"You saw that, right? That technique is called Shu. It's an advanced application of Ten."
Shuya was pretty damn pleased with Saeko's reaction. After all, interest really is the best teacher.
The hungrier she got to master Nen, the faster she'd improve—and the more broken abilities he'd get synced through their contract.
He kept explaining. "Shu lets you extend your aura outward with Ten and wrap it around anything you want."
"Wrap it around a rock and that rock becomes way harder. It could smash through other stones without cracking—just like the tissue I used earlier."
"Put it on a shovel and you'd slice through solid bedrock like it was pudding."
"But don't worry about Shu yet. Beginners should nail basic Ten first. Once you can coat your own body in aura, your attacks will hit just as hard anyway."
He paused to give her a clearer demo.
Shuya wrapped Nen around his index finger and gave the floor a light poke. A perfect little hole appeared in the concrete.
"Amazing!" Saeko breathed, eyes wide.
It was just a normal finger with almost no force behind it. Yet with Nen, it punched straight through solid ground.
Shuya felt a small spark of pride but kept his face neutral and moved on.
"Next is Zetsu. You pull every bit of aura and presence back inside your body—like this."
He activated Zetsu right in front of her.
His entire existence seemed to vanish.
"That's terrifying!" Saeko's mouth fell open slightly.
Shuya was standing right there—she could see him perfectly—but she couldn't feel him at all. It was like her brain was being hacked.
She reached out and touched his chest just to be sure.
He was still solid. But the feeling was so weird—her hand made contact, yet her mind kept insisting he wasn't really there.
Saeko couldn't help muttering, "Even the greatest ninja in history probably couldn't pull off something this scary, right?"
Shuya smirked. Ninja? Please. Could they hop planets and plant World Trees like the Otsutsuki clan? Nah. At the end of the day they were still just regular humans.
"You gotta be careful with this one," he warned. "While you're in Zetsu, your body has zero defense against Nen attacks. You're basically tofu."
"That said, if you're already injured, Zetsu can actually speed up recovery."
"I understand." Saeko nodded seriously, burning every word into memory.
"Next is Ren. This one opens your aura nodes wide, letting you blast out way more aura than normal."
Shuya dropped out of Zetsu. "I'll show you Ren. Get ready."
"Get ready?"
Saeko looked confused.
She'd literally just learned what Nen was. What kind of prep was she supposed to do?
If it was anything like the earlier aggressive stuff, preparing probably wouldn't matter anyway. She definitely couldn't block it—her body wasn't harder than concrete.
Maybe he just wants me to be ready to dodge?
She nodded stiffly. "I'm ready."
"Ready~" Shuya repeated.
Saeko tensed up, shifting into a perfect combat stance—muscles locked, eyes locked on him without blinking. She was determined to react the instant he used this "Ren" technique.
"Ha!"
Shuya gave a sharp shout as warning.
Then he opened every aura node in his body and unleashed a massive wave of Nen straight at her.
The pressure slammed into Saeko like a freight train. Even with the heads-up, her body instinctively staggered backward.
In that moment, Shuya didn't look like her underclassman anymore. He felt like a prehistoric monster, and she was nothing but a helpless little mouse.
Her brain kept screaming: It's just Shuya-kun! He's not a monster! I'm not a mouse!
But her body wouldn't listen. She kept retreating until her back hit the classroom wall.
Even then the primal fear didn't ease up.
Big drops of sweat rolled down her forehead. At this point she probably couldn't even lift a sword.
It had nothing to do with being weak. This was nature itself roaring in fury—like standing naked in a blizzard. Courage didn't mean shit against that kind of pressure.
Shuya wasn't surprised in the slightest.
In the Heaven's Arena arc, even Gon and Killua—already superhuman at that point—had frozen the exact same way when Hisoka released his aura on the 200th floor.
He pulled his aura back in and walked over. "Saeko-senpai, you okay?"
"I…"
The instant the pressure vanished, Saeko's body went completely limp. She started to collapse.
Shuya quickly caught her and pulled her into his arms.
The unique, soft scent of her body filled his nose.
Come to think of it, this was probably the closest they'd ever been since he transmigrated.
Still, he wasn't some thirsty teenager. The second she was steady again, he gently let go.
He didn't notice the tiny flicker of reluctance in Saeko's eyes when they separated.
She stared at him in a daze, her gaze slowly turning rock-solid.
I want to get closer to Shuya-kun. I want to understand this man better. I want to keep up with him and step into his world…
Even if it's only for the warmth I felt just now.
So…
"Shuya-kun," Saeko said, voice filled with absolute determination, "I want to learn Nen."