"Other Nen users who see Baki or Bungo Stray Dogs won't be able to target me effectively through them," Ron mused. "Because those two Beasts have already vanished. Going after Baki or Akutagawa would be a waste of time. But the manga's spread would still feed energy back to me, and that energy would be transferred to Natsu and Sasuke. So long as I don't publish Fairy Tail or Naruto, none of their real information gets exposed.
"Beasts that have disappeared? I can release their source materials. Beasts I still use? I won't publish their sources. Besides, for any Beast that hasn't become a Second Shadow, promoting its background story won't help anyway. Only those that truly 'disappear' can gain this spreadability bonus.
"How strong might Natsu and Sasuke grow through this?"
That was what Ron was most excited about. The KUTO Thieves had harvested resentment, fear, and terror to create four unimaginably powerful disasters. In turn, large-scale popularity and admiration might bring equally astonishing power to Natsu and Sasuke.
Old T's face had grown dark as ink. He knew why the Hunter Association had placed him here: they wanted him to be the stepping stone for some examinee's growth. But he had no intention of playing the role of a mere grindstone—he wanted to kill. And now everything was spiraling in the opposite direction from what he'd hoped.
"A mere kid. A mere applicant. How does he have such power?"
Old T wasn't ignorant about the Hunter Association or its Exam. He knew that in most cases, very few participants even had Nen. The small handful who did tended to have allegiances or backgrounds outside the Association, meaning they wouldn't become its core members.
Initially, Old T couldn't fathom what the Association was doing by sending him here. Even though he was a prisoner, he was still a solid A-level Nen user. How could a mere examinee last more than a few seconds against him?
So he'd had two hypotheses:
1. The Association had an extremely gifted youngster they wanted to polish by using Old T as a whetstone.
2. Among the examinees was someone the Association wanted dead, and they hoped Old T would handle that.
But once Old T noticed the Rotten Life Blade at Ron's waist, he dismissed the second theory. He assumed the blade's materials came from the Association's portion of the spoils from the disasters—so naturally, they wouldn't be trying to kill Ron.
Rage simmered in Old T's heart. He loathed the Hunter Association. He believed that, had they not intervened, the Zoldycks alone could never have fully destroyed the KUTO Thieves—at worst, they'd have lost Old O, and a single casualty was replaceable. Countless younger aspirants idolized the KUTO Thieves.
The one who truly sealed their fate was Ging Freecss, a member of the Association. Because of the Association's orders, the entire group was shattered.
So Old T wanted to kill Ron. But the youth's strength was beyond expectation—far beyond. Ron's aura was B-level at best; but that B-level user commanded not one but two A-level Beasts. Old T had initially thought, "He's poured too much focus into his Beasts, neglected himself, so I'll ignore the Beast and go for the main body." Then Sasuke appeared. Another A-level Beast.
Fire-using Natsu had immense strength, defense, and no obvious flaws; lightning-fast Sasuke offered terrifying burst attacks, capable of cutting down Old T's trees with ease. Now Old T had to defend himself on two fronts at once, unable to just bypass them and strike at Ron.
"Keep going!"
Seeing Natsu and Sasuke gaining the upper hand, Ron ordered them to increase the pressure. Suddenly, the onslaught intensified, forcing Old T to retreat step by step. His clothes tore to rags. Saplings sprang up only to be scorched to ash or cut away by Sasuke's blade hand. Wounds multiplied on Old T's body, blood-tinged air filling the chamber.
"Kid, don't get cocky!" he snarled, glaring venomously at Ron. His twisted expression revealed a ferocious bloodlust, reminiscent of his heyday in the KUTO Thieves.
"Ren!"
Immense aura erupted around Old T. Waves of Nen surged outward, multiples stronger than before.
"Let me show you what real power is! When the KUTO Thieves roamed this world, you hadn't even popped out of the cradle. Show some respect, brat!"
He clapped his hands together.
Boom!
Another violent gust of aura spilled from Old T's body.
Splurt! Splurt! Splurt!
Dozens of saplings sprouted in the chamber, centered on Old T—not only from the ground, but also the walls and even the ceiling. Anywhere a root could take hold, wood burst forth. They grew faster than before and had become even more resilient.
"In a space this cramped, my ability reigns supreme! Flame? Lightning? Sure, they're decent, but can you incinerate my entire forest in an instant? No? Then you're done. Die, Hunter Association dog! I'll never forget what you people did. The first payment of my revenge is taking your life!"
Branches wove and overlapped, filling every square inch of the room. Ron, Akame, Natsu, Sasuke—all trapped in a tight confinement of foliage. It reminded Ron a bit of the time Dominica fought that monstrous girl in a certain town—except that was hair, this was tree branches, so at least it wasn't quite as disgusting.
Old T shut his eyes. Now he didn't need sight; thanks to his extended branches, he could perceive everything in that sphere as clearly as if using 'En.' It was more precise than vision.
"Kid, you've invested too much in these Beasts. A feeble main body is your biggest weakness. And you even made some purely ornamental Beast? That girlish one—why'd you summon it here? For that kind of purpose, maybe?"
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