The two manipulation abilities of "Shadow Has No Retreat"—
Taking the shadow and controlling actions by command is called Puppet Manipulation Technique (Kuugutsu Sōjutsu).
Controlling the subject's body through soul possession is called the Mind Decapitation Technique (Shinchū Zanshu no Jutsu).
Moro's direction of deduction was correct.
While Kawahara is using the Mind Decapitation Technique, if the controlled subject's body is harmed, the damage, including death, is directly synchronized to Kawahara's body.
That is why Kawahara reacted so strongly to Moro's probing attack, immediately withdrawing the ability and consequently losing the subsequent opportunity.
Thinking of his hasty reaction just now, Kawahara couldn't help but feel regret.
He carefully recalled the situation: if he had been calm enough, he would have noticed that the Nen sphere's trajectory was slightly off.
Therefore, if he had maintained his composure and kept the disguise, he might have achieved his goal.
But now, it was too late to say anything.
"Although it failed, still..."
Kawahara lowered his head, his right thumb constantly rubbing the dagger's hilt, thinking about Moro's deliberately missed Nen sphere.
When faced with uncertainty, does he try to avoid accidentally killing innocent people as much as possible?
This point could be exploited.
Kawahara suppressed the regret in his heart.
Although the nature of his ability might have been exposed, he still had room to maneuver.
Thinking this, Nen surged from Kawahara's body.
He stepped into the pitch-black shadow in front of him, and his whole body sank into the shadow, disappearing without a trace.
His "Shadow Stream Technique" (Kage Ryū no Jutsu) allows him to freely move through the shadows of ordinary people within a certain range, but this ability cannot coexist with the Puppet Manipulation Technique.
This is because people controlled by the Puppet Manipulation Technique do not have shadows.
Similarly, when he withdraws the Mind Decapitation Technique, the controlled person dies on the spot and loses the shadow that allows him to use the Shadow Stream Technique.
This is exactly why someone was tied to a chair in the room.
Drilling into the shadow, Kawahara used the Shadow Stream Technique to select his next target for the Mind Decapitation Technique—
A security guard on the airship!
At this moment.
In the airship's monitoring room.
A security guard was watching the numerous monitoring screens with an anxious and nervous expression, holding a walkie-talkie, constantly informing his colleagues of the situation.
But suddenly, the guard's facial expression, as well as his mouth and limb movements, all came to an abrupt halt.
It was Kawahara who had invaded the guard's body using the Mind Decapitation Technique.
Click.
Kawahara turned off the walkie-talkie and switched on the broadcast microphone.
"Attention all passengers, please note. The airship is currently under attack by illegal elements, but our security personnel have the situation under control. Passengers, please do not worry."
"To further ensure the personal safety of all passengers, please move to the upper floor cockpit immediately. I repeat, all passengers, please move to the upper floor cockpit immediately!"
Kawahara used the guard's body to issue the announcement to the entire airship, then turned off the microphone and looked up slightly at the screen showing the cockpit view.
He had only planted control triggers in the bodies of about fifty people so far.
Without activating the triggers, these people are normal people unaffected by any ability, and they can also serve as stepping stones for the "Shadow Stream Technique."
Kawahara used the broadcast notification to solve the problem of how to bring these people to Moro.
And incidentally, the passengers he didn't have time to gain control over.
It was foreseeable that—
A large crowd of passengers would flood into the cockpit.
This way, he could maximize the role of his potential puppets in the resulting chaos.
This was a seemingly insoluble move against Moro.
Unless Moro unleashed his killing intent and slaughtered all the passengers and staff to eliminate potential threats.
"You rushed to the cockpit immediately to land the airship, didn't you..."
Kawahara stared at Moro in the monitoring screen and muttered to himself:
"I won't let you succeed. Now, let me see how you deal with this... Hmm?"
Staring at the monitor, Kawahara suddenly saw Moro look over toward the camera's perspective.
In a trance, Kawahara felt as if he had met Moro's gaze.
He noticed...
Kawahara reacted, his eyes instantly narrowed, and then he saw the monitor screen shake and turn into static.
Moro had destroyed the camera inside the cockpit.
"..."
Kawahara frowned slightly.
Although he considered his move to be unresolvable, he still felt that things would not be that simple.
Inside the cockpit.
Moro didn't pay too much attention to the broadcast content just now.
"That's strange."
He was more concerned about the directed targeting the opponent displayed.
Just to prevent him from interfering with the airship's flight status, they would go to such great lengths?
With such an ability, wouldn't it be better to use it against Kanzai?
Hmm?
Wait...
Something was wrong.
Moro looked up at the destroyed surveillance camera.
The initial aura fluctuation, and the approximate direction and location of the loud crash, strongly suggested that someone was attacking the client Kanzai was protecting.
That's Kanzai, one of the Twelve Zodiacs...
Against a bodyguard Hunter of this caliber, did they still divert their forces?
And a massive diversion at that!
This made Moro suddenly realize that the person controlling the captain and the person who just made the broadcast were likely not aiming for Kanzai's client.
Therefore—
Was the target me from the very beginning?!
"I was almost misled."
Moro's expression subtly changed.
If the bodyguard Hunter hadn't been Kanzai, he wouldn't have been so certain.
Realizing this, Moro shifted his gaze to the two controlled individuals, the captain and first officer.
He had observed them carefully just now.
The two were controlled by an Instruction-type Manipulation ability.
This type of control ability usually only appears on puppets.
The captain and first officer in front of him were already dead men.
Until the manipulator issued a new command to them, they would only act according to their current instructions, with no other behavior.
This made Moro temporarily abandon the idea of landing the airship safely and also decided not to stay in the cockpit any longer.
He had initially planned to use a war of attrition here to deal with the Manipulation-type user.
The reason for this decision was his belief that there were certain flaws in the Manipulation-type user's ability system.
An overly diversified ability, while raising the ceiling of utility, must also bear various corresponding restrictions.
Two modes of manipulation, and also benefiting from "control quantity"...
Moro thus believed that the Manipulation-type user of this ability would certainly have to bear the cost of a multiplied Nen consumption.
If Kawahara could see all of Moro's deductions about the current situation from start to finish, he would surely be deeply alarmed.
One must remember—
Kawahara was in the dark, and Moro was in the light.
The information received by both sides was unequal.
Yet, Moro was able to discern the truth amidst the chaotic situation.
Thud—
Having changed his mind, Moro pushed the door open and walked straight out of the cockpit before the passengers could swarm in.
Then, opening his En, he headed toward the location of the previous aura fluctuation.
He needed to confirm the situation with Kanzai and then decide what to do based on the changing circumstances.
And considering the worst-case scenario, he needed to mentally prepare for the airship crashing.
As Moro moved toward Kanzai's area, his extended En suddenly registered a contact with "Nen."
"Hmm?"
Moro sharply looked out at the observation deck.
On the ground of the observation deck, about ten meters away, was a long string of obscure symbols glowing with Nen.
"Shenzi?"
Moro had no idea about Shenzi, but he could vaguely recognize it.
This was probably one of the advantages of being a transmigrator.
Why... is there Shenzi here?
(End of this Chapter)
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