novelraw Chapter 312 313 : [Tsukuyomi] X The Nuclear Explosion Slash
Chapter 312 313 : [Tsukuyomi] X The Nuclear Explosion Slash
What is that?!
The sudden turn of events struck everyone's hearts like a heavy sledgehammer!
Netero and Zeno both narrowed their eyes sharply. As their pupils trembled violently, they saw...
A massive blue hand suddenly burst forth from Roy's back. Like a giant stretching its arm, bones protruded, muscle fibers condensed, and skin layered over it, granting the power of blood and veins. It appeared at the perfect moment, blocking Silva's strike head-on!
In a large tree nearly two kilometers away, Tsubone and the Kurta siblings stared in sheer horror. Even an ordinary boy like Kurapika, who had yet to open his Aura Nodes, felt an almost instinctual realization at this moment—there was a great terror between heaven and earth!
"Boom!" A loud crash echoed like a resounding temple bell, scattering the clouds in the highest heavens.
Silva had used his [Force Field] to shorten the [Lines of Force], landing a fiercely forged [Cannon Fist] directly onto the arm manifested by [Susanoo]. As the flame armor covering [Susanoo] trembled slightly, the man immediately felt an unprecedented, overwhelming force crash down upon him. In a mere instant, he was sent flying!
"The nature of imaginary attachment is the [Delusional Phase], the nature of dependent origination is the [Relative Phase], and the nature of perfected reality is the [Absolute Phase]," Netero said with a solemn expression. Watching Silva fly higher and higher like a kite with a snapped string until he became a black dot on the horizon, he stated gravely, "This is a [Dharma Form]!"
A [Dharma Form] is the [Manifestation of Heaven and Earth]. It is a phenomenal presentation encompassing both extension and intension, and it is also the ultimate bloom of a Nen user's [Mental Conjuration]!
Just as he had his [100-Type Guanyin] and Zeno had his [Dragon Head Yin Yang], these manifestations were the result of decades of immersion in [Nen Abilities] by old timers like them, finally yielding a sliver of enlightenment.
Yet, this sliver of enlightenment seemed to have been achieved by the boy in the sky, who had suddenly manifested Susanoo's arm, in a mere two or three years—completing a journey that had taken him and Zeno decades.
Netero tilted his head and glanced at Zeno. "Did you know about this?"
Zeno's hands, clasped behind his back, rubbed together. *'Was I supposed to know?'* he thought to himself.
He forced himself to remain calm, feigning a breezy and indifferent demeanor, and stayed profoundly silent... Netero frowned, then cast a glance toward the dim little room on the first floor of the Zoldyck family castle...
In that dim little room, the rocking chair came to an abrupt halt. Maha and Betty, who had been contentedly sleeping in each other's arms, seemed to have been awakened by a ray of sunlight shining through the window. They quietly opened their eyes and slowly stood up from the chair!
"Maha, little Roy is finally starting to look the part..." Betty Zoldyck linked her arm through Maha's. She watched as Roy, having manifested Susanoo's arm, did not stop there. Instead, he increased his Aura output, completely liberating the body of [Susanoo]. It reached out, expanded its chest, spread its back, and grew a head. It donned a halo-like armor, condensed the [Shield of Dawn] in its left hand, and drew the [Zenith Sword] from the morning glow with its right. As two blazing flames suddenly ignited in its hollow eyes, it threw its head back and let out a roar!
"Roar!" An invisible might that transcended sound waves swept across the horizon...
"Thump, thump, thump..." Looking across the entirety of Kukuroo Mountain, whether it was flying in the sky, running on the ground, or swimming in the water—even Mike—they all couldn't help but feel a chill in their hearts. Their limbs went soft with fear, and they whimpered as they groveled on the ground!
*'The King shall reign over the world!'*
Past memories were awakened by the scene playing on the television before him. As Maha watched and listened, the Aura naturally escaping from the top of his head trembled faintly, slowly manifesting various faces... Among them were Brook Searle, Cyblus, Blake Shaw, and the multitude of followers who had yearned for a better life, willing to sacrifice and dedicate their lives, even... the millions who had died as martyrs for their nation... At this moment, they all seemed to surge with excited thrill!
Someone said, "I have seen this scene before."
Another said, "King, it feels so familiar..."
Some stared blankly... Some fell into reminiscence... More shouted with flushed faces... It was as if they were all awakening from their slumber...
Maha allowed his Aura to deplete at a terrifying rate. He simply stood before the television, accompanying his subjects and subordinates, quietly watching this scene with a gratified smile.
"Betty, you are right. The boy... is finally starting to look the part..."
"Crack..." In the sky, beside that clear pool, the continuously armoring [Susanoo] finally revealed its full form. Although Roy's current Aura capacity and visual prowess were not yet enough to support [Susanoo] entering its fourth stage, the humanoid form...
