Chapter 14: Super-Speed Combat x Shingen-ryu's Kenpo Listening
"Just now, I…"
Lorin's eyes showed a hint of confusion.
It seemed like he had entered a different realm. For a moment, everything around him slowed down, or perhaps he suddenly sped up.
But how had he done that?
Lorin was puzzled.
It felt like he had tapped into some deeper power within his body, but now, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't even sense that so-called deeper strength.
"Did I fail to meet certain conditions?"
"Based on what happened earlier, it must require focus—no, extreme concentration," Lorin thought, recalling his state at that time and forming a hypothesis.
"Could this really be happening?"
Netero looked at Lorin, who was deep in thought, and couldn't help but smile. Even though he had suspected it earlier, seeing it with his own eyes still made it hard to believe.
However, the smile tugging at Netero's lips showed just how delighted he was.
"Hey, kid, that move just now wasn't bad. Want to keep going?" Netero asked with a grin, excitement gleaming in his eyes as he beckoned Lorin to come at him.
"Let's do it!"
With Netero's shout, Lorin stopped thinking and responded immediately.
Since he had entered that state during Netero's game, he would find it again through Netero's game.
Lorin took a deep breath, focusing all his attention as he charged toward Netero, reaching out with his right hand to slap the ball.
The previous exchange had made it clear to Lorin that taking the ball from Netero was almost impossible, so… he set his goal on swatting the ball away.
In a sense, knocking the ball out of Netero's grasp would still count as taking it.
"Interesting!" Netero chuckled as he held the ball. He understood Lorin's intention but didn't mind; this time, however, he was a bit more serious.
For instance,
he no longer restricted himself to using just his left hand and right foot.
With a light tap of his foot, Netero flashed past Lorin's side, swinging the ball behind his back to evade Lorin's incoming hand, letting it fall into his left hand.
Lorin caught sight of this out of the corner of his eye and didn't hesitate. His forward momentum shifted into a twist of his waist and abdomen as he quickly aimed for Netero's left hand.
At that moment, Netero's right hand blocked Lorin's advance, batting away his reaching arm.
But Lorin didn't stop there; with one hand blocked, he immediately used his other hand to go for the ball again. Netero's right hand once more intervened, like a serpent, his elbow blocking Lorin's reaching right hand.
Simultaneously, Netero shifted his foot behind Lorin, stretching out his right hand to push him away.
Though Lorin hadn't learned any martial arts, his upgraded body's balance and flexibility were top-notch.
As he leaned backward, his hands touched the ground, and his right leg swung upward toward the ball.
"What a flexible body…" Netero thought, impressed.
During their exchanges, he had already figured out Lorin's abilities. His attacks were unstructured, similar to the boy over there, relying purely on physical prowess.
But bodies differ from one another. If Gon's body represented raw explosive power, then Lorin's was a nearly perfect balance of every aspect.
"A body too perfect to have been achieved through training. What surprised him most…" Netero's eyes flashed, and with a push off his back foot, he intercepted Lorin's kicking leg.
"More effort is needed. He's still far from his limit!"
Netero grew more eager.
"What a troublesome old man."
Despite his series of failed attempts, Lorin remained unfazed.
After all, this was to be expected. If he succeeded too easily, it wouldn't be right.
His eyes fixed on Netero, Lorin tried to clear his mind of all distractions, focusing entirely on attacking the ball.
With his concentration increasing and his continuous clashes with Netero, Lorin once again slipped into that mysterious state.
Seeing Netero's slowly curling smile, Lorin realised he had entered the super-speed state once more.
But this time, being prepared, he was able to recognise it clearly.
"So, it does require extreme focus to enter this state!"
In this state, Lorin confirmed his theory.
Now then…
He launched an attack, not at the ball, but directly at Netero.
The moment Lorin moved, the deeper power within his body surged forth, allowing him to reach an extraordinary speed.
If Lorin's target were Gon, or even Killua, at such speed, he would have easily dominated. But he was facing Netero.
The strongest human in the world!
As soon as Lorin made his move, Netero, who had seemed slow in Lorin's eyes, suddenly sped up, as though entering the same super-speed state.
In an instant, they exchanged dozens of blows.
Their rapid movements created afterimages so fast that they stunned Killua and Gon, who watched from the sidelines.
This wasn't the kind of afterimage created by the illusion of changing steps, like Killua's technique; it was purely a result of speed.
So fast that their eyes couldn't track the movements, only catching faint snapshots of the impacts.
Gon merely widened his eyes in shock, while Killua's mind screamed, "Impossible!"
After all, he had seen Lorin's skills before.
Though Lorin had good physical capabilities, he wasn't invincible.
For Killua, Lorin wasn't exactly insignificant, but if he took things seriously, he could defeat him.
But now…
Watching the afterimages of fists and palms flashing between the two, Killua lost all confidence in matching that speed.
"Two monsters!" he screamed internally.
After several seconds,
as Lorin and Netero continued clashing, Lorin suddenly shuddered, falling out of that state, and was immediately sent flying by one of Netero's deflecting moves.
Yes.
He was sent flying by a deflecting move.
Even though, in the eyes of Gon and Killua, Lorin and Netero seemed to be fighting fiercely, in reality, it wasn't a true exchange.
From start to finish, it was Lorin attacking relentlessly while Netero effortlessly parried his strikes.
In the end, when Lorin abruptly exited the state, his speed couldn't keep up with Netero, leading to him being knocked away.
Although Lorin was thrown out of that state, Netero was not. In that final move, Netero used finesse rather than force, sending Lorin flying but leaving him unharmed.
However, not being injured didn't mean Lorin could still stand.
He shakily propped himself up, trying to get back on his feet, but feeling the exhaustion in his body, he simply lay on the ground, gasping for breath.
Though physically drained, Lorin was filled with an indescribable excitement.
The first time he had entered that state, it happened too suddenly for him to recognise. But this time, lasting over ten seconds and continuously exchanging blows with Netero, Lorin fully realised he had entered a super-speed state.
Shingen-ryu's Kenpo Listening!
In the Hunter world, this phenomenon was referred to as Shingen-ryu's Kenpo Listening in certain martial arts traditions.
It described the temporal distortion occurring during a duel between two masters, where they could even perceive each other's thoughts in such a state.
Of course,
Lorin hadn't heard anything while fighting Netero, so his previous state lacked the "Listening" aspect.
It resembled the sensation of time slowing before one's death, with one's life flashing by.
Or, more simply, it was akin to the "prayer state" Netero achieved through years of daily training, executing ten thousand gratitude punches to compress perceived time to its utmost.
Naturally, the prior exchanges proved that Lorin was still far from matching Netero's "greater speed."