Wood Release Creates the First Nen Artifact

The year 1987 in the Hunter Calendar is also the birth year of Gon and Killua.

It was also the year that Gold issued Greed Island.

It was also the early days of the Phantom Troupe, which began to turn to the dark side after Sarasa's death.

It was also during the NGL's autonomy that Zai Ilo was able to completely abandon mechanical civilization and become an agricultural nation, laying an important foundation for the subsequent hatching of the Chimera Ant.

It was also the year Roy opened his Aura Nodes and awakened the Gate of Cognition. Two years later, he passed the Hunter Exam, during which he was watched by [God] and had Curse planted on him.

"Tick-tock... tick-tock..." The Curse on the back of his hand counted down silently... Nearly a year had passed, and Roy's lifespan had been reduced by another eight months without a sound... The Sun-Earring Boy turned and walked into the bathroom, saying with his back to him, "Book the tickets."

After taking another shower, he ate breakfast with Gotoh's help. While she cleared the dishes and went out to book tickets, he slowly wiped his mouth with a tissue and stopped her with a single sentence. "Call the doctor. The treatment plan for Consumption can be put on the agenda. I hope to get the medication as soon as possible."

Like the "Conjuration" requires a sufficiently clear and in-depth understanding of the "target object" in order to "imagine" it and materialize it through "Nen Ability."

Unlike Shizuku's "Blinky," Kurapika's "Chain," Knov's "Hide and Seek," Roy, backed by the "Gate of Cognition," freely travels through many worlds, constantly strengthening his self-awareness. Compared to the others, he can materialize a wider and more numerous range of things. At the same time, the mental effort he expends is much greater than that of Shizuku, Kurapika, and the others.

Just like... after telling Gotoh what to do and letting her go, Roy tried to use "manifestation" to materialize a "carving knife" and "wood" to continue practicing [the God Script], attempting to imprint one of his techniques, [the God Spear], onto the wooden knife. He only realized halfway through that while the "carving knife" was fine, the "wood," no matter how hard he racked his brains, remained impossible to solidify. Just then, he heard a door open, and a voice drifted in from the corridor, alerting him to his troubled state...

"Neither the God Script ' nor the Nen Ability can be conjured out of thin air. If you don't have a sufficient understanding of what you want to manifest beforehand, you can't manifest it just by imagining it."

The door opened, and Jin, adjusting his hood, walked in. He saw the Sun-Earring Boy holding a carving knife, staring blankly at the bright windowpane. He pulled up a chair and sat down next to Roy.

Looking out the window at the sky ablaze with the colors of dawn, listening to the rising hustle and bustle of people rushing to work downstairs... he stretched out a hand, his fingertips gathering tiny spheres of psychic energy, just as he had demonstrated with Pariston in the original story... He stretched, thinned, pressed, and shaped it, finally transforming it into a brand new card, which he held and played with in his palm... Then, with a flick of his finger, he shot it towards Roy, only to have it caught between the Sun-Earring Boy's fingers halfway through its flight...

Jin, with his hands casually resting on the edge of the chair, said lazily, "[The Art of Paper], its origin... I once met an origami artist on my travels."

"His name is Murdock. He's spent most of his life on origami and didn't even know he'd awakened his Nen Ability."

"When I first met him, he actually flew across a river nearly a hundred meters wide in a paper airplane he had folded himself. Just before reaching the shore, he almost fell because he ran out of Nen Qi. Thinking about it now... it's quite interesting."

"So you stole someone else's Nen Ability?" Roy glanced at him.

"Chirp-" Feicha's Parrot popped out from on the golden shoulder, flapped its wings, and leaped onto Roy's head, nuzzling affectionately against Little Gold... which it disgustedly shrugged off with a wing, looking quite comical...

"Borrowing isn't stealing," Jin said seriously, pretending not to see Roy's disdainful look. "I'm just reminding you that materialization isn't unlimited. Murdock can manipulate paper at will because he loves origami and is fond of paper; that's all."

Love... both narrow and broad...

Because I don't like wood and don't have a deep understanding of it, does that mean "imagination" has lost its foundation to become "reality"?

Roy frowned and remained silent.

Jin closed his eyes, basking in the sun, and stood silently beside him. Only when a gust of wind blew a leaf onto the windowsill did he murmur, "You're still young, there's no need to rush. Manifestation could take anywhere from a few days to... a month, two months, or even a year."

"Once you have a sufficient understanding of what you want to realize, the rest will come naturally."

