Hunter x Hunter: Sun Breathing Technique

Chapter 310 311 : Three and a Half X [God] [Human] [Theory]

Transforming into a sword of light and shadow, it thrust fiercely toward Silva's chest!

This "lunge and thrust" was the most ordinary of moves, but after fusing with "Sun Breathing", "Water Breathing", "Wind Breathing", "Flame Breathing", and a host of other breathing styles, it unleashed a sharp howl as it accelerated!

It faintly conjured many different imageries.

Among them,

There was a blinding sun, crashing waves, howling gales, and scorching flames... All of these eventually condensed into a single point of brilliant light, thrusting straight toward the [Earth], [Fire], [Water], [Wind], [Void], and [Consciousness]—the six [Elements] that symbolized the human body!

Designed specifically to relieve the suffering of the Six Paths and sever the vitality of the internal organs, this single instant made Netero's old eyes flash as he keenly caught a whiff of a familiar presence...

"A sword of gratitude..."

Both [Fist] and [Sword] followed the path of [Form] and [Intent]. Grasping the superficial basics was [Form], while refining it to perfect harmony was [Intent].

Netero raised an eyebrow. Unleashing a masterful [Gyo], he watched Roy thrust his sword and dash forward. The strike carried a faint blessing of Buddhist philosophy and was accompanied by numerous imageries. It was just like back then, when he stood bare-backed at the peak of a snowy mountain, praying and throwing punches day after day for two years, until he finally comprehended the [Fist of Gratitude]. From then on, carrying a deep appreciation for the "great grace and virtue of martial arts," he ascended to the absolute pinnacle of [Enhancement]...

A brilliant light flashed in Netero's eyes. He felt a similar state of mind from the youth's unbridled sword strike. The difference was that his was pure gratitude, while Roy's, aside from gratitude, seemed to contain something else—something indescribable. It caused him to furrow his brows, unable to completely grasp its underlying essence...

"Whoosh—" Space compressed to its absolute limit, and in the blink of an eye...

Roy's thrust arrived!

Silva's eyes flashed, his pupils reflecting nothing but the sword's light. He recalled the youth wielding a blade last year; a similar thrust back then was nowhere near as fast and fierce as it was today!

The corners of the man's mouth curled upward. His feet left the ground, suspending him in the air. Aiming at Roy's approaching figure, he thrust his palm out and delivered a heavy strike!

Majestic Nen roared out, [Elongating] and [Shaping] in midair, instantly [Transmuting] into a [Hand Axe] wrapped in [Ken]. Waiting only for Roy to close the distance, he abruptly chopped downward!

"Clang—" A piercing sound of clashing metal rang out, instantly generating a sonic boom that rippled outward in a ring...

Beside the clear spring, Zeno's white hair fluttered wildly. He waved his sleeve, dispersing a shockwave that rushed toward him. Looking at the epicenter where the [Axe Gleam] and [Sword Light] intersected, he could faintly see surging Nen biting and struggling against each other in an endless stalemate...

The former head of the Zoldyck family, who was also a top-tier powerhouse of the [Transmutation] category, cast a faint glance at Netero and said, "There is no need to make a fuss."

"What you know, others might know as well..."

'A sword of gratitude?'

His grandson Roy knew it.

His son Silva knew it too!

Even he himself... having immersed himself in the [Path of Transmutation] for so many years, possessed quite an impressive mastery over [Form] and [Intent]...

"Ho ho ho... That is different."

"It is different," Netero said, his large sleeves fluttering. With his Buddha-like earlobes and long eyebrows, he kept his eyes locked on Roy.

He simply added, "He is not just grateful..."

Amidst the stalemate, Roy's empty left hand gripped [Yukibashiri]. Aiming horizontally at Silva's waist and abdomen, he abruptly unleashed another slash!

A point of cold light appeared, followed by a sword strike like a dragon... [Yukibashiri] seemed to have been dormant for too long, accumulating far too much sharpness. It had long yearned for the day Roy would draw it again. Amidst a sharp howl, it gathered—

The "horizontal slash" displayed by [Flame Breathing]... [Mist Breathing]... and a host of other breathing styles.

It condensed into a colorful, thin line, slicing through the air and slashing right at Silva!

As [En] was unleashed, the world began to fade into lines... Silva's right hand resisted [Solar Eclipse] from a distance. His eyes darted diagonally downward. Using [En] as his eyes, he caught that Roy's sword was coming right at his blind spot. He immediately thrust out his left palm, striking later but arriving first, clenching it into a fist.

Empowered by the Nen on his knuckles, it was instantly coated in [Ten]. Just from a naked-eye observation, that [Ten] was solid and refined, a full three inches thick. It erupted from his body, directly striking [Yukibashiri]!

"Clang—" Another fierce explosion rang out!

The air detonated, and Nen swept up flying shockwaves. The impact caused the surrounding trees to rustle and shake violently, as if they had encountered a typhoon, trembling under the overwhelming force of the gale!

