dodged the sword-shaped chain, he raised his hand again and hurled another flying knife toward Kurapika.
At this time, Kurapika hadn't yet retracted the blade-shaped chain, which looked quite heavy due to its enlargement.
But for a Conjurer, anything that's been conjured doesn't need to be physically retrieved.
Facing the flying knife thrown by Code Four, Kurapika decisively dismissed the ability of the Contract Chain.
Shhhh-
The giant sword-like chain vanished in an instant, dissolving back into aura and returning to Kurapika's body.
Immediately after, Kurapika immediately re-conjured the sword-shaped chain, and poured most of his Manifested Aura into it.
At this moment, the flying knife, which carried immense force, hit the sword-shaped chain that Kurapika had just conjured.
A sharp, ear-piercing screech rang out.
The sword-shaped chain that was hit by the flying knife shattered in an instant.
But the chain's durability and the density of its aura once again altered the flying sword's trajectory, sending it flying off into empty space.
However-
Two more flying knives shot toward Kurapika.
One knife went straight toward Kurapika's forehead, while the other knife went toward his heart.
At this critical moment, several black shadows traced graceful arcs through the air, converging from both sides to intercept the knives' trajectories.
Clang, clang...!
The flat black shadows struck the flying knives, sending sparks flying and forcing the knives to veer off course, missing Kurapika entirely.
These flat shadows were none other than Hisoka's playing cards.
Though half his body was soaked in blood, Hisoka didn't seem particularly affected. He had clearly taken some quick measures to stop the bleeding.
"I can see even clearer now."
Hisoka pinched a joker between his fingers, his gaze fixed on Code Four, who still held his arm raised. His tone carried a hint of provocation.
Code Four ignored Hisoka's provocation, but through several exchanges, he had concluded that Hisoka was the more dangerous of the two and had already begun adapting to the speed of his flying knives.
'In comparison, the other intruder's chain abilities...'
'Were rather unremarkable.'
'Although I have to take the Fourth Prince's 'reaction' into consideration... these two intruders are strong. Killing them quickly won't be easy.'
Code Four didn't throw another knife. Instead, he held one in each hand.
'So the conclusion is... I can't rush this.'
Realizing how powerful Hisoka and Kurapika are, Code Four had no time to worry about the consequences of his identity being exposed. The most important thing is still to eradicate the threat.
With that thought, Code Four tightened his grip on the knives and dashed forward like a gust of wind, closing the distance to Kurapika, who was controling the chains to launch medium and long-range attacks.
Seeing Code Four abandon throwing his knives in favor of close combat, neither Kurapika nor Hisoka was surprised.
Things like flying knives...
Were relatively large for concealed weapons.
Moreover, Code Four prioritized lethality in his attacks, so he didn't use knives with ultra-thin, paper-like blades.
This also means that Code Four's 'ammunition' is very limited.
In addition-
Now that they had confirmed Code Four was an Enhancer, they didn't have to worry about the possibility of him conjuring knives.
Given all this, Hisoka and Kurapika had anticipated this shift in tactics from the start.
However, just because Code Four suddenly resorts to close combat, they cannot simply conclude that Code Four has run out of flying knives.