The lounge was quiet.
Netero looked down at the volleyball in his hands.
Then he looked at the smug boy across from him.
Suddenly, he laughed, loud and hearty.
"Interesting. Very interesting!"
"You weren't trying to snatch the ball, kid."
"From the very beginning, you were trying to steal my techniques."
His eyes were full of admiration.
"You achieved your goal through observation, adaptation, and learning rather than brute force. Yours is the most unusual talent I've ever seen."
"You're too kind. Mostly, it's because you're such a good teacher."
Luo Ye chuckled as he answered, effortlessly making those elite techniques for exerting force and circulating Nen his own.
What a steal.
Once Netero finished laughing, he put the ball away.
His gaze shifted to the corner.
Killua still stood there with his head lowered.
"Young man."
His voice grew grave.
"There are chains in your movements. Who are you afraid of?"
The question stabbed straight into Killua's heart.
His whole body shuddered.
Illumi's expressionless face appeared out of nowhere.
Along with the words he had heard throughout his childhood.
"If you can't beat an enemy, run."
"I'm not afraid of anyone!"
Killua practically shouted it, like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, every hair standing on end.
"Oh? Is that so?"
Netero neither agreed nor disagreed. He merely gave him a long, searching look.
"Hey, hey, that's enough, old man."
Luo Ye sauntered over and draped an arm across Killua's shoulders.
"Don't scare the kid. At your age, you should know better than to play mind games with him."
He winked at Killua.
"Ignore him. This old man just wants to watch us youngsters make fools of ourselves. He's a nasty piece of work."
The interruption eased Killua's tension a little.
Luo Ye was talking nonsense, but