But even so...
When the half-body [Susanoo], holding the halo-flowing [Zenith Sword] in its left hand and wielding the dawn-wrapped [Shield of Dawn] in its right, settled among the peaks of Kukuroo Mountain, its height of hundreds of meters still made everyone in the Zoldyck estate, including the apprentice butlers, tremble in fear, leaving them with no choice but to look up in awe!
"Brother, is this your true strength?"
Deep within Kukuroo Mountain, about five hundred meters away from the clear pool, Illumi leaned against a surviving large tree, his smooth black hair draped behind his back. He stared blankly up at [Susanoo] and Roy, whose silver hair flowed in the very center of its chest cavity. Waves of emotion bloomed in his hollow eyes, unable to calm for a long time...
It wasn't that he didn't know his brother was strong, and he had long since given up any thought of competing with him. Over the past two years, after realizing the gap between them, his only desire was to be able to stand by his side and not be left too far behind. Illumi felt... that alone would satisfy him...
But now... did he truly possess the strength to stand beside his brother?
Illumi's thoughts were in turmoil. Amidst his fluctuating emotions, he kept recalling the words Roy had urged upon him... *'Make sure you train hard, don't actually let Gotoh surpass you.'*
The boy narrowed his eyes and reached out to grasp the [Divine Spear Wooden Nail] that Roy had given him for his birthday. He muttered, "Whatever Gotoh can do, I can do too. There's no way I'll be worse than him!"
"Buzz..." In the butler's villa, within the bedroom belonging to Gotoh, the blood cocoon vibrated, and a faint thought slowly extended from within...
*'Is that you, Young Master?'*
Yes... was this still the Young Master?
More accurately... was the Young Master even human anymore?
The beasts groveled, and the world fell silent in awe!
Tsubone had already distanced herself with the Kurta siblings, but upon noticing [Susanoo] crashing down into the mountain forest like a small mountain, the old butler, her twin pink pigtails swaying, still felt they were too close. Hastily, she grabbed Kurajing and Kurapika again and continued darting backward.
"Whoosh, whoosh..." The sound of the wind constantly howled in their ears...
Silently feeling that terrifying atmosphere, Kurapika, held in Tsubone's grasp, slightly lowered his eyes. After a few breaths of travel, they landed once more. Unable to hold back any longer, he asked, "Sister, what did you see?"
Kurajing held onto Tsubone's hand, opened her Aura Nodes, and mobilized a trace of Aura, attaching it to Kurapika's body. Coating his eyes with a layer of [Gyo], she said, "See for yourself."
Kurapika suddenly felt his vision brighten significantly. Before he could even wonder about it, he looked up and his mouth instantly fell open. His amber eyes, due to the intense emotional fluctuation of the moment, instantly transformed into Scarlet Eyes.
It was no less intense than when he first encountered the Spiders in the original story, showing just how massive his emotional upheaval truly was!
*'W... What?'*
The blue Susanoo, clad in fiery red flame armor, spread the cape behind it, branded with the Great Sun Halo. Looking just like a god, it instantly shattered the boy's perception of reality.
He tilted his small head up, struggling to watch, just like the swimming fish and running beasts groveling on the ground and in the water, gazing up at [Susanoo] in reverence.
At a certain moment, he saw... a pair of fiery red wings burst forth from Susanoo's ribs with a "whoosh," lifting it slowly into the sky. Its target... was aimed straight at... the faint speck on the horizon that was... Silva!
"Whoosh!" Like a great roc spreading its wings, it soared ninety thousand miles into the sky!
The hundreds of meters tall Susanoo charged into the clouds, directly blocking out the sunlight above all living beings. Consequently, massive shadows cast down, granting Netero and Zeno a rare moment of coolness in this hot midsummer...
Unfortunately, compared to the shock, this coolness was not even worth mentioning.
"Hoh, it can even fly." Netero's brow twitched. Thinking of his own [100-Type Guanyin], which, despite integrating offense and defense, suffered from poor mobility... The old man spoke with a hint of jealousy as his aged eyes opened and closed, a trace of imperceptible envy fading away.
"You came late. If you had come a day earlier, not only would you have seen him fly, but you would have also seen him fly while riding in a chariot..."
Zeno, with his hands behind his back, looked up at Roy chasing after Silva. Recalling the boy commanding the Three-legged Golden Crow and driving the [Sun Chariot] to patrol on behalf of the heavens... he said calmly.
Netero's eyes flashed, and he shook his head with a chuckle...
"It seems this old man has missed something again."
But that was no longer important. He had experienced enough shock for one day... so much so that he couldn't help but wiggle his fingers, unable to suppress his itching desire to give it a try...
"Whoosh!" A gust of wind rose as Susanoo spread its wings, pressing down on vast swathes of Kukuroo Mountain's forests, forcing them to bow in submission!
