Chapter 881
Even though Tserriednich's Nen beast was powerful and unnerving, it had only recently appeared—it hadn't been active for long. And Kurapika was no ordinary opponent. With Emperor Time activated, Kurapika could be counted among the top tier of all Nen users.
"The one who gave away the location of the Kurta Clan… her name was Sheila."
At that moment, Kurapika froze.
That name was deeply familiar.
Years ago, it had been Sheila who accidentally wandered near the secluded territory of the Kurta Clan. Kurapika and Pairo had met her, spoken with her, and learned about the outside world from her. It was because of Sheila that Kurapika first aspired to become a Hunter.
He had always regarded her as a close and trusted friend. The specific location of the Kurta Clan's hidden settlement—Kurapika had been the one who told her.
Now, hearing Tserriednich say that Sheila had been the one to leak it… Kurapika couldn't accept it. Because that would mean the one responsible for destroying the entire Kurta Clan—was him.
His face turned pale. "No…"
Overwhelming guilt and self-recrimination surged up all at once, crushing down on him. And beneath it, hatred—hatred toward Sheila.
"I… I'm sorry, everyone."
His scarlet eyes deepened in hue, shifting from the red of anger to a darker, blood-red shade.
"It's all my fault. If not for me, none of this would've happened. I'm the reason they all suffered… so I was the true cause? I should've died instead!"
The guilt consumed him. He'd never been granted permission to leave the clan's territory, yet he'd insisted on running off. He'd trusted a stranger without confirming her identity. He'd told her everything without caution. He'd believed her, without reason.
It was all his fault.
"I was a fool. A complete, unforgivable fool. I'm the one to blame!"
Around them, the rest of the Phantom Troupe members—not just Hooker—reacted the moment they heard the name Sheila. Their expressions shifted. Sheila was from Meteor City. Years ago, she had also been part of the dubbing group, and she'd been close friends with Sarasa. After Sarasa's death, she too had been furious. But unlike the others, she had chosen a different path.
Now they remembered the figure they had seen during the Kurta Clan's extermination.
"That person… it really might have been Sheila."
"So she's the one who led the Kurta Clan to ruin."
"But why would she do it?"
"Could it be because the person who killed Sarasa was from the Kurta Clan?"
"Or was it a plan to draw out the real killer?"
"The first seems unlikely. The Kurta Clan was isolated—they had no reason to go to Meteor City and kill anyone."
"Which means it's probably the second."
"So then… was Sarasa's killer actually Tserriednich?"
Tserriednich seized on the moment of distraction. Together with his Nen beast, he launched a simultaneous strike at Kurapika.
"Die."
Two attacks came at once.
"Kurapika, watch out!" Nobunaga shouted.
Kurapika snapped back to awareness—but it was too late. He gritted his teeth and prepared to take the hit head-on.
But then a figure stepped in front of him.
Squelch!
A tongue shot out from the mouth of Tserriednich's beast. It was razor-sharp and stabbed straight into Nobunaga's body. Barbs lined its surface, anchoring it deep inside.
At the same time, Tserriednich's own blow landed squarely on Kurapika.
Bang!
Kurapika was blasted backwards, his body flung through the air. He was injured, but not as badly as Nobunaga.
"Nobunaga!"
Franklin turned toward the scene, raising both arms.
"Double Machine Gun!"
Rat-a-tat-tat!
A rapid stream of Nen bullets burst forth. But something was wrong. Franklin had aimed directly at Tserriednich—his shots should have at least hit, if not severely injured him.
But when he focused, he realized Tserriednich was no longer in the position he had targeted. In fact, he hadn't even noticed how or when Tserriednich had moved.
That stunned him.
"What just happened? Was it an illusion? A hallucination?"
Chrollo's voice came from nearby. "That's probably his ability. Just before this, he suddenly entered Zetsu mid-battle. There's no reason to suppress aura in combat unless it's part of something planned."
This was Tserriednich's ability.
Its name: See Ten Seconds Ahead.
Technically, it was a time-based ability. But Ron, when watching the original material, had always thought of it more as Timeline Merge.
In short, here's how it worked:
When Tserriednich entered Zetsu, he could view the events that would occur ten seconds into the future. This foresight required only a moment. After that moment passed, two timelines emerged:
One followed normal progression.
The other was the altered path, based on the future Tserriednich had already seen and acted to change.
These two timelines ran in parallel—until ten seconds later, when they merged. At that point, the state of Tserriednich was preserved from the altered timeline, while everyone else remained in the original.
In other words, only he retained the changes he made in response to the future. No one else perceived those changes. That's why Franklin couldn't see him move—because the version of Tserriednich in the first timeline had already vanished. What appeared was the Tserriednich from the second timeline.
This ability was incredibly powerful. It allowed him to avoid nearly all danger. He could see what was coming and act accordingly—without his enemies being aware he had even done anything.
There were only three ways to counter this ability.
First: prevent him from activating it in the first place—control him before he enters Zetsu.
Second: wear him down, exhaust his stamina or aura, and render him unable to keep using it.
Third: strike with such overwhelming force that even after seeing the future, he cannot find a way to avoid death.
But any of these required knowing exactly how the ability worked. And within such a short window, figuring that out was almost impossible.
Even for the Phantom Troupe, it was a near-insurmountable task.