Chapter 200: Cannibalizing Kindred x The Second Gate Opens x Uchiha Jin Emerges
BOOM!
Wave against wave, Nen bullets condensed simultaneously by Ging and "Razor" and smashed into each other with a roar!
In the ownerless land, mist surged. The "Nen bullet" grew from fingertip size to egg size, then apple... volleyball... The hood on Ging's head was lifted slightly by the Nen blast, revealing his messy sideburns underneath as he constantly probed the opponent's strength.
Just as Netero guessed... the fake Razor before him, who looked like Razor but had dull, lifeless eyes like a puppet manipulated from behind, possessed about 80% of the real Razor's "Aura Quantity" and understanding of "Nen."
According to the theory of "Nen Ability" categories, being able to exert 80% of a secondary category's power using the primary category is considered a perfect performance.
Ging narrowed his eyes. Raising his hand, he condensed a basketball-sized Nen bullet and exchanged another blow with the fake Razor. His shadow moved, quietly differentiating a shadow figure that circled behind the opponent. Suddenly, a fist wrapped in Ko punched at the fake Razor's heart.
It was almost certain that the mastermind's understanding and application of Nen abilities were far beyond that of ordinary Nen users or elite Hunters.
Bang! En released... The fake Razor's head twisted bizarrely to his back, delivering a whip kick that hit the shadow squarely.
Awooo~ A wolf howl...
The shadow dispersed and re-condensed, returning to Ging's side, revealing its true form: a majestic and spirited white wolf!
"Beautiful wolf!" The Phantom Wolf was massive, its fluffy tail curled up, almost able to wrap around Ging entirely.
Hunter Association.
Netero's designated volleyball training court.
Wing multitasked, splitting his gaze to watch Roy and Ging... Both screens showed two Phantom Wolves simultaneously, baring their fangs, glistening with cold light.
Beside the boy, Biscuit crossed her arms, her flat chest highlighted. She watched the real and fake Gings with interest... This was the first time the old woman had seen Ging use his Nen ability.
Big turtle... white-haired wolf... The old woman narrowed her eyes. "Ging acts more professional than those 'Magical Beast Hunters'."
Yet... "He runs off to be a 'Ruins Hunter,' neglecting his proper duties."
"Roar!" Relying on the Phantom Wolf's enhancement, the real and fake Gings coordinated perfectly. Moving their feet, they attacked Roy and the fake Razor respectively...
Netero, his white hair tied in a topknot, laughed hoarsely. "Isn't that good?"
A Ruins Hunter contracting magical beasts, a Treasure Hunter loving to teach... On the screen, the boy's black hair flew back. Left hand "Snow-Walker," right hand "Waning Moon," dual blades in hand, attacking left and right, using "Sun Breathing" and "Wind Breathing" separately. One blade blocked the Phantom Wolf, the other raised for "Wind Breathing, Second Form: Claws, Purifying Wind," creating sharp wind blades that tore through the air, slashing at the fake Ging's head...
Clearly a "Conjurer," yet behaving more like an "Enhancer" than an "Enhancer." Wasn't this also a manifestation of "neglecting proper duties"?
"Times have changed. People ultimately shouldn't be bound by categories."
Netero said faintly. Biscuit's ear twitched, clearly knowing something... She seemed to recall the old man mentioning he considered leaning towards "Emission" despite being an "Enhancer." Thinking of herself, originating from a martial arts school, closer to "Enhancer," yet her Nen ability was the "Transmutation" type Magical Spa Services...
Biscuit fell silent. Beside her, the meticulous Wing noticed a trace of anomaly.
Distracted, the boy saw Roy in the screen, about his age, wielding swordsmanship to perfection. At one point, he even opened his mouth and whispered, "Sleep."
Spitting drowsiness, seizing the opening in the attack, he used [Dream: Forced Sleep Rain], instantly hypnotizing the Phantom Wolf, making its body heavy and crash to the ground.
Wing looked at his master Biscuit, hesitating to speak. The old woman backhanded him with a chop to the forehead. "Say what you want. Hesitating isn't manly."
Wing scratched the back of his head, smiling sheepishly. "It's nothing, just some doubts..."
The boy had been working hard. Since parting with Roy at the Heavens Arena, he had spent nearly a year putting in all his effort, desperately trying to catch up to Roy, hoping to fight him again next time they met and show his progress.
