Chapter 29: Ugly, Sometimes, Is Also Camouflage
The rod of pure Nen energy had physical mass the way a real object did. It also had the elasticity of a proper competition pole. Under Kuwabara's weight it bent into a deep inverted-U that looked ready to snap at any moment, held, and then launched him back upward before the third consecutive fall could finish.
Height, but not distance. Same problem as before.
Kuwabara rolled onto the rooftop of building seven, tumbling like a barrel down a slope, and lay there breathing hard for a long moment.
Something between a near-death experience and the specific relief of finally letting out a breath he had been holding for too long. Both things at once.
He lay on his back, stared at his palm, turned that feeling over in his memory, and the palm lit up again. A rod of light extended from it, steady and clean.
"Damn it, Kuwabara! I knew you weren't the type to quit!"
Yusuke said it with his mouth. His face said something completely different: pure, open pride.
"Badge 407. Spontaneous Nen awakening in a critical moment, followed by an immediate semi-physical Nen weapon." Lippo settled back into his seat and let the appreciation show in his expression.
Then his gaze moved to Ross, and the appreciation became scrutiny.
He had made the lineup decision. Which meant he had, to some degree, anticipated this outcome from the moment he chose.
Somewhat. In approximate terms.
Ross's actual surprise level wasn't much lower than everyone else's. He had known the Spirit Sword was Kuwabara's signature ability in the original story. He had known it carried properties of physical interaction, elasticity, and extendability, and that in the original YYH it had been used for things like donut shapes and pole-vaulting mechanics during the Four Saint Beasts arc. That had been the reasoning behind the selection.
In his working scenario, the crisis hadn't been expected to cut this close. He certainly hadn't predicted an awakening here. In the original story, Kuwabara's breakthrough had required a full battle against a kendo master carrying a specialized wooden sword, using the opponent's broken blade as the medium that drew out what was already inside him.
This time there was no weapon, no opponent, no external medium at all. Just the desperate need to reach a single point, combined with the physical memory of what a proper pole felt like in his hands. That had been enough.
Also: the Spirit Rod didn't have nearly the ring of the Spirit Sword. Ross was already filing away a note to steer Kuwabara toward the better name when the opportunity came.
Kuwabara's current state had a resemblance to Ross's own. He had skipped the foundational layer entirely. Ten, Zetsu, and In were all absent. He had gone straight to Hatsu. In practical terms, as long as he had Nen in reserve, he could call the Nen weapon into existence and dismiss it at will.
What had actually surprised Ross more, though, was Sazza. Watching that pole-swap play out, experienced eyes connected the dots fairly quickly.
In the original story, Sazza's event against Gon had been a candle-burning competition. He had presented two candles, one long and one short, with both secretly treated with accelerant, and kept a standard candle hidden on his person as a substitute. The exchange ability he had just used was a natural development of the same core pattern. The same underlying logic as Goreinu's ability, the Greed Island candidate who operated two gorilla Nen beasts and could force a positional swap between units on either side.
At this stage the outcome was already settled. Kuwabara had one trampoline left, but with a Nen weapon he could generate on demand, Sazza's exchange ability held no further threat. Sazza, meanwhile, had lost his pole and had no path to building two for a replacement.
Ross also noted something else: the competitive arena was missing the collectible gold medals and recovery items that normally appeared in the game. A meaningful gap. It suggested the Domain wasn't fully realized at the level a complete ability would be.
Roughly ten minutes later, Kuwabara wobbled across the finish line on building nineteen's rooftop, balanced on a unicycle in a way that looked like it required active faith in the concept of balance. On Sazza's side, three additional minutes of deliberate motionlessness ended when the Competition Roulette automatically ruled him forfeit for passive conduct.
Winner: Kuwabara!
Kuwabara stepped back into the waiting area. Yusuke immediately came at him with fists and kicks, the kind that were clearly not intended to land. Kuwabara gave them straight back.
Worth noting, though, was Hisoka's expression during all of this.
A spontaneous combat awakening under pressure was a textbook green apple situation. By the criteria Hisoka applied to these things, Kuwabara should have registered. His expression said something more complicated than that, though.
Even among green apples, the category had subcategories. Some were smooth and well-formed. Others were pitted, lumpy, and difficult to look at. The inner quality of the fruit might be identical. Given a choice, though, the overwhelming majority of people would reach for the well-formed one.
Kuwabara's Spirit Rod demonstrated real Nen aptitude and real potential. But.
He was just too ugly.
Hisoka had been trying to reason himself out of this response. He was finding it very difficult to overrule something this instinctive.
As for Sazza: he had stalled for less than twenty minutes total and still had his life. If the next Hunter Exam included a Trick Tower phase, there might be future opportunities for sentence reduction. Manageable.
The roulette gave no one time to process anything. It was already spinning.
The third event landed.
Competition Subject: Swimming Combat King.
"The rules are fairly simple. Similar structure to the combat hurdles, but the environment is a swimming pool." Ross started the briefing without being asked.
"In principle you can only move forward, no strict lane boundaries, combat is allowed on the surface and underwater. Riding on an opponent above the surface burns through their oxygen faster. Fighting underwater does the same. Better breath control gives you an advantage. Running out of oxygen causes a temporary drowning state, and drowning drains HP continuously. Time limit is three minutes, but someone usually dies before the clock runs out."
"Combat intensity: tied for first with one other event that hasn't come up yet."
Ross paused and looked at the remaining three.
That was when Illumi, who had been crouching in the same position he had occupied since the beginning and had been less visibly engaged than even Hisoka, stood up.
"Oh? You're volunteering?" Hisoka's question carried genuine curiosity.
Illumi, still in his disguise, responded with a series of clicking sounds that confirmed it.