"I'm Hyūga Akira, one of this year's successful Hunter Exam candidates. Knowing Nen isn't exactly strange, is it?"
Akira said casually, spinning his Hunter License around his finger.
Wing froze in shock.
"Y-You're Hyūga Akira?!"
The Hyūga Akira who had vanished on the spot at the Hunter Association?
But that person didn't look like this at all.
Did this guy seriously not realize he'd exposed himself?
"The Hunter Exam was just a disguise," Akira shrugged, pointing at his eyes.
"After all, looking like this is a bit too eye-catching."
Wing's mouth twitched.
Back then, Akira disappearing in the middle of the Hunter Association had been plenty eye-catching too.
Still… white eyes like these really were something Wing had never seen before.
At that moment, Killua walked over. He glanced at Akira, ignored the conversation entirely, and sat down next to Gon without a word.
Wing looked at Gon and Killua, then belatedly realized he might've let something slip.
Luckily, Gon didn't seem to have heard anything.
Then again…
Did it even matter if they knew?
Wing was, after all, a Hunter Association instructor specifically assigned to train Gon and Killua in Nen.
That role didn't really need to be hidden—he just hadn't planned on telling them yet.
"If there's something you don't understand," Wing said after a moment,
"you can ask me. I'll answer anything I know."
He didn't doubt for a second that Akira was a candidate who'd passed this year.
After all, Enhancers tended to be straightforward people—often with a bit of natural airheadedness mixed in.
"What I'm curious about is Hatsu," Akira said.
"I'm a Transmuter. For certain reasons, my Hatsu will naturally form much later on—but I want to complete it ahead of time. Do you have any advice?"
His Nen ability was supposed to awaken only after reaching level 36.
He wanted to unlock it early.
That way, when the time came, he could develop an entirely new ability on top of it.
"…I don't think I fully understand what you mean," Wing said slowly, his expression blank.
Hatsu forming on its own someday?
That was the first time he'd ever heard something that absurd.
If Hatsu could just form naturally, then what were all of them training so hard for?
"Literal meaning," Akira replied indifferently with a shrug.
Wing wasn't failing to understand—he just couldn't wrap his head around it.
After thinking for a while, Wing said,
"This really is the first time I've heard of something like that."
"But I think you might be misunderstanding what Hatsu actually is."
"How so?" Akira asked.
"Hatsu isn't about 'condensing an ability,'" Wing explained.
"It's a method of using Nen."
"A method of using Nen?"
Akira frowned.
He suddenly realized he really had walked into a mental blind spot.
"Could you explain in more detail?"
Wing thought carefully before answering.
"You believe your Nen ability will naturally form someday. That belief itself is limiting your development of Nen. Nen abilities are born from how you use Nen. Nen is the foundation—the ability is just a byproduct."
"In theory," Wing continued,
"anyone can develop countless Nen abilities. Not just one. The problem is that most people only pursue a single interpretation of Nen, because they don't have the time or energy to deeply explore a second one."
That instantly reminded Akira of Hisoka.
Hisoka had two abilities that looked completely unrelated on the surface.
"Then how do you train Hatsu?" Akira asked.
After some consideration, Wing said,
"That depends on your own understanding. You're a Transmuter, so your Nen has strong malleability. You can change its properties into things you're familiar with—hard steel, elastic firmness, and so on."
"Nen develops according to your understanding. If you can comprehend a property, Nen can take on that form. If you can't understand it, Nen can't replicate it."
"At its core," Wing concluded,
"Nen is you. Anything you understand, Nen can do. Anything you don't, it can't."
Of course, there were exceptions.
Such as Vows and Limitations.
They allowed Nen to surpass personal understanding and forcibly respond to desire.
A way for Nen to exceed human limits.
Wing didn't mention this part, but Akira had already thought of it.
That path wasn't suitable for him.
The power inside his body was, fundamentally, chakra infused with Nen's properties.
And chakra itself didn't lose to Nen in any way.
"Thank you," Akira said sincerely.
He already had a rough idea now.
He turned, thanked Wing once more, and left.
As Akira walked away, Killua couldn't help asking,
"So… what exactly is Nen?"
Akira had no interest in what happened next between Killua and Wing.
He simply kept climbing.
Above the hundredth floor, the experience gains finally started to rise.
Nine matches in total.
Total gain: [Experience +1245].
Finally over a thousand.
Killua hadn't given him any experience, but the martial artists above the hundredth floor were different.
They didn't use Nen—yet their physical strength rivaled ninja.
That alone surprised Akira.
It also deepened his understanding of martial arts.
"Just a little more," Akira murmured.
He could feel it—once he gained a bit more insight, he could use Brain Amp to push Gentle Fist all the way to level 8.
As for Hatsu, its development was going even more smoothly than he'd expected.
He'd simply been trapped in a mental dead end.
Once that was cleared, his progress skyrocketed.
Ding—
"You have arrived at the 200th floor."
The moment Akira stepped out of the elevator, waves of malicious Nen flooded the corridor.
"What an unfriendly welcome," he said, walking forward calmly.
That kind of malice could kill ordinary people.
It did nothing to him.
Then, not far ahead, he saw a familiar figure.
"Yo, Hisoka. Long time no see."
Hisoka's lips curled into a sickly grin.
"Hyūga Akira?"
Though phrased as a question, his tone was certain.
He'd been watching the matches below too.
"So this is your real face."
"That's right."
At Akira's confirmation, Hisoka's malice vanished—
but the smile on his face only grew more distorted.
"I thought you were just a ripe fruit," Hisoka said softly,
"but it seems you're even more unripe than I imagined."
Akira looked about the same age as Gon and Killua, yet already possessed this level of strength.
That meant enormous room for growth.
"Maybe," Akira replied with a vague smile.
"Want to test it?"
If it were a free fight outside, he wouldn't be confident against Hisoka.
But on the arena stage, there were rules. Limits.
"Oh?" Hisoka's grin widened—then abruptly faded.
"So you think you can beat me now?"
"First, get used to the rules here," Hisoka continued calmly.
He wanted to fight Akira badly—but not at the cost of unnecessary complications.
The rules above the 200th floor were completely different from those below.
"We'll see," Akira said with a light laugh.
The 200th floor—
This was where his real harvesting would begin.
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