HxH: Noah’s Heart

Chapter 23: Chapter 23: Nen Bypass X Surprise



Assassin's Notes, recorded on parchment, are used to identify weaknesses in the target by documenting relevant information.

The more comprehensive the recorded information, the greater the number of weaknesses identified. These percentages include: appearance 10, name, gender 10, age 10, interests 10, blood type 10, family 10, what they value 10, Nen ability category 15, Nen ability 15.

In total, there's a 100% information detail rate. Up to 50%, for every additional 10% increase in detail rate, one additional weakness on the target is revealed. After 50%, for every additional 10% increase, the number of weaknesses on the target doubles.

In other words, if you have a 10% information detail rate on the target, there will be only 1 weakness. With 50%, there will be 5 weaknesses. At 60%, the increase won't be by 1 but by 2, becoming 7 weaknesses. At 70%, it's an increase of 4, becoming 11 weaknesses. At 80%, it's 8, becoming 19 weaknesses. At 90%, it's 16, becoming 35 weaknesses. At 100%, it's 32, and the target will have a total of 67 weaknesses.

The locations of these weaknesses on the target are random. They could appear in vital areas like the heart, head, or throat, or in non-vital areas like fingers or thighs.

The purpose of these weaknesses is to allow Noah's attacks to bypass the target's Nen defense!

No matter how tough or powerful the target is, even their abilities, as long as Noah attacks the weaknesses, he can bypass the target's Nen defense.

In essence, it's as if Noah forcibly enters a state of "Zetsu" for a specific part of the opponent's body, but the location is random, and it can only be attacked once. Even a light touch from Noah's aura or body on a weakness will cause it to disappear, and the target can then use Nen to protect that area again.

This is the ability that Noah has developed.

Assassin's Notes!

"Commence the hunt." As Noah's words fell, the parchment paper floating in front of him quickly ignited and turned to ashes within a second.

Noah's ability only activates when he says or thinks "Commence the hunt." Once activated, he cannot supplement the information further, so to reveal more weaknesses on the target, Noah must first thoroughly investigate the target's details before choosing to engage. Otherwise, this ability is essentially useless.

Seeing the parchment paper disappear, Tsubone also became cautious. She had no idea what Noah's ability was, and all she could do was remain on guard.

The weaknesses revealed by the Assassin's Notes cannot be noticed by the target themselves, even with Nen. Only when they are attacked do they realize that a specific part of their body has entered a state of "Zetsu."

So, in Noah's vision, there were clearly seven ping-pong-sized black dots on Tsubone's body, while Tsubone herself remained unaware.

Seven!

Because Noah had a 60% information detail rate on Tsubone, she currently had a total of seven weaknesses: on the back of her left hand, left wrist, left elbow, left shoulder, both knees and her right chest.

"Why are they almost all concentrated on the left arm? Such bad luck."

After Noah carefully examined the weaknesses on Tsubone's body, he couldn't help but complain silently.

"What's wrong? Is your ability just burning paper?" On the other side, seeing Noah's delay, Tsubone seemed to grow impatient and provocatively asked.

Well, let's see then.

Noah's gaze swept over Tsubone's left shoulder, and his figure suddenly disappeared in place, moving towards Tsubone in an attack.

Auras enveloped his body as Tsubone's keen eyes quickly detected where Noah's attention was focused – her left shoulder.

Left shoulder? Although I don't know what your ability is, exposing the target you want to attack so blatantly, it's a bit too underestimating of me.

Tsubone's mind shifted, and the aura on her body shifted towards her left shoulder. It was precisely the Nen ability application technique that Noah was most skilled at – Ryu!

Then, Tsubone took a step forward, and her left shoulder seemed to turn into a mountain as it moved towards Noah, while her right hand turned into a palm, ready to counterattack the moment she received Noah's strike.

However, no matter how Tsubone calculated, she couldn't have imagined that Noah's Nen ability could bypass her aura defense. Even if she concentrated all her aura to harden her left shoulder, Noah's attack could easily injure her.

Seeing that Tsubone had chosen to respond to his attack in this way, Noah felt a hint of satisfaction in his heart. His body accelerated once again. However, just before his fist struck Tsubone's right shoulder, Noah instantly used Ryu to retract the aura wrapped around his fist, leaving only about 5% of its strength.

This was just training. If Noah had really struck with full force, even if Tsubone didn't die, she would have been severely injured. This was not the outcome Noah wanted, so he restrained his power to a level that wouldn't harm Tsubone.

The flow of aura on Noah's fist naturally caught Tsubone's attention. However, before she could react, she felt a powerful force on her left shoulder. With a shocked expression on her face, Tsubone's body was pushed backward by Noah's punch, and her planned counterattack came to naught.

"Why?"

As her body stabilized, Tsubone couldn't suppress her surprised expression and asked.

Meanwhile, Amane, who had been watching the battle from the sidelines, also covered her mouth with her small hand, unable to believe what she was seeing.

In Amane's impression, whenever Noah fought against her grandmother, he was always thoroughly taught a lesson.

But today, he had suddenly managed to repel her grandmother, which was simply unbelievable.

Compared to Amane, Tsubone's shock was far greater, exceeding even Amane's.

Amane was just an observer on the sidelines, a spectator, but Tsubone was a firsthand participant.

She had no doubt about her own eyes. She clearly saw that just before Noah's final strike hit her, he retracted the aura around his fist.

If Noah hadn't done this and had attacked with full force, Tsubone could imagine the dire consequences awaiting her.

What was even more astonishing was that, after she had stabilized her body, Tsubone instinctively checked the condition of her left shoulder and discovered that it had inexplicably entered a state of Zetsu at some point.

Besides her left shoulder, the rest of her body was completely fine. It felt as if she had been walking around all day in clothes, only to return home and discover a gaping hole in the shoulder area, a wardrobe malfunction she hadn't noticed before.

This confusion and shock made it impossible for Tsubone to remain calm, and she instinctively questioned Noah.


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