Chapter 212: Wood Style Complete x First Nen Tool Created
Hunter Calendar Year 1987. Also the year Gon and Killua were born.
The year Ging released Greed Island.
The year the Phantom Troupe was founded, embarking on a dark path due to Sarasa's death.
The year NGL (Neo-Green Life) became autonomous under Gyro, completely abandoning mechanical civilization and closing itself off as an agricultural nation, planting the seeds for the Chimera Ant crisis.
And the year Roy opened his aura nodes, awakened the Gate of Cognition, and two years before passing the Hunter Exam, was watched by a [God] and cursed.
Tick tock... tick tock... The curse on the back of his hand counted down silently... Nearly a year passed, and Roy's lifespan was silently shaved off by another eight months... The boy turned and walked into the bathroom, saying over his shoulder, "Book the tickets."
Showered and breakfasted, served by Gotoh. While the butler cleared the dishes and prepared to leave to book tickets, Roy wiped his mouth slowly with a tissue and stopped him. "Call the doctor. The treatment plan for tuberculosis can be put on the agenda. I want the medicine as soon as possible."
"De-Conjuration," like "Conjuration," requires a sufficiently clear and deep understanding of the "target object" to conjure it through "imagination" and "Nen ability."
Unlike Shizuku's "Blinky," Kurapika's "Chains," or Knov's "Hide and Seek"... Roy, backed by the "Gate of Cognition," freely traverses many worlds, constantly strengthening his self-cognition. Compared to them, the things he can conjure are broader and more numerous. Simultaneously... the mental effort required is also much higher than theirs.
Just like... after instructing Gotoh and letting him leave, Roy tried to "Conjure" a "Carving Knife" and "Wood" to continue practicing [Divine Script], attempting to imprint one of his techniques, [Shinso], onto a wooden sword. Halfway through, he realized the "Carving Knife" was fine, but the "Wood," no matter how hard he racked his brain, refused to condense into shape. Just then, he heard the door open, his frustration noticed by a voice drifting from the hallway...
"Whether Divine Script or Nen ability, neither can be conjured out of thin air. If you don't have enough understanding of what you want to conjure beforehand, you can't conjure it with imagination alone."
The door opened. Ging walked in, pressing down his hood. Seeing the boy holding a carving knife, staring blankly at the bright window, he pulled up a chair and sat next to Roy.
Watching the morning glow fill the sky and hearing the noise of citizens rushing to work downstairs... he extended a hand. Specks of spherical Nen light condensed at his fingertips, just as he showed Pariston in the original story... stretching, thinning, pressing, shaping, finally turning into a brand-new card played in his palm... With a flick, he shot it at Roy. Halfway, it was caught between the boy's fingers...
Ging rested his hands on the chair arms, saying lazily, "The Art of Paper. Origin... I once met an origami artist on my journey."
"His name was Murdoch. He spent most of his life on origami art, not even knowing he had awakened a Nen ability."
"When I met him, he was flying across a river nearly a hundred meters wide on a paper airplane he folded himself. Before landing, he almost fell because of insufficient aura. Thinking back... it was quite interesting."
"So you stole his Nen ability?" Roy glanced at him.
Chirp— [Feicha's Parrot] emerged from Ging's shoulder, flapped its wings, leaped onto Roy's head, and nuzzled affectionately against Goldie... only to be pushed away disdainfully by a wing, quite comical...
"Borrowing isn't stealing," Ging pretended not to see Roy's disdainful look, saying seriously, "I'm just reminding you, Conjuration isn't limitless. Murdoch could conjure and manipulate paper at will because he loved origami, was devoted to paper, that's all."
Love... narrow yet broad...
Because I don't love wood, don't have a deeper understanding of wood, so... "imagination" lost the foundation to become "reality"?
Roy frowned silently.
Ging closed his eyes, sunbathing, not speaking, just waiting beside him. Only when a gust of wind blew a leaf onto the windowsill did he hum softly, "You're young, no need to rush. Conjuration takes days at shortest, or months, two months, even a year if long."
"When you understand what you want to conjure enough, the rest will come naturally..."
