Xia Huanao could feel the atmosphere shift to one of intense seriousness when Feng announced his intention to use a Ninja Art. If the sea had been calm before, it was now filled with lightning and dark clouds, threatening to unleash a tempest at any moment.
Xia Huanao swallowed hard, watching Feng and Greninja's aura escalate. He wiped the sweat from his brow and said, "Kwa-kwa, be extra careful. I have a bad feeling about this."
Muzhishui, who had been sitting nearby, also stood up. This was the first time she had witnessed a trainer and Pokémon exuding such overwhelming pressure.
"Greninja, Ninja Art: Hexagonal Killing Formation!"
Hearing Rotom's translation, Xia Huanao humorously quipped, "Rogue Killing Formation? What does a rogue have to do with ninjas?"
Rotom sighed, "I said Hexagram, Huanao."
Muzhishui and Mei were also at a loss. Who would have thought Xia Huanao would joke in such a situation?
Greninja, obeying Feng's command, dashed towards Kwa-kwa. As it ran, its form flickered, and over a dozen Greninja appeared on the field. Xia Huanao, wanting to experience the full power of the Hexagonal Killing Formation, did not have Kwa-kwa counterattack, instead watching as the dozen Greninja charged forward.
The Greninja ran past Kwa-kwa from both sides, encircling it. Then, the dozen Greninja divided into three groups, forming a three-layered encirclement around Kwa-kwa, and began running in a single direction.
The Greninja's speed made Kwa-kwa a bit dizzy. With three layers of six Greninja each, and the afterimages created by their high-speed movement, both Xia Huanao and Kwa-kwa found their vision blurred.
Watching the rapidly moving Greninja, which were beginning to stir up a small vortex on the field, Xia Huanao's mind raced.
"The so-called Hexagonal Killing Formation. Hexagonal refers to a hexagon, so it should correspond to six Greninja in a circle. Then, 'Killing' refers to the attack method, meaning three skills. I see, it's indeed a powerful technique."
Now that Xia Huanao understood the attack pattern of the Hexagonal Killing Formation, he decided to try and break it. Kwa-kwa, however, was already a bit disoriented by the dozen Greninja.
"Kwa-kwa, close your eyes. Don't use your sight, use your hearing."
Seeing Kwa-kwa close its eyes and decide to rely on its hearing, Feng did not let the Greninja continue circling: "Hexagonal Killing Formation, activate!"
The dozen Greninja simultaneously turned and attacked Kwa-kwa in an formation that was both orderly and chaotic.
It was orderly in that the eighteen Greninja still maintained the three-layered formation of six per layer. It was chaotic because the eighteen Greninja moved with eighteen distinct paces. Although Kwa-kwa tried to close its eyes and listen, the disordered footsteps made it more uncomfortable than just watching.
Xia Huanao, watching the Greninja launch their attack, shouted, "Kwa-kwa, believe in your senses and hit where you feel it's real with Water Pulse!"
Before Kwa-kwa could attack, the Greninja's attacks arrived. The first to hit were the six Greninja in the innermost circle, using Aerial Ace. After the Aerial Ace hit, the inner-circle Greninja instantly vanished, making way for the second circle using Sacred Sword.
The second circle of Greninja, using Sacred Sword, also aimed directly at Kwa-kwa. After several Sacred Sword slashes, Kwa-kwa was already heavily injured. By the time the first twelve attacks were over, Kwa-kwa was covered in wounds. Only then did the six Greninja in the outermost layer launch their Aqua Shurikens towards Kwa-kwa. The six Greninja then charged a few meters in one direction, forming a hexagon when viewed from above.
Kwa-kwa was hit by six Aqua Shurikens simultaneously. It held on for only a second before collapsing. Xia Huanao glanced at Kwa-kwa's health bar. It clearly still had some health left, not yet in the critical red zone, yet it had fallen.
Xia Huanao recalled Kwa-kwa with its Poké Ball and then sat down on the ground to ponder. The ninjas around, seeing their leader's victory, began to cheer.
Feng raised his hand, "Quiet, everyone."
After that, Feng looked at Xia Huanao, who was sitting cross-legged in the center of the field. Xia Huanao remained seated for over an hour, until everyone in the dojo had finished lunch. Finally, Xia Huanao slowly nodded, "I see."
Seeing Xia Huanao nod, Muzhishui, who had returned after lunch, asked, "How is it? You look like you've figured something out."
Xia Huanao tried to stand but couldn't. He had been sitting cross-legged for over an hour, with his right elbow resting on his leg and his chin in his hand. His legs had gone numb.
Muzhishui quickly rushed over to help him up. "Are you alright?"
