HunterxHunter: I Became Stronger After Death

Emerging from the shadows, the figure's ability clearly involved a space-related emission-type nen technique.

However, the intermediary, unaware of the existence of nen, died without ever understanding how the other party had managed such a feat.

In his final moments, the intermediary's modest experience allowed him to recognize the figure's origins based on their attire:

A ninja!

But something about them felt off—something that didn't quite fit.

A ninja using a katana?

The intermediary's confusion was buried alongside him in the darkness of death.

The moment their leader was killed, the intermediary's subordinates froze in shock before erupting in anger, drawing their guns.

But against a nen user, their firearms were utterly ineffective, even though every one of them was armed.

Minutes later.

The slaughter was over. The floor was littered with corpses and spent bullet casings.

The scarred man sat motionless in his seat, watching coldly as his subordinates wiped out the intermediary's crew.

Several bullets had been fired at the scarred man, but his enhancement-type defensive abilities nullified them completely.

Amid the carnage, the masked ninja flicked their wrist, shaking the blood from the katana.

Looking at the scarred man holding Sinra, the ninja asked, "Leader, Sinra's nen essence has disappeared. Does that mean…"

"Yes," the scarred man interrupted, as if anticipating the question. "Without its essence, we can't use it to communicate with spirits. However…"

The scarred man paused, thinking of the enigmatic onmyoji with the power to summon spirits.

Even though the onmyoji's abilities were shrouded in mystery, there was a fundamental limitation: Spiritual communication required nen essence attached to an artifact. Without it, there was nothing to work with.

Shaking his head, the scarred man stood, Sinra in hand, and stepped over the corpses.

"No need to worry. This is not the only 'key' we can find."

Stopping in front of the ninja, the scarred man's gaze was hard as stone.

Feeling the weight of that gaze, the ninja bowed their head in shame. "Forgive me for my lapse, sir."

The scarred man withdrew his gaze, once again focusing on the katana.

Initially, he had planned to bring Sinra back to their homeland. But curiosity nagged at him: How had the nen essence disappeared from the blade?

It was better to investigate further.

Perhaps it was even possible to restore the nen essence. If nothing else, learning how the essence had been removed might allow them to use the same method to weaken the ninjas of the Yun-In Style.

And there was still the matter of the Dream Scroll, a national treasure of Ryuou Country that remained missing…

The cursed inheritance mechanism of the scroll prevented outsiders from taking it.

If they couldn't possess it, then perhaps it could be destroyed.

But first, they needed to uncover the truth about how the nen essence had vanished.

"Rokuhara."

The scarred man's thoughts shifted as he called for his subordinate.

Rokuhara immediately met his gaze.

"You won't return to the homeland," the scarred man said. "I have a task for you…"

Rokuhara's eyes lit up with fervor. To him, carrying out missions was the essence of life itself, a purpose that could not be replaced.

The robbery-murder case that had brought the wealthy collector's artifacts to light also gradually funneled them into the market.

Sinra, the renowned katana, was only one of these treasures.

Its notoriety stemmed from two factors: the glaring nen energy it carried and the dangers associated with handling it.

Moro still remembered…

A fellow dealer once mentioned that Sinra might be cursed.

At the time, the dealer's tone was a mix of jest and envy at Sinra's exorbitant sale price.

Now—

Moro was beginning to agree with that sentiment.

However, the danger wasn't supernatural; it was inherent to the circumstances surrounding Sinra itself.

Moro had prepared for this possibility from the start.

But his decision to sell Sinra quickly stemmed from his desire to avoid becoming a focal point of attention.

For that reason, he didn't mind taking a smaller profit. Even if the price were halved, he would still agree to the sale.

Ironically, this attitude shifted the risk to the intermediary.

"What a shame…"

Upon learning that the intermediary had been double-crossed and killed, Moro offered a moment of silent reflection.

He had hoped to work with the intermediary again to sell other finds, but fate had other plans.

Still, in Yorknew City—or anywhere in this world, for that matter—double-crossing and betrayal weren't uncommon.

Before Moro learned nen, he had nearly fallen victim to a similar scheme.

It was only after mastering nen that such incidents became rare for him.

These experiences gave Moro a deeper understanding of this world: survival here demanded nen mastery. It was an essential foundation.

After offering his moment of silence for the intermediary, Moro resumed his daily training.

With his leveling ability as a safety net, he prioritized consolidating his fundamentals.

His highest priority was mastering Hatsu, as it determined the overall effectiveness of nen abilities.

Fraudulent Star

Moro raised his hand, bright nen energy gathering in his palm.

After a second, a marble-sized green projectile shot forth, streaking through the air and leaving a visible trajectory behind.

At the end of the trajectory, a standing target exploded into fragments.

Watching the shattered target, Moro exhaled slowly.

"Too slow…"

"Still can't balance power and speed."

"When my mastery of Hatsu improves, it might get better. For now… I need to focus on the basics. Once they're solid, I can start learning In."

During his break, Moro planned out his next steps.

Fraudulent Star wasn't a purely offensive ability; it had a built-in mechanism to deceive.

In essence, its core function leaned toward trickery, as its name suggested.

Rather than fixating on raw power, it made more sense to refine how the ability could be used.

For instance, Moro could work on controlling multiple stars at once while maintaining speed and then use In to conceal their trajectories.

These ideas, however, were far beyond Moro's current skill level.

With the sword of Damocles hanging over him, he had no choice but to push forward with his training.

After finishing his break, Moro resumed practicing.

Although learning advanced nen techniques quickly was impossible, there was one crucial skill he had to master: control.

Moro focused his nen, firing a star into the air. He set a one-second delay before the star would reverse course.

Closing his eyes, he ignored its trajectory entirely.

As the green star reached its maximum range, it suddenly reversed like a rubber band snapping back, accelerating toward Moro's face.

At the last possible moment, Moro tilted his head slightly.

Whoosh!

The star streaked past his eyelashes.

Moro opened his eyes slowly.

Even without looking, he could track the star's path with precision.

This was one of his training goals.

Whether it relied on instinct or perfect timing didn't matter.

What mattered was reducing the margin of error to near-zero.

If he could achieve that, this skill would become a critical part of his tactical arsenal.

For 20 advanced chapters: https://www.patreon.com/c/Ely225