Chapter 123 123: Ultra Instinct!
"Phinks!!"
Franklin let out a low roar.
At this moment, Phinks looked as if he was tightly gripping a bomb. Even he himself was beginning to lose control over the power in his fist. If he continued like this, the power of the strike would be even greater, but he wouldn't be able to aim it.
"Scatter!"
Phinks roared furiously, the Ripper Cyclotron in his arm suppressed to its absolute limit.
In an instant.
Starting from him, that golden miniature sun detonated like a nuclear bomb. The terrifying energy formed a fan-shaped blast zone, howling forward.
Facing this terrifying fist head-on, Gon and Killua's eyes widened, their hearts pounding wildly!
In that split second, they even felt the descent of the Grim Reaper. This unprecedented crisis of death caused every hair on their bodies to stand on end.
The opponent's attack was simply too terrifying, even exceeding their comprehension.
The obstructing shops, house walls, and street pavement before them...
All of it was rapidly pulverized into dust by this terrifying fist wind, completely crushed like dry weeds and rotten wood.
RUMBLE!!!
A terrifying explosion resounded.
It was exactly as if a heavy bomb had been dropped right in front of everyone.
Everything within a 300-meter radius ahead, including buildings and the ground, was completely obliterated, sending smoke and dust billowing into the air.
"..."
This terrifying punch left even his comrades dumbfounded.
Within the Phantom Troupe, Uvogin was hailed as having the number one frontal attack power, but if one were to talk about whose attack power was truly the most terrifying, it would be Phinks. Because this guy's upper limit was undetermined.
As long as his arm could withstand it, and he could continuously rotate it, the attack of Ripper Cyclotron would become increasingly terrifying.
From the moment he realized Riku was going to rampage, Phinks had entered his charging phase. Even while Bonolenov was attacking Riku, he hadn't stopped charging.
This strike right now had reached the limit of his life, the pinnacle of his life!
After throwing this punch, Phinks instantly felt as if he had collapsed, lacking even the strength to remain standing.
He swore, this was absolutely the most terrifying punch he had ever thrown in his life.
He even felt as if his arm had snapped.
Because the power of this punch had surpassed the limit his physical body could endure.
Even if the opponent were an Iron Man forged from steel, they would absolutely be forcefully smashed into an iron pancake, or even melted and shattered.
He dared to guarantee that even the Boss wouldn't be able to block this punch of his.
Even if... Netero, hailed as having the greatest combat strength of humanity, stood before him, he would dare to clash head-on with this punch.
"He's definitely dead!! This punch from Phinks has absolutely reached Netero's level!"
Bonolenov was deeply shocked.
Even as a team member, this was the first time he had seen Phinks risk his life like this.
But Shalnark bit his lip tightly, his gaze fixed dead ahead.
Phinks and Franklin also didn't dare to speak. Everyone's eyes were drawn like magnets, unmoving. Until they saw Riku's corpse, no one dared to speak loudly.
Because everyone understood they were facing a true monster.
The smoke and dust gradually cleared.
Everyone finally got a clear view of the area ahead.
But when they clearly saw the scene before them, everyone felt as if struck by lightning, frozen in place.
Phinks, in particular, widened his eyes, his mind completely blank, his expression one of utter bewilderment.
Ahead of them.
Riku stood in place.
Impressively, he had adopted the exact same punching stance!
There were even scorch marks on his fist, emitting wisps of blue smoke!
And the center of the explosion was not the area where Riku had been standing, as Phinks had anticipated.
Instead, it was the central area between Riku and him.
A massive crater had appeared, clearly the destructive result of the opponent's fist clashing with his Ripper Cyclotron. Furthermore, centered on this crater, it had spread outwards to the left and right, covering a full five or six hundred meters.
The entire street had practically been blasted through.
It felt like the effect created by two missiles colliding head-on, with the shockwaves spreading outwards.
As a master of fist techniques, he could tell at a glance that to cause such an effect, the opponent must have unleashed a terrifying fist wind nearly identical to his own.
But... how is this possible!!
His Ripper Cyclotron was absolutely the most terrifying of all fist techniques. And after so much training, the energy output had reached unimaginable levels.
Yet the opponent's punch was definitely a hasty counterattack!
How could it possibly reach his level in an instant?
