Sure enough, Senka and Ryu did come back, though night had begun to fall at that time.

"Huh, so you weren't kidding when you said you'd get it done within the day." Killua's eyes were slightly widened.

"Of course we weren't! We're pro Hunters!" An irk mark appeared on Senka's forehead.

Ryu shrugs. "Even though that's hard to believe with the way Senka acts sometimes."

"Excuse me?! You're one to talk!" Senka claps back.

"Okay, whatever."

You sweatdrop, letting out a nervous laugh. "Uh, anyways!" you try to get their attention. "Are we still going to take a look in the forest?"

"Eh? At this time?" Alluka tilts her head.

Senka tears her eyes away from Ryu. "I mean, it would be easier to avoid detection if we went right now since it's already dark."

Killua nods. "I think so too. It'll be better if we went now than tomorrow morning, but we still need to be extra careful," he says, giving you a sideways glance as he narrowed his eyes.

You gave Killua a sheepish smile, before turning to the Bounty Hunters. "Alright then, let's take a look!"

_ _ _

The moonlight barely illuminated the path ahead of you. It cast soft shadows on the trees and bushes, which looked like a dull grey amid the soft light of the waning moon.

"...That's odd. There's no sign of Nen usage here, not even En," Senka whispers, placing one of her Wandering Eyes against a tree trunk.

"En..." you mumble, thinking back to the short training time you had at Ryu and Senka's island. "It's that technique where you greatly extend the range of your Ren to cover a small area, right?" you whisper to Killua, who was right next to you.

Killua nods. "You would use Ten to give and retain the shape of your aura, which would usually be a sphere." He looks ahead, brows furrowing in suspicion. "It's weird how I'm not sensing it...does this mean he's not here? Or does he not care about getting caught?"

"No. Sanguis would usually use some sort of Nen technique to ensure that no one is after him. Otherwise, we would've caught him ages ago," says Ryu.

Suddenly, Senka extends an arm in front of everyone, stopping you in your tracks. "I have a bad feeling about this..." she looks back at all of you as the moonlight cast an eerie shadow on her face, making her eyes seem even darker than they actually are.

Ryu nods, frowning deeply. "We're about 500 meters from the warehouse. If we go any closer, Sanguis may be able to sense our auras, even without using En."

"Should we activate Zetsu then so he won't be able to sense us?" you ask.

Senka shakes her head. "Don't. If any unexpected attacks come our way, you won't be able to protect yourself."

Killua raises a hand. "If that's the case, I can go ahead and scout the area."

"Huh?!" You whisper-shouted. Alluka's eyes immediately widened, while the two Hunters were taken aback.

"Killua, isn't that really dangerous?!" You grab Killua's hand, squeezing it urgently.

Alluka nods her head vigorously, a determined frown on her face.

Killua smiles softly, squeezing your hand back. "I'll be fine. I have experience tailing people."

"But sti-"

"Actually, Killua's experience as an assassin might help us here." Senka places her hands to her hips, turning to face all of you.

"H-Huh?" you find yourself blinking in disbelief.

"Killua, are you sure you're up for it?" Senka asks, a serious look on her face.

Killua nods. "Of course I am," he says, activating his Zetsu.

It almost felt like he turned transparent, even though you could see him right in front of you.

"I'll be back soon, so stop making that face, (Y/N)." Killua gently squeezes your hand one more time, before letting it go.

Before you knew it, he disappeared.

You and Alluka anxiously waited for Killua's return. Meanwhile, Ryu was looking around the area for clues, while Senka checked if anything new happened from her Wandering Eyes.

Moments later, Killua came back running. He wore a slightly confused expression, and he was no longer using Zetsu.

"Killua? What happened?" You ran towards him, followed by everyone else.

"Did you get found out?" Senka asked, cold sweat running down her forehead.

Killua immediately shook his head. "There's no one there."

"...What?!"

He frowns. "Senka, the reason why you sensed nothing earlier was that there's really no one around."

She stepped back. "But that's impossible... I saw him with my Wandering Eyes!"

"I was wondering the same thing, so I took a closer look and–" Killua paused, putting a hand to his chin.

You tried gulping the lump in your throat. "Killua?"

"Actually, just follow me," Though Killua said that to everyone, the piercing gaze he gave you made you think otherwise.

_ _ _

Your guard was up the entire trip to the old warehouse. You convinced yourself that the stillness and peace of the forest was just a lure to calm you down. It reminded you of how Sanguis gave off an air of friendliness, but behind all that was someone you couldn't really predict. After all, his words from Heavens Arena still stuck with you to this day.

Killua sensed your unease, quietly interlacing his fingers with yours. "It's not as bad as you think, don't worry about it."

You managed to crack a small smile, finding solace by Killua's side.

Killua was right, there really was nobody around the old warehouse. It's as if it's been left there for years.

"If it helps, I can use my ability to check if anyone is nearby." You stepped forward, looking at the two Bounty Hunters.

Ryu raised a brow. "You have a Nen ability, (Y/N)?"

You nod. "It's useless for combat, but I can use it to check if there's anyone nearby."

Senka and Ryu share a look of confusion, before turning to you. "We'd appreciate that, (Y/N)." Senka smiles, stepping back to give you some space.

Just like before, you held your palms up and closed your eyes. As you feel your Nen thin out almost completely, you start seeing every life force around you. Birds sleeping on their nests, ant colonies out foraging for food, but not a single human soul.

You sigh, opening your eyes once more. "He's... really not here," you say, turning to Ryu and Senka, who had their eyes widened.

"(Y/N), since when could you do that?" Senka leans closer to you with a look of awe.

"Oh! Uh... since I was pretty young, way before I learned about Nen..."

Ryu narrows his eyes. "I see, you're one of those who're able to use Nen without any training."

You give them a small smile and a nod.

"Well, if even (Y/N) says there's no one here, we should be safe for now..." Killua says, before walking closer to the warehouse and putting a hand against the cracked concrete wall. "Take a look here." He crouches down, gesturing to an area of the wall just above the ground.

You and the others step closer, with some of you crouching down as well.

"Hmm? Is it just me or does this part look a little discolored?" Senka squints, tilting her head to the side.

Ryu sighs. "Did you forget to bring a flashlight again?" The slight annoyance in his tone was obvious as he pulled one out of his pocket. "Here."

Senka could only give him a goofy smile and a peace sign as she took the small flashlight. "Hehe, thanks."

As an audible 'click' could be heard from the flashlight, a glaring light shines against the wall, making the discoloration even clearer to see.

"Huh? Isn't this a burn mark?" You ran a finger across the black spot against the dull grey wall.

"It looks recent, too. Doesn't that mean someone was here, then?" Senka's eyes narrow in suspicion. "But what were they trying to do? If they made a campfire, we would have seen the light or at least some smoke..."

Killua nods. "I was asking myself the same thing, but," he pauses. "...that wasn't the only thing I found."

Exchanging a few confused glances, you all follow Killua inside the warehouse, not exactly sure what to expect.