Soon, it chased after Silva, closing in right behind him!
"Whoosh..." The fierce wind pulled tightly at their skin... The flames burned the Aura, making a sizzling sound...
Silva, who had just been sent flying by Roy's manifestation of [Susanoo]'s arm, forcefully halted his body in mid-air. He adjusted his breathing, stopped his momentum, and looked back... The [Susanoo], now close at hand, glared at him faintly with its two eyes burning like great suns...
That suffocating sense of oppression was something only those who experienced it firsthand could truly understand!
"Hehehehahaha..." Silva laughed wildly!
His silver hair danced wildly, and his face twisted into an expression of extreme ferocity. With the predatory glare of an eagle and the viciousness of a wolf, he looked fiercely at Roy, who was situated within [Susanoo]'s chest cavity, and said, "Good!"
"Very good!"
Then, his smile vanished in a flash. Instead of retreating, he advanced, charging straight toward [Susanoo]!
He shouted deeply, "Force Field, fully open!"
"Buzz..." An invisible fluctuation instantly enveloped Roy and the entirety of Susanoo...
It appeared before Silva in the form of lines!
Becoming his close-range points of action, the targets of his strikes!
"Bang, bang, bang..." One guaranteed hit, two guaranteed hits, three guaranteed hits, four hits, ten hits, a hundred hits, a thousand hits!
Fists and kicks wrapped in [Ko] landed on [Susanoo] like cannonballs, raining down endlessly like torrential rain on plantain leaves!
Relying on the enhancement of the [Force Field], the lines of force were eliminated. The so-called "precognition" and the so-called "Transparent World" lost all meaning in the face of "guaranteed hits"... Therefore, after realizing this,
Roy simply summoned [Susanoo]. Relying on its formidable defense, he withstood Silva's punches and kicks—which were scarcely weaker than missiles—while biding his time to find an opening...
"This line of thought is perfectly fine,"
"..."
Would Silva be the first to shatter Roy's turtle shell, or would Roy exhaust Silva's stamina first... Netero's sharp eyes instantly caught onto Roy's strategy. He watched intently, casually grabbing Beanman, whose legs had gone soft and who had almost fallen out of the tree...
*'Perverts... They're too perverted... I told you, we shouldn't have come here...'*
His mung-bean-sized eyes filled with exhaustion, Beanman simply sat on the tree branch and hugged his head. Refusing to look up at the sky anymore, he muttered complaints under his breath... Beside him,
Zeno remained expressionless, staring only at the sky, watching the exchange of offense and defense. At a certain moment, a "crack" sounded as a fissure appeared on Susanoo's chest plate. Following that, Silva seized the opportunity, punching through it and reaching inside...
Roy's eyes flashed, realizing the opportunity he had been waiting so bitterly for had arrived!
"Sleep..." A faint murmur slipped from Roy's lips. His Mangekyo Sharingan, slowly swirling with nebulae and carrying a heart-palpitating blood-red hue, suddenly glared at Silva!
Visual prowess roared out like a torrent, immediately pouncing on Silva!
Enhanced by a [Genjutsu] no weaker than [Tsukuyomi], the Blood Demon Art born from Enmu... [Forced Hypnosis] struck dead center into Silva's pupils!
Even though his fist was about to hit Roy, and the wind from the punch had already reached Roy's face... Silva suddenly felt an intense wave of drowsiness wash over him. It dragged at him madly, forcing his eyes shut and halting his fist as he plummeted... toward an endless abyss!
"Whoosh..." The faint sound of wind howled in his ears...
Years, time, and space, much like his [Force Field], manifested as colorful lines that faded from his sight one by one...
In the vast world, in the blink of an eye, it seemed as though he was the only one left, floating in an endless void. He couldn't distinguish north, south, east, or west, nor did he know where he was going, until... he hit the ground!
He saw—
A boy who looked almost exactly like him, leaning on a single blade with a red sun behind his head, quietly waiting for him in a place filled with the songs of birds and the fragrance of flowers...
Silva, his beautiful silver hair draped over his shoulders, slowly landed on his feet. Taking another look, he stared deeply at Roy and said, "This place... is a dream, isn't it?"
Turning the void into reality, and reality into the void. The interplay of truth and illusion was so hazy that it made it impossible to tell what was real...
The man quickly recalled the night he had met Roy in a dream. That hug, which he thought would be an "icebreaker," had later become a point of teasing that the boy used against him. In the distance...
He saw Roy smile.
The boy lifted his blade, revealing two rows of white teeth:
"You are very perceptive, Father."
"I have a slash that is inconvenient to execute in reality. I have no choice but to invite you to evaluate it here..."
Silva crossed his arms. "What slash?"
Roy's expression turned solemn. Holding the blade horizontally in front of him, he said in a deep voice, "The Nuclear Explosion Slash!"