[Hunter x Hunter] Scamming My Way to the Top

[Tonyloco]

I just binge watched this one, its a good story but sadly it's not the kind of story that a lot of people would read.

Still Tompa is a great SI, not the usual type we get here but he's more believable than most stories I seen lately.

The system feels more like someone watching his antics and having fun at his expense, than an automated thing.

For example the more attention he gets and powerful enemies he gets will sooner or later have someone investigate on his past, and discover his lies...

Unless whoever is messing around with him actually makes them real, and retroactively or by some other way actually makes his the son of a family of thieves with special nen abilities.

That's would be such a fuck up moment for him is someone reads his past and it's more or less the lies he created.

Looking forward to more.

 

[Pollyamorous]

Could always blame the previous #4, Omokage. Honestly considering the lie it even seems like something he would do.

Click to shrink...

Hm, would it be better to blame him directly, or just stay silent? Because if he stays silent then the other Spiders would probably come to that conclusion on their own, but it also puts him at some risk if they come to the conclusion he's lying. But if he describes him directly then it could make the belief more firm but also put his current lie of "my trauma makes me unable to remember his appearance" at risk of being unraveled.

...Though with how Tonpa is spinning his tales, he might just try and come up with another entirely new lie that ends up making him dig himself even deeper in his pit of criss-crossing lies.

 

[Boumargood]

• ────────── ◆ ────────── •

Chapter 80: Suspicious Generosity

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​

The Status Panel finished forming before Tonpa's eyes. He slowly stood and cast one last glance at his companions.

Gon was asleep near the embers, one hand resting on his bag. Leorio lay on his side, while Kurapika had chosen a position that would let him see the cave entrance the moment he opened his eyes. Killua remained against the wall, so still that Tonpa suspected he might be pretending to sleep too.

He waited several breaths.

No one moved.

His offer to keep watch had finally put an end to their questions. He wanted time to examine his rewards and upgrade his stats without someone interpreting every smile as another symptom of poisoning.

He returned his attention to the panel and forgot about the entrance.

[Level: 4]

[Experience Points: 10,770/5,400]

[Strength: C] [Upgrade: 10,000 Nen Points]

[Speed: C] [Upgrade: 10,000 Nen Points]

[Flexibility: D] [Upgrade: 1,000 Nen Points]

[Endurance: C] [Upgrade: 10,000 Nen Points]

[Intelligence: D] [Upgrade: 1,000 Nen Points]

[Talent: E]

[Nen Points: 9,130]

[Free Stat Upgrades Available: 2]

Tonpa's eyes passed over the stats once, then returned to the top.

Strength, C. Speed, C. Flexibility, D.

Endurance…

He stopped.

Leaning closer to the panel, he read the line again.

[Endurance: C]

He did not trust what he was seeing. Before deciding his eyes were lying to him, he selected the stat.

A small window expanded beneath it.

[Endurance has naturally advanced from D to C.]

Tonpa's finger froze in front of the letter.

The last time he had checked his status, Endurance had been Rank D. He checked his remaining Free Stat Upgrades, then his balance, before looking at the bite marks on his arm.

'Were those spiders trying to train me? They could have charged less.'

[Reason for Advancement: The Host's body was exposed to a large quantity of venom, resisted its effects, and successfully recovered.]

[Trait Acquired: Poison Resistance.]

[Reduces the effects of poisons on the Host, depending on their type and potency.]

Tonpa read the last line slowly and felt an almost childish urge to laugh.

The experience had left him with more than pain. It had given his body something permanent.

'I was poisoned and gained Poison Resistance. By that logic, will throwing myself off a mountain give me Falling Resistance?'

He buried the idea before the System could hear it and turn it into a quest.

Raising Endurance from D to C would have cost a thousand Nen Points. He had obtained it because the spiders had nearly killed him.

Even so, he could not stop his excitement from growing. Stats were not doors that could only be opened with points or rewards. His body had advanced a rank on its own.

Before he could begin asking his usual questions of a System that never answered, another notice appeared.

[Stats can advance naturally through sufficient training, repeated use, or adaptation to harsh conditions.]

[The requirements for natural advancement increase with rank.]

Tonpa's smile widened.

Points were not the only way.

They were merely a shortcut.

He could train his Speed, strengthen his body, and practice the Finger Sutra until his stats improved without having to pay every time. For the first time, the System seemed a little less like a shop keeping his future locked behind its prices.

He immediately began considering the possibilities. Running every day might improve his Speed. Strength training would benefit both his body and the Finger Sutra. Even Flexibility could be improved without waiting to collect another thousand points. He did not know how much training it would take, or whether the System measured progress gradually or only acknowledged it once a stat crossed into the next rank. But simply knowing another path existed changed how he viewed every hour he spent outside combat.

Until now, he had thought of training as a punishment strong people inflicted on themselves because they did not have a System. Apparently, they might have the better financial strategy.

Then he looked at the bite marks on his arm, and his smile faded a little.

'If ordinary training takes time, and the fast version requires nearly dying, the System has managed to sell me on points again.'

At least he was more resistant to poison. That did not mean he could drink it instead of water or sleep among spiders, but he might have a better chance of surviving if another applicant tried to poison him.

More importantly, he had saved a thousand points.

Tonpa reopened the Free Stat Upgrade menu.

His gaze paused on Speed.

He was satisfied with it for now. It had not made him the fastest person on the island, but it had allowed him to snatch Badges and escape opponents he preferred to avoid.

The problem came when he had to hit someone.

He remembered his fist striking Hisoka's stomach. The pain traveling back into his wrist. The body that had not even bent. Without the distraction before the punch, he would have gained nothing worth mentioning.

'I reach my opponent, punch him, and somehow I'm the one in pain. That arrangement needs work.'

He moved to Strength.

He could improve Speed later. Right now, he wanted his punches to do more than inform his opponents that he was angry. The Finger Sutra gave him another reason. He was not going to endure the humiliation of its movements for a weak attack.

Two upgrades would take Strength from C to B, then from B to A.

Ten thousand points saved on the first. A hundred thousand on the second.

A full hundred and ten thousand points.

He looked at his balance, then back at the number of Free Stat Upgrades.

'Finally, a reward I can put to proper use.'

He focused on Strength.

[Would you like to use a Free Stat Upgrade?]

[Upgrade Strength from C to B.]

[Yes/No]

He selected Yes.

His entire body seized at once.

Tonpa clenched his jaw to keep from making a sound. A dense pressure spread from his bones into his muscles, nothing like the gentle warmth of his previous upgrades. It felt as though every tendon in his body were being pulled to its limit, then secured back in place, stronger than before.

His knees bent, and he lowered himself until one rested on the ground. As the pressure began to ease, he placed his palm against the stone to steady himself.

A faint sound reached his ears.

Tonpa froze, then lifted his hand.

Fine cracks spread beneath the spot where his fingers had pressed.

He stared at them, his mouth slightly open.

'I didn't even hit it.'

He raised his head toward his companions.

The sound did not seem to have woken anyone.

He carefully moved his fingers. Suddenly, the sleeping bodies around him looked far more fragile than he wanted them to.

When his Strength had risen from D to C, the improvement had been obvious. This time, the difference felt immeasurable. He had more than greater strength now. He would have to be careful not to apply the same effort he was used to in the wrong situation.

The confirmation appeared.

[Strength: B]

[Free Stat Upgrades Available: 1]

He rose carefully, relying on his legs and avoiding the use of his hands for support.

Then he selected Strength again.

If B had done this, what would A do?

His smile began to widen as he waited for the confirmation prompt.

A different window appeared.

[Unable to perform upgrade.]

His smile stopped.

[Advancing Strength to Rank A requires Endurance of Rank B or higher.]

[Current Endurance: C.]

[The Free Stat Upgrade has not been consumed.]

