While the 13th Demon Hunter Squad was clearing Tsumogui, a top-secret operation was taking place in a different region.
An inconspicuous, ordinary white truck drove on the road.
Inside the truck, a national relic of Nihon was being escorted by multiple top-notch awakeners.
Among the awakeners in this operation, most were relatively unknown, yet their strength and abilities were no less than those of a Demon Hunter Squad captain.
In the world, there was a community of awakeners that showed a surge of growth after the Global Summit.
Instead of being held down by a single force like the Demon Hunter Association, these awakeners get hired for a mission from different forces, giving them more freedom in their movents.
These awakeners were called Contractual Awakeners.
Contractual awakeners varied in strength and talent, but the ones present in this operation were the best of the best in Nihono, especially chosen by Nagito himself.
Yet, even among these contractual awakeners, one stood out.
If fa and strength were used as a asurent, no one could even co close to this one person.
Whether it was fa or strength, this person was unrivaled in Nihono.
This person was an elderly man with long white hair. He had a frail and wrinkly face, showing considerable age.
He wore an oversized kimono that exposed his thin torso and frail muscles, giving off an impression of a destitute old man nearing his death.
One glance at him and he would hardly be taken seriously by anyone outside.
But despite that, not a single awakener present dared to breathe too loudly around this elderly man.
This unassuming old man was Master Kimoto, the 7th strongest person in the world!
Beneath his frail and weak appearance, concealed a lethal sharpness unique to a master. As a legendary kendo master and a suspected Limit Individual, his identity alone spoke for the weight of his existence.
At that mont, the truck suddenly halted, causing everyone to be startled.
The sleeping elderly man suddenly woke up from his sleep, his dark eyes coldly sweeping through everyone.
Then, his eyes narrowed, and he imdiately grabbed his sword.
In the driver's seat, the driver looked at the front, seeing a young man suddenly stop in front of the truck.
The young man had long white hair and crimson red eyes.
His lips curved into an arrogant smirk, full of youthful arrogance.
Under the gaze of the driver, the young man raised his hand.
"Body Assimilation."
Woosh!
His hand turned into a gigantic net, instantly capturing the truck with his palm.
The driver was stunned, quickly moving away, but before he could even scream, the whole truck descended into darkness!
The young man held the truck as if it were a toy, then he tightened his hand, clenching it.
Crack! Break!
With one clench from the young man, the truck was instantly destroyed.
Bam!
Releasing his hold, the truck's destroyed appearance revealed itself, its shattered parts scattering on the ground.
The driver and other awakeners were nowhere to be seen, as if they vanished into thin air.
But only the young man knew that everyone in the truck had assimilated within his flesh, letting him obtain all their talents and abilities.
Surprisingly, although the truck was destroyed beyond recognition, a long tal case was left undamaged.
'It's this one…'
The young man eyed the case curiously, walking towards it.
But at that mont, soone appeared from behind him.
This person was an elderly man with white hair.
The mont he appeared, the young man's expression changed!
He felt death suddenly graze his neck.
Woosh!
But in that instant, a part of his neck turned silver, giving out a tal gleam.
Yet even as he tried to protect himself, the elderly man's sword pierced through his defenses, leaving a deep mark on his neck.
Blood gushed out from his neck, splattering over his face.
"Ah!"
The young man let out a wretched scream, causing everything around him to be blown away.
Boom!
Master Kimoto vanished like a ghost, but in his position, an afterimage repeated his movents once more.
'What?!'
The young man widened his eyes in disbelief.
Unable to react in ti, the afterimage's attack pierced through him, splitting his chest apart cleanly.
Gush!
In under ten total seconds, the young man was split apart, his expression utterly shaken.
Master Kimoto narrowed his eyes, seeing sothing interesting.
The young man's upper half was about to fall, but at that mont, it suddenly stitched itself to his lower half.
"Ah… that hurt… you f*cking old bastard!"
