Psychological warfare?
Rile your opponent, make them lose their cool in an instant, and search for a sliver of possibility where none seems to exist...
"If it weren't Silva you were facing, you might have had a chance."
Zeno added a comment after the old man...
The older they got, the wiser and more perceptive they became.
As Maha and Zeno had said, an elephant would never care about an ant's provocation. If it got annoyed, it could simply crush the ant underfoot...
Silva wasn't moved in the slightest.
His tall figure stood motionless in the training room. He stared at Roy expressionlessly, the corner of his mouth curling into a mocking smile.
The mockery was completely undisguised—and impossible to ignore...
"A clumsy provocation..." Illumi voiced what Silva was thinking.
His foolish little brother peeked at Roy from behind the corner wall.
Roy leaned on his sword, panting heavily. He had already anticipated this outcome.
If his arrogant father were the sort to lose his temper easily, he wouldn't have made it this far and taken on the title of head of the world's number-one assassin family.
But wasn't the meaning of life found in trying?
If he failed, so be it. He could simply try again...
Roy wiped the blood from his face to keep it from obstructing his vision. He took a deep breath, drew Snow Walk, and resumed his guard. The tip of his blade lined up with his gaze, pointed at Silva.
"From the garden to the training room takes three seconds... Using Shadow Step cuts that by two seconds. Using Zetsu cuts off another 0.5 seconds. Swinging my sword takes 0.01 seconds..."
"So I only have 0.51 seconds to attack..."
"In those 0.51 seconds, I have to discern his Nen Qi, dodge the whip, find an opening, and slash..." Roy narrowed his eyes and gave a self-deprecating smile...
This really is a tall order.
The wind stirred the willow branches into thousands of swaying strands. With his back against the tree, Roy closed his eyes, shut all his Aura Nodes, and began to regulate his breathing...
Besides lowering his presence, Zetsu was well suited to following someone. It also gathered aura inside the body and eased fatigue.
The weakness caused by his blood loss gradually caught up with him... Roy couldn't ignore it. He did his best to steady himself, opened his eyes again, set his feet in a bow stance, and darted forward once more...
Visible to the naked eye—
A streak of light shot toward him. Roy thrust forward, aiming straight for Silva's chest!
This time, he abandoned slashing...
A swing required him to raise his hand... a thrust did not... Roy made full use of the principle of "maximum arm extension," closed in on Silva, and without a word, thrust his blade forward!
"Whoosh—"
The sword tip pierced the air, sending a spray of sparks flying...
The boy's fearless figure was reflected in Silva's pupils. A flicker of approval appeared deep in his eyes, but was quickly beaten to ashes by the whip he raised.
He wanted Silva to admit defeat?
He dreamed of freedom?
He wanted to climb step by step to the very top?
You rebellious son, there was only one road waiting for you—
"Get back to the family and behave yourself!"
"Crack!" The air exploded as the whip, though set in motion later, struck first and lashed Roy hard.
Snow Walk flew from his hand, and... Roy cried out in pain as the whip knocked him down. He collapsed at Silva's feet.
"It's over." Illumi watched expressionlessly, then turned to leave.
To go so far as to fight a hopeless battle... That was the price of being unreasonable and daring to fight back.
He didn't hesitate. He had just taken a step when—
"Whoosh—"
A flash of cold light shot past, grazing his cheek. It carried a strand of Silva's silver hair through the air before landing with a sharp "clang" in the south wall.
Illumi abruptly stopped. He instinctively looked up and saw—
A snow-white katana, a thread tied to its hilt. At the end of the thread was an upright middle finger.
"Kh-hah... You're not so great after all." The middle finger's owner coughed up blood. With his head buried in the floorboards, he sneered, then let his head slump down along with his middle finger...
At that moment, the wind seemed to stop. The atmosphere in the training room froze along with it!
"How did he do that?" the boy wondered.
A soft chuckle answered him...
"Heh heh heh, the kid really managed to catch him off guard..."
In a small, dimly lit room, Maha patted the armrest and laughed, kicking his legs to signal Zeno to stop gaping and hurry up with the leg massage.
Zeno was visibly stunned for a moment. When he came to, he shook his head and withdrew his En...
"To use the loose thread from his cuff to connect to the hilt... I can't believe he thought of that..."
Zeno muttered to himself...
As it turned out, right beside Silva's feet, a wisp of Nen Qi attached to a thread quickly dissipated. It was this wisp of Nen that had guided Snow Walk through the thread, making it turn in midair. While Silva and Illumi weren't paying attention, it had flown past their cheeks...
After three lashes, the test was over. And yet, that was precisely the moment when everyone would let down their guard.
If someone suddenly attacked then, even Silva wouldn't be an exception. He could only rely on his body's astonishing reflexes to tilt his head aside. The result... was a strand of hair cut off and pinned to the wall.
"Did you understand what you saw?" Silva pinched the strand of hair and fell silent for a moment before suddenly asking Illumi.
Illumi finally understood. He nodded stiffly.
"Let's hear it."
"His call to surrender was bait. He deliberately made Father more alert. Once the test ended and Father really let his guard down, that was the only chance he could find to attack..."
"And?"
"What else?" Illumi looked at Silva, confused.
Silva answered by lashing him across the head with his whip.
In an instant, Illumi was knocked to the ground, following Roy.
"His strength."
"He could take three lashes from me. Can you?"
Silva tossed the whip onto the south wall, right beside Snow Walk, shoved his hands into his pockets, and left expressionlessly...
The strand of silver hair swayed gently in the breeze... just as Illumi's consciousness grew hazy and sank into complete darkness.
"Strength..." The boy's head lolled to one side, and he closed his eyes.
Butler Luke had been waiting outside the whole time. When he saw Silva come out, he bowed to him.
Silva said, "Dig a hole and bury them."
"Yes." Luke was used to this sort of thing, but... Young Master Roy didn't seem to like sleeping in holes...
Luke grumbled to himself, but he didn't slack off. He grabbed a shovel and carried out the order.
Not long afterward, two heads emerged from the flower garden. They looked at each other with mutual distaste.
"Who buried me?" Roy glanced at Luke.
"The master."
Roy: "..."
"Get me out."
"Yes."
There was a rustling...
Roy was lifted out of the pit and laid beside the willow tree. A light breeze stirred, and the willow shaded him from the sun. He finally felt a little more comfortable.
"Hey~"
Just then, an extremely unpleasant ghostly wail rang out... ruining the beauty of the sunset...
Illumi opened his hollow eyes and stared at Roy without blinking. "I won't lose to you."
Roy simply closed his eyes, pretending he hadn't heard.
Illumi stubbornly repeated, "I won't lose to you."
Roy rolled over, turning his back to him.
Illumi opened his mouth wide. "Did you hear me? I said I won't lose to you."
"You're so annoying!" Roy erupted in anger and threw a slipper, smacking Illumi in the head.
At last, it was quiet...
Before you continue