Tonpa stared at the message, then read it again.

'Damn you. You waited until I was reaching for those hundred thousand points to mention this?'

His gaze shifted to Endurance.

He could use his remaining upgrade to raise it to B. Then his body would be ready for the Strength he no longer had a free upgrade to obtain.

He pressed his lips together.

He needed two more upgrades.

He had one.

'Where was this requirement when I upgraded my stats before?'

No answer appeared.

He moved his hand in irritation, and his eyes stopped on the cracks beneath his feet.

His earlier upgrades had never made him afraid to lean against the ground. Even the jump from D to C had not produced such an enormous difference. Perhaps the smaller increases had been within what his body could handle. The power beyond B might require more than muscles capable of producing it.

He looked at his palm and slowly closed his hand.

'Wonderful. I can have the strength, provided I buy a body that can survive using it first.'

There was another solution.

He was only eight hundred and seventy points short of buying the Endurance upgrade. He could hold on to the free reward until he earned them, then raise Strength to A as planned.

He considered that for a moment.

Then his gaze moved to Speed.

He had been satisfied with it when it accompanied his previous Strength. But his fist could now inflict greater damage. Reaching an opponent faster would help him use it, as would getting out of the way before the counterattack landed.

His new Strength would not make up for missing the opportunity to hit someone.

He looked at the cracks again.

'Smashing the rock my opponent was standing in front of a moment ago won't do me much good.'

Waiting would save more points. There was no doubt about that. But until he earned the rest, it would leave him with his new Strength and his old Speed, on an island where he had already nearly died more than once.

Upgrading Speed now would give him a better way to use that Strength—and a better fallback if it proved insufficient.

He exhaled through his nose, irritated by where the calculation had led him.

'Ninety thousand points in savings, given up so I can be better prepared for the next disaster. It had better take its time arriving.'

He selected Speed.

A stronger punch, a better chance of landing it, and faster feet if it failed to produce the desired result. He would need training to learn how to use the two together, but he preferred to start now.

'And if he doesn't like the punch, I won't stay to hear his complaint.'

[Would you like to use a Free Stat Upgrade?]

[Upgrade Speed from C to B.]

[Yes/No]

He selected Yes.

Heat surged into his legs, then traveled up his spine to the back of his head.

A tingling sensation ran down both legs and vanished.

He moved one foot to test it. It responded faster than expected and nearly struck a rock in front of him. He pulled it back at once, but the second movement was faster than the first.

He stood still after both movements, stunned by a body that had corrected its mistake before he fully understood it.

'If this is Rank B Speed, I've spent my entire life standing in a queue.'

[Speed: B]

[Free Stat Upgrades Available: 0]

Tonpa carefully closed and opened his fist.

He felt as though he were overflowing with power. The body he had awakened in—weak, heavy, and complaining after every run—now possessed both Strength and Speed at Rank B.

His frustration over the upgrade he had missed eased a little.

And he was not finished.

He focused on Flexibility.

[Would you like to upgrade Flexibility from D to C?]

[Cost: 1,000 Nen Points.]

He accepted.

[Flexibility upgraded from D to C.]

Tonpa slowly rotated his shoulder. The joint moved with unfamiliar ease, but he stopped when pain pulled at his side.

He remained still for a moment, then tried a smaller movement. The injury had not disappeared, but his body offered noticeably less resistance. He bent his knees and lowered himself slightly, careful not to strain his side. A position that had once required effort now felt easier.

He straightened, his eyes wide with surprise.

'Excellent. I can now escape trouble at more angles.'

He moved to Intelligence.

[Would you like to upgrade Intelligence from D to C?]

[Cost: 1,000 Nen Points.]

He accepted again.

[Intelligence upgraded from D to C.]

The day's details passed through his mind at once: the cave's location, the number of Badges, the lie about his brother, the System's rewards, and the flaws in his plan.

These were not new memories, but he could see them arranged through connections he had not noticed before.

His eyebrows rose.

'Wonderful. I can now understand my bad decisions with scientific precision.'

He looked at Talent.

[Talent: E]

[This stat cannot be upgraded directly.]

'Of course. Letting me buy perfection all at once would have upset you.'

He summoned his full Status Panel again.

[Level: 4]

[Experience Points: 10,770/5,400]

[Strength: B] [Upgrade: 100,000 Nen Points]

[Speed: B] [Upgrade: 100,000 Nen Points]

[Flexibility: C] [Upgrade: 10,000 Nen Points]

[Endurance: C] [Upgrade: 10,000 Nen Points]

[Intelligence: C] [Upgrade: 10,000 Nen Points]

[Talent: E]

[Nen Points: 7,130]

[Free Stat Upgrades Available: 0]

[Trait: Poison Resistance]

Tonpa read the list slowly.

Only hours earlier, he had been unable to stand. Killua had needed to catch him before he hit the ground. A few days before that, his best plan for danger had been to run until he found someone slower.

Now, he felt as though he had replaced his entire body while keeping the same face to continue ruining his reputation.

The changes did not feel as separate as he had expected. His new Strength inhabited a more flexible body. His fatigue had eased, and the differences had become easier to follow and understand. Even standing felt different. He was lighter on his feet, steadier through his shoulders, and better able to go from stillness to movement.

For a moment, he had the strange feeling that the body he had awakened in was finally becoming his. It was no longer merely a miserable vessel he had found himself trapped inside. It was a tool he had rebuilt, one rank at a time.

Tonpa closed his fist, feeling enough power to turn his smile into something more sinister.

Hisoka's face appeared in his mind.

'I'm coming for you. And I'll skin you with my own hands.'

His courage lasted two seconds before he remembered that he had not tested Rank B Strength, had not mastered the Finger Sutra, and still could not use Nen beyond a rudimentary Zetsu that might fail if he sneezed.

'Impressive. Arrogance alone jumped from E to S.'

He looked at his hands and laughed inwardly.

He had not expected to be this talented.

Then he corrected the thought with a small measure of honesty.

'Talented, and funded by nine thousand points, two rewards, and a thorough poisoning.'

Excitement kept urging him to move. He wanted to leave the cave, find a distant rock, and test his Speed, Strength, and Finger Sutra far from the sleeping heads around him. He carefully headed toward the entrance but stopped after his second step.

An option was blinking at the edge of his vision.

[Level Advancement Available.]

He had nearly forgotten it while absorbed in his stats.

His Experience Points exceeded the requirement by more than five thousand. All he needed to do was accept, and he would advance from Level 4 to Level 5.

He returned to his place beside the wall and slowly sat down.

At Level 3, he had received a Free Stat Upgrade and the Skill Upgrade System. At Level 4, he had received another free upgrade and Spatial Storage. If the System continued being this generous, Level 5 might give him another upgrade.

His eyes moved to Endurance.

One more free upgrade would raise it to B and satisfy the requirement that had ruined his plan. It would not immediately grant him Rank A Strength, but it would save him ten thousand points and bring it closer.

Some satisfaction returned to his face.

He had not forgotten that every previous gift had come after a risk or a requirement the System had failed to explain properly. But at that moment, he was too wealthy and powerful to let caution do its job.

'Come on. Change the number, wait a little, then pretend you've remembered the gift. I know your routine now.'

He focused on the option.

[Level Advancement Requirements Met.]

[Would the Host like to advance to Level 5?]

[Yes/No]

He eagerly selected Yes.

The panel disappeared.

He waited for heat, pain, or the strange pressure that had accompanied some of his previous upgrades.

Nothing happened.

'Here we go again.'

Ding!

[The Host has advanced to Level 5.]

[Experience Points: 10,770/16,200]

[The reward for reaching Level 5 has been determined.]

Tonpa leaned forward, waiting for the words he remembered from his previous two Level Advancements.

