Akira, Sora, and Gaku stepped up to the towering gates of the Hunter Association. Smoke still curled faintly from shattered stone, and the air hummed with leftover Tao.
Sora glanced sideways. "Akira, have you actually learned Tao yet?"
Akira pulled out his Hunter ID, raising it toward the scanner with a casual grin. "Of course. You literally can't become a Hunter without learning Tao."
Sora shrugged. "Just wanted to see if you lived up to that prodigy title."
"Prodigy?"
The voice echoed down from above.
A woman with deep crimson hair stood atop the gate, her presence pressing down on the air itself. Her eyes gleamed with anticipation.
"Are one of you a prodigy?" she asked. "It's been so long since I've fought someone capable."
Before Akira could react, Gaku moved.
With a sharp motion, he flipped the sheath of his massive odachi over his shoulder and kicked it upward like a cannonball.
The woman's eyes widened as she leapt aside, the sheath shattering stone where she'd stood.
"That's quite the power you show," she said, landing lightly—
—but Sora was already there.
His fist came up in a single, clean motion, Tao surging just enough.
The blow slammed square into her chin.
Her eyes rolled back as she collapsed instantly, unconscious before she even hit the ground.
Sora bent down, picked up Gaku's sheath, and tossed it back to him. "Whoever's running this must be pretty smart. Putting someone like that on gate duty."
Akira nodded slowly. "Yeah… like Kenji Sato."
Sora hesitated. "Maybe. But the Grand General of the Sao Kingdom wouldn't do something this sloppy."
Akira stopped walking. "I literally saw him hire people to make false Scissors."
Sora turned. "Then where's your proof?"
Akira scratched his cheek. "…I didn't have my phone on me."
Far from the chaos, deep beneath the city—
Stone Strickland stood before a massive stone table carved with glowing Tao maps. Purple flames flickered along his braids, casting shadows across the room. Kingston leaned against the wall, arms crossed.
"They really went all in," Kingston muttered. "Hunter Association. Asura. Public broadcast. Whoever framed us knew exactly how to press the button."
Stone exhaled slowly. The heat around him dipped—not rage, but control.
"This isn't about Scissors," Stone said calmly. "It's about timing."
Kingston glanced over. "Kenji?"
Stone paused. "Probably. But there's no trail." He straightened. "We'll ask the Director to do us a solid. Make sure he doesn't send the entire Hunter Association after us."
Kingston smiled faintly. "You think we're still on those terms?"
Stone shrugged. "Hopefully."
High above, at the Hunter Association HQ—
Jin stood atop one of the tallest buildings, hands in his pockets, staring down at the chaos below.
"I'm getting bored," he muttered. "I should just stop them all."
A swarm of figures marked with glowing X's began scaling the building walls.
Jin smiled.
Tao surged into one of his daggers, the metal screaming as it nearly cracked under the pressure.
"Menace."
A massive, demonic Yokai with a gaping maw erupted behind him.
Jin stepped forward—
—and leapt straight down, crashing through the swarm as the building shook beneath the impact.