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"In the instant he was attacked, he broke Marsh's¹ cervical vertebrae!"
"Our close combat skills are worlds apart from his! A one-on-one close-quarters fight offers no chance of victory!"
Thinking this, the bald man pressed his headset and roared.
"Where is that guy!?"
"Moen², above you!"
The teammate's voice came through the headset. The bald man looked up and saw Illumi³ rapidly leaping between tree branches.
As he passed over one bodyguard's head, he leaped down, piercing the man's carotid artery with a 'puchi' sound.
"Bang bang bang..."
The bodyguards fired wildly at Illumi descending from the sky.
A smile lifted the corners of Illumi's mouth. His figure vanished with a 'shua' sound. The bodyguard who hadn't died yet became the target; numerous bullets vented furiously onto his body.
"Pfft pfft pfft…"
The sound of bullets hitting flesh echoed continuously. The bodyguard trembled non-stop, blood splattering, his entire body riddled like a sieve.
"Cease fire!"
A bodyguard shouted loudly. All bodyguards stopped shooting. Only then did they see Illumi had long since disappeared.
And that bodyguard, riddled with holes, collapsed onto the grass with a 'thump', eyes wide open, unable to rest in peace.
"Pfft!"
The sound of flesh being pierced rang out again. The bodyguards looked towards the sound.
The expressionless Illumi stood stepping on the bodyguard's shoulders, his right index finger pulling out from the opponent's carotid artery with a 'puchi' sound, bringing out a little blood.
"Fire!"
One bodyguard, watching the figure slowly collapsing, roared out, his eyes nearly splitting with rage⁴.
"Shua!"
The sound of something cutting through the air.
Just as the words left his mouth, Illumi appeared behind him, grabbed his crown and chin with both hands, and with a "krak" sound, twisted his head one hundred and eighty degrees. From facing away from Illumi, he was now facing Illumi.
"Good night, Uncle."
Illumi smiled faintly, his figure vanishing again with a 'shua'. Before the bodyguards could react, he slit their throats one by one.
And this entire series of actions took less than a second, just a brief instant.
"Puchi puchi..."
For a moment, a rain of blood fell within the small woods, staining the grass and leaves bright red.
"Swish!"
A sound of something cutting through the air. Illumi, in the middle of the woods, leaped up from the ground, landing on a tree branch.
"Thunk!"
Illumi looked down; a long spear⁵ was embedded in the tree trunk.
"Shua shua shua..."
Simultaneously, from behind trees in front, behind, left, and right of Illumi, five figures suddenly appeared, holding various weapons.
"Ha! Hah! Cha!"
Each person let out a different battle cry, their weapons striking towards Illumi simultaneously.
"Don't wave around in front of me, small fry."
Illumi, expressionless, quickly sidestepped on the branch, grabbed a katana striking from the left with a 'pa' sound, gripped the blade, and forcefully changed the opponent's attack direction.
"Puchi~"
The katana plunged straight into the neck of a man behind Illumi, the blade exiting from the other side.
Simultaneously, Illumi snatched the weapon attacking from the right, flung it towards the left, and it pierced into the opponent's mouth with a 'puchi' sound.
Above, two more people, one tall and one short, wielding long spears, attacked him.
"Jaken⁶." (Snake Thrust/Serpent's Bite)
Both hands, covered in aura⁷, formed into knife-hands⁸ and swung rapidly.
"Clang clang~"
Two sounds of metal breaking; the two long spears attacking him from above snapped.
Illumi extended his hands, grabbing the two broken spearheads with two 'pa' sounds.
He stepped on the back of the man whose neck was pierced, then used the momentum to kick the taller man above him forcefully under the chin with his other foot "bang".
The immense force sent blood and teeth spraying from the man's mouth. His head snapped back, his body losing balance and falling downwards.
At the same time, holding the two broken spearheads, Illumi postured to throw them towards the neck of the shorter man above.
Panic flashed across the shorter man's face. He was just about to raise his arms to defend when Illumi kicked off the branch he was standing on, then stepped on the taller man whose head was thrown back, using the leverage to pounce onto him.
The sharp, broken spearhead in his hand plunged forcefully into the man's mouth, wide open in panic, and exited from the back of his head with a 'puchi' sound.
Illumi turned his head towards the last person, gripped the spearhead, and threw it forcefully. The spearhead became a black line, piercing through the last man's chest with a 'shua' sound.
"Pfft!"
With a soft sound, the spearhead embedded itself straight into the grass.
"One last one."
Illumi, having landed on a branch, looked towards the tall man falling towards the ground. He bent his legs, leaped from the tree, and caught up to the falling tall man with a 'shua' sound.
"Ahhh!!!"
The tall man roared furiously, spreading his arms wide, trying to embrace Illumi who was close to him, wanting to crush him to death with his full body strength.
However, such a thought was impossible to realize.
"Pfft pfft…"
Illumi's arms flashed before his eyes like afterimages. The tall man's two arms reaching for Illumi vanished without a trace.
Blood splattered.
"Good bye."
Illumi extended both hands, pressing one on his crown and the other on his chin, exerting force with both arms.
"Krak."
A 'krak' sound came from the neck. The tall man felt his vision spin, the light in his eyes gradually fading.
"Thump!" x6
Illumi and the five corpses landed simultaneously.
This entire sequence of attack and counterattack occurred in a very short instant.
"Bang!"
The moment he landed, Illumi vaguely heard a gunshot – the sound of a sniper rifle.
"Not enough time!"
However, there was no longer time to dodge. Illumi's eyes widened in fury⁹; he was about to be hit by the bullet.
"Can only try it."
In this moment of life and death crisis, Illumi's brain operated at high speed. Simultaneously, the aura in his body flowed rapidly, converging towards the chest area about to be hit by the bullet.
"Ryu¹⁰!"
"Ken¹¹!"
Two application techniques from the Four Major Principles. Although Illumi wasn't proficient yet, at this moment, precise aura distribution wasn't needed. His only thought now was to concentrate all the aura in his body onto the chest area about to be struck.
"Bang!"
As if hit by a small sledgehammer, Illumi's body buckled, flying backward.
"Shh shh…"
His body slid seven or eight meters across the ground before stopping. Illumi's face was pale, blood continuously dripping from the corner of his mouth.
"Pfft~"
Unable to hold back, he spat out a mouthful of blood. Illumi immediately got up and vanished with a 'shua'.
"Bang!"
Where he disappeared, dirt splashed up; a small crater appeared there.
"Cough cough…"
Illumi coughed up blood, rapidly leaping non-stop between branches. Reaching the edge of the small woods, he leaped down.
"Pat."
Illumi gritted his teeth, running back and forth in a "Z" pattern across the wide lawn, avoiding being locked onto by the sniper.
"Don't know how many ribs are broken."
Illumi clutched his chest with his left hand. That hit just now—although he intended to use his entire body's Nen to defend against the sniper bullet, because his Ryu aura distribution speed was too slow, he only managed to use seventy percent of his aura.
The bullet was blocked, but the consequence was, he didn't know how many ribs were broken.
"Squeak squeak~"
A mouse-like "squeak squeak" sound echoed from the sky above Illumi. He looked up.
"A bat?"
A bat was actually hovering constantly above his head, occasionally letting out a squeak.