Unexpectedly, seeing him today, the boy had grown enough to fight on par with "Ging," whom his master and grandmaster had praised...
Wing's heart wavered, momentarily doubting if his direction of effort was wrong.
He voiced his doubts to Biscuit. "Master often teaches me that specializing in one thing is better than being a jack of all trades, but..."
The boy's gaze fixed on Roy and Ging. "It seems they aren't specializing, but developing... more different means."
"And then?" Biscuit glanced sideways. "What are you trying to say?"
"Thinking of switching from 'Enhancement' to another 'Category'?"
Thoughts exposed... seeing Biscuit's stern gaze, Wing shut up tactfully.
"Ho ho ho... No need to be so strict with the child."
"It's not necessarily bad for him to recognize reality early."
The volleyball on his fingertip vanished instantly, flicked by Netero accurately into the ball basket nearby.
The old man took the black tea from Beans, sipped it comfortably, took over the conversation from Biscuit, and smiled at Wing. "Child, geniuses are geniuses, ordinary people are ultimately ordinary people."
Swallowing a mouthful of tea, Netero watched Roy forcibly hypnotize the Phantom Wolf, then backhand with [Shinso], driving [Waning Moon] and utilizing the ductility of [Space] to instantly lengthen the blade, stabbing at the fake Ging, even piercing a small hole in the Deep Water Turtle shell covering him...
Another move he hadn't seen during the Hunter Exam...
Netero sighed with emotion. "An ordinary person spending their whole life doing one thing well hasn't lived in vain."
"But geniuses... often bloom in many ways, understanding one thing and understanding all, accomplishing things ordinary people might not do in ten lifetimes, or..."
"Achievements!"
So... geniuses cannot be judged by common sense...
Beans took the teacup from Netero and refilled it. His gaze swept... whether it was Ging or Roy in the screen, or the one standing beside him, they were all like this.
Yet the bespectacled boy wanted to learn from them. Based on Beans' experience observing people over the years, those who try to imitate geniuses often fall into confusion, damaging their subjectivity as "people," and eventually... end up mediocre for life, ending poorly.
"Is that so... what is this unwilling feeling?"
Roy and the fake Ging's battle was right before his eyes... Master Biscuit's gaze fell on him... Grandmaster's well-intentioned advice rang in his ears... Wing lowered his head, hiding the unwillingness in his eyes, quietly clenching his fists, silent...
Netero spared a glance at the boy, saying nothing. Looking again... at Roy fighting the fake Ging to a standstill, he could only sigh in his heart... Recognizing reality and trying to reconcile with oneself is also an extremely difficult task in life.
Perhaps only in death... letting time erase everything, can one find true release.
Beyond's face involuntarily appeared in his mind. Wasn't that unfilial son also someone who couldn't recognize reality?
Silence... was the mood in the Hunter Association today.
Yorbian Continent, West Sea, 10,000 meters underwater, inside the ruins church.
Several slashes later, fighting Ging more fiercely and heartily... Roy consumed nearly one-tenth of his aura. Finally, seizing the moment when the fake Ging drove the [Deep Water Turtle] to block [Shinso]...
Specks of light flipped in his mouth, Conjuring the third sword again... [Solar Eclipse]...
Roy gritted his teeth. A move of [Ko · Zanka no Tachi], brushing past the sleeping [Phantom Wolf], gently sweeping across it... The white-haired, giant-tailed, fierce Phantom Wolf was instantly vaporized by the sudden surge of high temperature without even a scream...
Like a chalk drawing erased by an eraser...
Panel Notification—
[ "Nen Ability" +10... ]
[Reminder: "Gate of Cognition" enhanced, only 5 points remaining to open the Second Gate...]
Whoosh~ The black Zanka no Tachi blew up a gust of spark-filled astral wind...
Roy was stunned. Hearing the notification, it was different from before. It wasn't the [Phantom Wolf]'s innate Nen ability. The boy clenched [Solar Eclipse] in his mouth, backhanding two slashes to deflect the two Nen bullets stolen from Razor and fired continuously by the fake Ging. Thoughts turning... he suddenly realized...
He had walked into a misunderstanding!
[Magical Beast Encyclopedia] identifies "objects," but these "objects"—whether the Phantom Wolf, the Deep Water Turtle, or... this Ging before him—were all fake... all illusions condensed by the mastermind via their "Nen ability."
