Dead Calm VS Phantom Sword X Mark Sim's Well-Meaning Warning (3.5K)

What is water?

It is the waves, the streams, the great rivers and seas, the thin porridge we eat, and the source of life that sustains the body's functions.

Everyone's understanding of it is different, but without exception, all thoughts about "water" ultimately point to human cognition.

Urokodaki Sakonji sat on a wooden stump carving a mask. After removing the rough bark and smoothing out the edges, the shape of a fox could be vaguely seen... He carved intently, with the images of Giyu Tomioka and Eiichiro appearing in his mind at the same time.

First, he is aloof and taciturn; second, he is energetic and sharp-witted... I have fantasized more than once about who could further develop "Water Breathing" and surpass me... In the past, it was Giyu, and now there is Eiichiro. The reason is simple: the child learns too fast, far beyond the average person.

Beside the waterfall.

Giyu Tomioka stood atop a tree, facing Roy from afar.

His usually cold eyes visibly dazed for a moment after hearing that Roy also had a knife, before he looked back at Roy.

The Sun-Earring Boy, leaning on his Short Blade, had a calm demeanor with a faint smile, revealing that he was not joking.

He learned Breathing Style yesterday, and today he created a new sword move... "His understanding felt like it had been thrown to the ground and trampled by wolves..." Giyu Tomioka tried hard to find even a tiny bit of truth in the absurdity.

He smiled, a rare occurrence...

"Um... Senior Brother Giyu smiled? That's so strange... The sun must have risen in the west today!" Shinsuke noticed this and yelled, leaning forward, "Slap... slap... slap..." He was slapped hard several times by Fukuda.

It's confirmed... I'm not dreaming! It really is him... he really smiled!

"Senior brother seems to have said that Senior Brother Giyu hasn't smiled since my sister died... So what's going on now?" Makomo tilted her head and looked at the Seito.

The fox-like Sun-Earring Boy was clearly taken aback, staring intently at the two of them. After a moment, his brows relaxed, and a smile appeared on his face.

Makomo: "What did you see, senior brother?"

"It's happiness," said Sabito with a touch of emotion. "It's the happiness of meeting a worthy opponent and having someone to carry on the legacy."

That's all. Qing Tu didn't say anything more. He knew in his heart that Giyu always believed that he hadn't passed the test based on his own strength, and therefore didn't deserve to be a Pillar. This was why, in the original work, he always stayed alone and didn't want to get close to the "Pillars".

And now... he felt that someone capable of living up to the name "Water Hashira" had appeared.

"Eiichiro?"

"Yes, Eiichiro."

All eyes were on Giyu Tomioka Giyu Tomioka, who was genuinely happy today. He looked intently at Roy and simply said, "Okay."

The tip of the blade pointed diagonally at the treetop... and then, "drip~," a drop of water fell. Ripples spread through the space around the tip of the Nichirin Sword in his hand, spreading slowly and steadily towards Roy's location.

Shinsuke and Fukuda were initially unaware, when suddenly they saw a sparrow fly over Giyu Tomioka's head and abruptly cut in two... They suddenly realized that the wind seemed to have stopped... Even the sound of the branches rustling in the wind had ceased.

The group suddenly shivered, and when they looked up again, they saw...

Giyu Tomioka walked towards Roy, stepping on the ripples. The moment he passed by, everything around him was cut in two by the high-speed Sword Qi!

"Water Breathing - Eleventh Form - Wind... Calm and still..."

As they drew closer... Roy could already sense the chilling aura that plunged everything into a deathly silence!

Two suns ignited in his pupils with a "whoosh," and he squinted to see... Giyu Tomioka used his superb slashing skills to create a defensive net, which was why he was able to easily block the Blood Demon Art "Silk Wheel" launched by "Lower Rank Five Rui".

Unfortunately, the "calm seas" created through physical means are ultimately not truly "still"...

True "stillness" lies in... the heart no longer restless... "Drip~" It's the same Water Hashira falling...

