It drifted leisurely into Roy's ears...
As the azure sea of cognition receded,
and the dazzling dream corridor faded away,
Roy woke from the dream, slipping out of the Naruto world and back into reality. Still half-asleep, he turned his head and saw Netero sitting beside his desk. One hand was teasing Goldie. The bird had gotten annoyed and pecked him for it. Netero let out a cheerful laugh, resting one hand on the side of the chair as he turned and looked over at Roy with a smile.
"Your Nen beast really is something else."
"When it pecks people, it actually hurts..."
Goldie, clearly dissatisfied, pecked Netero again. The fat crow opened its beak and spat out a stream of flame, nearly singeing the old man's hair.
The moment it saw Roy was awake, it angrily flapped its little glassy-gold wings, flew over with a flutter, plopped itself down on top of Roy's head, and began complaining on the spot.
"Caw!"
(That nasty old man was bullying me! I wouldn't let him in, but he barged in anyway!)
Goldie's grumbling drifted into Roy's mind through their link...
Roy gently patted its little head, rolled over, and sat up in bed. His gaze passed over Netero's shoulder. Seeing that the old man had just sat there properly and hadn't rummaged through any of his things, Roy's expression eased a little, looking much better than it had the instant he woke up...
"Ho ho ho... I didn't mean to barge in."
"I saw you were sleeping so soundly, so I didn't have the heart to wake you..."
"But you still disturbed me," Roy said.
He slipped on his slippers and lazily stretched, and as his bones and joints loosened up, they crackled like a pan of beans popping. The sleepy, languid air around him vanished, leaving him clear-eyed and refreshed again.
Leaning against the chair, Netero sized the boy up. A sharp glint flashed imperceptibly through his old eyes.
"You adapted to your body pretty fast. Doesn't look like the kind of forced growth that pulls up seedlings too early. Seems your teacher in that dream of yours is quite something too."
As the man acknowledged by the world as the strongest human, Netero's eye for this sort of thing was naturally viciously sharp. But unless you entered the mountain, you could never really know its true face. Did Roy even have a teacher?
Well... yes, sort of.
But if one meant the kind who truly taught him in word and deed, then aside from Urokodaki-sensei from the Demon Slayer world, perhaps only Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni—whom he had met just twice—could count as half a teacher.
Roy went into the shower room, splashed some water on his face, and said without turning around, "Go on. What is it?"
Netero got straight to the point.
"I'm here on Zigg's behalf to ask you something."
"Do you know what Nen really is?"
Roy's steps halted.
With his sleeves hanging loosely, the old man slowly pushed back the chair and rose to his feet. Standing by the window frame, he looked out into the deep night and the bright moon hanging high above, and said softly, "Kid, I'd say you and I understand each other pretty well by now."
"I've lived a long time. I've seen far too many people with monstrous talent. I've asked them all this question."
"And now... I want to hear your answer."
"Is it you who wants to know," Roy asked, "or my grandfather?"
He dried his face with a towel and turned, glancing sideways at Netero. Unbidden, the image of Grandfather Zigg that he had glimpsed through the Demonic Eye surfaced in his mind. Back then, the old man had said that the fact Roy had never lost himself was an extremely fortunate thing...
Roy studied Netero without a word. As his eyes shifted, he vaguely sensed a trace of decline in the old man—
even though Netero was not as old as his great-grandfather.
He was still in excellent health. He was no longer at his absolute prime, but even in the original story he had leapt down from incredible heights and shocked countless Hunter Exam candidates, which was proof enough that his body was still absurdly powerful.
Then, with a flare, two suns slowly lit up in Roy's pupils.
The Eye of Truth activated.
A string of information immediately surfaced in Roy's mind...
[Name: Isaac Netero]
[Race: Human]
[Constitution: B?]
[Manifest Aura: B?]
[Latent Aura: B+ or A-?]
[Rating: B]
Other than the faint signs of decline in his vitality, there was no "death aura" on him.
Roy slowly withdrew his gaze and let the suns in his eyes fade away.
"Ho ho ho... as expected of the Sun. Your eyes are dazzling enough as they are..."
Netero narrowed his eyes at Roy. A man as sharp as him had clearly noticed the probing gaze passing through him and then fading. The old man's expression grew solemn as he said, "Your grandfather wants to know. And I want to know too."
After a brief silence, Roy answered:
"Nen is the power to make what your heart desires come true."