"Whoosh, rustle..." The wind blew, and his field of vision narrowed... Even with binoculars protecting his eyes,

Up in a large tree a thousand meters away, Kurapika still felt a wave of dizziness wash over him. Instinctively, he felt like he was being blown so hard he could barely keep his eyes open!

'Too fast!'

'And too bright!'

'I can't open my eyes at all!'

'Is this really... a level of combat power that humans can display?'

"Whoosh..." The traditional ethnic clothing symbolizing the Kurta Clan worn by the youth fluttered wildly!

The force of the wind forced the stumbling youth to tightly grab Tsubone's hand, only then managing to stabilize his body and avoid being blown away.

The youth took another look, struggling to raise the binoculars toward the battlefield. Beside that clear spring, the old man he had encountered at the airport, along with another equally elderly man beside him, stood with their hands behind their backs, completely motionless. It was hard to imagine...

Just what level of terrifying power they had reached!

"Bang!" "Bang!" "Bang!"

[Fist] against [Sword]. If one strike was blocked, and a second strike was blocked, then there would be a third, a fourth, a tenth, a hundredth!

The two figures skimmed across the surface of the lake, crashing into each other like two comets dragging long tail flames of Nen. In just a single breath, they exchanged no less than a hundred blows!

"Boom!" "Boom!" "Boom!"

The tranquil spring was caught in the crossfire of Nen, cleaved open by sword aura, and churned by fist intent, sending pillars of water shooting into the air!

Wielding dual blades, Roy sometimes displayed the [Scorching Sun], sometimes the [Ultimate Softness of Water], and sometimes the [Sharpness of Wind]... Like a sword dancer, he danced amidst the sky full of splashing Nen... Captured in Netero's eyes,

Compared to their first meeting during the Hunter Exam, the youth was practically unrecognizable!

"Zeno, congratulations." Netero's leisurely voice pierced through the overflowing, splashing Nen. He cast a sidelong glance at Zeno and said, "Your family is about to gain a swordmaster!"

Master... What was a master? Reaching the absolute pinnacle. Only those who cultivated deeply on a single path, constantly [Imitating], [Learning], then [Surpassing], and [Creating], forging a path uniquely their own... were worthy of being called a master!

To receive such high praise from the universally recognized [Strongest Human in the World]—even though Zeno prided himself as an assassin whose greatest skill was masking his facial expressions, the corners of his mouth could not help but curl into a faint arc. He let out a proud, cold snort and said, "A master... knowing Roy's temperament, he likely wouldn't care. However... speaking of teachers, it is true that some like to play the teacher in reality, while others like to play the teacher in dreams... Who is to say that reality is true, and dreams must be false?"

True and false, just like [Conjuration] and [Reverse Conjuration]. For Nen users of the [Conjuration] category, [True] and [False] were important, yet equally... they were all the same.

Zeno thought of his father, Zigg, and Netero also thought of his good friend, Zigg...

He said he was dead, but the one in the Demon Eye was clearly not him. It was merely a part of his [Game] play, or rather... a [Game Item]!

Netero deeply agreed. He narrowed his eyes, watching Roy move with his blade, his soles rippling the spring water. With a sharp, straightforward thrust empowered by [Light] and [Divine Spear], he abruptly crossed the spatial distance, suddenly extending the blade and stabbing toward Silva's face in an instant!

He murmured with undeniable approval, "Then his teacher must be an incredible swordsman!"

"If there is ever a chance to meet him, I imagine it would be extremely interesting!"

A hazy surge of battle intent suddenly erupted from Netero, only to be quickly extinguished... Zeno cast a glance over, feeling the same way. After vaguely hearing some things from his grandfather, Maha, it wasn't as if he hadn't thought about entering the dreamscape to take a look.

He wanted to see exactly what kind of people those teachers standing behind Roy were. Unfortunately... what kind of grandfather would force his own grandson?

He was not Silva!

Zeno narrowed his eyes, looking at Silva through [Gyo]!

The abruptly extended [Solar Eclipse] and [Yukibashiri], displaying their sharpness through [Light Style], pierced out from space at a tricky angle. The sword wind brushed past his face... blowing Silva's silver hair wildly into the air!

The man's pupils shrank. He crossed his fists and raised them in front of his face. As Nen surged, it quickly coated his forearms, spreading all the way to his fists in an X-shape, fully clad in [Ko]!

Following that, a crisp "Clang—" rang out!

It was as if Roy's blades had stabbed into a diamond. Although the tips of the swords pierced Silva's [Nen Shield], they were forcibly clamped in place by his formidable [Ko]!

"Lady Tsubone, is that bright silver film on the Master's fists the [Ken] you mentioned?"

Up in that large tree a thousand meters away, Kurajing gripped her binoculars. Using [Gyo], she noticed that the [Solar Eclipse] and [Yukibashiri] in Roy's hands seemed to be stuck in a quagmire, enveloped by Silva's majestic Nen. She tilted her head and asked Tsubone tentatively.

Beside her, Kurapika furrowed his brows. Gripping his binoculars, he also tilted his head to glance at Tsubone... Strangely, why didn't he see any "bright silver film"?

The so-called difference between the [Mortal] and [Nen]—this was exactly it...

