In Morrow's Nen ability system, weapons imbued with aura played a pivotal role.
This was primarily because his aura output in the "Starlight Convergence" state was severely limited.
Previously, due to insufficient physical strength, he had to allocate a portion of his aura to reinforce his body to support techniques like Gazelle Steps.
This further reduced his available aura output.
A weapon that inherently carried aura and possessed sufficient durability could effectively compensate for this weakness.
This was the fundamental reason why, despite being more proficient with firearms, he insisted on acquiring the Poultry Scarlet Knife.
Looking back at the path of growth Morrow had chosen, if an actual novice Nen user were to develop an ability like "Starlight Convergence"...
Unless they secluded themselves for years to train, they would inevitably perish before the ability could fully take shape.
On this foundation, cold weapons like the Poultry Scarlet Knife, which were imbued with aura, could to some extent elevate the ceiling of his abilities.
Thus, Morrow's primary criterion for selecting a weapon was that it must contain sufficiently powerful aura.
After a long search, Menchi had finally found a weapon she believed met his requirements.
In terms of aura intensity, this weapon should surpass the Poultry Scarlet Knife.
As for the so-called trial...
There was no harm in checking it out.
Morrow decided to make the trip to Jappon himself.
If the weapon Menchi found satisfied him, he would gladly exchange the Poultry Scarlet Knife for it.
However, before that, he would first absorb the aura from the Poultry Scarlet Knife.
After all, to Menchi, whether the knife carried aura or not made no fundamental difference.
If she wanted to enhance the knife's sharpness, she could simply apply the "Shu" technique to it.
After ending the call with Menchi, Morrow immediately set off for Jappon.
If this trip went smoothly, he would not only obtain a more effective weapon but also replenish the energy of his second ring by absorbing the aura from the Poultry Scarlet Knife.
By evening.
Morrow bid farewell to Calista and Kastro, then departed for the airport with Kurapika and Kalluto.
Since Jappon was a relatively isolated island nation, its entry procedures were quite strict.
However, Kurapika's Hunter License easily resolved the immigration hurdles.
The real issue was transportation...
The only way to reach Jappon was by sea.
Thus, they first took an airship to a coastal city, then transferred to a ferry at the port to reach Jappon's designated open harbor.
The inability to fly directly to Jappon meant the journey would take considerably more time.
Late May.
A ferry docked at Jappon's port.
Morrow, Kurapika, and Kalluto disembarked.
Behind them, several other groups of passengers stepped off the ferry.
These individuals were clearly not ordinary tourists—among them were even two Nen users.
Given the effort required to obtain entry permits for Jappon, it was unlikely they had come purely for sightseeing. However, Morrow didn't pay it any mind. After disembarking from the ferry, he directly took Kurapika and Kalluto to a small eatery called "Fresh Fish" in the port city.
Menchi had already been waiting inside the shop for quite some time.
The moment Morrow stepped through the door, his eyes quickly scanned the room as if searching for something.
"Stop looking, Chimera didn't come."
Menchi saw right through Morrow's intention, a slight smile appearing on her face. "Besides, this little shop couldn't contain it anyway."
"Oh?"
Morrow raised an eyebrow.
While the shop wasn't particularly spacious, it could easily accommodate twenty diners.
If even this space couldn't contain Chimera now, then...
Chimera's current size must be at least as large as a truck.
"Wasn't Chimera's growth rate supposed to be very slow? How did it get so big in just a few months?"
Morrow sat down beside Menchi and asked curiously.
Menchi's eyes sparkled with excitement: "Actually, I'm not entirely sure either. It might be related to its sudden increase in food intake."
She gestured with her hands, "Ever since it started hunting on its own, its size has been growing by leaps and bounds, incredibly fast."
As she spoke, she suddenly gave a sly smile: "Who knows... maybe Chimera has already forgotten about you."
"If it's forgotten, then so be it."
Morrow looked completely indifferent.
"You're so heartless!"
Menchi rolled her eyes in exasperation. "With that attitude, you'll never find a partner."
"No need to worry about that."
Morrow chuckled and shook his head, then took out the Boning Scarlet Knife and gently placed it on the counter in front of Menchi.
