The boy did not move.
He stood where Ethan had left him, his arm still trembling slightly, his breathing uneven. His eyes avoided Ethan now, fixed somewhere lower, somewhere safer.
He understood.
Not Nen.
Not control.
But hierarchy.
The door opened again.
The man returned, alone this time. His presence filled the room without effort, his gaze passing briefly over the boy before settling on Ethan.
"What you did," he said, "was inefficient."
Not criticism.
Correction.
Ethan remained silent.
"You forced your will against his."
He stepped closer.
"That is the weakest form of manipulation."
Weakest.
The word carried weight.
Ethan listened.
"Aura alone can command," the man continued. "But it consumes energy. It creates resistance. It creates instability."
He paused.
"True control requires structure."
Structure.
Not force.
The man extended his hand toward the boy.
"Watch."
The boy froze instantly, his body reacting to the man's presence before anything else.
"I will not use force," the man said.
He did not release Ren.
He did not increase pressure.
He simply spoke.
"Look at me."
The boy obeyed immediately.
No hesitation.
No resistance.
No struggle.
Ethan observed carefully.
The difference was absolute.
The man had done nothing visible.
And yet, control was complete.
The man released him.
The boy collapsed slightly, catching himself before he fell.
The man turned back to Ethan.
"This is the difference between force… and authority."
He stepped closer.
"To control efficiently, you must create conditions."
Conditions.
"Rules."
"Limitations."
"Meaning."
He let the words settle.
"Aura obeys structure more willingly than it obeys force."
He paused.
"This is the foundation of advanced Hatsu."
Not command alone.
Contract.
Restriction.
Exchange.
Ethan understood.
Not fully.
But enough.
The man turned toward the door.
"Your ability will not be defined by how much you control," he said.
He stopped.
"It will be defined by how well you define control."
Then he left.
The door closed behind him.
Silence returned.
The boy remained in the room, but Ethan no longer looked at him.
He looked inward.
Conditions.
Structure.
Nen was not just power.
It was agreement.
Between will and reality.
And those who defined the agreement—
Defined the outcome.