Ponzu and Siper exchanged glances and nodded in unison.
"I understand."
"Alright, then I'll help you open your Aura Nodes now."
Kaizen sat cross-legged across from them, his presence calm and focused.
One tall, one short—Siper and Ponzu sat before him in simple, white practice clothes better suited for training. Despite the matching outfits, their auras couldn't be more different.
Ponzu was petite and reserved. Siper, with a more solid and powerful frame, exuded strength. Both of them were slightly flushed and glistening with sweat from their earlier training.
Two feminine auras lingered faintly in the air.
Kaizen raised a hand. A soft pulse of aura glowed from his palm, then expanded outward to envelop both Siper and Ponzu.
They stiffened slightly, feeling the change immediately.
"Is this... aura?" Ponzu whispered.
Kaizen's aura wrapped around them fully.
And then—
"Open."
The word rang clearly in their minds.
They felt it almost immediately—a warm current pulsing from their skin, like soaking in a hot spring. The warmth spread through their bodies, wrapping them in invisible energy.
"Good enough," Kaizen said, withdrawing his hand.
Siper and Ponzu opened their eyes.
"That warm sensation surrounding your body—that's aura," Kaizen explained. "Aura is your life energy. What you're feeling now is its natural flow after your Aura Nodes have been opened."
"Aura Nodes are spread all over your body."
"Now that your Nodes are open, your life energy will flow out continuously. If you don't learn to control the flow—if you can't master Ten, you'll lose aura faster than your body can regenerate it."
"And if enough aura drains out of you... you'll die."
Kaizen's tone was calm but firm.
"Now, try using Ten. Wrap your body with your aura."
"If you have questions, ask me. Once you master Ten, you'll be out of the danger zone."
Both women nodded.
"Got it."
...
Zebro's call was routed to the butler's room.
In the original timeline, Zebro's request had been denied by the housekeeper. Specifically, by Gotoh.
But in this world, perhaps because of the earlier conversations between Silva and Kaizen, the Zoldyck staff's attitude toward Gon and the others had shifted.
A few minutes later, Zebro ended the call.
"Uncle, what did they say?"
"I can arrange food and lodging for you," Zebro replied. "But your movements will be restricted to certain areas of the estate—unless you open the Testing Gate yourself."
He paused.
"You're Master Killua's friends, and I'm glad you came. We rarely have guests at the Zoldyck estate."
"The last time, Master Kaizen's friend visited."
"Master Killua will be happy to see you."
"And if you're serious about opening the Testing Gate, I can give you a few tips."
...
At the hilltop mansion of the Zoldyck estate, a lone figure stood overlooking the grounds.
It was Silva.
Not long after, another figure approached—shorter and much older.
Zeno.
"Father, are you sure you want Killua to go down this path?" Silva asked. "It's not too late to change course. No one in our family has taken that route before... I don't know what the outcome will be."
"And it's not the assassin's path."
Zeno shook his head slowly.
"Silva, the world calls us the number one assassin family. But we didn't aim to become the number one holy family."
"We earned that title through strength."
"We can't be swayed by how the world defines us."
"We need to understand what we want."
"This path... your great-grandfather walked it, I walked it, you walked it. Illumi too."
"And even then, the best we reached was your great-grandfather's level. That ceiling is hard to break."
"I'm not sure how far you or Illumi can go beyond that."
"But since Illumi has already walked this path successfully, there's no need to push Killua down the same one. Let him try something new."
"Maybe he'll go even further."
"And if not, it won't damage the family."
"Your great-grandfather said change is inevitable."
"Now's the time. Our family needs to evolve too."
"Kaizen, Illumi, Killua—each walking a different path."
"That's our true strength."
Zeno placed a hand on Silva's shoulder with effort. He had to stand on tiptoe to do it.
"You're better than I ever was."
"You've got five children."
"I think it's good that Killua became friends with Gon."
"After all, Gon's the son of Ging Freecss. He's got serious potential."
"The two of them push each other forward. They might even become allies down the line."
"...But Alluka..."
Even Silva couldn't hide a trace of unease at the mention of that name.
The problem wasn't Alluka herself—it was Nanika.
That wasn't human.
It was something from the Dark Continent.
"...Still, Alluka is part of our family," Silva said quietly.
...
Meanwhile, Gon and the others had begun training under Zebro's supervision.
Their goal was to open the Testing Gate.
Elsewhere, Ponzu and Siper had finally grasped the basics of Nen. It had taken a few hours—longer than Gon and Killua back then.
This confirmed something Kaizen had already suspected.
Their talent wasn't on the same level as Gon's.
"Ren," Kaizen instructed calmly, watching them.
The aura around the two had stabilized, swirling neatly around their bodies.
"Altan," Kaizen called. "Run a talent estimate."
Altan's humanoid form shimmered into view.
She had observed enough Nen users by now to build a comprehensive internal model. By feeding Ponzu and Siper's data into the system, she could produce a close estimation of their potential.
There would be some margin of error—but not by much.
That was the power of superintelligence.
A moment later, Altan finished her analysis.
"Siper: Upper limit—Nen Grade C."
"Ponzu: Upper limit—Nen Grade C. However, with enhancement from the Queen Bee, her potential can be boosted to Grade B."
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