HxH: Noah’s Heart

"Establish rules, the stricter the rules, the stronger Nen abilities become… Right?"

Muttering to himself, Noah slowly closed his eyes. At the same time, his aura began to flicker like flames. After a few minutes, as Noah abruptly opened his eyes, his aura gathered in front of him, forming a piece of slightly yellowed parchment.

"It went so smoothly?"

Grabbing the parchment, feeling its tangible presence, Noah expressed some surprise.

At this moment, the parchment seemed to be shaken by a strong wind, continuously trembling and making rustling sounds.

"Choose a target, Tsubone."

As Noah's voice fell, the parchment, which had been dancing wildly, instantly calmed down. Then, at the top of the parchment, a bright silver flame burned like writing. After the silver flame disappeared, a photograph appeared in the burnt section, unmistakably Tsubone.

Next, beneath the photograph, silver flames appeared again. With the flames burning, lines of text emerged on the parchment.

Name: Tsubone

Gender: Female

Age: Unknown

Interests: Unknown

Blood Type: Unknown

Family: Amane (Granddaughter)

Values: Unknown

Nen Ability System: Conjuration

Nen Ability: Rider's High

Information Accuracy: 60%

Staring at the information on the parchment for a while, Noah lightly snapped his fingers, deactivating his ability, and the parchment disappeared into thin air.

"Hating and wanting to escape from the world of assassination, yet developing such a Nen ability, it's quite ironic," Noah sighed quietly as he lay back on the bed.

The next day, as usual, Noah, Tsubone, and Amane arrived at an open area in the forest.

"Hmm? Little Noah, you seem a bit different from yesterday," Tsubone raised an eyebrow when she saw Noah adopting an attacking stance, looking somewhat surprised.

She could sense that there was a feeling in Noah's aura that she hadn't felt before, and this feeling made her subtly uneasy.

What did this kid do yesterday?

However, even though Tsubone felt a slight pressure from Noah's aura, she didn't take it to heart. In her eyes, even if Noah's strength had improved again, it posed no threat to her.

That being said, Tsubone was still very satisfied with Noah's progress.

"Teacher Tsubone, you might have a bit of a tough time today," standing across from her, Noah's lips curved into a confident smile.

"Oh?" Hearing Noah's words, Tsubone once again showed surprise. She raised her eyebrows, and deep wrinkles appeared on her forehead.

"Hehehe, interesting. Although I don't know what has given you such strong confidence, since you've said it, I need to be cautious."

After a month of getting to know each other, Tsubone understood that Noah wasn't the type to exaggerate.

If he could say such words, it meant that he did indeed have the confidence to make her experience what he called "tough times."

"Confidence is a good thing, but the development of events may not go as you expect, Little Noah," Tsubone said, her face suddenly darkening.

A glint of killing intent flashed in her eyes, and her tall body completely ignored the laws of physics, disappearing from her original position and appearing in front of Noah in an instant.

At the same time, her palm, like a giant fan, came crashing toward Noah's chest.

Facing Tsubone's attack, Noah calmly threw a punch, blocking Tsubone's attack, and quickly changed his footsteps, sidestepping Tsubone's immediate follow-up kick.

Continuing from there, the two of them began a rapid exchange of attacks in the arena.

After a month of training, Noah had already become adept at using every part of his body in combat.

He could swiftly and accurately enhance his offense and defense using Nen.

At this point, Noah possessed strength far surpassing that of an average Nen user, with the only lacking aspect being his relatively limited combat experience.

After all, combat experience couldn't be gained solely through training. It required time and facing various opponents.

Only after hundreds or even thousands of battles could one radiate a brilliant light.

As Noah and Tsubone's speed in their exchange of attacks increased, their figures seemed to transform into two fleeting shadows.

To an ordinary observer, it appeared as if two dark figures were colliding with each other, making their movements impossible to discern.

Crack!

With a light sound, the entangled pair leaped backward, creating distance between them.

Standing upright, Tsubone smiled and said, "Young Noah has made quite a bit of progress since yesterday. However, if this is all you've got, I won't be challenged."

"That was just a warm-up. The real show is yet to come."

Noah took a deep breath, and suddenly, his aura became elusive. He then took slow steps, and as he did, several dozen afterimages suddenly appeared around him, looking eerie and mysterious.

"Oh? Shadow Step, huh?" Tsubone squinted her eyes, immediately recognizing the technique Noah was using.

Shadow Step was an assassination technique of the Zoldyck Family that used the speed and rhythm of footwork to create afterimages, confusing opponents.

"Even if you've grasped Shadow Step, it's still not enough," Tsubone said.

She suddenly bowed forward, and around her, dozens of afterimages appeared even faster and more solid than Noah's.

Then, Tsubone, together with her afterimages, charged at Noah. As their afterimages collided, Noah was once again sent flying by Tsubone's palm.

"Hehehe, you still need more practice."

Watching Noah get up from the ground, Tsubone, with her hands behind her back, stood tall and chuckled, feeling a bit proud.

"Huff, so Shadow can be used like this? I've learned something new." Noah's face showed no signs of discouragement. After getting up, he flashed a brilliant smile at Tsubone.

Next, under Tsubone's watchful gaze, Noah slowly extended his hand, gathering his aura into his palm. Subsequently, a somewhat yellowed piece of parchment slowly appeared above Noah's palm, hovering in mid-air.

"Hmm? Nen ability?" Seeing this, Tsubone's pupils slightly contracted, immediately discerning that this was a Nen ability Noah had developed.

How interesting. You just talked about it yesterday, and today you've developed it? Let me see what ability you've developed, young Noah.

In a location invisible to Tsubone, the parchment displayed the information recorded about Tsubone from the previous night.

"60% should be enough. As long as this information is accurate, let's test this ability."

"Assassin's Note!"