No one is born in darkness. They're only dark because they've never seen the light.
Dozens of [Heartworms] wriggled their way along one line of causality after another, burrowing into the hearts of Brooke Seil, Severus, Shaw, and the countless men and women standing behind them in a vast black mass that stretched beyond sight.
Warm sunlight poured down, leaving not a shred of "negative emotion" with anywhere to hide. The Heartworms devoured it all and funneled it into Roy's unconscious domain.
[Notice: Negative emotions +1 +1 +1…]
[Current Yin Release: Lv. 4 — 98874/100000…]
[Only 1126 points remain before unlocking the Mangekyō Sharingan…]
…
[Notice: Negative emotions +1 +1 +1…]
[Current Yin Release: Lv. 4 — 99081/100000…]
[Only 919 points remain before unlocking the Mangekyō Sharingan…]
Then…
900 points…
800 points…
700 points…
As the red sun completely rose above Roy's head and slowly ascended into the sky of the [Mental World], everyone couldn't help but lift their faces, close their eyes, and spread their arms, bathing in the sunlight, savoring a sunbath they hadn't had the chance to enjoy in decades—some of them in over a century. Even Brooke Seil and Severus, for a time, were completely entranced.
"The more someone lacks something, the more they crave it, old man." Netero's wide sleeves drifted as he looked up at the red sun, then turned and glanced at Maha with unconcealed envy. "Your grandson is better than you ever were. At the very least…"
"He dares to think. He dares to act. His heart is bigger than yours ever was, and wilder too."
The sun that illuminated the world was also the sun that nourished all things. It was the sun that granted life. It was also the sun that left no darkness with anywhere to hide. Thinking back to what he and Zigg had once said during the Hunter Exam, when they discussed Roy using the [Sun] as the object of his visualization while training [Ren]…
Netero had once believed that something as ancient and primal as the sun—this kind of natural, supernatural force—could never truly be mastered by a human being. In fact, even Feitan, one of the most gifted members of the Troupe, had needed to impose a restriction on his own Nen ability before he could fully release it—
he had to put on protective gear first, activating [Pain Packer],
and only then could he unleash [Rising Sun], using Nen to create a miniature sun that would burn everything around him alive while reducing the damage done to himself.
That alone showed just how grand the ambition had to be for someone who chose the [Sun] as the object of their visualization while training [Ren].
Maha straightened his back and looked up at the red sun together with Brooke Seil, Severus, and the others. Without even glancing at Netero, he said, "Whatever the case, he's still a hell of a lot better than that son of yours, Beyond."
Netero: "..."
The corner of his eye twitched violently, and he fell silent on the spot.
The red sun rose, and countless beams of sunlight spilled downward. As Roy opened up his heart, he was finally able to project one fragment of his own memory through that sunlight and cast it above everyone's heads.
A veil of mental mist slowly unfolded under the light…
And within it appeared a man with long black hair, golden slit-pupiled eyes, purple markings trailing down past the bridge of his nose, pale skin, and a pair of blue-green magatama earrings.
As his hands flew through seals like butterflies weaving through flowers, two coffins slowly rose through the rooftop with a cracking sound. Their lids creaked open, and from inside stepped out two shinobi wearing red and blue armor vests, Konoha forehead protectors tied across their brows…
Roy glanced sideways at Netero, then pointed toward the two coffins and said to Maha, to Brooke Seil, Severus, Betty, and the tens of thousands of men and women who had died alongside Maha:
"This is my method."
"I call it… [Impure World Reincarnation]."
[Impure World Reincarnation]: using a living person as a vessel, summoning a dead person's soul back from the underworld by force, binding it, making it attach to the vessel, and then covering it with dust to recreate the dead in the form they had in life, thereby achieving a kind of resurrection.
It was created by Tobirama Senju, later expanded upon by Orochimaru, and perfected by Kabuto Yakushi before being pushed to its peak. In Roy's world, the technique currently lay inside the [Sealed Scroll], under Hiruzen Sarutobi's safekeeping in his own residence. In other words, it was not impossible to obtain.
The Mental World trembled. The moment that scene appeared, anyone with eyes and a functioning mind immediately understood what it meant when they saw those coffins rising from the ground.
'To summon the dead back from the underworld and provide them a vessel they can inhabit… What a genius idea. And what a terrifying one.'
Including Netero, Brooke Seil, Severus, and the others, all the strongest people present turned sharply toward Roy.