Golden light gathered beneath the message.

[The Host has obtained…]

His smile began to widen. He could almost see the words Free Stat Upgrade before the message was complete.

But what appeared next was not a stat upgrade.

[Item…]

His smile froze.

The line finished forming before his eyes.

[The Host has obtained an extremely rare item.]

Tonpa forgot to breathe.

'…An extremely rare item?'

_______________________________

Bonus chapter after 2 Hour

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[Boumargood]

• ────────── ◆ ────────── •

Chapter 81: Talent in a Capsule

• ────────── ◆ ────────── •
​

Tonpa kept staring at the notification, momentarily forgetting the rock he had intended to go outside and smash.

[The Host has obtained an extremely rare item.]

The System was not usually generous. When it finally decided to be, it chose the middle of the night, with Tonpa surrounded by four people—one of whom might wake up if a speck of dust breathed too loudly.

Another window appeared beneath the notification.

[Would the Host like to receive the item?]

[Yes/No]

Tonpa raised an eyebrow.

'No. Keep it until I find someone more deserving.'

He selected Yes before the System could realize that its question was too stupid to deserve an answer.

Ding!

[Item Received: Nen Elixir.]

Tonpa stopped breathing for a moment.

'Nen… Elixir?'

The window moved closer, and another line appeared beneath the name.

[Rarity: Extremely Rare.]

[Effect: Raises the user's Talent by one rank.]

He read the line once.

Then he read it again, slowly, making sure his excitement had not supplied the words he wanted to see.

It raised Talent by an entire rank.

He reopened his Status Panel, and his eyes settled on the one stat that had mocked him ever since the System appeared.

[Talent: E]

[This stat cannot be upgraded directly.]

A few minutes earlier, he had looked at that line and reluctantly accepted that Talent could not be bought. Now the System had announced a reward capable of doing what his Nen Points could not.

The corners of his mouth lifted before he remembered the sleepers around him and lowered his head, pretending to examine the marks the venom had left on his arm.

'Over seven thousand points, practically a new body, and now better Talent. If the System keeps being this generous, I'll start looking for the trap beneath the gifts.'

A red light flashed in his palm.

When it faded, a small glass capsule rested between his fingers. It was no longer than the tip of his thumb and contained a dark red liquid that moved sluggishly, thicker than water and clearer than blood.

He raised it toward the glow of the embers, then looked back at the name suspended before him.

[Nen Elixir.]

'At least if it's poisoned, I gained Poison Resistance a few minutes ago. An excellent plan, provided the reward doesn't have a sense of humor.'

He turned the capsule between his fingers, then glanced at Killua. The boy's eyes remained closed, his back against the wall. Neither Gon nor Kurapika moved. Leorio let out a brief snore that quickly stopped.

There would be no better opportunity.

Tonpa carefully opened the capsule and brought it to his nose. It had almost no smell, apart from a faint trace of something like herbs after rain.

'If I'd tried selling this in my previous life, I would have needed a sales page longer than my fake family history.'

The rim touched his lips.

He hesitated for a single moment.

Then he swallowed all of it.

The liquid was cold in his mouth, but it turned pleasantly warm as soon as it reached his throat. The sensation flowed through his chest and stomach, then slowly spread into his limbs. It felt nothing like the intense pressure of raising Strength to B, or the heat that had surged into his legs when he upgraded Speed.

It was gentler.

And deeper.

He sent the empty capsule into Spatial Storage, then rested his hand on his knee.

It felt as though something inside his body had finally loosened. Until now, all he could do with his aura was shut off its flow through a rudimentary Zetsu. Now it felt clearer at the edges of his awareness. Not stronger, but easier to sense, as though the hinges of a heavy door had been oiled for the first time.

Tonpa closed his eyes, enjoying the relief.

The pleasure lasted three seconds.

Then the smell reached him.

His eyes snapped open, and he looked at his arms. A thin film of dark sweat had appeared on his skin. Sticky gray impurities gathered around his neck and on his palms, giving off a stench that made him turn his face away from his own body.

Tonpa silently cursed the original Tonpa, then cursed the body that managed to turn every upgrade into a cleaning project.

'What was the original Tonpa doing with this body? Eating out of the applicants' garbage?'

'Fine, some of the damage might be recent. But I'll blame him out of respect for chronological order.'

Gon stirred near the embers, his nose wrinkling.

Tonpa froze.

The boy remained asleep.

Tonpa tore a piece from the hem of his ruined shirt and quickly wiped his neck, palms, and arms. He folded the cloth around the grime and immediately sent it into Spatial Storage, leaving the problem of cleaning it to a future version of himself who would be less pleased with the reward.

The smell faded enough for him to breathe again.

Ding!

[Nen Elixir successfully consumed.]

[Talent: E → D]

Tonpa fixed his eyes on the new letter.

D.

For the first time, his Talent was no longer stuck at Rank E. He had not become a Nen prodigy, and aura had not erupted from his body. But he had officially escaped the rank that had always seemed like the System's polite way of calling him hopeless.

Before he could enjoy that for long, the Nen section of his Status Panel flickered.

The red numbers that had appeared when he reached Level 2—and had irritated him whenever he remembered them—began changing one after another.

[Ten: 0%] [10% → 28%]

[Zetsu: 2%] [10% → 28%]

[Ren: 0%] [10% → 28%]

[Hatsu: 0%] [10% → 28%]

Tonpa's eyes widened.

Twenty-eight percent.

The System had never confirmed that the red numbers represented the limits of his Talent, but he had suspected it ever since they appeared. Now, the moment his Talent rose by one rank, all four numbers had jumped from ten to twenty-eight.

The increase had not granted him free mastery. Three techniques remained at zero, and Zetsu was still at two percent. But the change strengthened his suspicion that those numbers were connected to his Talent and what he could achieve through training.

If he was right, the capsule had opened a wider path without sparing him the effort of walking it.

'Thank you.'

He waited a moment, then added silently:

'Don't get used to hearing that.'

He dismissed the elixir's window but did not close the System yet. Remembering the looks the others had given him after he woke up, he opened the Trust record to see how much had changed since he last checked.

No chime sounded. The names appeared quietly before him, each accompanied by its previous and current percentage.

[Gon Freecss's Trust: 30% → 38%]

[Killua Zoldyck's Trust: 19% → 27%]

[Kurapika's Trust: 20% → 28%]

[Leorio's Trust: 25% → 33%]

Tonpa remained still, then looked at the sleepers one by one.

Eight percentage points from each of them.

The increase had not come from the story about his brother. No new Trust notification had appeared afterward. Those percentages had already risen before he told it.

When he approached the corpse guarded by spiders, suffered their bites, and lost consciousness holding the antidote Leorio needed, they had seen something entirely different from what had been going through his head.

'I said I had a plan, let the spiders eat me, and passed out. Apparently, the difference between sacrifice and stupidity depends on where you're watching from.'

Killua's jump from nineteen to twenty-seven explained the quest completion notification that had been waiting when Tonpa woke up. The other three had moved even further beyond the requirement.

'All that earlier nonsense paid off in the end. It just needed real venom and several hours of unconsciousness.'

He closed the panel, then carefully stood.

He needed to test the body he had spent a fortune on before anyone began to stir—or Killua woke up and decided to watch him. He moved slowly toward the cave entrance, choosing spots clear of loose stones.

As he passed Killua, he stopped.

The boy's breathing had not changed.

Tonpa shut off his aura with Zetsu.

This time, it responded more quickly. He did not have to chase down the small leaks around his shoulders and arms as he usually did. His Zetsu remained far from perfect, with mastery still at only two percent, but his aura drew inward so smoothly that he understood the effect of his improved Talent for the first time.

'So I didn't pay the price of that smell just for a prettier letter.'

He took short steps, maintaining his concentration until he passed through the entrance.