Unlike Grandpa Zzigg creating a game based on the real Dark Continent via [Greed Island]... the ultimate direction... was the mastermind's "Nen ability" itself...
And that person, understanding "virtual and real," was clearly a Conjurer. If not the Elephant Tapir, then a "Conjurer" closely related to the Elephant Tapir!
Tap... tap... As the Phantom Wolf was erased from existence...
The fake Ging, manipulated like a puppet by the mastermind, jumped back twice consecutively. A rare trace of apprehension appeared in those dull, lifeless pupils...
Hunter Association.
An old man's eyes moved. Following the fake Ging's unusual movement, Netero looked around. At the "fake Razor" fighting Ging, the "fake Gotoh" beaten wretchedly by Razor, and... the elephant-shaped, tapir-faced magical beast dodging the "buttons" controlled by Elena like a ghost...
Except for that tapir beast, only the "fake Ging" fighting Roy showed apprehension. Manifested externally... he even put some distance between himself and the boy...
Netero keenly smelled something unusual.
"It's afraid..."
"Of whom?"
"Roy."
Netero noticed, Biscuit noticed, and even Wing, having composed himself, looked over...
The old woman explained to Wing with a profound gaze, "It must be because the boy killed that wolf, causing its apprehension, or rather..."
"No," Wing pushed up his glasses, sharply noticing, "Doesn't that guy who looks exactly like Ging seem a bit smaller?"
"Not just smaller, he looks fainter too," Biscuit coated her eyes with a thin layer of "Nen," immediately activating Gyo. Looking at the fake Ging again... the aura wrapped around him had visibly decreased.
Ren best reflects the "numerical value" of a "Nen user"...
Body shrinking and fading were just appearances. What truly made the opponent apprehensive was... the loss of its own aura... or rather...
"Being devoured." Netero simply sat cross-legged in front of the TV, looking at Roy and the fake Ging with interest, his eyes gleaming!
There is no summoning without cause. Illusions or mirror images cannot be separated from the Nen ability's observation, supplemented by imagination...
"That child Roy is devouring the opponent's aura. Wing... remember to use Gyo immediately when encountering Nen users in the future..."
The old man glanced sideways at Biscuit, reminding Wing faintly.
As if saying... How did you teach your disciple? Didn't you even tell him this?
Biscuit blushed with anger, her twin ponytails tilting up. She backhanded a punch onto Wing's head. "How many times have I told you, you just won't remember!"
The old woman raised her voice, pretending not to see Netero's gaze, defending herself, "He must have thought it was a screen, not a real person, so he didn't notice."
Wing winced in pain, daring not refute... but as Biscuit said, he was careless.
Ashamed for a moment, wishing he could dig a hole to hide in...
Fortunately, a "Ho ho" laugh covered up the boy's shame...
Netero stroked his beard, pretending not to see the "playful" squabble between master and disciple. Looking up again, his gaze fixed on the "fake Ging."
Having just had his Phantom Wolf killed and shrunk a size, the fake Ging's dull eyes moved, locking onto Roy. This time, he unhesitatingly called out [Feicha's Parrot]!
"Sakura..."
[Feicha's Parrot], capable of [Replicating others' movements immediately after taking a hit], chirped softly, emerging from the fake Ging's shoulder...
The fake Ging glanced at Roy, holding a sword in each hand and one in his mouth, clearly fixating on all his movements, attempting to use Feicha's Parrot's defying mechanism to instantly replicate Roy's swordsmanship and counterattack.
Seeing this, Roy gave a strange look at the phantom parrot standing on the fake Ging's shoulder, staring at him intently...
With a thought, he summoned the Golden Crow at the same moment.
"Goldie..."
The Golden Crow spread its wings, suddenly emerging from Roy's head. The moment its fat body appeared, Feicha's Parrot tilted its head, staring straight with its beady eyes. Then, under the stunned gazes of the fake Ging, Netero, Biscuit, and Wing...
It flapped its wings, flying straight away from the fake Ging towards Roy, nestling affectionately next to the Golden Crow on Roy's head...
Backhanding his sword, Roy freed a hand, snatched it in his palm, and crushed it into flying ash...
Panel Notification—
[Nen Ability +20]
["Gate of Cognition" has met "Opening Conditions"...]
[Notification: "Second Gate" Open!]
[Character generating...]
[Uchiha Jin... Uchiha Itachi's elder brother... Generation complete!]
☆☆☆
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