The reminder from a top expert in "Conjuration" is not without reason... Compared to being able to conjure all sorts of [Contract] and forge unbreakable bonds with Magic Beast... Jin Future's ability to rise to the position of one of the world's top five Nen user speaks volumes.

"Perhaps you're right." After a moment, Roy pushed back his chair, stood up, and walked to the window. Watching the sunrise fade and the sun rise, its color shifting from red to yellow, he squinted and said, "But you're wrong about one thing: though I'm young, I don't have that much time."

After speaking, the Sun-Earring Boy thought of "wood." Is it really so difficult to materialize, requiring months or even years, that "wood" grows through photosynthesis, only possible because of sunlight?

No, there's nothing new under the sun. The sun nurtures all things, including nature... "wood" is among them!

Roy's eyes flickered... Since Tsugikuni Yoriichi was able to create the "Sun Breathing" technique, and from that foundation, develop a series of Breathing Style such as "Fire," "Water," "Wind," and "Rock"... the First Hokage, Senju Hashirama, combined the "Water" and "Earth" elemental releases to develop "Wood Release"...

I have two worlds behind me, and two giants offering their shoulders for me to stand on.

Roy narrowed his eyes, his fingertips glowing faintly. He let the carving knife transform into a Nen Flow, which materialized back into his Cognitive World. His thoughts then shifted, and he opened the panel, looking at the "Nen Ability Nature Transformation" section...

["Water": Iv3(1453/10000)]

["Shi": lv2(354/1000)]

One comes from "Water Breathing"... the other from "Swamp Space".

His gaze then sharpened, and with a surge of Nen Qi, he took a wisp of "water" and a wisp of "earth," and mimicking Jin's actions, he spread his palms to condense a "water ball" and an "earth ball." Using a ray of warm sunlight, he attempted to bring the two balls together...

Behind him, Kim Ben was lazily sunbathing when he suddenly sensed a fluctuation of Nen. He instinctively sat up straight and peered at Roy...

Water and earth intertwine, permeate each other, and merge until they are inseparable, one in me and the other in me... As the light of thought bursts forth, with Roy's hands gently expanding outwards, a log about two decimeters long and in diameter appears where his palms meet!

Jin asked in surprise, "Wood?"

"Yes, wood."

Roy, facing away from Kim, held up the log in his hand to his eyes, casting a small shadow in the sunlight, and said with a smile.

Jin Mingliang's eyes, usually brimming with strong self-assertion, flashed with a rare glint of shrewdness. His straight back slumped, and he returned to his usual languid posture, smiling with relief.

"Elena told me yesterday that she couldn't see through you at all. Just when she thought that was all you had up your sleeve, you always pulled out another surprise..."

"Not frightened?"

"It was also a shock."

"And you?" Roy rubbed the log in his hand. It was good wood, but a bit too short and thick; it certainly wouldn't be suitable for a dagger or short knife. It could, however, be used to make... a nail, he said casually.

"Hehehe... Me?" A gust of wind blew in from the window, lifting a corner of the hood and revealing some unruly strands of hair at the temples.

He slumped in his chair, his hand lightly stroking the armrest, his gaze passing over the Sun-Earring Boy and landing on the high sky, saying with no small amount of confidence, "You, Roy, have your path to walk, and I naturally have mine. No one needs to envy anyone else."

"People who made their fortune through plagiarism have a lot of nerve!"

"I told you it was imitation, it was borrowing!" Jin glared at Roy irritably, then beckoned back Feicha's Parrot. "Now, could you please, Lord Roy, remove that damned bug from my heart?"

[Circle] With a whoosh, the Heart Bug wriggled and was pulled out of the golden body, carrying a trace of information as it instantly disappeared into Roy's palm.

Before Roy could even read the message, Jin said directly, "Razor doesn't want to come with me. Can you persuade him? Greed Island can't do without him."

"You don't come to the temple without a reason..." Is this what you call a request? Roy gave him a half-smile, wondering where the Sun-Earring Boy, despite his young age, got so many tricks up his sleeve... Jin simply said, "Don't put it so harshly, it's at most a transaction."

"Once Greed Island is released, it will be fully open to you."

"Only for you."

"Deal!" Roy smiled and extended his right hand to Jin.

Ninety-nine cards, each bearing a different "Nen Ability," were a vast treasure trove. In the Hokage world, they represented ninety-nine ninjutsu of varying levels and powers... Roy had no reason to refuse.