The cold night air greeted him, carrying the remaining smell away from the cave. About ten seconds after he started moving, he felt aura begin leaking around his arms again. He stopped beside a rock and let the attempt end before trying to fix it distracted him from his surroundings.

Shutting off his aura had become easier. Maintaining it while moving still needed practice.

He stood there for a few moments, listening to the trees and the darkness. He saw no other fires and heard no human footsteps, but the island still held applicants hunting one another for Badges.

Even when Zetsu worked, it concealed his aura—not his body, his footsteps, or his new smell.

He moved carefully between the rocks, following a winding route through their shadows without going far enough to lose his way back. Rank B Speed urged him to break into a run, but he resisted until he found a suitable place.

A rocky slope stretched before him, surrounded by scattered trees. Stones of various sizes covered the ground, and he could see no fresh footprints in the dirt.

He waited a full minute.

Nothing moved.

He chose a large rock near the bottom of the slope. It reached roughly to his waist, with half of it buried in the ground. He estimated that the exposed portion alone weighed about half a ton.

He stood before it and stretched his fingers.

He did not want to use the Finger Sutra yet. First, he needed to know what his new Strength could do with an ordinary punch.

He planted his feet and turned his waist slightly.

Pain pulled at his side, stopping him.

He looked at the bandages showing beneath his shirt, then let out a short breath through his nose.

'Right. The wound didn't get its share of the rewards.'

He adjusted his stance, reduced the twist, and drove a straight punch into the middle of the rock.

The crack of the impact rang across the slope.

Fractures branched out from his fist, and the rock broke apart into several large chunks. Two slid across the dirt as smaller stones scattered around his feet.

It was louder than he had expected.

Tonpa pulled his hand back and immediately turned toward the route leading to the cave. He listened to the darkness, cursing his enthusiasm, while a small fragment rolled to a stop beside his shoe.

He heard no movement or approaching footsteps, but the irony did not escape him.

'Rank B Strength is excellent. My ability to conduct a secret test just dropped to F.'

He waited a little longer before looking back at his fist.

His skin was not bleeding.

His knuckles were intact.

He had not even felt the pain he had expected from hitting stone with his bare hand.

He opened and closed his fingers once, then looked at what remained of the rock.

A laugh rose in his throat. He swallowed it before it could carry through the trees to the cave.

'I smashed half a ton, and the only casualty was my old opinion of myself.'

He stepped back several paces and tested his legs.

Choosing two rocks a considerable distance apart, he fixed his eyes on the second and launched himself forward.

The first vanished from beside him.

The second approached faster than he expected.

He planted his foot to stop, but his momentum carried him past the point he had chosen. At the last moment, he swerved around the rock, swinging several meters wide before he could slow down.

His foot slipped on loose gravel. He spread his arms, regained his balance, and stood staring at how far he had overshot.

His eyes widened.

Rank C Speed had not been slow. It had made him faster than most ordinary applicants and allowed him to escape situations in which the original Tonpa would have needed a slower victim.

Rank B was something else.

'Wonderful. I can reach the rock before I remember how to stop.'

He tried again, using less force this time and starting to slow down earlier. He stopped closer to where he intended, though he still needed an extra step to steady himself.

For the next attempt, he chose a route between three widely spaced rocks.

His improved Flexibility helped him turn, but the first corner took him wider than he intended. He slowed before the second, then rounded the third more carefully.

His body could make the movements.

The problem was that his judgment of distance and timing still worked at his old speed.

After several short attempts, he stopped on a low rock. His breathing remained steady, but the last turn had brought the ache back to his side. He rested a hand over it and waited for it to ease.

He did not need to reopen the wound to prove that his upgrades worked.

He looked at the rocks he had been weaving between, and excitement began crowding out caution again.

He suspected that, in raw speed, he might no longer be far behind the fastest applicants. Killua, Hisoka, Illumi, and Hanzo came to mind, but he had not measured his speed against any of theirs.

And what had happened at the second rock did little to convince him that arriving quickly amounted to a complete fighting skill.

'A few days ago, I picked someone slower so I could survive. Now I need someone faster to find out where my limits are.'

He stepped down from the rock and headed toward the far end of the slope.

A larger mass of stone stood there, joined to the mountainside itself. Breaking it with an ordinary punch was not what he had come to test.

He stopped before it.

Slowly, he raised his right hand.

The knowledge transferred from the book returned in clear detail: the placement of his feet, the angle of his arm, and the index finger at whose tip the power was meant to gather.

Then he remembered the movement that came before all of that.

His smile faded.

He looked behind him, then toward the trees on either side of the slope.

He saw no one.

'God damn whoever created this art—and the System for deciding I was the right person for it.'

He was prepared to accept pain, exhaustion, and even the possibility of failure.

Shaking his backside in front of a rock to gather power in his finger, however, remained difficult for his dignity to embrace.

He clenched his jaw and pointed his index finger at the stone.

He had come out here specifically to try it. He was not going back now just because some nameless man had invented a martial art that could not be practiced with dignity.

He planted his feet, then cast one last glance behind him.

'You'd better be worth the humiliation.'

Only the rock stood before him.

That, at least, made getting started a little easier.


_______________________________

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[Winmantis]

This chapter was quite frustrating. We are supposed to assume he is capable of long term planning while regularly forgetting important details(like his potential free upgrade point from levelling up) and impulsively wasting opportunities. The annoying part is that the author has shown that he can plan and think these things through so the hand of the author in nerfing his MC is even more obvious.

 

[Boumargood]

This chapter was quite frustrating. We are supposed to assume he is capable of long term planning while regularly forgetting important details(like his potential free upgrade point from levelling up) and impulsively wasting opportunities. The annoying part is that the author has shown that he can plan and think these things through so the hand of the author in nerfing his MC is even more obvious.

Click to shrink...

Fair point about checking the level-up reward first. That would have been the smarter order, and he got carried away with the stat upgrades.

The Speed choice itself was deliberate, though. He explicitly considers waiting until he can afford Endurance B and then using the free upgrade for Strength A. He chooses immediate mobility and a better chance of surviving instead, knowing he's sacrificing long-term value.

Asnous was an ordinary online scammer, not a trained strategist. He can plan, but he can also get frightened, excited, and overlook things. That said, I understand why repeated oversights could start to feel like the author holding him back. Those mistakes still need to feel believable.

 

[Winmantis]

Fair point about checking the level-up reward first. That would have been the smarter order, and he got carried away with the stat upgrades.

The Speed choice itself was deliberate, though. He explicitly considers waiting until he can afford Endurance B and then using the free upgrade for Strength A. He chooses immediate mobility and a better chance of surviving instead, knowing he's sacrificing long-term value.

Asnous was an ordinary online scammer, not a trained strategist. He can plan, but he can also get frightened, excited, and overlook things. That said, I understand why repeated oversights could start to feel like the author holding him back. Those mistakes still need to feel believable.

Click to shrink...

Yeah, I made a point to call it frustrating, not bad because it is still a great story. And you have done a good job so far in making the protagonist very clever in most areas.
The biggest frustration is not that he occasionally overlooks things, but that the things he overlooks are so often related to getting more powerful. I feel like just about any smart person given all of the time he has had to think so far(assuming he is capable of thinking of screen) would at this point have a well developed plan for which stats to prioritize and not leave it up to the last minute as he seems to do every time.

 

[Boumargood]

• ────────── ◆ ────────── •

Chapter 82: One Finger

• ────────── ◆ ────────── •
​

Tonpa remained before the mass of rock, his index finger pointed at it as the details of the Finger Sutra rose to the forefront of his memory.

Pointing his finger was not enough.

Ten full shakes.

He lowered his eyes to his waist, then looked back at the rock.

'Couldn't that bastard have chosen clapping? Even shouting would have left me some dignity.'