Roy leaned on his Short Blade, letting the blade drop and pierce the treetops. He recalled watching the sunrise in a storm, the eastern ripples instantly covering the sky and everything around him, including Giyu Tomioka was already close by.

Shinsuke, Sabito, Makomo, Fukuda, Shimizu Watanabe, and the others who were watching from the treetops, completely bewildered and unaware of what was happening, were all caught in the crossfire...

At this moment, everything seemed to have lost its ability to move due to the standstill of time...

He could only stare wide-eyed as the red sun slowly rose from the sea, and then... the image of the Sun-Earring Boy calmly placing a sword against Giyu Tomioka's shoulder...

"Whoosh~" It's nine o'clock in the morning.

The mountain breeze dispersed the mist, casting a ray of sunlight.

At one point, Urokodaki Sakonji stopped carving and looked out into the courtyard...

Giyu Tomioka walked slowly, wearing a haori woven with red, yellow, and white, a faint smile on his cool face.

The old man was taken aback. "You're back."

"You're back."

"How about it?"

Giyu Tomioka sat down Urokodaki Sakonji, his lake-blue eyes brighter than ever before, and looked intently at Urokodaki Sakonji, saying, "Master was right, Eiichiro will be the answer."

Urokodaki Sakonji paused for a moment, then picked up his carving knife again, muttering, "I'd better hurry, or I won't be able to catch him down the mountain..."

"Clang... clang... clang..." The carving knife scraped away wood shavings.

In the other parallel universe, after his battle with his senior brother Giyu Tomioka, Roy completed six more "Ten Thousand Swings" that day. Before going to sleep, he chatted with his master and senior brother for a while, then lay down on the kang (heated brick bed) fully clothed and fell into a deep sleep.

A soft, hoarse snore drifted by...

When he once again entered Deep Sleep, passing through the Dream Passage and returning to the Hunter world.

A bright red sun is shining brightly before my eyes, casting a beautiful crimson glow on the sea.

"Young Master, breakfast is here!"

Six o'clock in the morning.

As usual, Kurajing pushed the food cart to the bow of the ship and handed it to Gotoh.

The girl had blonde hair tied back and dark circles under her eyes as she frantically studied knowledge about "recitation".

Even without thinking about it, Roy knew that Gotoh must have subjected her to a violent, "cramming" style of teaching.

In the words of the young butler, "If you can't learn it, you should look for the reasons within yourself. Did you listen carefully? Did you think about it? You say it's 'difficult,' but where is it 'difficult'? So many Nen user, didn't we all learn it this way?"

In short... with Gotoh around, Kurajing won't have an easy time!

"Young Master, it's time to eat." Gotoh took over the food cart and began peeling shrimp for Roy.

Roy admired the sunrise, stretched, and casually glanced around... In the shadows, the Freak looked over, ducked his head, and sank down through a hole in the deck.

Faintly... one could hear the old captain Mark Sim's furious cursing. "Which bastard did this? Instead of learning good things, he's learning to dig holes like a mouse! He better not get caught by me, or he'll disqualify you from the exam!"

For days... they've been finding holes on the deck, one here, one there, and after they're patched up, they're dug up again... Mark Sim was so angry he almost flew into a spiral!

That burrowing "rat" is incredibly good at hiding; with a single [unique] move, it's completely undetectable, popping out the moment you least expect it... It's relentlessly annoying and infuriating...

Fortunately, after about ten days of sailing, Doli Island was approaching. The old captain, holding his nose, endured another day, and in the distance, a piece of land could be seen slowly emerging at the horizon.

"Waaah"

A resounding ship's horn rang out...

After a bumpy ride, the anchor was dropped, the ship was secured, the gangway was lowered, and the ten candidates who had won the Point Scramble walked out from various corners of the ship one after another.

There's Bandage Man, Snake Handler, Bow-bearing Boy, the Bald Ninja Yusuke... as well as Freak, Kite, Kurajing, and others.

