Point of View Switch: Reader
After their crushing victory over Gido, Kai and the others gather in his private room to begin their Nen training. After several hours of practice and sparring (between both students and teachers), and enjoying dinner at a fast-food stand, the group splits up to return to their respective lodgings.
However, hidden among the crowd, the rookie crusher trio is watching them in a Zetsu state. All three of them had to suffer great losses in their fighting careers in order to learn Nen and get to where they are, so after two of their members have suffered humiliating defeats at the hands of a rookie like Kai, they are not willing to risk suffering another one.
So, to ensure they don't accumulate more defeats that would take them further away from their goal of becoming Floor Masters, they decide to blackmail Kai and Nicholas by attacking the most vulnerable member of their small group: Ponzu.
Just as they had done with Zushi, they follow Ponzu through the city streets hoping to catch her off guard, and when she finally turns onto an untraveled alley, Sadaso approaches and begins to form his Phantom Hand behind her.
'Sorry, little girl, but no one's going to deprive us of our destiny of becoming Floor Masters. If you want to blame someone, then blame that idiot Kai for humiliating us like that.' Sadaso thinks as he brings his large aura hand closer to Ponzu with a confident smile.
However, before he can lock her in and suffocate her, she jumps over the aura and delivers an unexpected kick square on the face, knocking him to the ground with a bleeding nose.
"What?! Impossible! I was in Zetsu state the whole time! How could you tell I was behind you?!" Sadaso asks in shock at the dramatic turn of events.
"Well, I didn't know exactly where you were at first, but I did feel like someone was watching me, so I waited vigilantly around me until I noticed your sneaky attempt at an attack behing me. It was actually pretty clumsy, so it was easy for me to notice and counterattack." She answers in a smug tone.
"You'll be..." Sadaso says visibly frustrated and irked.
"Besides, I also know you're not the only one following me. So why don't you just show yourselves now instead of hiding in the shadows? Or should I come after you next?" Ponzu says looking at the other side of the alley, prompting Gido and Riehlvelt to appear as well.
"Well, I see you're not as helpless a damsel as we initially thought. I guess we'll have to do this the hard way, then." Riehlvelt says preparing his two snake-headed whips.
"It's fine with me. After all, I need something to relieve stress after today's humiliating defeat." Gido adds.
"I think it's a good idea, too. Maybe the blackmail would be more effective if we sent them photos of her badly injured after all." Sadaso says while forming his Phantom Hands again.
Ponzu, for her part, takes a stance, preparing to try to confront the three Nen users who have her surrounded.
"Okay, I think that's enough." A sudden voice says.
Surprised, everyone present turns their gazes towards its origin to see Kai outside the alley, smiling as if nothing important was happening.
"Kai? What are you doing here?" Ponzu asks, bewildered that she didn't notice his presence as well.
"If you were able to notice their presence, it's obvious I did too, so I decided to follow you from Heavens Arena to make sure you were safe. Although maybe it wasn't really necessary. After all, that kick you did earlier was truly impressive." Kai responds with a proud smile, causing Ponzu to blush slightly.
"Anyway, I think that's enough schemes for today. It's best if you all head back to Heavens Arena and we pretend today's events didn't happen at all."
"Are yout idiot? Even if you defeated us individually, we now surpass you in..." Sadaso starts to say.
"Because if you want to continue with this blatant kidnapping attempt..." Kai starts saying, interrumpting Sadaso. "...then I'll have to get serious with you."
With this statement, Kai releases a wave of aura charged with hostility and malicious intent, shocking everyone present upon impact.
"I've taken great pains to restrain myself in our previous fights so that you wouldn't suffer serious damage and I could make a good impression on the crowd. But now we're not in the stadium anymore, so there's no reason for me to have to restrain myself anymore either."
"If you decide to take the violent route in this situation, I'll have no choice but to take action. I could either start beating you until every bone in your bodies is broken, or I could tear off chunks of your flesh with my bare hands, or I could kidnap you myself so we can achieve easy victories and so I can practice my torture methods."
"As you can see, there are many ways I could handle this situation, so for your own good, I advise you to forget everything that happened and not try to target anyone close to me again. Okay?"
Everyone present, including Ponzu, can't help but feel completely overwhelmed by the current situation. Right now, they're paralyzed by Kai's ominous aura, sweating profusely as they feel like razor-sharp blades pressing against every part of their bodies, making them aware of the seriousness of Kai's threats.
And what shocked them the most was Kai himself, smiling and speaking with a seemingly gentle air, as if committing these kinds of inhuman acts were the most normal thing in the world for him. This stark contrast between the two is what makes him all the more dreadful.