He planted his feet as the knowledge instructed and bent his knees slightly. He began the motion, then stopped before completing it.

The rock stood before him. The trees stood behind him. And there he was between them, preparing to shake his backside so he could fire an attack from his finger.

He did not need an audience to feel humiliated.

He closed his eyes and slowly exhaled.

'Damn the creator of this art, and the System for choosing it for me. I have a feeling those two know each other.'

He let the details settle into order, setting his irritation aside.

The Finger Sutra was an offensive martial art with ten levels. The first used a single finger of the practitioner's choice. The second added another, and each subsequent level continued the progression until all ten fingers could be used together.

Within the art, the index finger was no better than the little finger, nor was the thumb stronger than the ring finger. What determined the level was the number of fingers carrying the power when it was released.

With each additional finger, that power did not simply divide between them.

It increased, demanding more energy in turn.

As for the shakes, they were not merely some ridiculous requirement he could bypass once he understood the trick.

A beginner needed ten properly executed shakes to fully charge the first level. As his control improved, he could gather and contain the same power with fewer, until a single shake was enough.

Stopping at the ninth shake did not count as progress.

It meant an incomplete charge.

Once he mastered charging and releasing the attack with a single shake, he would be qualified to begin learning the second level, where he would start again with ten.

Tonpa looked at his finger, then curled the others more tightly.

'So surviving the humiliation once isn't enough. I have to master it.'

The knowledge carried a warning clearer than the rest of the instructions. Attempting a higher level before mastering the previous one could cause the accumulated power to run wild inside his body instead of traveling toward the target.

It was more than an attack failing.

The energy could tear through the tissues along its path, or erupt before he released it and kill him.

Mastery was only one requirement. His body also needed enough energy to support the level he used. Knowing the method did not give him the resources to perform it.

Tonpa loosened his fist a little.

One finger, then.

He had made enough bad decisions for one day.

He reviewed the stance for releasing the attack and the path the power would follow. The Sutra did not require him to use Ten or Ren. What the knowledge called "internal power" was his body's energy, gathered through the required motion and directed through his waist, back, shoulder, and arm until it settled at his fingertip.

The instructions were precise about gathering, concentrating, and releasing that power.

But none of the knowledge he had received taught him how to dodge a punch or evade a knife. The Sutra contained no evasive footwork or movement style he could follow in combat.

Tonpa looked at his feet, then at the rock.

Nothing in the instructions required him to remain in one place. Perhaps he could perform the shakes while moving, provided he maintained the proper motion and the flow of power.

That was more bearable than standing here silently shaking his backside.

'I'll move as though I'm dodging an attack. At least it'll look like I'm having trouble with an opponent, not my trousers.'

The idea was not part of the Sutra. It was his own attempt to make using it less embarrassing—and perhaps less dangerous if he ever had to charge it in front of someone trying to kill him.

Ever since he woke up in Tonpa's body, his problem had been greater than weak stats. Upgrades had given him Strength, then Speed, Flexibility, and Endurance, but he had never possessed a real way to combine them in a fight. He could punch, run, and set traps. Someone like Bodoro, however, could read his stance before he even raised a hand.

The Sutra might give him a dangerous attack.

Staying out of his opponent's reach until it was ready was something he would have to learn himself.

He moved several steps away from the rock.

He drew a slow breath.

In his imagination, Bodoro appeared before him, standing straight with both fists steady. Tonpa remembered the punch the old man had thrown at Karto, how it had driven forward from his shoulder without a wasted movement.

The imagined fist shot toward his face.

Tonpa moved his right foot back, pivoted on the ball of it, and lowered his shoulder. The phantom attack passed beside his cheek, and he followed the dodge with the motion the Sutra required.

Or tried to.

He had cut it too short, merely turning his hips as he stepped.

Nothing gathered.

He stopped and gritted his teeth.

The instructions told him exactly what he had done wrong. Shifting his feet was no substitute for the required shake, however much more respectable it looked.

'Even cheating at shaking my backside is forbidden. Strict rules indeed.'

He reset his stance, then replaced Bodoro with an image of Karto. A short knife drove toward his ribs, followed by a quick turn aimed at his neck.

Tonpa ducked beneath the imagined blade, but twisted further than his injured side allowed.

Pain pulled at the wound.

He stopped at once and pressed a hand over the bandages.

The pain lingered briefly before easing. It was not sharp enough to bring him down, but it reminded him that his new body still carried an old injury.

He adjusted the distance between his feet and reduced the twist of his torso. He could take an extra step instead of forcing his waist into a painful angle.

He tried the dodge again.

This time, he attempted to escape the phantom knife's path with two crossing steps, but his heel caught behind his other leg. He awkwardly untangled his feet and had to take another step sideways to keep from falling.

For a moment, he stared down at them.

Rank B Speed let him move, and Rank C Flexibility allowed the necessary angles, but imagining a dodge was not enough to master it.

'An opponent from my own imagination, and I nearly fell before he touched me. A promising start.'

He slowed down.

There was no real opponent forcing him to hurry.

He returned to his starting position, keeping his right index finger extended while his other hand rested near his chest.

He imagined Bodoro's punch.

He stepped back at an angle and completed a full shake as his feet settled.

'One.'

A faint tension formed in his lower back, distinct from the pain in his side.

He moved left, then repeated the shake before shifting his weight to the other foot.

'Two.'

The absurdity had not disappeared, but it was less obvious between the steps. He could imagine it as an unusual dodge if he avoided looking at the part doing the actual work.

On the third, he felt a faint warmth begin to gather.

He continued.

He slipped beneath an imagined blow without ducking as low as before and completed the fourth. Then he moved away with a short step and followed it with the fifth.

The steps themselves did not build the charge. Each time he completed the required shake, he felt power gather. When he merely changed position, the sensation remained unchanged.

'Five. Don't stop now. You've already paid half the price in dignity.'

He completed the sixth and seventh, keeping his breathing steady.

Pressure gathered in his lower back, then began flowing toward his right shoulder. No light appeared around his body, and the rocks before him did not change, but his arm grew a little heavier with each correctly executed motion.

On the eighth, his curled fingers trembled.

On the ninth, he felt the pressure reach his wrist.

He looked up at the rock.

The mass jutted from the slope, joined to it along its left edge. He shifted a step until he faced the protruding section. Beyond it lay a narrow gap, then a tree among the rocks.

He fixed his aim.

One shake remained.

He performed it as he shifted his weight onto his leading foot.

'Ten.'

Power surged into his index finger.

The skin tightened, as though something too large for it were trying to pass through.

The knowledge told him he could disperse the power now and end the attempt without firing.

He looked at the rock.

'I came here to find out what you can do, not learn how to retreat from my own finger.'

He adjusted his shoulder, avoiding a broad twist that would pull at his side. Keeping his other fingers curled, he aimed his index finger at the middle of the protruding section.

He thrust his arm forward.

His index finger stiffened. Pressure crowded into its tip until he thought the skin might split.

'Out.'

He released the power.

Snap!

A sharp report tore through the silence. Dust split before his hand, and a narrow wave shot through it, warping the air along its path.

It struck the rock.

CRASH!

Fragments burst from the point of impact, and a cloud of dust erupted behind the stone. The sound echoed among the rocks as Tonpa's eyes widened.

The wave had not rebounded.

It had gone through.

It crossed the gap to the tree behind the rock and struck the middle of the trunk with a muffled boom. Bark flew, and the branches shuddered violently.

CRAAACK!

The sound of tearing wood split the air. A crack spread across the trunk from the point of impact, and the upper section tilted under the weight of its branches.

Torn fibers held it in place for a moment.

Then they snapped.

The tree crashed backward. Its branches struck the ground in a succession of cracks, leaves flew over the rocks, and small stones tumbled down the slope.