Tsubone looked deeply at Roy, who was clamped down by Silva, and said gently to the siblings, "Just calling me Tsubone is fine."

The old butler's two pink pigtails draped down her back. She pushed up the glasses resting on the bridge of her nose. Under the curious gazes of the siblings, Kurajing and Kurapika, she said in a deep voice, "That is not [Ken], it is [Ko]!"

"It is an advanced application technique... combining the Four Major Principles—[Ten], [Zetsu], [Ren], and [Hatsu]—along with the dynamic tracking of [Gyo]!"

"It is not something an ordinary person can master..."

Standing on Tsubone's left side, Kurapika quietly glanced at Kurajing, who had fallen into deep thought. He made a mental note to pay special attention to the [Four Major Principles], [Gyo], [Ken], and [Ko]. Raising his binoculars to look toward the clear spring again, he silently thought to himself, 'Of course they aren't ordinary people...'

Not to mention the two deadlocked on the lake, or the three watching the battle nonchalantly from the sidelines,

Looking at the entire Zoldyck family, he was probably... the only ordinary person left...

The youth recalled when he first entered the Zoldyck estate and Uncle Zebro showed off his explosive muscles. He felt that... if he hadn't been recognized back then, he would have long been smashed into a meat patty with a single punch, or... swallowed whole as a snack by that giant dog at the foot of the mountain!

"Hum..." The blades trembled...

"Crack..." [Ko] acted like a pair of pliers, clamping down on [Solar Eclipse] and [Yukibashiri] without letting go...

Above the clear spring, as Nen surged between father and son, they simply began a contest of pure physical strength!

With a "Splash...", the water level sank, wildly rolling outward with the two of them at the center. In just the blink of an eye, it flooded more than half of the small ring of surrounding forest.

Silva looked at Roy face-to-face. Feeling the abundant power transmitting from [Solar Eclipse] and [Yukibashiri], traveling straight through his [Ko] and knuckles, and then up his forearms and upper arms, he suppressed his voice and said with unbridled exhilaration, "Roy, you have earned the right to be proud... In terms of pure strength alone, your father has only ever admired three and a half people in his entire life!"

Roy raised an eyebrow, equally feeling the immense power transmitting from Silva, pressing down on him like a mountain. He asked, "I count as the half. Who are the others?"

"One is in Kakin,"

"One is in Bandle City,"

"And one is right over there."

Hearing this, Netero put his hands on his hips and laughed heartily. "Zeno, look at that! Your son is praising me!"

Zeno: "..."

He let out a cold chuckle and opened his mouth to spit out a name: "Beyond... Beyond..."

Netero immediately looked as if someone had grabbed him by the throat. His face flushed red, his neck thickened, and he instantly fell silent...

"Kekeke..." A slow, mocking laughter echoed unreservedly deep into Kukuroo Mountain...

Inside that dimly lit small room on the first floor of the Zoldyck family's ancient castle, a certain shriveled old man rolled over. Rocking in his chair, he reached out and gave Betty Zoldyck's plump rear a slap, grinning to reveal a mouthful of large teeth... Immediately after, he was slapped by an embarrassed and annoyed Betty Zoldyck, which made him behave...

"Watch the show, and keep your hands to yourself!"

It was a good thing she was currently just a wisp of true spirit. If she were actually alive, she didn't dare imagine... how much longer she would be tormented by the audacious Maha...

[Enhancers] had well-developed limbs, so naturally, their fifth limb wouldn't be weak either... Relying on Maha's Nen, the woman sat on his lap and raised her eyes to look at the massive television in front of them, which had been switched to the battlefield... She could faintly see a trace of familiar Nen flowing over it... It was Kikyo!

"Babble, babble..." In a second-floor bedroom of the Zoldyck family castle,

Kikyo held Killua in her arms. Activating her Nen, she manipulated the cameras densely scattered throughout Kukuroo Mountain, observing the battle from a god's-eye view. Naturally, she wouldn't leave out the family's ancestor—Maha.

"Bzz..." Electric arcs flickered. The cameras embedded in the mountain forest flexibly adjusted their angles, capturing the momentum of the battlefield...

After hearing Silva's words, Roy looked at Silva face-to-face. His tight-fitting training uniform was stretched to the limit by his bulging muscles. Unsurprised, he said, "The one in Bandle City is named... Benjamin Frederick, right!"

That is, the former commander of the Security Force, and the current... [Archbishop of Thunder]!

"It seems you have already met him." Silva faintly detected a trace of emotion from Roy's Nen.

However, this emotion... didn't seem very pleasant.

Roy smiled...

Of course, he would never forget the spear Benjamin had stabbed him with, even if it killed him. It was just...

"Father, did you forget someone?"

"Who?"

"Your great-grandfather, and my great-great-grandfather... Maha Zoldyck!"

"No, I didn't." Silva's gaze was profound as he cast a distant look toward that dimly lit small room in the Zoldyck family castle. "In my heart,"

"Your great-great-grandfather is not on this list."

"He is not a human,"

"He is a [God]!"