Eventually, the trio lowers their guard and bows their heads in surrender, prompting Kai to stop emitting his aggressive aura and relieve them of the horrible feeling they've been experiencing. As the trio limply walks away from the scene, Kai goes to give support to a still-intimidated Ponzu.
"Ponzu, are you alright?" Kai asks helping her up.
"I'm still feeling weak and nauseous. I didn't think you had something like that hidden inside." Ponzu says with a sick expression.
"I'm sorry I had to put you through this, but I just had to brand the idea of not getting near the people important for me in their skulls." Kai states, making Ponzu jolt a bit.
"Then... do you consider me someone important to you?" Ponzu shyly asks.
"Of course. You are my disciple and a very good Hunter friend." Kai answers with a warm and honest smile.
But to his surprise, Ponzu pouts visibly annoyed at his answer. "What's wrong?" He asks puzzled.
"Nothing, forget it. Now that the matter is settled, I'll continue on my way. I want to get to my hotel before nightfall." She says, walking away from Kai angrily.
'What's wrong with her? Why is she suddenly acting like this? I don't think I said anything that could upset her.' Kai thinks to himself as he watches her walk away through the street.
'Could it be that she...? No, that can't be the case. Right?'
Kai ponders uneasily over the possibility that Ponzu might harbor feelings of wanting to be more than just friends with him for a while before heading back to Heavens Arena.
Date: May 27th, 2011
The stadium on the 221th floor roars with excitement for the impending fight. Among the vast crowd, Kai watches alongside Gon, Killua, and Ponzu as Nicholas steps into the ring for his debut match as a fighter on the 200th floor.
"I heard from the boss that you tried to attack Ponzu yesterday after he left the tower in an attempt to blackmail us. He may have let you slide, but I'll make sure you pay for trying to touch my fellow disciple." Nicholas says with an expression of seriousness and contained anger that he had not displayed until this point in the story.
"Fellow disciple?" Sadaso asks with his attention picked by that term.
"Yes. Ponzu and I are both the boss Nen disciples." Nicholas responds clenching his fists.
'Ah, so that's what it was. Now I understand why he's so powerful and terrifying. If this guy is his disciple, that confirms he's not on par with that monster Kai.' Sadaso thinks to himself with his lips curling into a wicked smile.
"BEGIN!!!" The referee shouts.
With the match started, Nicholas charges forward as Sadaso does the same, instantly activating his Phantom Hands. Even though they both start at the same time, Nicholas is faster and manages to jump in the air to deliver a downward kick to Sadaso. However, Sadaso manages to block him with his Ghost Hands, knocking him back and causing Nicholas to land a few meters away.
They then meet again in the center of the ring, with Sadaso trying to punch with his giant aura fist to an approaching Nicholas, who jumps to the right and tries to throw a kick to his torso. However, changing the shape of his aura arm, Sadaso manages to block him by grabbing his leg and prepares to suffocate Nicholas with his other aura arm.
However, before he can do so, Nicholas activates Ryu on his other leg to try to throw another kick, which Sadaso manages to block at the expense of having to let go of Nicholas leg so he can defend with all his aura, sliding a couple of meters back by the force of the attack.
'It's just like the boss told me. He almost caught me for being too aggressive. I still need more discipline.' Nicholas scolds himself internally as he takes a fighting stance.
"Just as I thought; he isn't on the same level as the other one." Sadaso says also taking a fighting stance.
The two continue exchanging attacks for quite some time, with both sides managing to score a few points and pushing each other to their limits in a fierce battle as the audience cheers them on, shouting full of passion.
"Wow, Nicholas isn't doing too badly. Despite Sadaso's combat advantage due to his ability, Nicholas keeps putting pressure on him." Gon says pretty pleased by the fight.
"But he's being too upfront with his way of directing the fight, and his lack of emotional control makes him more careless and lowers his guard, giving Sadaso more opportunities to strike him. It's clear that he still lacks real combat experience with Nen." Kai says at his side, carefully analyzing Nicholas's battle performance.
Back in the fight, Sadaso takes advantage of having managed to grab a punch from Nicholas to throw him to the ground, causing it to crack upon impact as Nicholas bounces to a stop.
"Critical hit and down!" The referee yells.
'These brutal attacks aren't working, I'm too altered. I need to calm down and figure out how to deal with him and his ability.' Nicholas thinks to himself, trying to calm down and analyzing the current situation.
'In physical combat, I'm faster and stronger than Sadaso, but he makes up for it with his Nen ability. Plus, when I move in to strike, I run the risk of him trapping me and trying to hit me like he has now.'
'I need to get his attention off me so I can create the opportunity to land a good hit that will give me the win. Okay, here we go!' With this last thought, Nicholas charges at Sadaso again.
