Kill, and you shall be killed.
Since Kibutsuji Muzan has already decided to kill, and made the first move, Roy has no reason to feel guilty about finishing it. If Muzan makes the "first of the month," Roy will gladly give him the "fifteenth," and only when Muzan is dead will the night truly be at peace.
The Pillar Meeting ended with Roy alone taking on the "Mugen Train" mission.
The Pillars left in twos and threes, each carrying their own assignments… Tomioka Giyu walked to Roy's side, patted his shoulder, said nothing—and somehow said everything. With satisfaction and expectation both in his eyes, he turned away, his red–yellow–white haori fluttering as he disappeared through the wisteria grove.
At the gate, Roy stopped under the purple blossoms and smiled at Giyu. "See you, Senpai."
Giyu glanced at Roy, then past his shoulder at the figure approaching at an easy pace—Rengoku Kyōjurō. He seemed to understand something, gave the faintest nod, and vanished in a blur.
"Kamado Roy, please stay."
In the endless sea of wisteria, one boy in white with scarlet hair, one man in brown with yellow hair dipped red at the tips, stood together beneath a great wisteria trunk so thick it took three to encircle it.
Rengoku called out to Roy, bright and direct as a flame. He didn't bother with preface.
"I have a few sword forms I'd like to ask you to critique."
The Flame Pillar bowed low as he said it. For all his fiery urgency, he never forgot courtesy; it was impossible to dislike him.
In the original story, Rengoku Kyōjurō was one of the few Pillars whom everyone loved, second only to the Master. He was called the "warm, big brother" of the Corps. Even the short-tempered Shinazugawa Sanemi and the sharp-tongued Iguro Obanai had little bad to say about him. That alone said enough about just how straightforward and decent he was.
It was precisely because of that that Roy took the Mugen Train mission himself—to keep this man from dying the way he did.
"I wouldn't dare call it critique. Please, go ahead."
"Good."
True to his nature, Rengoku didn't waste words. He drew his blade with a shing and began to demonstrate Flame Breathing beneath the wisteria.
From "First Form: Unknowing Fire" to "Second Form: Rising Scorching Sun," to "Third Form: Blazing Universe," the sword howled and fire bloomed, Rengoku dancing before Roy like a flaming spirit with a blade in his hands.
Roy opened his En and simply watched—and listened. He picked it up even faster than Wind. When Rengoku's final "Ninth Form: Rengoku" burst out as a roaring fire dragon, carving a scorched path through the grove, Roy had already grasped the rhythm and circulation of Flame Breathing.
There was a reason Flame Breathing was considered the closest "successor" to Sun Breathing.
Rengoku lowered his sword with a long exhale, white haori edged with blazing flame patterns. He turned to Roy with utmost seriousness.
Roy didn't answer immediately. He simply extended a hand and laid it lightly on Rengoku's shoulder, pouring a layer of nen imbued with Burning Truth into him.
Fwshhh—
Flames flared to life, red on the outside, white-hot at the core. A cloak of fire wrapped Rengoku from head to toe.
The eldest son of the Rengoku line—who had sworn to inherit the Flame Pillar name even after his father Shinjurō collapsed into despair and refused to train him—had taught himself Flame Breathing through three volumes of manuals, then forged his own unique forms.
But now, as he stood there feeling the difference—with this white-cored fire cloak around him—Rengoku Kyōjurō was shaken.
This fire was not the same as his fire.
Compared to the temperature of this cloak, the "Rengoku" dragon he had just unleashed was nothing more than a "fake dragon"—a paper dragon with impressive shape but no true core.
Where did it go wrong?
Rengoku stared, dazed. He had seen Roy swing that hundred-meter blade of white flame earlier. Now, actually feeling this coat of nen-fire wrapped around him, he understood how huge the gap really was. After a moment he turned back to Roy, eyes burning.
"Why is your fire hotter than mine?"
In nen theory, personality shapes nen, and determines the type and its growth.
