The year's end was approaching, and the snowstorms grew more intense...
On Mount Sagiri, a dense fog filled the air, wetting Roy's hair and coating it in a layer of frost.
Freed from the restraint of the crushed stones, Roy restarted the Ten Thousand Practice Swings. He felt the sword in his hand was as light as a feather, as if it were stuck to his palm, moving as an extension of his own arm, wielded with complete freedom.
His master, Urokodaki Sakonji, stood behind him, watching in silence...
Ten meters directly in front of him was a wooden stake wrapped in hemp rope.
The young man closed his eyes and began to adjust his breathing. He spread his feet apart, using his body as the central axis to fix his stance. When he opened his eyes again, he held the sword with both hands and slashed forward, delivering the first strike of the day.
Then... two swings, three swings, a hundred, a thousand, ten thousand, twenty thousand, thirty thousand, thirty-five thousand. Seeing that he had surpassed his limit from before the crushed stone training, Roy felt his body heat up, his strength still abundant. He simply tore off his scarf and continued to swing...
Thirty-six thousand, thirty-seven thousand, thirty-eight thousand, forty thousand...
"That Eiichiro, he's making me lose count," Makomo complained, pouting, her beautiful large eyes spinning in circles.
High up in a tall birch tree, Sabito watched in silence. Below was the equally silent Urokodaki Sakonji...
Forty thousand, forty-two thousand, forty-seven thousand, forty-nine thousand, fifty thousand!
At a certain moment, the young man's eyes narrowed. His hands, waist, and feet moved in unison as he stepped forward and slashed—
The wind from the blade tore through the air, letting out a jarring shriek and forming a crescent-shaped slash that sliced through the wooden stake ten meters away!
"Clatter..." The stake broke into two pieces and crashed to the ground.
The surroundings were so quiet you could hear a pin drop, the silence broken only by the young man's heavy panting, which billowed in the wind and snow!
"That Eiichiro guy..." Shinsuke had been lying down but instantly sat bolt upright. Even though he had been mentally prepared, knowing that Roy would surely break his own limits again after the crushed stone training—perhaps reaching an astonishing forty thousand swings—he had never expected this. He had still underestimated him!
"Seriously, I'm numb," Fukuda said, standing next to Shinsuke and looking down at Roy. He laughed at himself, "From now on, if someone tells me Eiichiro chopped up the Demon King, I won't even be surprised."
"He's not even human!"
A ten-meter-long slash...
"The key is, Eiichiro hasn't even learned a Breathing Style yet~"
Makomo finally didn't have to count anymore. She dizzily steadied herself against Sabito. The Sabito she leaned on was like a wooden stake himself, having taken Roy's blow; his warrior's spirit had been sliced in two.
Silence was the theme of today's Mount Sagiri... 'Giyu, perhaps... the Water Hashira is your limit, but it could never be Eiichiro's.'
Sabito stared at Roy's back. He could almost imagine what kind of terrifying sight it would be for the demons when a monster like this was unleashed from the mountain.
"Eiichiro,"
"You can begin the next stage of training..."
Urokodaki Sakonji's shoulders were covered in snow. The voice hidden beneath the tengu mask was somewhat hoarse. He watched the young man quietly... Roy sheathed his sword, exhaled a long dragon of white breath, and shook his head.
"No, I still need to practice." The young man's voice was very calm. He broke into a smile, revealing a set of pearly white teeth.
If Netero could throw ten thousand punches a day, there was no reason he, Roy, couldn't deliver one hundred thousand slashes a day... There was no logic in that!
"When I've truly reached my limit, I will tell you, master."
"You... hehehe..." Urokodaki Sakonji's shoulders shook as he laughed. His laughter grew louder and louder. He looked up at the sky. The sun, in a rare moment, broke through the fog and cast down a single ray, as if dispelling the haze that clouded the hearts of all people in the world—demons!
"Good." The old man turned around, gratified. Tonight, he decided to add a pig's leg to the boy's meal.