It was like accelerating to a hundred kilometers per hour. It took him 10 seconds to reach that speed, but the opponent arrived there in just one second.
Although the speed was the same, the technical mastery involved was absolutely not on the same level.
This was simply too terrifying!
Moreover.
Upon seeing the spreading shockwaves, Phinks's pupils shrank violently. Because from these spreading shockwaves, he saw an incredibly familiar scene.
The destroyed houses nearby looked as if they had been struck by a tornado, displaying layers upon layers of cracks.
This is... a fluctuating shockwave punch!
This... this is fucking Uvogin's Big Bang Impact!!
This was absolutely the same style of fist technique as Uvogin's, incredibly similar, and its power was even more terrifying than Uvogin's.
But how could this be?
One must know that only Uvogin had mastered this fluctuating shockwave punch. Even he had asked for advice before, but was unable to master this move.
Could it be there's someone else in this world—namely the monster before him—who also mastered it?
Wait!
This is absolutely Uvogin's Big Bang Impact!!
Phinks noticed the shockwave marks beneath Riku's feet and was 100% certain!
At this moment, he felt his worldview completely crumble.
His eyes grew somewhat dull and lifeless.
He had lost, and lost so thoroughly. Even his proudest move, which had been charged for such a terrifying amount of time to reach an unprecedented limit...
Even this punch, which had practically squeezed him dry, was actually blocked by the opponent.
And the opponent merely had some scraped skin on his knuckles.
Lunatic!
Monster!
Devil!!
Countless words rang out in Phinks's mind. In this moment, a guy who feared neither heaven nor earth actually birthed an unprecedented terror deep within his heart.
He was scared!
The monster before him was like an insurmountable mountain, causing immense despair.
It wasn't just him; the other teammates present were equally bewildered by this outcome.
This punch, which had accumulated almost all of Phinks's energy—a punch that seemed to guarantee victory—had actually been blocked. Furthermore, the opponent was completely unharmed, and even the few brats behind him hadn't been affected by the shockwaves.
In other words, the opponent even had strength to spare!
"..."
An unprecedented terror, like the shadow of a demon, shrouded the minds of everyone present.
In this moment, they felt a despair they had never experienced, not even since joining the Troupe.
They had destroyed countless cities, killed countless people, and annihilated countless targets, but they had never felt a despair like this time.
"Leave! Hurry up and leave this place! This guy is fundamentally beyond human resistance! I finally understand why the Boss said we didn't have any chance! Flee! Flee far away! Never come back!!"
Suddenly.
Shalnark's voice rang out.
His words instantly snapped the other companions present awake.
Everyone had originally thought Riku was just a boss they could team up to kill. But upon true contact, they realized he was no fucking boss at all.
He was practically the game GM!
An absolutely invincible existence. Aside from fleeing, there was fundamentally no second choice; they had exhausted all their methods.
"I'll cover the rear!! Phinks! Bonolenov! Go!!"
Franklin stood up, his massive body blocking the front of the group, his ten fingers opening once more.
Even his mouth opened wide!
A frantic barrage of bullets poured towards Riku, and from his mouth, he directly fired bombs resembling howitzer shells!
This was an ability Franklin had never displayed before. Perhaps he had been hiding it, or perhaps he suddenly comprehended it in this life-or-death crisis.
His firepower had clearly leveled up.
But that was all it was!
"Hurry and go!!"
Shalnark let out a low roar, violently grabbing Phinks and Bonolenov and throwing them away!!
"Shalnark!! Franklin!!"
Phinks and Bonolenov roared in agony. Phinks desperately wanted to go back and continue fighting, but unleashing the Ripper Cyclotron just now had practically drained him completely.
Bonolenov stayed silent for a second, then directly grabbed him and fled frantically.
This was absolutely the most miserable he had been since joining the team.
Probably no one would have ever thought that the Phantom Troupe, which struck terror into countless cities and Mafia factions worldwide, would now be fleeing frantically like stray dogs before Riku.
Shalnark right now was completely different from before.
There was no expression to be seen on his face—no fear, no anger—only absolute calmness and indifference.
And a peculiar, faint golden aura surfaced around his body.
He looked exactly like a Super Saiyan who had activated his transformation state.
Far, far more dangerous than before.