Rengoku's personality was more "flame-like" than Roy's; by all rights he should be the one more suited to fire. But he wasn't a nen user—and that single fact locked his limit, and the limits of Himejima, Sanemi, Iguro, Giyu, and all the Pillars, firmly in the category of "human."
A wisteria petal drifted down, brushed Rengoku's shoulder, and instantly charred to ash.
Roy didn't answer at once. He tipped his head back, gazing upward. Rengoku followed his gaze through the clouds, past the birds, into the clear blue sky. At its distant ceiling, he saw a blazing sun pouring light over the world.
"It's the sun," he said quietly.
"That's right. The sun."
Roy raised his hand. The fire cloak peeled off Rengoku's body and flew back, gathering at Roy's fingertip as a small dancing flame.
Rengoku watched as Roy stared into it. For a moment, a hint of divinity seemed to hover over the boy's face.
"You've already figured it out," Roy said. "Your fire is just fire. Mine…"
His deep black eyes flared, two small suns igniting within.
"…mine is the Sun."
Fireflies can't compare to the sun. That's simply how it is.
The flame on his fingertip went puff and vanished, sinking back into Roy's body.
Rengoku was silent for a moment, then smiled broadly.
"As expected of a Sun Breathing user. That perspective is far beyond me."
He praised when it was deserved, scolded when it was needed. He was not the kind to sulk or envy talent. He still remembered what his mother Ruka had once told him: those born strong bear the responsibility of protecting the weak; they must not use their gifts to harm others or hoard gain.
As one of the "weak," Rengoku did not covet Sun Breathing. He simply accepted that Roy's fire outshone his own—then rejoiced that such a person existed.
He clapped Roy's shoulder enthusiastically.
"Urokodaki once said: if anyone can kill Kibutsuji Muzan, it'll certainly be you. At first I didn't believe it. Now…"
Rengoku's eyes blazed like twin flames.
"…now I believe it too."
"No. It'll be everyone."
Roy's dark eyes seemed to see through him.
"I can be the sun; so can you; so can they. Anyone can. And to get there, all it might take is a small step from each person."
"How do we take that step?" Rengoku asked.
"Praise the Sun."
Roy met his gaze.
"Pray sincerely to the Sun. Ask it for divine power—'godforce'—to dispel the darkness and deliver people from torment."
He smiled faintly.
"So, my friend—are you willing to take that step?"
"Can I really?" Rengoku's voice was smaller than usual.
"If I can, you can."
"How?"
"Look at me—and kneel."
Roy's Eye That Shatters Illusion flared, two miniature suns branded into Rengoku's flame-colored pupils. His voice rang like a bell:
"I will walk the world in the Sun's name—and grant you its blessing."
The words weren't loud, but nen carried them straight into Rengoku's heart.
His body trembled. In his mind's eye he saw the sun rising in the east, painting the sky in red light. He saw it sinking in the west, casting the clouds in gold. Then he heard a great bell toll inside his skull, a single resonant dong that made his scalp prickle.
His knee buckled. He dropped to one knee before Roy, bowed his head, and said:
"I am willing."
[Notification: Preaching successful.]
[New Faith: Church of the Sun.]
[Detected believer. Please immediately perform investiture and bind disciple.]
[Believer: Rengoku Kyōjurō]
[Physique: 17 (note: average human = 1; under Breathing, can be multiplied up to 10× → ~170)]
[Manifest nen: none (to be developed)]
[Latent nen: none (to be developed)]
[Loyalty: 51/100 (note: loyalty increases as faith in the Sun deepens. Currently, Rengoku views you as a comrade to whom he can entrust his back.)]
"Very good."
A soft light bloomed in Roy's palm, like something out of a myth. He tapped both of Rengoku's shoulders.
"Congratulations," he said. "From now on, you are also the Sun."
[Notification: Investiture completed.]
[Believer Rengoku Kyōjurō bound.]