"How so?"
"It's doing what you want, becoming what you wish, moving as your heart wills—without crossing the line."
"The line of whom?" Netero stared at Roy. "Your great-grandfather walks the path of faith. Your grandfather Zigg walks the path of faith too. Have you ever wondered why your grandfather Zeno and your father Silva don't?"
"Is it that they don't want to? Or that they don't know how?"
Roy frowned.
Without making it obvious, he glanced toward the dim little room where Maha was.
Inside that dim room, separated by layer upon layer of walls, Maha was just as always, rocking gently in his chair and listening to cartoons. His dried-up fingers lightly tapped the armrest—tap... tap...—as though he had heard nothing, as though he were genuinely asleep. The thin silk blanket covering him had slipped halfway to the floor...
At that moment, a cool night breeze stirred the curtains, making them rustle softly...
On the second floor, Silva was stretching in his study...
On the first-floor garden path, Zeno was taking a walk...
Before Roy's eyes lay a picture-perfect scene of peaceful years passing quietly by.
Roy said nothing and looked back at Netero.
The old man slowly let out a breath and said, "Because they can't."
"Their hearts aren't big enough, broad enough. They can't bear stronger acts of contemplation. They aren't like you... or Zigg... or your great-grandfather."
Life itself has a weight that not every being can bear.
"Some people can only carry a small family in their hearts. Others can carry an entire city. And some... can carry a nation, even a whole world."
"When responsibilities heavier and heavier than that are placed on your shoulders, do you still think Nen is just doing whatever you want, whenever you want, and being able to bear it all?"
After saying that, Netero fell silent.
His hair and beard were completely white. Half his face was bathed in the soft light of the room, while the other half disappeared into the night.
He had not brought Beans with him. And ever since becoming Chairman of the Hunter Association, he had never wasted this many words on anyone—not even on Ging.
He just stood there, looking off into the distance, as though remembering something, as though in the darkness of Kukuroo Mountain he could vaguely see Zigg's face...
At last he added,
"This... is what your grandfather Zigg told me to say to you."
"You saw the Demonic Eye too."
"Before it completely lost consciousness, I dreamed of Zigg. He told me to ask you properly... so I came."
But...
At that time, Roy hadn't even been born yet.
Roy's heart jolted. He sharply looked toward Netero, only to see the old man standing with his hands behind his back, staring up at the night sky as he said meaningfully,
"Seeing the future isn't exactly rare."
Roy understood at once, remembering Neon, remembering Ribeiro Gacia, and their Nen abilities—Angel's Automatic Writing and Divination by Cards...
For a moment, he fell silent.
Moonlight streamed through the window, casting pale light over the two figures—one old and one young, one broad and one lean.
As Roy thought, something gradually clicked into place.
He walked over to the window and leaned against it beside Netero, quietly admiring the moonlight with him.
Then he tested the idea out loud.
"So Grandfather meant I should be more cautious. That I should be careful... not to stand in a place my virtue can't bear?"
Netero turned to him in surprise, and the admiration in his eyes deepened.
"I really want to meet your teacher. 'Not fit for the weight of the position'—that's a good phrase."
It was the first time he had heard it, but from the meaning of the words alone, it fit perfectly.
Stroking his white beard, the old man nodded.
"A 'big heart' is not idle fantasy. And it definitely cannot be delusion."
"If you can't control what you contemplate into being, then what you contemplate will control you in turn."
"And you will become a slave to Nen."
"In other words—"
"a calamity."
Calamity.
Roy narrowed his eyes and instantly thought of the infamous Five Great Calamities of the world—
Pap, the nurturing beast that symbolized "the equal exchange of joy and life."
The twin-tailed serpent-like Hellbell, the beast that spread murderous intent like a contagion.
Ai, the gaseous life-form that embodied both a curse of desire and a blessing.
Zobae, the "disease of immortality" that disguised itself as hope while bringing endless despair.
And the other horrors like them—
all of them enough to chill the blood.
At that moment, everything suddenly clicked for Roy.
He finally understood what Grandfather Zigg had meant back then, when speaking through the Demonic Eye.
So that's what he was relieved about...
He was relieved that I hadn't been turned around and taken over by my Nen ability. That I hadn't become one of those monsters swallowed by Nature and stripped of reason—
or, put another way...
a calamity.
The boy's expression darkened and shifted. In an instant, he understood many things.