As for Jin, without Razor, a top-tier "Emission" Nen user, to provide Nen Qi output for Greed Island, maintaining Greed Island's operation, or even... launching a public offering through it, would be a pipe dream.

Unless he himself Razor to Greed Island!

"Alright... please take that fake smile off your face, it's practically falling off."

"Jin glared at Roy, snapped his hand out, and then vanished in a flash, faster than the wind blowing in from the window, disappearing without a trace, leaving only one sentence lingering in the Sun-Earring Boy's ears..."

"I'm waiting for your news," he said.

Then... the door slammed shut with a bang, effectively shutting out Roy's smiling face.

"Heh heh..." Roy pulled out a chair and sat down, completely unconcerned. He simply opened the Believer Panel and looked at the section for Razor... [Potential Believer Razor... Loyalty, close to that of Believer... Willing to entrust his back to the host...]

Roy's lips curved into a slight smile. He stretched out his left hand, conjuring a carving knife once more, and attempted to imprint the God Script "God Spear onto the log he had just conjured...

Soon, after several failed attempts, a Wooden Nail branded with the words "[God Spear]" quietly appeared before him... and he grabbed it with one hand.

"Knock... knock... knock..."

"Young Master, I'm back."

Just then, the door creaked open, Gotoh returned from booking tickets.

Suddenly, a streak of dark light grazed his cheek, pierced the air, and embedded itself in the wall behind the butler.

Gotoh instinctively drew his gun, but then thought... this is the Young Master... He adjusted his glasses, swallowed hard, and watched as Roy gripped the nail head, murmuring with satisfaction, "Back."

The [God Spear Wood Nail] suddenly extended its wooden body by nearly ten meters, then instantly retracted, returning to its ordinary Wooden Nail appearance in the blink of an eye, and was then tucked into Roy's pocket.

The Sun-Earring Boy smiled and said, "Let's go."

Finally, he patted Gotoh on the shoulder.

"Yes." The young butler snapped out of his daze, quickly packed his luggage, and followed.

The master and servant walked slowly, one after the One Queen, until they arrived at Razor's house and stopped.

The door was ajar, and you could vaguely see a tall man dressed simply in a vest, leaning against the window, silently practicing Water Breathing. Hearing the noise, he didn't turn around, only saying, "Did he come to see you?"

"Hmm." Roy pushed open the door and entered, Gate of Opening point. "I didn't refuse."

Then, there was a brief silence.

A moment later, Razor his hand as a knife, completing the final move, "Water Breathing - Tenth Form - Constant Flux." He opened his mouth, gently exhaling a breath of stale air, then turned to look at Roy, his narrow eyes fixed on him. "You know, I'm thinking of you, not him. If he doesn't break me out of prison, I can leave anytime I want."

I believe it.

"Then you..." Razor frowned.

Let's wait and see what the Sun-Earring Boy has to say next.

However... Roy didn't follow up.

The Sun-Earring Boy didn't offer much explanation, but simply strolled over and stood beside him by the window, watching the bright sunshine, the throngs of tourists, and the bustling traffic, and casually said, "Razor, I'm no one to you, and I have no right to make demands of you."

Roy turned his head and looked at the man sincerely. "To be honest, coming from a family of assassins, I'm no different from you."

So I've decided, it's up to you. Whether you're willing or not is your own business.

"Of course, if you agree, I will teach you the remaining two forms of ' Water Breathing '."

Razor. Wasn't the Tenth Form the ultimate form of "Water Breathing"?

His towering figure, even a head taller than Roy's, made him squint at the Sun-Earring Boy for a moment before saying, "Are you trying to blackmail me?"

"No," Roy thought for a moment, summoning "Eleventh Form: Melon" and "Twelfth Form: Phantom Sword: Water Mirror Sun Flare." Using his Nen Qi, he condensed them into a stream of information, pointed it at Razor's brow, and then turned and left, taking not a single ray of sunshine with him, leaving only the words, "Even if you don't agree, I'll still give it to you."

Razor remained alone by the window, silent, waiting for Roy Yiren to disappear with Gotoh, then reappear downstairs, get into a taxi, and speed away...

Razor's brows finally relaxed, and a warm smile appeared on his lips, "You... you're really hard to refuse, aren't you?"

"We haven't said goodbye yet."

But we've already met again...

A Youyou sigh drifted away on the wind...

Razor a sudden, indescribable melancholy.