Under the full moon hanging high in the night sky.
A stream wound its way through the mountain gullies, mist rolling through the forest.
A black-and-white blur shot out of a cave, skimming over the stream and weaving through the dense woods at incredible speed. It finally skidded to a halt in front of a vast, placid lake.
The blur solidified into a white-haired boy with a black backpack.
It was Yuu.
It had only been about thirty minutes since he left the "Riddle Granny" and entered the secret tunnel. He had beaten her two-hour estimate by a landslide.
He had covered most of the distance using "teleportation." While it was exponentially faster than running, it also drained his brain and the Six Eyes several times faster.
Yuu looked out over the wide lake. The only way across seemed to be a flimsy wooden raft tied near the shore.
It looked like he was supposed to row across to reach the cedar tree.
But beneath the surface, Yuu didn't even need his extra-sensory perception. Just by looking, he could see massive shadows gliding through the water, lurking directly under the raft's path.
Yuu wasn't worried.
He found a large rock about a meter high near the shore, hopped onto it, and sat down cross-legged.
He closed his eyes to rest.
"Teleporting constantly in that tunnel kept my brain and the Six Eyes under high tension."
"If I try to cross the lake now while I'm mentally fatigued, I might slip up and get dragged down by those monsters."
"Better to take a nap here, reset my condition, and then skip the water route entirely by jumping through the air..."
"But that only works if my brain is at peak performance. If I hit my limit midway over the lake and the technique deactivates... I'm fish food."
"That would be... suboptimal."
So, Yuu cleared his mind.
Even with his eyes closed, he could sense every movement around him. He needed to achieve a state of total stillness to truly rest.
As his thoughts settled, the aura around him calmed down as well.
Before, his "Ten" had fluctuated like ocean waves—choppy and uneven.
Now, his aura was like a mirror-smooth lake, without a single ripple.
Sensing aura... understanding aura...
It was an introspective process.
Only when the mind was quiet could one clearly perceive the existence and flow of life energy.
Although Yuu had emptied his mind, perhaps due to the accumulated physical fatigue and this meditative state...
His body instinctively began to retract his aura completely.
He entered a state of "Zetsu" (Suppress).
In this state, his presence became almost undetectable. And because he was keeping all his life energy inside instead of leaking it, his body's natural recovery rate increased slightly, relieving fatigue faster than normal sleep.
Time flew by...
When Yuu opened his eyes again, about six hours had passed.
The sky was turning pale with dawn.
Yuu stood up on the rock and stretched. His body felt revitalized, bursting with energy like a bamboo shoot after a rainstorm.
More importantly, he could feel that his sensitivity to aura had leveled up.
He didn't remember the specifics of his sleep, but the feeling of total tranquility lingered. He could guess what had happened.
"Because I was exhausted and cleared my mind... my body must have automatically entered 'Zetsu' while I slept."
"Once I master 'Ren' (Enhance), I can start developing my actual Hatsu (Special Ability)."
"But for now, I need to move..."
---
Meanwhile, in the forest on the other side of the lake.
The pair of Kiriko (Magical Beasts) who had been waiting in the trees all night were getting impatient.
"Honey, do you think the kid got eaten by a wild animal?"
"Maybe. If he doesn't show up at the cabin in the next two hours, we'll have to fail him, even if he's still alive."
These two tall, fox-faced humanoids were the examiners.
They were a type of Kiriko that could speak human language and shapeshift at will.
Although the exam location changed every year, the job of guiding candidates to the site was always entrusted to this couple. They were veteran staff of the Hunter Exam.
---
Just as the fox couple was chatting, a black-and-white streak flashed between them.
By the time they realized what happened, they looked back to see a small, white-haired figure with a black backpack darting through the trees, heading straight for the cedar tree.
The speed was so incredible that even the Magical Beasts were impressed.
"After him! That has to be the kid!"
The couple launched themselves into pursuit.
Up ahead, Yuu sensed the movement behind him. He glanced back at the foxes chasing him.
"As expected of Magical Beasts... even with my Cursed Energy reinforcement, they're still slightly faster than me."
He could tell they were slowly closing the gap. He wanted to use teleportation to boost his speed, but the obstacles here were too dense.
One mistake would mean slamming into a tree.
Then, Yuu remembered an idea he had earlier.
"If I can maintain 'Ten' while reinforcing my body with Cursed Energy, my speed should jump up another level."
"But to do that, I have to drop the 'Infinity' barrier..."
The Limitless technique was a massive drain on his focus. It hogged his brain's processing power.
Dropping his defenses meant exposing himself to unpredictable dangers.
But Yuu knew that if he reached the cabin before the fox couple...
He would hold the initiative.
Deciding quickly, Yuu deactivated the Infinity barrier that he kept up constantly. He redirected that freed-up mental bandwidth to focus solely on containing his aura with Ten.
"He's slowing down!"
The fox couple rejoiced. They could feel the distance closing.
Looking closely, the boy seemed to be reacting slower, showing signs of fatigue.
"Keeping up that speed for so long... even we would find it tiring! He must be hitting his limit!"
"Still, for a human kid to outrun us for this long is amazing. Too bad he lacks that final bit of power and speed..."
But just as the words left their mouths, the boy's aura shifted.
His speed exploded.
The power in his legs surged, and with every stride, he covered double the distance he had before.
Yuu kept his mind perfectly still. Combining Cursed Energy reinforcement with the delicate control of Ten was like balancing a spinning plate. Any emotional ripple could cause the technique to collapse.
He poured more Cursed Energy into his legs.
In just ten seconds, he put a hundred meters between himself and the foxes!
"Crap! He's losing us!"
"No, look at his aura! What happened? It suddenly got so much denser!"
The fox couple watched the figure disappear into the distance and eventually slowed to a stop. They couldn't catch him.
---
Yuu noticed he had shaken them off.
But he didn't relax.
Instead, he pushed harder, entering a state of euphoric focus.
He didn't stop until he practically crashed into the wooden cabin at the base of the cedar tree.
Yuu skidded to a halt and let out a long breath.
"Phew~ That felt awesome!"
Yuu couldn't hide his excitement.
It wasn't just about winning the race. It was the thrill of successfully developing a new technique.
He had proven his theory: he could simultaneously maintain "Ten" (Nen containment) and Cursed Energy reinforcement.
Bursting with adrenaline, he decided to name this new move.
"Since it's basically adding Cursed Energy into the state of Ten..."
"Let's call it..."
"Cursed Ten."
---