[Hint: Swordsmanship +40]
[Swordsmanship: lv2(996/1000)→lv3(36/10000)]
...
"Dong~"
Kukuroo Mountain.
At four in the morning, a bell chimed.
In the small room on the far eastern side of the third floor of the butlers' villa, Kastro opened his eyes as usual, lying in bed and staring blankly at the ceiling...
He had been at the Zoldyck estate for over two months. He had grown from a "clueless rookie" to a "rookie who knows a little." He had finally realized just how heavy the name "Zoldyck" was.
The hundred-kilogram bulletproof vest was to be worn twenty-four hours a day... The shoes on his feet were weighted... The cup he drank water from daily weighed twenty kilograms... Pushing open any door required at least five hundred kilograms of force...
This wasn't some butlers' quarters; this was a goddamn gravity training room! And one with ten times the gravity at that!
When Kastro first reported for duty, he really wanted to curse someone out. But then he thought about how it was the same for all the apprentice butlers who dreamed of becoming official butlers, and that the weakest among them was actually the enthusiastic Zebro who had helped him successfully push open the first Testing Gate... The young man calmed down, cut his long hair, and accepted reality.
For no other reason than to one day be able to land a punch on that detestable man with glasses' face... to tell him that if he could do it, so could he!
Right... what was his name again... Gotoh!
At 4:05 AM, Kastro rolled out of bed and began his morning exercise... From four to four-thirty was the only time in the day he could call his own.
Usually, at this time, he would choose to run to the Testing Gate, practice a set of Tiger Bite Fist, and then chat with Zebro for a bit, holding on to the little sense of security he had left.
That's right, once you enter the Zoldyck estate, it's as deep as the sea. Other than being heavy, the Zoldyck family offered no security whatsoever.
A random dog could jump out, and the wind pressure it generated could knock him over.
It had gotten to the point where... Kastro's heart would tremble whenever he heard Mike's roar.
"Heh heh... you'll get used to it." Zebro handed him a cup of water with a smile. He was a kind old man. In the original story, he was the one who helped Gon and his friends. Now, after two months of contact, he had come to admire this young man before him as well.
He was diligent, driven, had good hair, and most importantly... he was obedient and easy to command. He was butler material.
"Thank you." Kastro finished his fist routine and nodded in thanks. As he brought the water to his lips, he suddenly heard a familiar set of footsteps. He looked up... The young man with short, thick, dark hair that fell to his shoulders was running down the mountain as usual. He hurriedly bowed to him in salute and said, "Good morning, young master."
Last night, after finishing his sword practice and having a hearty meal of braised pork knuckle with Urokodaki Sakonji, Roy had a rare comfortable night's sleep. He passed through the world of cognition and returned to reality.
He didn't need to laze in bed for a minute or two to eliminate the mental fatigue.
He immediately washed up and went for his morning run, soon arriving at the foot of the mountain.
The young man stopped. He had run five kilometers without breaking a sweat. He gave a slight nod to Zebro, who had doffed his hat in salute, and his gaze settled on Kastro. He smiled and asked, "Are you getting used to it?"
Kastro immediately stood at attention. "Don't worry, young master. I can handle it."
Roy patted his shoulder. "That's good."
With that, he walked past him and went straight to the Testing Gate, coming to a stop.
"Young master, are you heading out?" Zebro thought to himself, 'I don't see Gotoh anywhere...' Out of a sense of duty, he rolled up his sleeves and walked over. "I'll open the gate for you, young master."
Roy said, "No need."
He looked up at the fourth Testing Gate, gently raised a hand, and placed it on the surface.
Seeing this, Zebro stopped in his tracks. Kastro, sensing something, turned his head to look—
And heard a deafening "BOOM!"
The fourth gate, weighing thirty-two tons, was thrown wide open, revealing the dashing young man in the middle, bathed in the morning glow, clapping the dust from his hands.