Clouds and mist churned, hiding every contour of the mountainside.
The Red Panda Assistant Instructor led Saitama into the white mist, and their figures gradually vanished.
At the foot of the mountain, only Gon, Killua, Leorio, and Genos remained.
They looked at one another, all a little dazed.
The five of them had come together.
Yet the first to get in was Saitama, the one who least wanted to train?
"All right, quit standing around."
Killua was the first to recover. He found a level patch in the bamboo grove and set down his backpack.
"The assistant instructor made it clear. We can't see the gate because our minds are too full of distractions."
"Let's settle in first and work on it."
Gon nodded and clenched his fists, brimming with determination.
"We just have to calm our minds, right? I can do that!"
He sat cross-legged on the ground, closed his eyes, and put on a serious meditation pose.
The others sat down too.
The four formed a circle and tried to empty their minds.
The wind stirred the bamboo leaves with a soft rustle.
Such a quiet place should have made it easy to calm down.
But the harder they tried to clear their minds, the more thoughts crowded in.
Gon sat with his eyes closed, his head full of one thought:
Once I get into the Zen Monastery and learn Xiwei Control, I'll be able to throw a twentyfold Spinning Rock.
I'll be so much stronger than I am now.
The more he thought about it, the more excited he became. A little Nen leaked out before he noticed.
The mist ahead grew even thicker.
Killua was no better.
His thoughts kept circling around the same questions:
*If Xiwei Control cuts out wasted movement, can my Godspeed get