Reborn in HXH: I Plundered Infinite Traits

Combined with her original two blades, there were a full ten carving knives attacking Riku from all sides.

Riku was visibly forced to take a step back.

But in the next instant.

His single blade moved even faster, flawlessly blocking every single incoming knife.

Furthermore.

While swinging his blade with his right hand, his left hand suddenly plunged straight into the curtain of blades.

"Ah! Are you crazy! Be careful!"

Menchi cried out in alarm.

She had been tricked by this guy, but she wouldn't go so far as to permanently cripple a candidate by her own hands.

She instantly dispelled her conjured Nen blades and prepared to withdraw her physical ones.

But to her absolute astonishment, she watched as Riku firmly grabbed one of the real blades, disarming her with a backhand motion while simultaneously knocking her other blade away.

A one hundred percent flawless bare-handed blade catch!

The sharp carving knife pressed against Menchi's neck, even piercing the skin slightly to draw a single bead of blood.

"..."

The entire venue fell incredibly quiet.

Dead silent.

Menchi's mind went completely blank.

She never dreamed she would suffer such a miserable defeat in a contest of blade skills.

The opponent had actually forcefully thrust his hand into her curtain of blades and snatched away her physical weapon.

In the past, she had always pursued gourmet food, believing the honing of other skills to be completely irrelevant.

Gourmet food was the only thing worth pursuing in this world.

Even something like swordsmanship, she had only practiced it for a short time and had already achieved quite an impressive level of mastery today.

Martial arts were not difficult for her at all.

But at this moment.

Menchi felt she had been utterly defeated.

[Ding! You have defeated the combat-stance target Examiner Menchi. 10% chance to copy target trait. Copying...]

The system notification chime finally rang out.

It couldn't possibly fail again, could it?

Riku's heart tightened slightly.

[Ding! Copying trait...]

[Ding! Copy successful! Congratulations, you have obtained the trait [Hundred Flower Blade Wheel - Nen - Conjuration] (Blue). Automatically fusing trait for you.]

A voice like heavenly music rang out in his mind.

Riku couldn't help but be pleasantly surprised.

Perfect!

It actually directly dropped the exact trait he wanted the most.

This system thing was truly fantastic.

In a split second.

An invisible, peculiar energy flooded into Riku's body, rapidly circulating through his internal meridian points and aura nodes.

Then, all the information regarding the Hundred Flower Blade Wheel automatically surged into Riku's mind.

[Ding! Congratulations, you have mastered [Conjuration - Hundred Flower Blade Wheel] (Blue).]

Perfect!!

"..."

At this moment, the exam venue was incredibly quiet.

All the candidates stared blankly at the scene unfolding before their eyes.

Menchi, serving as the Chief Examiner, had actually lost.

Lost to a candidate.

And the other party had done so in the most thrilling and dangerous way possible, forcibly snatching away the Chief Examiner's weapon.

Of course, the primary reason was that Menchi had worried about hurting Riku and voluntarily canceled her ability.

But even so.

All the candidates present understood that this was something they probably couldn't achieve themselves.

"Menchi..."

Satotz, hiding in the distant treetops, was also dumbfounded.

As fellow examiners.

Among the three of them, Menchi was probably the strongest, yet... Menchi had actually lost.

"The fruit is becoming more and more perfect... For a split second just now, why did I have this illusion..."

Murder Clown Hisoka frowned slightly, staring in Riku's direction and revealing a look of greedy excitement.

In that brief instant, he felt another distinct surge of Nen.

But when he tried to sense it again, it had already completely vanished.

That was a Nen ability coming from Riku.

Even though Riku now possessed the trait and the relevant abilities had been born within his body, his aura nodes had not yet been fully opened to the outside.

It was like a sports car that hadn't been unboxed yet; the outside world naturally couldn't hear the roar of its engine.

"Hahahaha! It seems my trip here wasn't in vain. Eliminating every single candidate is indeed a bit too harsh!"

"However, for a candidate to defeat a Chief Examiner is indeed extremely rare."

Suddenly.

A magnificent voice boomed from a loudspeaker high in the sky.

The voice belonged to an elderly man. It was breezy and relaxed, seemingly carrying a hint of genuine interest.

Everyone immediately looked toward the sound, shockingly seeing a massive airship slowly flying over through the clear blue sky.

Emblazoned on this airship was the unmistakable logo of the Hunter Association.

"It's the Hunter Association's mark! Could it be the Review Board!?"

A knowledgeable candidate exclaimed.

Just as everyone was trying to get a clearer look at the airship.

They shockingly saw a figure jump directly down from it.

This was an altitude of several hundred meters.

This action instantly left the candidates below completely stunned.

Even Riku couldn't help but slightly narrow his eyes.

His pupils trembled slightly.

That looked like... excitement!

Boom—

Under everyone's incredibly shocked gazes, they saw a single figure leap directly down from the massive airship in the sky.

Falling from a height of several hundred meters and landing heavily on the ground.

After the dust cleared, everyone finally got a clear look at the guy who had landed.

Wearing a white martial arts uniform, with completely white hair and beard, his hair tied into a ponytail, oversized earlobes, and only the very tips of his mustache showing a hint of black.

There was absolutely no sign of injury on his body.

Because his control over his strength was so perfect, there weren't even any blast marks or cracks on the ground beneath him.

"W-who is that old man?"

"Hiss— That was a drop from over 300 meters up, and he landed without a single scratch. Is this guy even human?"

"Looking at him, he must be at least past 60, right? How is he this strong?"

"Could he also be someone from the Hunter Association?"

"Duh!"

"..."

The sudden appearance of the old man left the candidates present profoundly shocked, and they couldn't help but murmur amongst themselves.

"C-Chairman..."

With a blade pressed against her neck, Menchi's expression was incredibly ugly. She never expected to meet the Chairman in such a humiliating state.

"He is the Chairman of the Supreme Selection Committee, and the highest authority in charge of the Hunter Exam, Chairman Netero!"

Menchi explained with a pale face.

"It's actually the Hunter Association Chairman, hailed as the strongest human alive!?"

"So strong!!"

"Boss Riku is in deep trouble now..."

"..."

The candidates present actively backed away, clearing a path.

They formed a large circle around the center.

"Young man! Even though Menchi held back, to be able to defeat Examiner Menchi means your strength is indeed quite impressive. Please, put down the blade."

Netero slowly walked up to Riku.

He reached out and gently pinched the blade.

His movements looked incredibly slow, but to Riku, who was directly involved, it felt incredibly abrupt.

It was as if there was a sudden skip in his visual perception.

Netero's hand abruptly appeared right on the blade.

It wasn't slow!

It was fast!

Impossibly fast!

The other party's hand was so fast that it exceeded the limits of kinetic vision, which created the illusion of slowness.

Riku tactfully let go, shrugging lightly as he said, "I had no intention of proactively attacking an examiner. This was merely self-defense. If I have caused any offense, I truly apologize."

This guy...

Menchi felt incomparably stifled in her heart; she was the one who had just eaten those Nine-Turn Chitterlings.

"Hahahaha! What an open-minded young man! What is your name?"

Netero, however, laughed heartily, his gaze filled with admiration as he looked at Riku.

"Riku."

Riku's gaze as he looked at Netero was equally filled with admiration.

Name: Netero

Traits: [Pinnacle of Martial Arts] (Black), [Nen Grandmaster] (Red), [Taijutsu Grandmaster] (Red), [Absolute Will] (Red), [Justice] (Gold), [Lecherous] (Purple), [Heavy Drinker] (Blue), etc.