The boy stood there calmly, the great sun at his back, silver hair gleaming, the ends glowing gold under the halo around him. For some reason, Netero suddenly felt a chill run through him. The more he looked at Roy, the more terrifying he seemed.
When the boundary between life and death was blurred beyond recognition, then what meaning did "existence" even have left?
Whether one lived or died would be nothing more than a matter of whether the boy wished it so.
"Roy."
A breeze stirred across the lake, fluttering the few remaining strands of hair on Maha's head. Holding Betty's hand and feeling her body trembling with emotion, he turned and looked deeply at Roy.
"These people… they're from that world in your dreams too, aren't they?"
"Yes."
Since he had already shown the scene of Orochimaru invading Konoha during the Chunin Exams and using [Impure World Reincarnation] to summon the First and Second Hokage, Roy had never intended to hide it.
After all…
with Maha's eyesight, Roy knew full well that some of his secrets could never be hidden from him. Fortunately, whether it was dreams or the worlds within them, the [Gate of Cognition] was his. He was the master of it all. No one could shake that.
Roy smiled faintly and pointed upward at the scene in the sky.
"The one with the purple eye shadow is called Orochimaru. The one in the blue armor vest is Tobirama Senju. The two of them created [Impure World Reincarnation]. In the dream…"
"I've crossed paths with Orochimaru before, so I know a little about it."
Wait—what "dream"? What "person from a dream"?
Netero suddenly shot Roy a sharp look, his eyes flashing with light.
"You've got two Nen abilities?"
Netero already knew Roy had developed [Ren] with the [Sun] as the object of his visualization. But if his dreams had also become a source of power, then what exactly had Roy developed from that?
His heartbeat suddenly quickened.
Netero narrowed his eyes at Roy, and that cold sensation creeping up his spine grew stronger and stronger.
How many years had it been since he last felt something like this?
Not even when Maha had kicked and beaten him out of the Zoldyck estate in disgrace had he felt this kind of chill.
It was strange, but undeniable.
In that instant, Netero felt as though he had gone back in time, back to the first time he, Linnet, and Zigg set foot on the Dark Continent, when—after encountering the Sand Worms—they had crossed paths with a [Calamity] and nearly died on the spot.
A memory best left buried.
"Netero, you're talking too much."
A calm gaze suddenly turned toward him.
Maha narrowed his eyes and looked at him dangerously. Netero's own brows narrowed in turn, but then he just tipped his head back and laughed at the sky, refusing to press any further.
Roy hadn't said it aloud, but judging from the way the old man was protecting him, Netero was now almost certain Roy possessed two—or perhaps even more—different Nen abilities.
As for whether they had been [acquired] from his followers or developed on his own… Netero didn't hesitate at all. It had to be the latter.
Because… the [Mental World] did not lie.
At this stage, there wasn't a single shadow of a "follower" in Roy's heart.
A few waterbirds skimmed across the lake, chirping softly. Ripples spread out over the surface, glinting in the light. After Netero's interruption…
Maha shot him a warning glance, then looked back at Roy and said deeply, "Go on, then. Tell us. What price do you have to pay?"
The world of Nen was not limitless. "Equivalent exchange" was very real. With how many years Maha had spent immersed in Nen, the first word that flashed through his mind was:
price.
Kurapika, for example, created his [chains] at the cost of binding them to revenge against the Spider. Against the Troupe, they became unbelievably effective. Against anyone else, they were far weaker.
Or the Sharingan—overuse would eventually lead to blindness.
Or Nanika—any wish granted had to obey the mechanisms of [Requests] and [Demands].
Anyone who understood Nen knew this much: Nen abilities were not something one could abuse without consequence, and aura was not something one could squander recklessly.
Maha's question struck like a great bell.
Its ringing rippled outward, drawing the attention of Netero, Brooke Seil, and the others.
Netero lowered his eyes, looking as though he had nothing to do with the matter.
But Brooke Seil, Severus, even Betty, couldn't help but frown. Betty, in particular, tightened her grip on Maha's hand. She had clearly thought of the same problem.
But did [Impure World Reincarnation] have side effects? Did it require a price?
The answer was yes.
Not only did it have side effects, it also had major flaws in combat and control.
Put simply:
First, it consumed the caster's lifespan. Every use of [Impure World Reincarnation] shortened the user's life, especially for those with weaker chakra—or in Roy's case, life energy.