Upon closer inspection, one would notice peculiar little steel antenna needles stuck in his body.
This was the special ability he originally used to control puppets.
Shalnark's ability had two modes of application: one was controlling a target object, and the other was inserting these steel needles into his own body to control himself.
Once he controlled himself, he would completely lose dominance over his body, turning entirely into a pure combat machine. Possessing absolutely acute perception and an incredibly powerful combat physique, he could unleash combat power far exceeding his usual level.
This was the ability Shalnark disliked using the most, but up until now, he truly had no other option.
"Originally, I didn't want to use this ability, but you are indeed worthy of my using it."
Shalnark stated calmly.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk... A very nice ability, even capable of self-manipulation. The hardest thing for a human is complete self-control; often times, people always act following their subconscious," Riku commented with a smile.
Currently, his Lucky Star could only be used to designate drops twice a day. So dealing with four people would take two days of hunting.
Letting two of them escape didn't matter.
Besides, between these two guys before him, it was primarily Shalnark's ability that he found quite interesting.
Name: Shalnark System Traits: [Enhancement Type Nen Talent] - Gold, [Puppet Phone: Fate Manipulation] - Gold, [Puppet Phone: Auto-Pilot] - Double Gold, [Data Analysis] - Purple, [Hacking Skills] - Gold, etc.Name: Franklin System Traits: [Emission Type Nen Talent] - Gold, [Nen Bullet: Double Machine Gun] - Gold, [Peacemaker] - Purple, [Self-Sacrifice] - Purple, etc.
Looking at the traits of the two, Shalnark's were noticeably much better. Franklin's strength was indeed very good, but it was relatively more one-dimensional.
He could only serve as heavy firepower cover and damage output.
Of course, possessing Franklin-level Nen bullet output in the Hunter world was also very terrifying; he could suppress over ninety percent of opponents!
Whether it was dealing Area of Effect damage or providing suppressive fire, he was the prime candidate!
But what truly tempted Riku was Shalnark's ability.
Both his soft and hard skills were very good, especially now seeing Shalnark entering his auto-pilot state with his own eyes.
It looked more like entering a state of harmony between heaven and man, activating an ultimate mode.
In this state, Shalnark had completely relinquished control of himself. His body's instinctual combat methods had surpassed his own consciousness.
In this aspect alone, it shared the same underlying principle as Goku's Ultra Instinct.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk..."
Riku smiled faintly, his gaze shifting to Franklin.
His figure vanished from the spot.
Shalnark, having activated auto-pilot mode, instantly noticed this, and his figure also directly vanished from the spot.
Bang—
A solid clash of fists.
The collision between Riku and Shalnark's fists actually resulted in an even split. The opponent blocked Riku's attack, but Shalnark's fist was clearly not as hard as Riku's.
His skin was broken, blood flowing.
But there wasn't a trace of pain on his face.
Instead, he rebounded with even swifter speed. Directly initiating a close-quarters encounter with Riku.
The two entirely engaged in ultra-close-quarters hand-to-hand combat.
"Die!!"
Franklin attempted to attack Gon and the others.
But he watched in horror as another Riku headed in his direction.
What the hell!?
Shalnark also noticed this, but currently suppressed by the other Riku, he had no chance to go over.
Multiple Minor Five Elements Clones Technique.
To deal with these two guys, there was fundamentally no need for too many clones.
Riku just arranged one clone to head towards Franklin, and left another one to protect his two little brothers.
Three Rikus appeared on the field.
Damn it!!
Seeing this, Shalnark roared inwardly, but having entered the auto-pilot state, he could no longer control his body.
One of the clones directly dodged all of Franklin's attacks. His bullets were simply far too slow for Riku's clone.
Perhaps to an ordinary person they were a fatal crisis, but in front of a master, they were nothing to look at.
Five fingers spread wide!
Franklin's mouth opened, a new howitzer shell forming. Just as he was about to fire the grenade, Riku directly pressed a hand squarely on his face.
Then, a highly practiced move: Floor Drag!
Pressing down on Franklin's head with one hand, Riku forcefully shoved his head directly into the concrete floor, dragging him across the ground for a hundred meters!
BOOM—
The howitzer shell in Franklin's mouth detonated violently.
☆☆☆
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