'Another frontal attack. He's not really as smart as his appearance suggests.' Sadaso thinks with a smug smile as he also charges at Nicholas.
However, before colliding, Nicholas uses Ko with his right fist to hit the ring floor with all his might, breaking it and causing a screen of dust to cover them both.
Sadaso is initially somewhat lost due to the lack of visibility, but quickly deduces Nicholas's plan, turning around to find him ready to throw a punch, trying to catch him with his large aura hand. But predicting this action, Nicholas quickly steps back and, despite the distance, manages to land a blow on Sadaso's face by throwing charged with his Nen one of the rocks from the platform he just destroyed.
The projectile causes a sharp pain in Sadaso's face upon impact, causing him to reflexively bring his only hand to his face and rendering him unable to pay attention to Nicholas, who takes advantage of this brief window to activate his Ren and throw a punch to his stomach with all his might, causing him to spit blood and be thrown out of the cloud of dust until he crashes into a wall.
The referee approaches the scene of the impact, where Sadaso slips unconscious from the cracked area caused by the collision and falls to the ground. "Sadaso is unconscious! By knockout, victory goes to Nicholas!" The referee yells, making the crowd burst into an ovation.
Point of View Switch: Kai
After Nicholas wins his first battle on the 200th floor, I and the rest of the group head to the stadium exit to wait for Nicholas and give him our thoughts on the battle. After a couple of minutes, Nicholas calls us over, running up to us with a big, satisfied smile on his face.
"Nicholas, congratulations on your victory! It was a truly exciting fight!" Zushi says pretty excited.
"You've certainly demonstrated remarkable talent in your hand-to-hand combat skills. Despite your opponent's Nen ability, you were able to break through his strategy and defeat him. It's obvious you've been training seriously and with dedication." Wing says, giving a positive evaluation.
"I really appreciate your kind words, but my performance in today's fight has showed me that I still have a lot of room for improvement." Nicholas humbly says scratching the back of his head.
"What are you talking about, Nicholas? I think you performed incredibly well in the fight! Your exchanges with Sadaso had me completely absorbed, and the way you overcame him at the end was very creative!" Gon says, complimenting Nicholas fighting prowess with his with his usual positive behavior.
"But still, Gon, it's true that Nicholas has made several mistakes in his match that he should try to fix going forward." I say crossing my arms and getting Gon's attention. "Nicholas, could you tell me what mistakes you made in the fight?"
"Well, to start with, I got a little carried away by my anger at what they had tried to do to Ponzu yesterday, which made my moves more direct and thus my opponent was able to anticipate them more easily." Nicholas answers thoughtfully.
"That's how it is. You should have focused more on feints and misdirection to throw him off and create openings to attack him." I add, pleased for my friend and disciple insight. "What else can you say?"
"During the battle, my guard was down a couple of times so I took a few hits I shouldn't have. In the future I need to be more vigilant and maintain my defenses up." Nicholas says.
'Despite his lack of combat experience, Nicholas is able to provide a very clear and concise analysis of his flaws in the fight. I can't really say how much of this is due to his own innate intellect and how much to Kai's skill as a combat teacher.' Wing thinks to himself, looking at Nicholas very closely.
"Yeah, I noticed that too." I say nodding. "Keeping a cool head and high guard is a priority in Nen matches, especially as we are looking to fight the Floor Masters."
"For that you still need to practice more so that your body knows how to react more appropriately to your opponent's movements, maybe work on some new combinations on the spot to keep your opponents guessing what you'll do next."
"Y-You're right in everything you say, boss." Nicholas replies somehow sad at my speech.
Noticing his sudden depression and the look of the rest of the group at my harsh doctrine, I decide to express my most personal opinion. "Even so, you did quite well in your first real Nen fight. That downward kick kick with which you started the fight was unexpected and powerful, and the way you used the environment to seize the victory made me feel truly proud of your growth as a fighter."
"Really? Are you serious, boss?" Nicholas asks, completely changing his mood.
"You bet I am. In order to continue growing as Hunters and Nen fighters, we need to incorporate more unpredictable moves like that. And on top of that, you're also going to need to develop some sort of Nen ability to deal with the unique situations you'll encounter with me in the future. So, Nicholas, are you ready to begin your Hatsu training to develop your own Nen abilities?" I say, putting a hand on his shoulder while showing an eager smile.
Nicholas stares at me before answering with a determined smile: "Osu!"
After having been trained in both hand-to-hand combat and the basics of Nen, the time has finally come for Nicholas to begin developing his own particular Nen abilities under my tutelage. The real challenge is just beginning, and both of we are ready for it.