Standing right next to him, Netero tilted his head and looked at him. After a long while, staring into the depths of the night, he laughed at himself and said, "Looks like you understand now."
"It isn't that your grandfather and father didn't want to."
"It's that compared to you, compared to your grandfather Zigg, and compared to that old man over there... their talent isn't enough. They can't bear that weight."
"Of course... that also includes me..."
"Hm..."
From the dim room on the first floor, Maha turned over in his chair. The thin blanket slid all the way off him and fell to the floor.
The old man mumbled something, sounding half like sleep-talk and half like a complaint.
"At least you've got some self-awareness."
Roy came back to himself and stared fixedly at Netero.
At last he understood where that trace of decline in the "strongest human" came from.
It came from the despair of having already reached his peak, of being limited by his talent and the size of his heart, of never being able to see a road forward again.
When everyone called him humanity's strongest, that meant—
he was already at the top.
There was nowhere higher for him to climb.
"So... you want to die," Roy said heavily after a long silence, not even knowing what feeling was rising in his chest.
Netero tilted his head and grinned at the boy.
"Ho ho ho... so you saw right through me after all."
"But still..."
Suddenly, two blazing rays shot out of Netero's old eyes. Battle intent burned there.
"If I'm going to die, then I'll die in grand fashion!"
"No matter what, I've got to leave this boring world with at least a little bit of a shock..."
Roy looked at the battle intent naturally spilling from the old man's head. It was a brilliant, magnificent red.
Then he remembered the original story—Netero planting a miniature bomb in his own heart, dragging Meruem down into hell with him, and before dying, fighting him in a battle that shook heaven and earth until the sky itself seemed to go dark.
And in a sense...
he really had done exactly that.
Roy's beautiful silver hair, its tips glowing with glassy gold, shifted in the breeze. He looked away, leaned forward over the windowsill, and gazed up at the moon together with the old man.
Then he said quietly,
"If there's anything I can do for you, tell me in advance."
Netero lowered his eyes, and in that weathered gaze there was only gentleness.
He thought seriously for a long time.
Finally, he said, "I don't really have any other hobbies. At my age, if I were an ordinary man, I should've died ages ago. If I really had to name one thing..."
Netero narrowed his eyes and smiled at Roy.
"When I die, sort your Buddhist studies into a proper set and burn it for me."
"Let this old man broaden his horizons a little in the next world."
From the dim little room, Maha—who had rolled onto his side—suddenly smacked his lips in his sleep and mumbled,
"And burn a copy for this old man too..."
Roy's mouth twitched.
He glanced toward the dim room, then turned back just in time to hear Netero stroking his beard and laughing.
These old men...
Every one of them really knew how to make life harder for young people.
Especially since Roy still had a fight tomorrow.
"No time."
With a cold snort, Roy jammed both hands into his pockets and stopped paying Netero any attention. He headed out to find food, making straight for the butler villa.
As for Buddhist studies...
it just so happened he also had one move called True Several Thousand Hands waiting to be unlocked.
Walking away with his back to Netero, Roy opened his panel and casually glanced at his Wood Release. Once tomorrow was over, it would be time to pay Hiruzen Sarutobi a proper visit and study the forbidden techniques in the Scroll of Seals to build up a little more experience.
In the next instant, the boy stepped out of the castle, glanced once at the moonlight, melted into it, and floated down the mountain.
Dong—
It was deep into the night. The wooden clock tucked into the corner struck the hour.
A few breaths later, Roy stepped out of the moonlight once more and appeared inside Gotoh's bedroom.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
A heartbeat like muffled thunder exploded through the room.
As if it had caught Roy's scent, Gotoh—lying peacefully inside the blood cocoon—suddenly had his heart rate shoot up.
The sound was so loud it startled Tsubone, who had only just put Rainy and Canary to sleep.
The old head butler hurried to the doorway with her twin pink ponytails bouncing. The moment she saw it was Roy, she placed a hand over her chest and immediately bowed respectfully.
"Young Master, your dinner is already prepared."
She had been about to bring it to him, but Roy's Light Release had gotten there before she could.
Still slightly bent over, Tsubone lifted her gaze and looked at Roy—
Only to see the boy's beautiful hair, half silver and half gold, stirring in the wind.
Then Roy opened his mouth, reached out, and lightly patted the blood cocoon.
"Don't rush."
"I told you."
"Tomorrow..."
"I'll give you a demonstration first."
~~~
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