Gotoh and Roy!

Everyone gathered at the gangway, but no one went down first; they just glanced furtively at the bow of the ship.

Gotoh called out at the opportune moment, "Young Master..."

Roy casually tossed the branch he was holding to him, picked up the Cane Sword lying flat on his lap, and stood up...

Then, she saw him walking slowly and steadily... with Gotoh and Kurajing following closely behind.

At that moment, the sun was shining brightly... Perhaps out of awe, Roy remained motionless, and no one dared to disembark before him.

As he approached, they automatically parted to make way for him.

Since that's the case...

Roy didn't waste any time; he stepped onto the gangway and disembarked from the Poseidon first.

"Phew~"

Seeing him disembark, a faint sound of relief came from behind... then the Freak, then Kite... and so on, stepping onto the gangway...

In the blink of an eye, only old Captain Mark Sim remained, pipe in mouth, silently watching the others sail away, finally leaving Roy...

Gotoh and Kurajing paused for a moment, then reached into their pockets, pulled out a cell phone, and dialed a number.

"Ring ring..." A series of rings sounded, and a child's voice came from the other end of the phone.

"Grandma~ is Grandpa Mark from the [Poseidon]..."

"Mark?"

"Heh heh heh... that kid's here?"

An old woman, leaning on a cane and wearing a string of emerald green prayer beads around her neck, smiled, revealing only a few sparse teeth remaining...

She answered the phone, and sure enough... the old captain's gruff voice came from the other end.

"Old Hag, you're not dead yet, are you?"

The old woman's eye twitched, and she chuckled, "What a pity, this old woman is tough."

"I won't die for now, sorry to disappoint you."

"Heh heh heh..." Mark Sim, of course, could tell from the sarcasm in his words, and exhaled a smoke ring. "Not dead yet, but almost..."

He said meaningfully, "This year's candidates are unusual, you'd better take it easy. If you get to the kang (heated brick bed), you should let the water run if necessary..."

After finally seeing the Sun-Earring Boy off, and recalling how the boy had nearly destroyed his own ship with a few stabs... Mark Sim couldn't help but sigh...

Fortunately, the other party had some sense and stopped in time...

"Hehehe~ Although I'm old, I'm not as weak as you think."

"At least, I can teach you a lesson with one hand." The old woman slammed her cane on the ground.

A group of children wearing white robes and masks surrounded them, muttering incomprehensible words, and one could vaguely sense a remarkable "Nen Qi" emanating from them.

"To give... to give..."

"Iron and cotton both weigh one ton, which is heavier?"

"It's iron."

"No, they weigh the same, both are one ton."

Which is older, the older brother or the younger brother?

The correct answer is "I don't know." Because they are twin brothers.

"It's those 'kids'!" Mark Sim wasn't surprised at all by the static on the other end of the phone. He took another drag of his cigarette, frowned, and said, "Old woman, I already warned you..."

"Don't be too stubborn!"

At least... Mark Sim's voice turned serious. "If you encounter Sun-Earring Boy carrying Cane Sword, accompanied by a male and a female servant, you'd better let them go with you, after all..."

"That Sun-Earring Boy is a monster who can practice his sword skills even in a storm... I've never seen a candidate like him before. It seems like nothing can stop him. Don't even mention you, even the Kiriko family would probably have a hard time."

Wait... what storm?

"Although the old woman is getting on in years, her eyesight and hearing are still sharp..." Mark, don't try to scare this old woman.

Don't you understand the literal meaning?

Mark Sim said calmly, "Anyway, I've already warned you... Remember, it's a Sun-Earring Boy with Cane Sword..."

"Beep"

The call ended.

An elderly woman, surrounded by a group of children, frowned as she held her phone... Suddenly, her ears twitched...

I could faintly hear approaching footsteps and a heartbeat.

"Thump... thump... thump..."

It's throbbing...