Tonpa remained with his arm extended.

It had taken only moments, but his eyes kept moving between the rock and the tree, trying to catch up with what had happened.

As the dust thinned, the hole appeared.

Round. Narrow. Roughly the size of a coin.

He stared at it, then shifted slightly until he could look straight through.

Beyond it, he saw what remained of the trunk.

'I… did that?'

He slowly lowered his hand.

That was the result of the first level.

One finger.

A smile spread across his face before he could stop it.

'If one finger can do that, what does the tenth level do? Punch through a mountain and demand an apology from the rock behind it?'

He turned toward another mass of stone, excitement beginning to erase what remained of his caution. He wanted to repeat the attempt, then learn to gather the power with fewer shakes and find out whether he could release it while moving.

He lifted his foot to return to his starting stance.

His leg gave out.

His knee hit the ground, and he had to plant his palm among the loose stones to avoid falling on his face. His breath abruptly caught. Exhaustion flooded his muscles all at once, as though he had run the entire First Phase without stopping.

His eyes widened as he tried to get up.

His body did not respond at once.

His right arm was heavy, and his index finger would not stop trembling. He felt no tearing pain in it, but the strength that had filled his limbs moments earlier was gone, leaving an aching emptiness and a wave of nausea.

'What is this? I used one finger. Why does my body feel as though I donated the rest of my organs?'

The warning returned to his mind, clearer now than when he had read it in his excitement.

The Sutra did not create power from nothing.

The shakes gathered his body's energy and allowed him to compress it, but they did not pay the cost of the attack for him. Completing the required number let him release the technique. It did not automatically make him efficient at using his energy.

His body was far stronger than it had been, but he had not trained it to handle this flow of power or learned to regulate how much he sent through it. He had been so focused on successfully building the charge that he poured more into the attack than he could comfortably bear.

'Wonderful. I got a bullet, but the gun uses me as ammunition.'

He raised his head toward the hole.

If he tried using two fingers now, losing control would not be his only problem.

The second level required more energy than his body currently possessed. Forcing himself to keep charging would not create what he lacked. It would drain what kept him moving and breathing, and might kill him before the attack was complete.

Even if he gained enough energy one day, he would not be able to skip the training. Power he did not know how to control could run wild inside his arm instead of leaving it.

He looked at his trembling index finger and kept the others out of any further experiments.

'Mastering one finger lets me learn to use two. Surviving it is another matter. Even dying has prerequisites.'

He slowly pushed himself up until he could sit on a low rock. The movement pulled at his side, so he kept a hand over it and waited.

Gradually, his breathing slowed.

The exhaustion did not disappear, but his legs began responding again. He tried moving the fingers of his right hand. They moved, though the index finger still trembled slightly.

The Sutra was not an ability he could fire off whenever someone annoyed him.

In his current state, a first-level attack might end a fight if it hit. If it missed, or his opponent had a companion nearby, it would leave him easy prey.

A surprise weapon, then.

He needed time to charge it, a target he could hit, and an escape route that would keep him from collapsing in front of someone else afterward.

'Either the attack hits, or I use what's left of my dignity to convince my opponent that kneeling is part of the art.'

He studied his finger with more cautious satisfaction.

He had finally found an attack that could do more than his ordinary fist. With training, he might waste less energy and charge it faster, until he no longer had to perform ten full shakes while his opponent waited for a reason to kill him.

As for the second level, he would need better control and more energy.

Not more enthusiasm.

He had tested the benefits of enthusiasm enough.

Ding!

The System's chime suddenly pierced his thoughts.

Tonpa raised his head, expecting a notification about successfully using the Finger Sutra or making progress in its mastery.

A small window appeared before him.

[Killua Zoldyck's Status: Confused.]

The smile vanished from Tonpa's face.

He read the name again.

A slow chill traveled from his neck down his back.

'Why is the System telling me his status now?'

He had heard no footsteps.

He had noticed no rustle of clothing or scrape of a stone behind him.

But a familiar voice reached him from among the rocks.

"You've finally stopped pretending."

_______________________________

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[Vinni_w]

Ah, a wonderful tale about a person, their ass and fingers.
Who'd ecpect some Freud here...

 

[Boumargood]

• ────────── ◆ ────────── •

Chapter 83: Behind the Cold Expression

• ────────── ◆ ────────── •
​

Tonpa slowly turned toward the voice.

Killua sat on a tall rock behind him, off to the left, with one knee raised and an arm resting on it. Moonlight caught his white hair, and a mocking smile sat on his face.

Tonpa had no idea how long he had been there.

That alone was a problem.

He had used Zetsu for his first few steps out of the cave, then continued cautiously after he could no longer maintain it. He had checked the path more than once and gone far enough, or so he had thought, to test his strength without anyone watching. Yet Killua had followed him undetected and settled on that rock as though all those precautions had been a brief performance staged for his amusement.

'Damn this brat. Are Zoldycks born with a mute button for their footsteps?'

Killua's eyes moved from Tonpa's trembling index finger to the hole through the rock, then to the shattered tree trunk behind it.

"That was interesting," he said lightly.

Tonpa did not answer.

Killua's smile widened a little.

"Did you need all that shaking just to fire one shot?"

Tonpa's expression stiffened.

'Of everything he saw, of course he decided to start with my ass.'

He lowered his hand to his side, as though that might help end the discussion about the rest of his body.

It did not.

"At first, I thought you were trying to shake a spider out of your pants."

Heat crept into Tonpa's ears.

'Damn whoever created this art. He should have included a chapter on killing witnesses.'

He opened his mouth to respond, but Killua's smile vanished before he found anything to say. The boy lowered his leg and dropped silently to the ground.

When he raised his head again, there was no trace of mockery left in his expression.

"What are you after?"

The words were quiet. That only made them more threatening.

Killua took one step forward.

"Have you had this strength all along?"

He kept his eyes fixed on Tonpa.

"I suspected you from the start. Then I started to think I might have been wrong."

He glanced at the hole in the rock again.

"Looks like you're still hiding plenty."

Killua's right hand hung at his side. His nails lengthened, and his fingers curled slightly, the sharp tips aimed toward Tonpa.

For a moment, Tonpa felt as though the blood in his veins had stopped.

He did not need his knowledge of the anime to understand what that meant. Killua's stance changed with the movement. His center of gravity lowered, his feet settled against the ground, and the distance between them became something he could cross before Tonpa finished inventing half a sentence.

'Wonderful. My index finger still hasn't stopped shaking, and he's about to show me what else fingers are good for.'

Tonpa tried to rise from the rock, but his legs protested immediately. He braced a palm against its edge and slowly pushed himself upright. He tensed his muscles to keep the trembling under control, but the nausea left by the Sutra rose in his throat.

Even at his best, he would not have been certain he could face Killua. His Strength and Speed had reached Rank B, but numbers had not given him the experience of an assassin trained since childhood. Now that he had compressed most of his body's energy into a single attack, Rank B Speed was little more than an impressive label attached to legs that refused to work.

And if Killua misjudged what his body could withstand and struck merely to incapacitate him, Tonpa might end up missing a body part before he had a chance to object.

He slowly raised both hands.

"Calm down. I'll explain."

Killua's shoulder moved.

That was all Tonpa saw.

The next instant, the boy was no longer in front of him.

'What—'

A light blow struck the back of his knee. His leg buckled before he could brace it, and the ground rushed toward his face.

Then his fall stopped with a violent jerk.

His shirt pulled taut at the collar, and his knee landed among the pebbles. The air left his lungs, but he had no time to draw another breath.

Something cold slid beneath his jaw.

He froze.

Killua's fingers were at his throat.

He had not seen the hand arrive. He had not heard a single footstep behind him. A moment ago, he had been raising his hands to calm the boy down. Now he did not even dare lower them.