The reminder from a top "Conjurer" powerhouse wasn't unreasonable... Considering he could conjure various [Contracts] to form unbreakable bonds with magical beasts... Ging reaching the position of one of the world's top five Nen users in the future proved it.
"Maybe you're right." After a long while, Roy pushed away the chair and stood up. Pacing to the window, watching the morning glow fade and the red sun leap out, turning from red to yellow, he narrowed his eyes. "But you're wrong about one thing. Although I'm young, I don't have that much time."
Thinking of "Wood," which grows through photosynthesis thanks to the sun's rays... Is it really that hard to conjure? Does it really take months or even years?
No, there is nothing new under the sun. The sun nurtures all things, naturally... "Wood" is among them!
Roy's eyes flashed... Since Yoriichi Tsugikuni could create "Sun Breathing" and derive "Flame," "Water," "Wind," "Stone," and other breathing styles from it... First Hokage Hashirama Senju combined "Water" and "Earth" styles to develop [Wood Style]...
I have two worlds behind me, two giants offering shoulders to stand on...
Roy narrowed his eyes. Fluorescent light appeared at his fingertips, letting the carving knife turn into a stream of Nen, de-conjuring back to the cognitive world. With a thought, he opened the panel, looking at the "Nen Property Change" column...
["Water": Lv3 (1453/10000)]
["Earth": Lv2 (354/1000)]
One from "Water Breathing"... one from [Swamp Space].
His gaze sank. Nen surging, he took a wisp of "Water" and "Earth" each. Imitating Ging, he spread his palms, condensing a "Water Ball" and an "Earth Ball." Under a ray of warm sun, he tried to clap his hands, merging the two balls...
Behind him, Ging was lazily sunbathing. Suddenly sensing a fluctuation of Nen, he sat up subconsciously, looking at Roy...
"Water" and "Earth" intertwined, permeated each other, fused until indistinguishable... As Roy gently spread his hands outward amidst the blooming Nen light, a log about two decimeters long appeared where his palms connected!
Ging asked in surprise, "Wood?"
"Yes, wood."
Roy turned sideways to Ging, holding the log up to his eyes. Casting a shadow of moderate size in the sunlight, he said with a smile.
In Ging's bright eyes, brimming with strong self-opinion, a rare glint flashed. His straight back collapsed, returning to that lazy state, laughing with relief...
"Elena told me yesterday she couldn't see through you at all. Whenever she thinks this must be all your tricks, you turn around and bring another surprise..."
"Not a scare?"
"Also a scare."
"And you?" Roy rubbed the log in his hand. Good wood, but a bit short and thick. Not suitable for a dagger or short sword, but maybe... a nail. He asked casually.
"Heh heh heh... Me?" The hood was lifted by a breeze from the window, revealing Ging's unruly sideburns.
He slumped in the chair, stroking the armrest, looking past the boy at the high sky. He said confidently, "You, Roy, have your path; naturally, I have mine. No need to envy anyone."
"People who make a living by copying speak so boldly!"
"I said that's imitation, borrowing!" Ging glared at Roy grumpily, beckoning [Feicha's Parrot] back. "Now, could you trouble yourself, Lord Roy, to remove that damn worm from my heart?"
En withdrawn. The Heart Worm wriggled out of Ging's body, carrying a trace of information, instantly merging into Roy's palm and disappearing.
Ging didn't wait for Roy to read the information, saying directly, "Razor won't come with me. Help me persuade him... Greed Island can't do without him."
No one visits the Three Treasures Hall without a reason... "Is this a beg?" Roy glanced at him with a faint smile. Not knowing where the boy got so many schemes despite his young age... Ging said bluntly, "Don't put it so harshly. At most a trade."
"After Greed Island is released, it will be fully open to you."
"Exclusively, only to you."
"Deal!" Roy smilingly extended his right hand to Ging.
Ninety-nine cards imprinted with various "Nen abilities" were a huge treasure trove. In the Naruto world, that would be ninety-nine Ninjutsu of varying levels and power... Roy had no reason to refuse.