A few seconds later, the young man's body was complete again. He opened his eyes, imdiately coughing out blood as he looked at Master Kimoto with a hardened expression.
"Who the hell are you?"
But Master Kimoto only smiled in response, causing a shiver to run down the young man's spine.
Not because of Kimoto, but because of a mory he desperately tries to forget.
The young man instinctively took a step back, looking at Kimoto with a hint of fear.
Kimoto stared down at the young man calmly, his smile stretching widely.
"You… have a very interesting power."
"But who taught you to announce your talent's na like that? Body Assimilation…"
He spoke casually, shaking his head in disappointnt. He scanned the entire field, seeing no one left but the two of them.
"Where did the other awakeners go? Were they assimilated with your body?"
He asked thoughtfully, surprise evident in his tone.
But the young man didn't answer, looking at him cautiously.
After a brief pause, the young man sighed in relief.
"I rember now… you're Master Kimoto, aren't you?"
"Do I sense relief in your tone? How cheeky."
Master Kimoto chuckled.
[Fra Capture — Blink].
At that mont, he reappeared beside the young man, putting a hand over the latter's shoulder.
"How about you? What's your na?" Kimoto asked calmly, like an approachable old man.
The young man was expressionless, showing no emotion.
When he had confird that Kimoto was not the person in his mories, he lost his fear.
"Humans must answer when asked, right?"
The young man said calmly, compelled to answer.
"My na…"
He recalled a mory.
On the verge of death, sobody had saved him and granted him a "na."
Apparently, a na was a calling.
An identity unique to life and existence.
He couldn't rember the person's appearance, but the na they gave him was engraved into his soul, becoming a part of him.
Ever since he was given a na, he felt like he had truly begun living.
He was no longer just the Demon of Sentint, but he was also…
"... Akaza."
Akaza finished, his eyes glowing with youthful brilliance.
"Akaza, was it?"
Kimoto nodded slightly, then he flashed a toothy smile.
"Die then."
At that mont, Kimoto vanished, reappearing above Akaza.
Then, several afterimages also appeared, surrounding Akaza from all sides.
Each of them held a sword, thrusting it towards Akaza.
[Fra Capture — Print]
Fra Capture was Kimoto's talent, allowing him to capture a fra of movent and deploy it to the real world whenever he wanted.
Just like a cara printing a picture, he could endlessly capture any movent he made and either deploy that action to the real world, or he could deploy himself to that fra instead.
Just as he thought Akaza would die helplessly, a dark blue barrier erged.
The swords pierced through the barrier, but they couldn't reach Akaza.
Akaza raised his eyes, eting Kimoto's gaze.
Then, he showed a smile of his own.
It was a devil's smile.
Master Kimoto's brows furrowed, leaping away in a hurry.
From his previous position, a red-haired middle-aged man appeared like a ghost.
He recognized him as one of the contractual awakeners hired for this escort operation.
Keiji of the Swift Fla, capable of burning even Tier III Monsters into ashes in re seconds.
But right now, this man's expression was utterly blank, as if he had no life inside him.
"Is he…?"
Kimoto glanced at Akaza, a wide smile erging on his face.
"Interesting!"
"A talent capable of assimilating other awakeners, gaining their powers and abilities, and even making use of their corpse afterwards as a puppet… this goes beyond a Limit Individual!"
"Boy, your talent, could it be S-rank? Are you a Special?!"
Kimoto spoke, his smile stretching so wide it almost reached his ear.
S-rank, also known as Singularity-rank, were talents so powerful that their sole existence could change the order of the world!
Such individuals were very few and far between, and they were referred to as Special Individuals!
In the entire nation, only one person possessed such talent, and Kimoto had fought him once.
The result of the match wasn't disclosed to the public, but if anyone knew…
They would be horrified!
That night, he lost.
It wasn't a close match either.
Master Kimoto, the 7th strongest person in the world, lost completely!
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