Chapter Nine – Agreement of the S-Rank Hunters – The Chairman Speaks with the Uchiha Hawk
[Uchiha Sasuke] no longer paid any attention to the Chairman of the Hunter Association.
But[Go Gun-Hee] looked at [Uchiha Sasuke] with intense wisdom, acutely aware that this youth's power was that of a National-Level Hunter.
Something none of the hunters with him could hope to deal with.
If he,[Go Gun-Hee], decided to personally take on this youth… his judgment, his grip on the situation, tightened for a fraction of a second before immediately relaxing in the very same moment.
There would be no benefit. A battle of that scale in the heart of Seoul… such a thing would endanger countless lives and destabilize everything.
The Chairman of the Hunter Association wasn't just a powerful hunter; he was a diplomat, extremely intelligent and wise, possessing decades of precise experience in all facets of life, including mastery of numerous foreign languages—Japanese among them.
Now,he needed to analyze the youth before him.
This youth was undoubtedly dangerous,but he was also an opportunity.
This power,which felt utterly alien, different even from the power of the Rulers, was not a force to be easily obtained… or lightly discarded.
Of course, the other Korean hunters watching from a distance—[Baek Yoon], leader of the White Tiger Guild; [Choi Jong-In], leader of the Flame Master Guild; and the S-Rank hunter with supernatural olfactory abilities, [Chae Ha-in]—were observing the Chairman's movements.
He had first spoken to the strange Japanese hunter,but it seemed they had only exchanged a few words before the hunter turned his back.
The S-Rank hunters held immense respect for the Chairman who united them, so they initially looked at the young hunter with displeasure.
But they quickly let out collective,resigned sighs.
Each of them was intelligent enough to understand the reason the Chairman wasn't resorting to force at this moment.
The power displayed by the stranger was overwhelmingly superior.It was the power of a National-Level hunter, something several magnitudes beyond S-Rank.
None of them could face it,even if they combined all their abilities.
[Chae Ha-in] said quietly, her voice carrying on the charged air, "I can sense he isn't seeking to be hostile either. He tried to protect the civilians. That's proof enough he doesn't have ill intentions. Otherwise, this would already be madness, wouldn't it?"
Her words were light but their meaning clear:the young man over there was not an enemy by default. They shouldn't provoke a conflict.
[Choi Jong-In] adjusted his glasses slightly—click.
His method of analysis differed from his fellow S-Rank hunter's.His way of examination, perception, and deduction came from observing a person's aura itself and understanding them holistically through dialogue.
He was known for his vast knowledge and was himself proficient in Japanese,so he had understood what the stranger said moments ago.
"'Land of Fire'…and 'Elemental Nations.' What in the world are these things? Names of regions? Or just definitions he wanted from the Chairman? But it's strange. I don't think he'd use such words if he wasn't genuinely trying to locate that place."
With lightning-fast deduction, [Jong-In] concluded that the youth possessing this immense power, controlling lightning, with strange eyes, might be… Furthermore, information obtained by his agents and intelligence network supported this: all records of individuals in Japan from the past week had been checked, and all confirmed no person with such power, such a high level of destructive energy, existed.
Moreover, he was intelligent enough to dismiss the possibility of Japan hiding such an asset. The reason was simple.
Why would Japan hide such a powerful hunter, especially when they are trying so hard to elevate [Goto Ryuji] to S-Rank to make him an international hunter, while they already possess a hunter of this caliber?
From previous discussions with the Chairman,[Jong-In] was directly aware that the Chairman believed the Strange-Eyed Hunter to be a National-Level hunter—a person with the power to destroy an entire country.
Such a hunter in any nation would be treated as royalty and would be globally known;all news outlets would cover him. It was impossible for Japan to hide such a formidable being.
Using these facts along with the words the Strange-Eyed One had spoken, [Jong-In] arrived at a clear and accurate conclusion.
He spoke to his fellow hunters at that moment,who all turned to him to listen.
"[Chae Ha-in],[Baek Yoon]. My estimation is that this person is not from Japan, even though he speaks Japanese. We must be cautious with him. We must remain calm in every situation. The level of power he possesses is above all of us, and you are aware of this. Therefore, we will be in a purely defensive, cautious, and diplomatic stance. We must ensure we do not make this hunter an enemy by any means."
