Chapter 215: See No Evil, Hear No Evil, Speak No Evil
Having secured the exact hotel and room number beforehand, the Phantom Troupe held the ultimate initiative.
But their target was Saiyu, a Blacklist Hunter and a member of the Zodiacs. They knew that a frontal assault against a martial arts master of his caliber required surgical coordination.
Chrollo had organized the squad with precision:
The Ceiling Unit: Franklin, Kortopi, Chrollo, and Machi were stationed in the room directly above Saiyu.
The Floor Unit: Nobunaga and Pakunoda were in the room directly below.
The Hallway Unit: Shalnark remained in the corridor. Armed with his antennas, he didn't need to engage physically; he merely needed to manage the "waiter" puppet to act as the trigger.
The puppet-waiter drew Saiyu's attention to the door, and then the trap snapped shut from both vertical poles.
Franklin unleashed his Double Machine Gun, shredding the ceiling.
Nobunaga released his En, pinpointing Saiyu's feet through the floorboards before launching a lethal upward thrust.
Chrollo and Machi smashed through the exterior windows, initiating a pincer attack from the front.
In the shadows below, Pakunoda leveled her revolver, her own En tracking Saiyu's movements to provide suppressing fire through the floor if he tried to flee.
Only Kortopi remained passive; his role was purely defensive, ready to conjure barriers if the room collapsed.
Saiyu's response was a masterclass in high-tier Nen combat.
He was a monster. With a single spin of his staff, he swatted Franklin's rain of Nen bullets aside. With a rhythmic shift in his footwork, he dodged Nobunaga's invisible blade by a hair's breadth.
And now, the three hairs he had plucked had manifested into three Great Apes, shifting the room from a 7v1 ambush into a chaotic multi-front brawl.
Chrollo and Machi exchanged a look of grim realization.
Chrollo opened Skill Hunter. The pages flipped and settled. Sticky silk erupted from his palms—the ability he had stolen from the Shadow Beast, The Spider.
Beside him, Machi's hands blurred as she released her own Nen Stitches.
They both ignored Saiyu for a heartbeat, focusing entirely on the three charging Nen Beasts.
Chrollo had targeted Saiyu for one reason: his rumored ability to strip a target's senses. Looking at the three monkeys now, the specific mechanics of that Hatsu became clear.
The three apes—Mizaru, Kikazaru, and Iwazaru—each bore a distinct restriction:
Mizaru (See No Evil): Eyes bound in red cloth.
Kikazaru (Hear No Evil): Wearing large, over-ear headphones.
Iwazaru (Speak No Evil): Mouth sealed with a heavy metallic zipper.
This was a high-level Manipulation Hatsu.
Combining his observations, Chrollo finalized his assessment: Saiyu was an Emitter/Manipulator with heavy training in Enhancement.
It was a textbook "Mountain" build—the most scientific way to create complex, rule-based abilities without sacrificing raw physical power. He wasn't a "Specialist" like Ronin, but his mastery of his categories made him arguably more dangerous in a direct confrontation.
Mizaru, the blindfolded monkey, reacted to the incoming silk first. Though it lacked sight, its other senses were supernaturally sharp. It twisted its lithe, muscular body through the air, weaving between the threads with a grace that defied gravity.
As it cleared the web, it lunged at Chrollo, its long arms whistling through the air.
Chrollo flipped his book again. In his free hand, a decorative, needle-thin dagger appeared. He ducked beneath the monkey's swing, the blade aiming for the creature's abdomen.
The monkey didn't dodge. It took the slash, a long gash appearing across its belly. But as Chrollo's blade hit, the monkey's momentum halted. It shifted into a downward hammer-fist, intending to drive the Spider's Head through the floorboards.
Tug!
Two silver threads tightened around Chrollo's waist, yanking him backward just as the monkey's fist pulverized the floor where he had stood.
Machi had saved him, but Kikazaru (Hear No Evil) was already closing in, launching a flurry of kicks at Chrollo's chest.
Meanwhile, Iwazaru (Speak No Evil) crept toward Machi.
Unlike the other two, this monkey was silent and subtle. Machi's instincts screamed. She saw the creature reach for the zipper on its mouth.
A sonic attack?
Machi immediately funneled Nen to her ears, reinforcing her eardrums against a potential blast.
But the monkey didn't unzip. Its eyes flashed with a predatory cunning. Instead of a scream, it whipped its thick, powerful tail around, slamming it into Machi's ribs.
CRACK!
Her defensive Nen had been focused on her head; her torso was exposed. The blow shattered three of her ribs, sending her crashing into the far wall.
Only then did Iwazaru unzip its mouth.
The moment the seal was broken, the mouth on Saiyu's own face—currently leaping into the air to engage the ceiling unit—vanished.
His lower face became a smooth, featureless mask of skin. Saiyu didn't care. He swung his Nyoi-bo at Franklin.
The giant Emitter raised his arms to block, but the weight of the Zodiac's strike was monolithic.
CLANG!
The sound of steel on bone echoed. Franklin, despite his massive size, was launched backward, crashing through the wall and out of the room.
Saiyu didn't stop. Still airborne, he reversed the grip on his staff and funneled a massive spike of aura into it. He hurled the golden pole downward like a javelin.
BOOM!
The staff punched through the floor, striking Nobunaga's katana mid-draw. The force was so great it didn't just break the floorboards; it shattered the structural joists, sending Nobunaga and a section of the floor plummeting into the 12th-level room below.
Back in the main room, Iwazaru opened its mouth wide.
"HALT!"
The command vibrated through the air. Chrollo, who had been preparing to dodge Kikazaru's next kick, felt his body turn to stone.
It wasn't a physical freeze; it was a total Manipulation lock triggered by the vocal command. His muscles refused to respond to his brain.
In that heartbeat of paralysis, Kikazaru landed a clean roundhouse kick on Chrollo's head.
The blow was heavy, but the true damage was supernatural.
The moment the kick connected, the headphones on the monkey's head vanished.
Chrollo felt a sudden, terrifying silence. All sound—the gunfire, the wind, the sound of his own breathing—was erased.
A pair of spectral headphones now sat firmly on his head.
Chrollo tried to reach up and tear them off, but they were made of pure Nen, phased through his physical hands.
A world of absolute silence enveloped him. For the first time in years, the calm, collected leader of the Spider felt a surge of genuine, helpless panic.
So this is a Zodiac... Chrollo thought, his vision swimming as he tried to regain his footing. He's not just strong. He's a god of his own rules.
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