The crisp sound of the crystalline blade meeting the surface instantly made Menchi hold her breath.
Her gaze locked onto the small, translucent crimson blade, her voice trembling slightly: "This is... the boning knife from the Seven Chef's Knives!"
As she spoke, she picked up the knife as if it were a priceless treasure, her eyes shining.
"Morrow, how did you get... wait, you're not planning to give this to me, are you?"
Menchi had initially wanted to ask how Morrow obtained the knife, but more than its origin, she wanted to confirm his intentions in bringing it out.
Morrow nodded. "Yes, it's yours."
"Really? Really, really?"
Hearing this, Menchi was so excited that she leaned toward Morrow, only to be pushed back by a single finger on her forehead.
"Absolutely true."
"Ugh..."
Menchi was moved. While caressing the knife lovingly, she said, "Morrow, if you ever can't find a partner in the future, you have to tell me! I'll definitely help you!"
"..."
Morrow completely ignored Menchi's words, picked up the Menu handed to him by the shop owner, glanced at it, and then passed it to Kalluto beside him.
"Order whatever you want."
"Mm."
Kalluto glanced at a dish on the Menu called puffer fish sashimi, which came with a considerate note warning that the sashimi contained slight neurotoxins and should be eaten sparingly.
"Morrow."
"Hm?"
"Is she like this because she ate too much pufferfish?"
Kalluto looked at Menchi, who was rubbing her cheek against the blade of the boning knife.
Hearing this, Morrow couldn't help but laugh.
After everyone had eaten their fill, they left the small shop and headed for a bamboo forest called "Returning Wind Forest."
According to Menchi, deep within that bamboo forest stood a shrine and a dojo.
And the short sword she had found, named "Purgatory," was enshrined within that very shrine. Initially, in order to obtain this dagger, she had offered the shrine's owner, who also happened to be the master of the dojo, an exorbitant price, attempting to buy it outright with money.
Yet the dojo master had flatly refused.
"Those guys at the dojo are practically starving..."
On the way to the bamboo forest, Menchi shook her head and muttered:
"If I hadn't been there that day, they would've passed out from hunger. So I don't get why that old man refused the deal. He could've easily traded the dagger for a fortune, but instead, he kept going on about some trial."
"Did the old dojo master mention what the trial entails?"
Morrow suddenly asked as he listened.
Menchi scoffed. "No. The old man said the trial had nothing to do with women. No matter how much I pressed him, he wouldn't say another word."
"I see."
Just from Menchi's description, Morrow felt it fit perfectly with some of the stereotypes he had about Jappon.
But the old dojo master's stubbornness only made him more interested in the dagger named "Purgatory."
The Returning Wind Forest was nearly two hundred kilometers from the port, deep in Jappon's heartland.
Along the way, Morrow observed the state of the country with keen interest.
The nation's societal condition seemed frozen in a peculiar rift between time, somewhere between the Edo period and the modern era.
Most buildings lining the streets retained traditional wooden structures, yet here and there stood Western-style houses with glass windows.
The people's attire was even more varied, samurai clad in light armor with long swords at their waists, modern office workers in suits clutching briefcases under their arms.
But most common were the white judo uniforms.
This ubiquitous martial attire silently proclaimed the country's deeply rooted warrior traditions.
As they left the portside town, Morrow even spotted a style of dress that felt oddly familiar.
After a moment of thought, he realized it was the same as Hanzo's outfit from the original work.
If not for the man not being bald, Morrow might have mistaken him for Hanzo—no wonder it had felt strangely recognizable.
Without lingering in the coastal town, Menchi rented a carriage to take them toward the Returning Wind Forest.
"Jappon has trains, but they don't go all the way to the Returning Wind Forest, so a carriage is more convenient," she explained, gripping the reins.
Since Morrow and the others had arrived in Jappon by ferry, they hadn't expected much in terms of transportation.
Having a carriage to ride in was already a significant improvement.
By the time Morrow's group reached a town near the Returning Wind Forest, it was already late at night.
The carriage's speed was ultimately too slow, the journey had taken them nearly seven or eight hours.