As for Ging, without Razor, a top "Emitter" providing Nen output for Greed Island, maintaining its operation, or even... releasing it to the market, would be a pipe dream.
Unless he went to Greed Island to be the jailer himself instead of Razor!
"Alright... wipe that fake smile off your face, it's about to fall on the floor..." Ging glared at Roy, shook his hand with a smack, and flashed away faster than the wind outside the window, disappearing instantly. Only one sentence lingered in the boy's ear...
"I'm waiting for your news," he said.
Then... Bang, the door slammed shut heavily, shutting Roy's smiling face inside.
"Heh heh..." Roy pulled out a chair and sat down, unconcerned. He opened the believer panel, looking at Razor's column... [Potential Believer Razor... Loyalty, approaching believer... Willing to entrust his back to the Host...]
The corner of Roy's mouth curled up. He opened his left hand, conjuring the carving knife again, attempting to imprint [Shinso] as a Divine Script onto the newly conjured log...
Soon, after several failures, a "Wooden Nail" imprinted with [Shinso] floated quietly before his eyes... grabbed by him in one hand.
Knock... knock... knock...
"Young Master, I'm back."
Just then, Creeak~ the door opened. Gotoh returned from booking tickets.
Suddenly, a black light pierced the air past his cheek, nailing into the wall behind the butler.
Gotoh instinctively drew his gun, but then thought... It's the Young Master... He pushed up his glasses, swallowed, and watched Roy hold the nail head, whispering satisfiedly, "Return."
The [Shinso Wooden Nail], which had suddenly extended nearly ten meters, retracted instantly, returning to the appearance of an ordinary wooden nail in the blink of an eye. Roy flipped his hand and pocketed it.
The boy smiled. "Let's go."
Finally, he patted Gotoh's shoulder.
"Yes." The young butler recovered, hurriedly packed the luggage, and followed.
Master and servant walked slowly, one after another, stopping in front of Razor's room.
The door was ajar. Through the gap, a tall man wearing a simple tank top could be seen leaning against the window, silently practicing Water Breathing. Hearing the noise, he didn't turn back, only saying, "He went to you?"
"Mm." Roy pushed the door open, getting straight to the point. "I didn't refuse."
Then, a brief silence.
A moment later, Razor finished the last move "Water Breathing, Tenth Form: Constant Flux" with his hand as a blade. He opened his mouth, exhaling a breath of turbid air lightly. Turning back to Roy, his narrow eyes fixed on him. "You know, I owe you, not him. If he didn't break me out, I could leave anytime if I wanted."
"I believe you."
"Then you..." Razor frowned.
Waiting for the boy to continue.
However... Roy didn't continue.
The boy didn't explain much on this matter. He just walked to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with him at the window, watching the bright sunshine, the crowds of tourists, the traffic, saying leisurely, "Razor, I'm not anyone to you, nor qualified to demand anything."
Roy turned, looking at the man sincerely. "To be honest, coming from an assassin family, I'm no different from you."
"So I thought, follow your heart. Whether you are willing or not is your own business."
"Of course, if you agree, I will teach you the remaining two forms of 'Water Breathing'."
Razor's eyes moved. Is the Tenth Form not the end of 'Water Breathing'?
His tall body, even a head taller than Roy, looked at the boy with narrowed eyes. After a moment, he said, "You are threatening me."
"No," Roy's thought moved. He called up "Eleventh Form: Dead Calm" and "Twelfth Form: Phantom Sword · Water Mirror Mirage," condensed into an information stream via Nen, and tapped Razor's forehead with two fingers. Then he turned and left, not taking a single ray of sunshine, leaving only a sentence: "Even if you don't agree, I'll give it to you."
Leaving Razor alone at the window, silent. Only when Roy disappeared with Gotoh, reappearing downstairs, getting into a taxi, and driving away with a roar...
Did Razor's brow relax, a warm smile curling his lips. "This guy... really makes it impossible to refuse, huh?"
"Haven't said goodbye yet."
But already gone...
A long sigh drifted away with the wind...
For a moment, Razor felt indescribably melancholy.
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