The edge of a nail touched his skin.

A tiny sting.

Then a warm drop slid slowly down the side of his neck.

His eyes widened.

'Damn it… I'm done for.'

The hand gripping his collar tightened slightly, holding his head at an angle he could not change without brushing against those nails.

Killua's voice came close to his ear, terrifyingly calm.

"You can talk from there."

Tonpa kept staring at the place where the boy had been standing a moment earlier.

This time, he could not think of a joke.

The grip behind his neck did not loosen. The nails did not withdraw. He remained on one knee, his other foot planted in front of him, supporting as much of his weight as it could.

He lowered his hands very slowly until one rested on his raised knee.

Killua did not stop him.

But he did not let him go, either.

Tonpa considered calling for the others.

Then he felt the edge of the nail beneath his jaw again.

Gon would rush to him immediately, and Kurapika would not let the confrontation continue without hearing both sides. But getting here would take them far longer than that hand would need.

Even if he called them, they would find a rock with a hole through it, a shattered tree, and Tonpa pinned in Killua's grip, being made to explain himself. Instead of convincing one person, he would have to invent a story that convinced four at once.

'No. If I have to bury this disaster, I'd rather not invite an audience to the funeral.'

"Start talking," Killua said. "I want to hear which lie you choose."

"Why assume it'll be a lie?"

"Because you're Tonpa."

The answer hit its mark more precisely than the Sutra's blast.

Tonpa struggled to keep his voice steady as Killua continued.

"I wasn't asleep. But you put on a good show, so I didn't want to interrupt."

Tonpa frowned.

"What show?"

A hint of mockery returned to the boy's voice.

"You started by checking whether we were asleep. You looked at Gon, Leorio, and Kurapika. Then you kept staring at me as though you were waiting for me to open my eyes."

He paused.

"After that, you started moving your finger through the air, and your expression changed every few seconds. Sometimes you smiled. Sometimes you looked shocked. Sometimes you looked like you were arguing with someone we couldn't see."

A headache began behind Tonpa's eyes.

'Wonderful. The brat even watched my fights with the System.'

Killua continued.

"Then your whole body tensed, and the ground cracked under your hand. Your foot nearly hit a rock. After that, you started rotating your shoulder and bending over, like you were testing a body you'd just received."

The mockery faded from his voice.

"Then a capsule appeared in your hand out of nowhere. You drank it, and the smell coming off you nearly woke Gon. Then you wiped whatever had come out of your skin onto a piece of your shirt and made that disappear too."

Tonpa's eyes widened a little.

Killua had not merely been watching.

He had been memorizing every humiliating moment.

"After that, your presence became fainter, and you left. I followed you. I saw you smash that rock with your fist, run faster than you ever have in front of us, then blast a hole through another rock with one finger and destroy the tree behind it."

Tonpa kept looking at the hole ahead of him. From here, the evidence he had left behind seemed more troublesome than impressive.

"So what were you doing to yourself inside the cave? And what was in that capsule?"

Tonpa bit the inside of his cheek.

The questions were annoyingly reasonable, and the nails resting at his throat imposed strict limits on what he could say aloud.

"You acted as though you couldn't use that Nen you told us about in the tower," the boy continued. "So what did I just see? A few hours ago, we were carrying you around unconscious because of the poison."

The hand gripping his shirt tightened a little.

"How much of that weakness was real? Was everything you did with us an act too?"

Tonpa opened his mouth, then closed it.

He had plenty of lies.

The problem was that Killua had seen more than any convenient lie could accommodate.

If he said his strength had appeared that night, he would have to explain why it had appeared, the capsule he had drunk, and how he had produced it out of thin air. If he claimed he had known the Sutra for years but had been unable to use it, Killua would ask who had taught him and what had changed.

Claiming he had been hiding his strength all along would bring them straight back to the worst question: Why had he not used it when their lives were in danger?

He did not just need an excuse for the hole in the rock.

He needed a story that covered everything Killua had seen, from his first movement inside the cave to the shattered tree behind the rock.

And telling him about the System was the worst option of all. Tonpa did not understand the System well enough himself to explain how it had turned an overweight con artist into someone who could shatter rocks in a matter of days. Even if Killua believed him, revealing its existence would put Tonpa's greatest secret inside the head of a professional assassin he had known for only a few turbulent days.

'Think. You've sold things that didn't exist to people who didn't need them. Losing to the truth in your first direct confrontation is unacceptable.'

He tried to assemble a story that fit what Killua knew, but exhaustion weighed on his thoughts. Every time he found the beginning of a lie, its ending ran into some detail the brat had witnessed himself.

The pebbles began to hurt his knee. He wanted to shift it, but he was afraid his neck would move with it, so he merely tightened his fingers against his other leg.

Killua said nothing.

He did not need to.

The lingering sting in Tonpa's neck was enough to remind him that he did not have unlimited time to negotiate.

Ding!

A notification appeared at the worst possible moment.

[Killua Zoldyck's Trust: 27% → 22%]

Tonpa stared at the new number.

Five whole percentage points, gone in minutes.

'You deduct Trust too? To raise it, I have to save someone's life. To lower it, all I have to do is train without permission?'

The window shuddered, and a second line appeared beneath it.

[Killua Zoldyck's Current Status: Confused, Concerned.]

Tonpa blinked.

Concerned?

He could not see Killua's face, but nothing he could perceive suggested concern. A calm voice, a steady grip, and nails that had not moved from his throat since the boy had forced him down. Without the System's help, Tonpa would have chosen "ready to rip out my guts" long before that word occurred to him.

'Stupid System. You lower his Trust in me, then tell me he's concerned, as if that gives me the points back.'

But the insult lost its bite before he finished it.

He read the line again.

Confused.

Concerned.

The notification did not tell him what concerned Killua, nor did it guarantee that the boy would not hurt him. The drop of blood on his neck was proof enough that concern did not make those nails any less sharp.

But Killua could have done far more than he had.

He had reached Tonpa's back before Tonpa could follow him with his eyes, brought him down, and restrained him. Then he had stopped his nail at a small scratch. He still held him, but he kept asking questions instead of increasing the pressure.

He wanted an answer.

And his last question had not been about the capsule or the rock.

Had everything he had done with them been an act?

Tonpa replayed the words in his head, then remembered what the boy had said before moving.

I suspected you from the start. Then I started to think I might have been wrong.

It seemed to Tonpa that Killua was trying to work out whether the man who had taken that risk inside the cave, helped them during the exam, and shared a meal with them hours earlier actually existed… or whether he was a mask concealing someone else who was getting close to Gon.

For a moment, the headache stopped crushing Tonpa's thoughts.

Perhaps Killua had not made up his mind yet.

Perhaps, behind that cold expression Tonpa had seen before being forced to his knee, the boy was looking for a reason to set aside his suspicions without putting Gon in danger.

And that was a distinction a con artist could work with.

Tonpa relaxed his fingers against his knee and kept his breathing shallow and careful. He did not try to turn around or raise a hand toward the nails.

Inside, however, a devious smile slowly began to form.

'If he wants an excuse to believe me… it would be rude not to sell him one.'

_______________________________

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[Tonyloco]

Poor Killua, in the end he's still a kid, and he probably wants to believe.

A wanting to believe a lie must be hard, this feels like one of those moments where it makes it or breaks it for the story.

Most of the abilities he has shown can actually be explained in HXH.

Having a secret place to hide and carry things make sense for a Thief, knowing about Nen and techniques that he wasn't able to use until recently also can be explained by nen.

His family threw him aside, or is testing him, in a way he's an older Killua, what might have happened to him without a Gon, one that has been failing so far.

He was under a geass or a curse and was unable to break it until recently and once he was able to do so, he was able to access treasures of his family or even a legacy given.

it's fun to guess where this one is going, looking forward the next chapter.