[Faith +1.]
…That was it?
Rengoku stood up slowly, suspicion flickering in his eyes—only to take a palm square to the chest.
His flame-tipped hair flew back. For a heartbeat he felt like he was floating. His first instinct was to demand why this so-called "fellow believer" had sucker-punched him—
Then Roy's shout crashed over him.
"Don't lose focus! Lock the divine power inside your body, quickly!"
Only then did Rengoku realize his entire body was wrapped in milky-white energy. As he settled himself and truly sensed it—
All his old chains fell away.
It was like a diseased tree suddenly bursting into new growth. Power surged through him from roots to crown. This… this had to be the "godforce" Roy had spoken of.
The Sun is real… the godforce is real… Kamado Roy—no, "divine envoy"—did not deceive me. I can become the Sun too…
If man flees fate, he is bound tighter by fate.
If he accepts and rides it, he may finally see himself.
"I praise the Sun," Rengoku murmured, palms pressed together like Himejima.
He did exactly as Roy had said, focusing on "locking" the energy into his body.
He truly deserved to be a Pillar. He might not have the raw adaptability of Gon or Killua, but he had the bloodline of generations of Flame Pillars behind him. With Roy's gentle guiding words, he slowly grasped the feel of Ten.
[Notification: Believer Rengoku Kyōjurō's aura nodes have opened.]
[Believer has become a nen user.]
With a single thought, he had taken a step across worlds—from ordinary human into the realm of nen.
Rengoku basked in the sensation of nen flowing in a steady, endless stream through his body. Then he bent one knee again, dropping to the ground and bowing deeply to Roy.
"Thank you, divine envoy, for granting me sight."
"Praise the Sun," Roy said gently, pulling him back up by the arms.
"I can feel the Sun's joy. It says you are a devout believer who carries justice and light in his heart. It has instructed me to bestow upon you the method for cultivating its power."
"Listen carefully…"
He explained Ten, Zetsu, Ren, Hatsu, the Four Major Principles, holding nothing back.
Rengoku listened with absolute focus. As he absorbed each word, he felt more and more the greatness of this "godforce."
Ten could make the body sturdier, keep youth in bloom, sharpen one's mind, allow one to look inward and see oneself. Maintaining Ten would keep his emotions steady, his focus unshaken by outside turmoil. Wrapped around a blade, it could raise the Nichirin sword's power to levels he had never imagined—the way Roy had shown in the courtyard, doing impossible things with the sword and his so-called "walls."
Zetsu could hide his presence, calm his heart, and even fool the ultra-sensitive noses of demons—letting him move in close unhindered.
As for Ren and Hatsu, Roy said little, only telling him to first master Ten—use godforce to temper his body—then combine it with Zetsu to boost his immediate combat power for the upcoming missions. The rest, they would tackle step by step.
Rengoku accepted all of it with sincere gratitude. His heart burned hotter than ever. He pressed his hands together and looked up at the sky.
"Praise the Sun. I will not fail the Sun or its envoy."
Roy touched his brow with two fingers, smiling.
"Remember: the Sun will always be watching you, waiting for your growth."
"Yes!"
When Rengoku looked again, Roy had already let a patch of swamp bloom at his feet and sank into the earth, vanishing into the wisteria forest.
All that was left was the Flame Pillar, staring at the setting sun as it slid toward the western horizon.
He whispered,
"Father, you said no matter how hard I worked, I couldn't change anything… but now…"
He drew his sword.
A casual swing with just a little nen wrapped around the blade sent a flying arc of fire roaring out—stronger and deeper than any "Rengoku" he'd unleashed before.
He turned away. The flame-patterned hem of his haori flared behind him.
"Things are different," he said, eyes steady as he strode toward home. "I'll ask you to watch me properly this time, Father. Your son is not the same anymore."
His footsteps quickened. After Roy, he too disappeared among the trees, more eager than ever to go home.
~~~
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