Xia Huanao pressed his leg. "Mm, I'm fine. I've figured out the effect of the Hexagonal Killing Formation."
Feng emerged from behind the building, followed by Mei and Song. "Oh? You've seen through my Hexagonal Killing Formation?"
"Hmph, you're just jealous that our leader Feng won! Leader Feng's Hexagonal Killing Formation is invincible."
Xia Huanao ignored Song's excited jumping and said to Feng, "Illusion, wasn't it?"
Mei translated this for Feng. Feng paused for a moment, then nodded. "You're right, it was an illusion. You are indeed an extraordinary trainer to have seen through my ultimate technique so quickly. But can you break it?"
Xia Huanao shook his head. "How should I put it? Although I know the principle, understanding it and being able to use it, or break it, are still two different things."
Feng looked at Xia Huanao apologetically. "I truly can't help you with that. This is a secret passed down among ninjas. I hope you can understand. I haven't even taught Mei."
Xia Huanao shook his head. "No, I'm already very satisfied to have witnessed this technique. By the way, is there anything to eat? I'm actually a bit hungry."
They parted ways. Feng continued with his dojo work, while Xia Huanao and Muzhishui went to the kitchen to see if there was any food left.
Muzhishui looked at Xia Huanao, who was leisurely eating. "What did you mean by 'illusion' just now with Feng?"
Xia Huanao shook his head. "Well, that's a secret between Feng and me. I can't reveal it without Feng's permission."
Muzhishui glanced at Xia Huanao. "Hmph, boring. Eat by yourself then."
Xia Huanao sat on the tatami mat, eating from a plate. He then looked towards his room door. "Come out. Even though I'm not a ninja, I can still sense someone staring at me so obviously."
As soon as he finished speaking, Mei walked in from outside. "Mr. Hu, could you teach me the Hexagonal Killing Formation? Feng always tells me to figure it out myself."
Xia Huanao looked at Mei. Since Feng hadn't taught her, how could he overstep? Seeing Xia Huanao remain silent, Mei said, "Feng said I could learn the Hexagonal Killing Formation from you."
Xia Huanao didn't believe her. "Really? Then I'll have to ask him."
Mei stomped her foot. "I'll take you to ask him right now!"
Seeing Mei's confident insistence on taking him to ask, Xia Huanao sighed. "Alright, don't cause Feng any more trouble. I'll teach you."
Xia Huanao and Mei sat on the tatami mat. Xia Huanao explained, "The so-called Hexagonal Killing Formation, in reality, only the first attack is real. Taking this morning's battle as an example. Before the Hexagonal Killing Formation was activated, Greninja had already been fighting Kwa-kwa for a while, and Kwa-kwa had accumulated injuries."
Mei nodded. "I understand. What happens next?"
"The Hexagonal Killing Formation begins with Greninja's rapid movement, with the goal of creating an illusion for Kwa-kwa, making it think any one of them could be real."
"After the Hexagonal Killing Formation is activated, the first attack is real. The already disoriented Kwa-kwa will then create an illusion, believing all subsequent attacks are real and effective. This way, Kwa-kwa's brain will think it has taken eighteen skill attacks from Greninja in a short period. Kwa-kwa cannot withstand skills at this density. Therefore, even if it still has fighting capacity, Kwa-kwa will only feel drained and unable to continue fighting, causing it to fall."
Hearing Xia Huanao's explanation, Mei nodded. "I see, I understand. I'll contact him now. Thank you, Mr. Hu."
Watching Mei turn and leave, Xia Huanao lay on the tatami mat. "Although I can analyze the Hexagonal Killing Formation thoroughly, how can I break this move? System, what do you think?"
The system lay on the tatami mat in Xia Huanao's mind. "What do I think? Isn't it just a human wave tactic? Human wave against human wave."
Xia Huanao pouted. "Human wave against human wave? Wasn't the human wave just turned into a sieve by Aqua Shuriken? Do you have any reliable ideas?"
The system thought for a moment. "Then what do you think of this: as long as you don't get caught in the formation, the formation has no destructive power."
Xia Huanao refuted this method. "Nonsense. You know he can activate the Hexagonal Killing Formation with any of his clones. Should I just keep my distance every time he uses Double Team? That's unrealistic."
After dismissing several of the system's ideas, the system said, "Then there's only this: you have to risk it. When the first strike comes, break its attack rhythm. If the first strike doesn't land, then the illusion won't be effective."
Xia Huanao thought about it. This idea had some merit. Although he wasn't sure if the real blade was always hidden in the first attack, dodging that one strike would indeed be sufficient.
With this thought, Xia Huanao called out to Kwa-kwa, "Kwa-kwa, let's go for special training!"