Firstly, sorry for another Asmo post.

Now, i know there has been argument for and against balefire being the cause. One such argument i agree with--it is a "how" independant of a "where". However, I think RJ has said that bf does not always prevent it--only if the death is too far in the past.

But i was thinking (and wanted to share) that perhaps RJ gave a hint that we overlooked.

Well, i have always felt that RJ wrote the scene with scrutiny. There is so little description given that the things described pop out as oddly noteworthy. Moreover, RJ said that he wrote the scene to give information making things IO.

i had the thought that perhaps we have generally mis-read the scene. IMO it's generally interpreted that the killer acted very fast. This is by virtue of the part where:

One step and, "you, no!" with the sound hanging in the air when death took him.

I've always read it that the killer acted so fast start to finish, that Asmo was dead before the sound of his words faded.

However, perhaps there is another explanation.

Recapping bf, it's understood that death actually occurs back in time. The more used, the further back and vice versa.

Thus, the killer could have channeled a very small amount of BF. At the time the killer channeled, Asmo's words could have already faded . HOWEVER, when Asmo was bf'd, his death occurred at the moment in the past when his words still hung in the air.

Moreover, remember RJ's explanation that transmigration from bf depends on the strength of the bf.

If my idea is correct, such a small amount of bf would not prevent transmigration.

Thus, we have a bf "how" that remains dependant on a "where" in order to prevent transmigration.

There still is the “where” issue.