Second, it required living sacrifices. The technique could only be performed by offering living human beings as vessels. This not only violated ethics, it also imposed a hard practical limit—most clearly in terms of quantity.
Third, it damaged the souls of the dead. To cast [Impure World Reincarnation], one had to forcibly drag the dead person's soul back from the afterlife and control it. That meant the soul passively endured the suffering of enslavement, which was itself a desecration of the dead.
As for its flaws in battle and control:
First, the revived body could never fully restore the dead person's original strength. Even when using Hashirama Senju's cells as a vessel, the reincarnated body still fell short of the original.
Second, the will of the dead remained unstable. Reincarnated bodies automatically retained their own consciousness. Once brought back, they could become emotionally compromised—hesitating in battle, or even rebelling—if, for example, they still held affection for their loved ones. (And if their consciousness was forcibly suppressed, they would lose their battle sense and experience, becoming nothing more than mindless puppets.)
Third, some particularly powerful individuals—like Itachi Uchiha, Hashirama Senju, or Tobirama Senju—could resist or even break free of the technique entirely through sheer will or unique abilities.
And then there were other limitations too, like the fact that chakra was not truly infinite. Even though reincarnated bodies could replenish their chakra quickly, the amount they possessed was still based on the dead person's original reserves. If they tried to use extremely costly techniques—like Susanoo—they could still run out and fail to cast them.
In other words, the limitations were extensive.
And that… was the [price] that had to be paid for [resurrection].
Roy laid out everything he knew clearly, without hiding a single thing. Maha, Netero, Betty, Brooke Seil, and all the others listened in silence.
And with just the very first condition—that the caster would lose lifespan—Maha rejected the entire idea immediately, without even a second thought.
"The mistakes this old man made are not for you to pay for!"
Once a Zoldyck's stubbornness took hold, it was like a mule digging in its heels—completely impossible to pull back.
Without giving Roy even the slightest chance to argue, Maha turned and shattered the [Mental World], carrying the royal court away with him, taking Betty, Brooke Seil, Severus, and all the men and women who had died at his side along with him as they drifted off.
Pop.
With that soft sound, the [Mental World] formed by the fusion of [Heart's Drop: Fist Listening] and [Heart's Drop: Sword Listening] shattered apart.
The outside world, with its wind and sunlight, was revealed again. Two out-of-body minds looked at each other for a moment, then each returned to its proper body.
Buzz…
The countless phantom swords spread throughout the Zoldyck estate vanished in an instant.
When Roy returned to his bedroom and his consciousness sank back into his body, he slowly opened his eyes—
only to find a face right in front of his, less than five centimeters away, so close he could clearly feel the other person's breath.
Roy caught Illumi by the head with one hand and shoved him back.
"When did you get here?"
"A little while ago."
"What did you come here for?"
Illumi didn't answer. He simply stared at Roy with those hollow, dead-looking eyes and asked,
"What's so special about that Kurapika? Why do you want to see him the moment he gets here?"
"You're unhappy?"
"Am I?"
"Then why ask?"
Roy's thoughts stirred, and he recalled the Heartworms.
The panel chimed.
[Yin Release: Lv. 4 99081/100000 → Lv. 5 1/1000000]
[Conditions met to unlock the Mangekyō Sharingan]
A flash of red suddenly flared in his eyes—
then was forcibly suppressed.
"Your eyes!"
"What?"
"They turned red… just now…"
"Oh? Did they?" Roy lowered his gaze and took a breath. Once he had fully suppressed the urge to activate the Mangekyō Sharingan on the spot, he looked back up and gave Illumi a gentle smile.
"Maybe I just didn't sleep well last night. My eyes are a little bloodshot."
Illumi leaned in suspiciously to inspect them—
and immediately got pushed back again by Roy's palm.
"All right, don't overthink it."
The boy shot his foolish little brother a helpless look.
"Kurapika does have his own talents, but not in the way you're imagining. You'll understand later."
"Oh."
Illumi stood up with that blank catlike face of his, looking back over his shoulder three times in a row, still eyeing Roy's eyes. But when he saw Roy's gaze was clear again, without a trace of red left in it, he stepped into the shadows and vanished.
Then—
there was a knock at the bedroom door.
Knock, knock, knock…
And outside came Kuraging's sweet voice.
"Young Master, are you in there?"
Roy quietly let out a breath, then looked through the wooden door and toward the person outside.
~~~
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