The fact that these words came from someone known for his arrogance and high confidence in his own power gave them significant weight.
[Baek Yoon]responded, his voice a low growl, "I agree with you. But you know I do not fear entering a war. You know that, don't you?"
His words were clear to everyone.Both men also knew [Baek Yoon] was no coward who feared the stronger; on the contrary, he was known to be like the White Tiger—always fiercely seeking a fight.
"There's no need to tell me.We all know that if a fight happens, we will fight relentlessly, even to the death."
This was an implicit declaration among the three S-Ranks.
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[Sasuke] didn't know how to precisely dismantle this gate.
He used his Rinnegan to analyze it.
The amount of energy was colossal,reminiscent of the Tailed Beasts' chakra, yet terrifyingly different.
"You don't know what a gate is, do you?" Again, the voice of the old man. His words were still somewhat incomprehensible, but [Sasuke] was cataloging the new terms.
The man spoke of these'gates' as portals to other worlds.
That solidified[Sasuke]'s theory: these gates might return him to his world. After all, his own dimensional travel technique was scrambled; it seemed there was a barrier preventing the specific translocation he needed.
"I have heard of this 'gate' now," [Sasuke] said, his tone cutting through the low hum of the rift. "Tell me, old man, since you seem to know what these gates are… how do I destroy this thing?"
The indifferent, cold words of [Uchiha Sasuke] didn't surprise the Chairman in these seconds of conversation.
From speaking with the youth before him,he felt the young man was filled with darkness, but it was, for now at least, a stable darkness.
And of course,as Chairman of the Hunter Association, he was confident he could control this darkness if it ever spiraled out of control—and he was prepared for that.
Simultaneously,the reports he'd received before arriving confirmed the alleged threat might not be a threat at all.
The Japanese-speaking youth had shown he valued life;he had saved civilians before the hunters' arrival and was now fixated on the gate behind him.
Furthermore,the words he now heard from the last member of the Uchiha clan confirmed this youth didn't wish to do anything harmful to Korea; he wanted to destroy the gate.
The Chairman let out a measured sigh, the sound almost lost in the gate's thrum.
"To destroy the gate,you must enter it. Entering usually requires proximity to the gate, but I can guess the reason you haven't entered yet is that purple aura around you—it prevents translocation to the inside."
In that moment, [Uchiha Sasuke] gained a new understanding of the gate's nature.
It resembled the portals he used for dimensional travel when fighting Kaguya,but in a different way.
He focused his eyes on the gate and was able to comprehend something new this time.
He could only snort in cold acknowledgment.
"You were useful, old man. Now, I will go inside and destroy this gate. I will end this."
[Uchiha Sasuke] had one singular goal at this moment: to understand these gates and the space-manipulating ability they used, so he could return to the ninja world and complete his final fight against [Naruto], to sever that bond so he could spread peace, to follow his elder brother's dying wish.
"Of course, that's what I expected," thought the strongest hunter in Korea. He had known from the beginning that this young hunter seemed to want something from the gate.
"Will you allow us to enter with you?" The Chairman's question was quiet, a test to see if the youth before him had any inclination toward cooperation.
[Uchiha Sasuke] replied in a voice that was clear, quiet, and ice-cold.
"I don't care what you do,as long as you don't get in my way, old man."
Without another word, his Rinnegan pulsed. The gravitational shield around him dissipated with a soft fwoomp. He took a step, then another, his form becoming a blur as he walked directly into the swirling, violent heart of the S-Rank gate and was swallowed by the distortion without a sound.
The Chairman watched him disappear, then turned to his S-Ranks. A silent, heavy look passed between them.
The agreement was unspoken but absolute:follow, observe, assist if possible, contain if necessary.
The dungeon raid had just gained a terrifyingly powerful,utterly unpredictable variable.
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End of Chapter.
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An alliance of convenience is struck, forged in cold utility and mutual suspicion. The dungeon awaits. Thank you for reading as the hunters tentatively follow the hawk into the unknown! Your speculation on what awaits inside is the true magic stone.
❤️🙂