Rather than rushing into the forest, they spent the night in the town and set out into the bamboo grove early the next morning.
Menchi was familiar with the area, leading them swiftly through the bamboo until they arrived at the shrine she had mentioned.
Before them stretched a winding, moss-covered stone staircase leading upward.
At its midpoint stood a dilapidated torii gate.
The red pillars, their lacquer peeling, were wrapped in thick, grimy shimenawa ropes, one section already frayed and tattered. Morrow's gaze passed through the vermilion torii gate, where the outline of a distant shrine faintly emerged through the morning mist, along with glimpses of some ancient surrounding structures.
Everything he had encountered since arriving in this country aligned remarkably well with certain stereotypes he held in his mind.
If there was anything left to pique his curiosity...
It was the existence of Nen, how it had evolved within this nation.
Just like in the Kukan'yu Kingdom, which Morrow had visited before.
Due to the presence of Nen and the influence of local culture, extraordinary professions like Barrier Masters had emerged.
And because of Kukan'yu's Buddhist traditions, monks capable of pacifying wandering spirits had naturally arisen, essentially Nen users with Nen exorcism abilities...
Even under the shifting tides of supernatural culture, the once-prosperous Divine Script, with its mystical powers, had gone through phases of rise and decline.
So, if no one had ever defined the existence of the Nen System...
For nations with different cultures and histories, a supernatural force like Nen would simply be draped in different guises.
What Morrow could confirm at the moment was that the ninjas of Jappon regarded Nen as the foundation of Ninjutsu.
Beyond that, the other supernatural professions he could think of that fit Jappon's style were Onmyoji and Spiritualists.
"Menchi, does this country have professions like Onmyoji or Spiritualists?"
Walking up the moss-covered stone steps, Morrow suddenly asked.
Menchi hadn't expected Morrow to bring up such a topic. Surprised, she replied, "Yes. Though they call themselves Onmyoji and Spiritualists, in reality, they're just Nen users—like those ninjas who claim mastery over Ninjutsu."
"How much do you know about Onmyoji and Spiritualists?"
Morrow pressed further.
He could tell that Menchi seemed quite familiar with Jappon, no wonder she had used sushi as a test subject in the original Hunter Exam.
Kurapika and Kalluto were drawn into the conversation, their gazes shifting to Menchi, clearly intrigued by this Nen system infused with local characteristics.
Menchi tapped her chin with a finger. "Though I've traveled through Jappon before, I've never actually interacted with Onmyoji or Spiritualists. I've only heard things."
She paused, as if organizing her thoughts.
"From what I know, Onmyoji specialize in controlling familiar spirits. In terms of Nen types, they likely lean toward Conjuration and Manipulation. As for Spiritualists..."
Her tone grew uncertain.
"I've only heard they can communicate with spirits. Ability-wise, they might be closer to Exorcists? But these are just rumors—there's no guarantee they're true. You know how some people exploit so-called supernatural phenomena to swindle others."
"Hmm. Though compared to Onmyoji and Spiritualists, ninjas seem far more common."
Morrow passed through the torii gate, glancing at the tattered shimenawa rope hanging from the pillars.
Menchi nodded. "Yes, Jappon has many ninja factions."
Morrow gave a slight nod.
He thought of Hanzo, who hailed from the Cloud Shadow Style, and the ninja he had killed in the forest.
Judging by their attire, the two likely belonged to different schools.
As they conversed, the group finished walking the stone-paved approach and came upon a somewhat dilapidated shrine. The stone lantern standing before the shrine's main hall was covered in moss, yet the cracks upon it remained visible.
The Shimenawa hanging down from the Karahafu roof of the shrine had been reduced to only a third of its original length.
The offering box beneath the Shimenawa was split open with a large gash, and the wooden pillars on either side bore numerous signs of insect damage.
This seemed to be a shrine long forgotten.
But Morrow paid little attention to these marks left by time. Instead, his gaze remained fixed on the shadows seeping out from the slightly ajar doors of the hall.
He could sense it...
The aura of Post-Mortem Will.
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Bonus chapter @250 power stones.