During his years on the run...
Kurapika had always been cautious. He never stayed in one place for too long, never interacted excessively with strangers, and never exposed his eyes in public.
After all, from the day he learned that his clan had been slaughtered, he understood that he bore the heavy burden of avenging them.
So, no matter what, Kurapika could not allow himself to die young.
It wasn't until recently, when he accidentally caught wind of news regarding the Phantom Troupe... that he rarely lost control of his emotions and accidentally revealed his Scarlet Eyes in front of outsiders.
If not for that, he wouldn't be targeted right now.
...
At this moment, Kurapika was sprinting wildly, draped in a rough cloak, trying to shake off several armed thugs chasing him. The sound of footsteps was dense and hurried.
Thud thud thud!!!
Pedestrians on the street hurriedly dodged out of the way.
Seeing enemies rushing to box him in from both sides ahead, Kurapika stepped onto a nearby vendor's stall and vaulted onto the roof, his movements natural and agile.
"After him! Don't let him get away!"
Although the thugs chasing him had undergone some training, Kurapika was equally experienced and easily shook them off.
After a long chase.
Finally, Kurapika hid in a dark alley, gasping for breath behind a pile of clutter, silently observing the movement on the street.
Several thugs in black suits charged down the street with their weapons. Fortunately, they didn't notice his trail and ran straight past him.
Seeing this, Kurapika breathed a sigh of relief.
"Finally lost them..."
Kurapika was thankful that the opposing group was mostly idiots; they were easy to deal with in actual combat.
But Kurapika also understood—
Now that his identity was exposed, people wanting to steal his eyes would come one after another. He couldn't stay here long; he had to find a chance to leave this city quickly.
But the chase just now had consumed too much of his stamina.
After confirming the commotion around him had died down, Kurapika sat on the ground and rested for a good while. Only then did he slowly stand up, tighten the cloak wrapped around him, and walk towards a quieter direction.
Along the way, Kurapika didn't encounter many more enemies, but he didn't let his guard down.
Although he was cautious all the way, he never noticed a muscular black-haired man watching him from the shadows the entire time.
"Hoh... found him."
Toji discovered Kurapika's figure. He stood silently on high ground, sizing up the kid's appearance. After looking for a while, he shook his head and muttered to himself:
"That brat's eyes don't look that special... didn't expect they could sell for such a high price."
Although according to the intel, Toji knew that the Kurta Clan's eyes would only turn agate-red when they were emotional or after death.
But thinking about it, in terms of collection value alone... they probably couldn't compare to the Six Eyes.
After all, it was said there were over a hundred pairs of Scarlet Eyes in total, but there was only one person with the Six Eyes. And in terms of aesthetic value... the Six Eyes seemed to be better too.
Of course, Toji himself didn't have such perverted hobbies.
In fact, he found it hard to understand those... clients who posted all sorts of weird bounties.
"Anyway, as long as the money is good... that's enough."
Toji smiled and stopped thinking about it.
Then, he moved quickly towards the target. His figure was agile, shuttling through the buildings like a black shadow.
Even though he relied entirely on physical fitness and his own explosive power while moving, surprisingly, he didn't make a single sound.
Even the sensitive stray cats by the roadside only felt a cold breeze passing by.
...
Kurapika also didn't sense any abnormal movement, but he constantly felt like a beast was staring at him.
"An illusion?"
Kurapika turned his head vigilantly to observe the movement behind him, but after looking carefully for a while, he found nothing unusual.
After confirming it was safe.
Kurapika let out a breath, then turned back to step forward.
But just as he turned his head, he suddenly found that a tall black-haired man had appeared just a few meters in front of him, looking him up and down with a lazy smile.
Although he hadn't confirmed the other party's identity.
Kurapika was certain that this was a dangerous guy, and... an enemy!
"!!!"
Realizing this, Kurapika subconsciously backed away violently and habitually drew the two short swords tucked at his waist, his mind instantly tense.
His eyes immediately turned blood red.
"Hmm... not bad."
Toji teased simply. After witnessing the process of the Scarlet Eyes turning red, he said no more, leaned forward, and exerted force from the soles of his feet.
Even in the state of Scarlet Eyes, Kurapika found it hard to capture his movements.
Whoosh————
The next moment, Toji's disappearing figure appeared behind Kurapika in the blink of an eye. At some point, he had snatched the two short swords from Kurapika's hands with one hand.
Then he crushed them casually and threw them to the roadside.
Watching the blades disappear from his hands, Kurapika didn't have time to think. The moment he realized the opponent was behind him, he immediately turned and leaned back, crossing his arms in front of his head to block.
The next moment.
He took a fierce straight punch from Toji!
The moment of contact.
The sound of cracking bones rang out, and Kurapika's body flew back several meters, smashing heavily onto the ground.
When he came to his senses, the surface of his arm had been caved in by the punch, and the bone was clearly broken.
Kurapika endured the pain and stood up. He realized that this black-haired man in front of him was the strongest enemy he had encountered so far.
Holding onto the hope of survival.
Kurapika rushed out of the alley without much hesitation, running towards the densest crowd possible.
But before he could take two steps, that black-haired man turned into an afterimage again, swept past him, and blocked his path.
Then he reached out to grab him.
Although Kurapika consciously retreated to dodge, the opponent's speed was obviously faster than his.
Time seemed to slow down.
Kurapika suddenly felt his body being pulled by a gravitational force. When he came to his senses, he was already held in the hand of a tall white-haired man.
Yuu stood behind Kurapika like that, saying faintly to Toji:
"Didn't expect to meet again so soon, Toji."
"Hehe... sure enough, nothing good happens when I run into you."
Toji sneered. He casually ripped off a few chunks of the wall with his palm and threw them violently at Yuu.
The huge stones were incredibly fast!
But in the blink of an eye, they were stopped in mid-air one by one, just a few dozen centimeters away from his body.
Like a stone protective shield, blocking the space between the two.
It had to be said, with the boost from Post-Mortem Nen, Toji's physical functions and body strength had greatly improved.
Coupled with his existing 'Heavenly Restriction', his speed and strength were not inferior to Nen users of Hisoka's level at all.
Unfortunately, he lacked a good weapon.
The next moment, Toji pulled out a long blade from somewhere and instantly appeared behind Yuu, slashing fiercely.
But the target wasn't Yuu.
It was aimed at Kurapika beside him.
But regrettably, this long blade was nothing special and was easily stopped by Yuu using 'Limitless'.
"He can't die yet..."
...