"Poof."
Substitution Jutsu!
The Nen bullet swallowed Sean, then spat out his true form—a block of wood!
The cold wind howled, swirling up mountains of snow. "No one would be stupid enough to just stand there and take your hit, Dad."
"Plop." The wood fell into the lake, sending up splashes. Sean had abruptly vanished from Silva's sight.
The boy suppressed his aura, using [Zetsu] to hide in the wind and snow. His voice came from all directions. Trying to capture his position using [En] was no longer an easy task.
"The brat's gotten smart. He knows how to use the terrain, hiding himself in the snowstorm. To think he came up with that!" In the small wooden cabin on the back mountain, Maha clicked his tongue, rocking in his chair.
Beside him, Zigg took a sip of coffee and chuckled lightly. "Being smart is one thing. On the other hand, he's the only one who can do this."
"Merging with the wind, becoming the wind, only then can one hide within it. Natural affinities are, after all, favored by nature. They are inherently better at using the natural terrain than other Nen users."
Silva had already realized this point.
He attached Nen to the soles of his feet, standing steadily on the lake's surface. His eyes scanned the surroundings with his peripheral vision. Suddenly, he heard a strong gust of wind rushing toward the back of his head. Without thinking, he spun around and threw a roundhouse kick!
"Bang!" Leg met palm. The friction of their Nen emitted a sharp, grating shriek.
Silva looked at Sean coldly and said, "Son, a word of advice: killing intent cannot be hidden!"
"So what?" Another Sean appeared behind Silva, seized the opening, and slammed a Rasengan into the center of his back!
"Thud!" A massive force struck!
Silva glanced back as if nothing had happened. Number 2 shook his hand and clicked his tongue, "So hard!"
He grinned at him. "Thanks for the reminder, Dad! In return... brothers, get him!"
"Poof poof poof!" Seans number 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9 all shouted in unison, "Here we come!"
Each one sent a Rasengan flying right at Silva's face!
'Shadow Imitation Technique?' Silva lowered his gaze, glancing at his feet. On the lake's surface, dozens of reflected shadows were entangled together. It looked far more ferocious than the single shadow restraint from three years ago!
Unfortunately. Sean wasn't the same Sean from three years ago, but he, Silva, wasn't the same Silva either. If he knew his son had this move and made no preparations at all, then he, Silva, wouldn't be worthy of the name of Zoldyck family head!
"[Hatsu]!" He uttered the single syllable lightly. Faced with dozens of Rasengans right in front of him, Silva remained unmoved. The aura in his body exploded outward, instantly snapping the "Nen" shadow-ropes binding him!
[Hatsu], turning imagination into action, freely controlling the aura within one's body according to the Nen user's will. This was an operation only those who had mastered Nen could possess!
Of course, Transmuters had a natural advantage in the path of [Hatsu]. After all, when they opened their aura nodes, the first way they familiarized themselves with Nen was by using their fingers to materialize the numbers 1 through 9.
Those with even greater talent, like Hisoka at Heaven's Arena, blocking Gon and Killua on the 200th floor, even demonstrated the miraculous operation of materializing playing cards with Nen, leaving an extremely deep impression on Sean.
Not to mention— 'Dad is currently far, far stronger than Hisoka.'
Sean narrowed his eyes. He didn't stop his actions just because the Shadow Imitation Technique failed. Numbers 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10, enhanced by the mastery of [Wind] and [Fire] affinities, were far superior to his old shadow clones. Even though the Rasengans missed, they immediately adjusted their movements, aiming for Silva's high, middle, and low sections!
"Bang! Bang! Bang." In close combat, fists and legs collided. The shockwaves of Nen blasted out. The lake water rolled back, defying gravity, and poured down from above.
Before Killua could react, Illumi wrapped an arm around him, tucked him under his arm, and retreated rapidly toward the forest.
Although he really didn't want to admit it, the deadpan-faced older brother knew very well that the current battle was not one he could touch. Even just standing by and watching required immense strength to avoid being hit by the shockwaves. And he and Killua clearly didn't have that yet!
"Poof! Poof! Poof!" The Multiple Shadow Clone Technique... had finally reached its limit.
As Silva sent a kick flying, crushing the head of Number 10, ten streams of Nen automatically surged toward Sean's main body!
Immediately, sniffing the trail, Silva followed the scent and found him!
A hand-chop sliced toward Sean's hiding place!
"I told you long ago, killing intent can't be hidden. You just wouldn't listen, would you!"
"Swish!" The blade flashed, lopping off Sean's head. Blood spurted from the neck, splashing onto Silva's face.
The current head of the Zoldyck family's eyes narrowed instantly. He didn't follow up with another blow; instead, he tensed his body, stopped his movements, and became fully alert!
"Itai... itai... itai... Dad, look at me. It hurts so much..."
Sean's head rolled to Silva's feet, its wide eyes staring straight at him.
His bangs parted, revealing the crimson red of his left eye. It reflected in Silva's pupils, causing Silva's heart to sink straight to the bottom on the spot!
"As I thought. It's an illusion."
The current Zoldyck head frowned, raising his foot to crush Sean's head. Unexpectedly, Sean's head, as if it had grown legs, rolled back again, climbed up his pant leg, and returned to his neck.
"Heave-ho!" With a sound, it settled back in place!
This bizarre scene, unfortunately, had an audience of only one. The outsiders—Maha, Zigg, Netero, and Ging—could only see that Silva, having just dealt with Sean's many shadow clones, suddenly stopped moving!
It was as if the signal was lost, the image frozen, drawing a gasp of surprise.
"Eh? Is the projector broken?" Beans was just wringing his hands in worry for his teacher, Ben An. Suddenly unable to see the "live broadcast," he anxiously walked forward, raising a hand to slap the projector.
But, before he could take two steps, he was grabbed by the scruff of his neck by Netero and thrown back!
"Beans. You're really only suited for reading comics. Didn't you notice that massive Sharingan?"
"Urk... Chairman, you mean Silva Zoldyck... has been caught in Teacher Ben An's illusion?!" Beans gradually figured it out. He said it subconsciously.
The moment the words left his mouth, Ging flipped up from the sofa!
"What did you say?" The Ruins Hunter grabbed Beans by the collar, looking at him intently. "This 'Teacher Ben An' you're talking about... it's not this kid, Sean Zoldyck, is it?"
Beans rolled his eyes in astonishment. "The Chairman didn't tell you?"
"Ahem." Netero gave a dry cough, smiling awkwardly at Ging. "Ho ho... I thought you already knew."
Ging: "..."