HxH: Ryomen... Satoru?

None of the onlookers made the first move, and the white-haired, blue-eyed boy with black markings on his face ignored them, reaching out toward the rubble.

"Dismantle." The invisible slash shattered the debris, revealing the figures trapped below.

His Six Eyes noted that three people had been living in the house he'd crashed into, meaning he had destroyed someone's home and injured them in the process.

Satoru Gojo's RCT could only heal himself, while Ryomen Sukuna's could be used on others. However, Ryo currently had no RCT at all.

In other words, he couldn't heal anyone.

Growing up in a harmonious world, Ryo felt a bit troubled by this.

If it were Sukuna… he wouldn't care in the slightest about who got hurt.

And young Gojo… he was indifferent toward strangers, and an apology might not even be in his vocabulary.

As for Ryo himself, thanks to his decent upbringing, he had a sort of ok morality.

"What do you want? Consider it compensation for the house," the white-haired, blue-eyed boy said coldly to the injured family, his tone conveying a sense of superiority despite offering compensation.

The mother and her children, whose home had been destroyed, just stared at the space where their house once stood, glaring at him like injured wolves.

In Meteor City, people refuse nothing, but likewise, no one can take anything from them.

Had he, in a way, taken their home?

This thought drifted through Ryo's mind.

It seemed that they realized showing hostility would only lead to their deaths. The fury in their eyes subsided, and they made their request, "A new house, clothes, and food."

Well said — Ryo had none of those.

But he could provide compensation.

"Are there any houses around here that you'd want?" he asked, gesturing casually at the surrounding buildings.

"That one." One of them pointed at a particular house.

A man stood at its doorway. Noticing their gaze, he seemed to take an instinctive step back but then suddenly charged forward, targeting the one he perceived as the greatest threat.

The knife in his hand gleamed as it closed in on the boy's neck.

Yes, this newcomer might be strong, but people in Meteor City were not the kind to sit and wait for death.

"Even if I die, I'll at least…" the man growled, but he never finished his sentence.

His body seemed to be sliced neatly into eight pieces in mid-air by an invisible blade.

Blood splattered, limbs fell to the ground.

"…That house is yours now," the white-haired, blue-eyed boy withdrew his outstretched hand, the black markings on his face giving him an evil, cruel look, with what seemed to be a red glint in his eyes.

He threw out this remark and turned to leave.

His idea of compensation was killing someone they wanted dead for them.

Fair and reasonable.

Once he reached a secluded area, he extended his hand again — "Dismantle."

Nothing happened. Everything was calm.

"System, why can't I use my abilities anymore?" he asked, looking at his palm.

[Cursed techniques rely on cursed energy, and the host's cursed energy is insufficient,] the system explained.

So he'd been given skills without the necessary amount of cursed energy.

It was like playing a game. Good news: he'd drawn powerful skills.

Bad news: he didn't have enough mana, his mana bar was too short, and he couldn't sustain it.

"…How can I recover quickly? What if I run out of cursed energy in a fight?" Ryo's face turned cold as he pictured himself losing a battle due to his cursed energy running out too soon.

Just one usage of Blue and two uses of Dismantle had drained him.

That was way too short and weak, wasn't it?

They could have at least given him Satoru Gojo and Sukuna's cursed energy reserves.

He was planning to fight his way up to District One, and he hadn't even started before he was already running on empty.

[Cursed energy will naturally recover over time. Don't aim for invincibility from the start; this world has rules. While you've gained power, certain limitations have also been imposed,] the system added.

This world's laws wouldn't let anyone become invincible so easily.

The system only provided the skills, combined with the boundless potential from stacking the abilities of two powerful figures.

But the most important thing was how to leverage that potential for growth — a process that Ryo had to navigate himself.

"Is there really no way to get rid of the Six Eyes' passive drawbacks? My head hurts," Ryo muttered, frowning.

In the original story, Satoru Gojo needed a constant supply of sugar because of the Six Eyes.

It turned out that he needed it too. But, he hated sweets.

Once, he ate so much chocolate that he got a cavity, and since he didn't want to go to the hospital, he endured the pain for half a month until his swollen face couldn't hide it anymore.

Since then, Ryo had avoided sweets altogether.

But maybe he wouldn't get cavities anymore? Maybe he could eat sweets freely now?

The system, this time, played dead and didn't respond.

Ryo clumsily tried to draw on cursed energy, noticing that his energy was slowly but steadily recovering.

That gave him some peace of mind.

Until his Six Eyes detected several people silently approaching him from all directions.

And his mana bar still wasn't fully recharged.

Even so, he couldn't let his confidence falter on the outside.

"Afraid to show yourselves? Trash." The white-haired boy stood in the clearing, his head lowered, speaking to no one in particular.

"Ha—" he let out a dismissive sound, and in an instant, he vanished from sight.

"Dismantle." His voice could be heard, but he was nowhere to be seen.

As screams echoed, several hidden figures were forced into the open — and that was the moment they died.

"You killed our vultures. We won't let you get away with this," one person shouted with their last breath.

"The attacker is an ability user. We need reinforcements…" someone else managed to radio in before collapsing.

The Six Eyes picked up on numerous people quickly surrounding the area, and the little bit of energy he'd managed to recharge had already drained away.

Sticking around would only end in him being overwhelmed.

"Ha, try catching me first," the white-haired boy said with a playful grin, threw out a taunt, and took off running.

It was as if this wasn't a serious vendetta but a game.

He dashed through the residential area, with his Six Eyes always locating the best escape routes just in time.

Eventually, he spotted a massive gate guarded by a few people, with minimal traffic in and out.

Having restored a slight amount of cursed energy during the chase, Ryo raised his hand.

"Blue."

The distant gate exploded, and as the guards looked on in horror, he dashed through the wreckage.

District Twelve's environment wasn't much different from District Thirteen — perhaps a bit cleaner, with mostly children around, all seemingly under the age of eight.

Ah, once they hit eight, they're probably sent to District Thirteen.

Ryo deduced as much based on clues his Six Eyes picked up along the way.

His physical endurance had clearly been optimized; he didn't feel the slightest fatigue from running for so long, certainly beyond his original limits.

After locating the gate to the next district through his Six Eyes, he made a beeline for it. Before he even reached it, he noticed several guards waiting there in anticipation.

It seemed they'd already received word — the speed of information flow in Meteor City was unexpectedly fast.

As he approached, Ryo raised his hand from afar. "Blue."

The gate exploded again.

Despite their preparations, they couldn't stop him.

"The recovery rate is way too slow," Ryo sighed.

If his mana bar were long enough, he wouldn't have to rely on running to buy time for recovery; he could confront them directly.

As long as he didn't face someone exceptionally tough, he should be able to win.

He didn't enjoy running, but watching them fail to catch him was actually kind of fun.