Tsubone's Foolish Loyalty X Snow Walk

He turned around and thrust toward Roy's neck!

The carotid artery in the neck is the most vulnerable part of the human body; aside from ripping out hearts, this was the second of Illumi's two favorite moves.

Roy sensed the wind, but he did not turn back. Instead, he countered with a hand blade of his own, only...

Unlike Illumi, he had imbued his hand blade with Nen.

Beyond the four basic techniques of Nen—Ten, Zetsu, Ren, and Hatsu—there are many advanced applications.

For instance, En, which enhances perception...

The Gyo technique, which enchants objects...

In, which conceals one's presence...

And Ken, which reinforces the body...

At the moment, Roy had not formally learned these advanced techniques, but that did not stop him from gathering his aura into his hand blade to temporarily sharpen its edge.

The result was significant.

It was the same Snake Awakening...

As two flashes of light crossed... Illumi's strike was blocked, and he quickly retreated...

He hid himself in the darkness of a corner, raising his left arm to guard against Roy, while his right hand trembled uncontrollably...

Too hard...

His assassin's instinct drove him to execute a defensive counter-attack in an instant, but the one being attacked seemed not to have even the slightest interest in him.

After all... Roy considered himself a human, and humans... should not lower themselves to the level of a dog, especially a treacherous dog that knew nothing of the heights of the world and only knew how to hide in the shadows to ambush others.

"Step... step..."

The soft-soled sneakers on his feet made light sounds as they trod upon the ancient, mottled stone floor.

With his back to Illumi, Roy shook his hand and continued walking, as if he had merely swatted away a fly during his journey, vanishing from Illumi's sight in an instant as he arrived at the training room.

The afternoon sun spilled through the large floor-to-ceiling windows onto the floor, still scorching hot; it was the perfect time to practice Sun Breathing.

Roy would not let one or two dogs affect his mood, nor would he let them delay his training.

He shifted his feet and began to dance.

From then on, a strange scene frequently appeared in the Zoldyck family training room.

A youth in tight-fitting training gear began to "dance" day and night, constantly fraying the nerves of everyone in the Zoldyck household.

"Is he still dancing?"

"Yes, still..."

"Has he fallen behind on his daily training?"

"No..."

On a tiger-skin sofa, Silva rested his chin on one hand, listening to Tsubone report on Roy's recent training status, and fell into deep thought...

Under Tsubone's shocked gaze...

He stood up, imitated Roy's movements, and struck a few poses.

First was Waltz, then Clear Blue Sky, followed by Burning Sun Mirror, Fire Wheel, and Bone-Burning Sun...

When the final dance, Dragon Sun Halo Head Dance, concluded... Silva stood still, carefully contemplating, and remained motionless for a long time.

To the side, Tsubone stood with her hands at her sides, silent.

Her "excellent" self-awareness reminded her at every moment that as a dog—an old dog loyal to the Zoldyck family for decades—she must absolutely not bark while her master was deep in thought.

But even so, she could not hide her astonishment. This was the first time she had ever seen the family head imitate another person's actions... and the key was that this person was the son he had deemed to have limited potential.

"Hoo..."

He exhaled a breath of stale air...

About five minutes later, Silva finally moved again.

He sat back down with an expressionless face and waved his hand... Tsubone retreated tactfully...

"Creak~" The heavy wooden door closed.

The voice that came from within made the old butler, who had just stepped out, tremble all over.

"Tell Roy to compile his insights on these movements and send them over."

The tone was beyond reproach...

Tsubone: "..."

She stood silently before the door for a moment, placed her right hand over her chest, and bowed.

That evening, she found Roy, who was immersed in the training room.

Upon hearing the news, Roy showed no surprise. He simply stopped his movements, paused to glance at the master bedroom on the second floor, and chose... to refuse.

Sun Breathing was his trump card, the nourishment he had drawn from the cognitive world by relying on his Nen ability. Whether out of respect for Tanjuro or to protect his own privacy, he could not and would not pass it on to anyone else.

Furthermore, the more Roy studied Sun Breathing, the more he realized how shallow his understanding of it truly was.

In four hours that afternoon, he had performed the dance a full twenty times, yet he had only managed to immerse himself in the rhythm for a fleeting moment or two; the rest of the time had been "wasted" in vain.

Under such circumstances, how could he possibly have the time or energy to teach others?

What's more, this was hardly the attitude one should take when asking for a favor... even if the person in question was his own father.

"I believe I have the right to refuse." Roy wiped the sweat from his neck and chose to be blunt.

Tsubone froze for a moment, clearly not having anticipated a refusal. After all, this was not just anyone; this was an order from Silva, the current head of the Zoldyck family.

She spoke instinctively: "Could you give me a reason for your refusal?"

Roy smiled... He narrowed his eyes, taking a serious look at this Nen user who shared his own lineage for the first time. Her Yamato Nadeshiko Seven Metamorphoses could materialize various vehicles for others to ride; it seemed she had been so accustomed to being trained that she had lost her wits.

"A reason?" Roy draped his towel over his shoulder, looked up at her, and mocked, "Since you identify as a dog, you should have the self-awareness of a dog..."

"So... it would be best not to ask about the master's affairs."

Tsubone: "..."

She stood there, stunned.

She seemed to have been struck by a spell, unable to decide whether to leave or stay, and in the end, she slunk away in defeat.

Just like in the original story, she had no interest in any of the Zoldyck children except for Killua.

Naturally, Roy would not be polite to her, and he mentally prepared himself for Silva to come knocking at his door.

However, to his surprise, days passed and this episode simply faded away as if it had never happened. Not only was there no news from Tsubone, but Silva never mentioned the matter again; in fact, the father and son even crossed paths during this time.

It wasn't until Gotoh returned from his recovery that Roy caught a faint whisper of what had transpired.

"She stabbed herself three times and is currently recuperating..."

The young butler adjusted his gold-rimmed glasses while serving Roy's dinner and remarked, "She got off easy."

"If it were me, and I had offended the young master, I would have committed suicide directly."

Well then... you are even more hardcore...

For a moment, Roy didn't know what to say.

He could only sigh; this was very Zoldyck.

After all, in this family, butlers were recognized as property, dead soldiers, and dogs... Even if Roy naively thought otherwise, they would identify as dogs themselves, and even take pride in it.

This could be seen clearly from the group of people who stayed in the Zoldyck butler villa, desperate to break their heads just to get into the Zoldyck family.

Therefore, Roy simply changed the subject and asked Gotoh:

"Is there any progress on the task I entrusted to you?"

After realizing that the efficiency of his "dancing" had begun to plateau, Roy had carefully pondered and analyzed three reasons for it.

First, Sun Breathing was essentially a "sword dance" that required a blade to perform.

Second, he lacked the training method for "Total Concentration."

Third, he had no master to guide him.

The latter two points could only be resolved by Roy searching within the cognitive world himself.

But as for the first point...

With a metallic clang, Gotoh drew a katana from his waist and presented it with both hands.

"There is no news yet on the Nen-imbued weapon the young master requested, but... there is one fine katana in the warehouse."

"What is its name?"

"Snow Walk."