 

[Boumargood]

• ────────── ◆ ────────── •

Chapter 84: An Excuse for Sale

• ────────── ◆ ────────── •
​

Tonpa kept his head still between Killua's grip and the nails resting against his neck, and let anger creep into his voice.

"After everything that's happened, you still doubt me?!"

The pressure from the fingers gripping his collar changed slightly, but the nails did not withdraw.

Tonpa lifted his hand from his knee and pointed at his chest. It was genuinely trembling. He only needed to make the trembling look like a result of emotion.

"Do you think I was acting when I refused to leave you behind in the tower? Or when I went into that cave and came out with poison filling my body? Do you think I'm planning to betray all four of you… or are you afraid of me getting close to Gon in particular?"

No answer came immediately.

Then Killua spoke from behind him.

"If I were sure you were going to betray us, I wouldn't be asking."

Tonpa felt the edge of the nail beneath his jaw when he tried to swallow.

"What a reassuring way to ask for an explanation."

"If you try to run, reassurance won't matter."

The answer seemed to support Tonpa's conclusion. Killua had not made up his mind yet. He was still willing to hear something that might change it.

The nails remained where they were, but the grip behind Tonpa's neck no longer pulled quite so hard on his shirt.

'That hit the mark.'

Tonpa grinned inwardly while letting bitterness weigh down his voice. Then he slowly exhaled and lowered his hand.

"I'm sorry. I lost my temper."

He kept his head still.

"Move your nails away, and I'll explain."

The grip behind his neck did not change.

"You can explain like this."

"And you can put me back in this position before I take a single step." Tonpa paused cautiously. "I think you've made that clear enough."

The silence behind him stretched.

Tonpa waited, resisting the urge to turn. The tip of the nail remained against his skin, then moved away a fraction, while the other hand still held his collar.

"Don't make me do it again," Killua said.

"I didn't enjoy it the first time."

Another moment passed before Killua released his shirt.

Tonpa did not move until the boy came around in front of him. His nails had returned to their usual length, but his gaze had not softened.

He nodded toward the nearby rock.

"Sit."

Tonpa braced himself against its edge, struggled upright, and sat down. Killua moved back to the rock opposite him, taking a position between Tonpa and the path to the cave.

He kept both feet planted on the ground and stayed close enough to reach Tonpa before he could stand.

It was a conversation in name and a trial in practice.

"What I told you about my teacher wasn't a lie," Tonpa began slowly. "I'd already opened my aura nodes naturally and learned the basic principles. But he wanted to speed up my progress, so he forced the channels wider and pushed more aura through them than my body could withstand. The flow went out of control. I survived, but it remained unstable."

Killua's gaze changed immediately.

"Stop." He tilted his head slightly. "Didn't you say back in the tower that you couldn't use Nen, and that your teacher injured you while trying to open your aura channels before your body was ready?"

Tonpa felt his old lie return to bite him somewhere more painful than the spiders had.

'Do you remember my own words better than I do? Your family should have trained you to forget things too.'

He kept his expression calm.

"I didn't explain it properly. When I said he forced my channels open, I meant he widened channels that were already open and forced them to carry aura my body wasn't ready for."

He was reshaping his old words to suit his new story. He did not need Killua to forget what he had heard. He only needed him to accept the possibility that he had misunderstood it.

Tonpa rubbed his thumb across his palm, making use of its genuine trembling.

"I could use the basics before the accident. Afterward, my aura would come out in painful bursts, then stop. I kept trying for years. Eventually, I stopped before one of those attempts killed me."

Killua's eyes narrowed.

"That's a precise explanation you didn't give us then."

Tonpa clenched his jaw and let feigned anger rise into his expression.

"Are you an idiot? Do you think someone will tell you all their secrets just because you ask?"

Killua watched him without blinking.

Tonpa leaned forward slightly, as though indignation had made him forget his exhaustion.

"The details of your Nen abilities aren't something you share with everyone you sit down with. How they work, their limits, when you can't use them… Even friends might not know all that about each other."

'Especially when the details are still being invented.'

"I didn't ask for all your secrets," Killua said. "I asked why your story changed."

Tonpa suppressed irritation he did not need to fake this time, then exhaled through his nose.

"A Nen user was trying to crush us. It wasn't the time to discuss my medical history." He held Killua's gaze. "I left too much out. That's what I'm trying to explain now."

Killua did not look satisfied. His eyes moved to the destruction behind Tonpa, as though comparing his words to what he had witnessed.

Tonpa continued before the boy could find a worse question.

"When I woke up tonight, I could feel it clearly for the first time in years. I felt my aura nodes responding and the flow moving without tearing me apart from the inside."

He let his voice weaken and stared at his palm as though it had returned a lost piece of his life.

"I was so happy I couldn't contain myself. I came out here to test techniques I thought I'd never use again."

"How did you get your Nen back?" Killua asked.

Tonpa shook his head.

"I don't know for sure. Maybe it was the poison. It wasn't one bite. A whole swarm attacked me, and every one of them was venomous. Maybe the shock my body went through fighting the poison forced the damaged channels to respond again. Or maybe it was just stupid luck."

"And you want me to believe spider venom fixed something your teacher couldn't?"

"I want you to believe that I don't know." Tonpa raised his palm. "When we spoke in the tower, the spiders hadn't bitten me yet. This started after I woke up from the poisoning, not before."

"Luck that suddenly made you stronger and faster?"

"It restored some of my control over my aura. There's a difference."

"What were you doing with your finger inside the cave?" Killua asked. "You were moving it in front of you like something was hanging in the air. Then your expression kept changing every few seconds."

Tonpa held his expression steady before his frustration could betray him.

He could invent a harsh teacher, a complicated injury, and medicine sealed away for years. Explaining a window no one else could see remained the most dangerous part.

"A concentration exercise. I picture my aura channels in front of me, then trace them with my finger and watch how my body responds."

"You were nodding and smiling at them."

"I was alone. Or I thought I was. Do I have to maintain my dignity in front of rocks too?"

The corner of Killua's mouth moved for a moment, but he did not give Tonpa a laugh he could count as a victory.

The suspicion remained in his eyes.

"And the capsule? The piece of cloth you made disappear?"

Tonpa had expected the question. He still cursed it inwardly.

"The storage space is my teacher's ability, not mine. After my injury, he granted me access, but said I wouldn't be able to use it until I'd regained enough control over my aura."

He paused, then added:

"I wasn't sure I'd recovered when I woke up. I tried reaching it inside the cave, and it worked for the first time since he'd given me access. The capsule was medicine he'd left in there for emergencies. I put the cloth in the same place."

Killua did not comment immediately. His gaze moved from Tonpa's face to his empty hands, then he leaned forward a little.

"So you can access it now?"

"That's what I said."

The boy held out his palm.

"Take something out."

Tonpa looked at the outstretched hand, then raised his eyes to its owner. Refusing would bury his story.

But Killua had not specified what he wanted to see.

'All right. Let's say you deserve proof you won't forget.'

He opened his palm and held it where the boy could see it.

"You asked for this."

Killua leaned closer, watching his fingers.

Something settled in Tonpa's palm.

Before its folds even became clear, the smell hit.

Killua's breath caught.

His eyes widened. He sprang away from the rock and took two steps back, pressing his forearm over his nose.

"Damn it! What is that?!"

Tonpa lowered his gaze to the filthy cloth in his hand. One edge had fallen open, revealing the sticky gray impurities he had wiped from his body.

He turned it slightly, as though examining something perfectly ordinary.

"Proof."

"Put it back!"

Tonpa raised an eyebrow.

"You asked for something from the storage space."

"I asked for something, not a rotting corpse!"

The words came out muffled behind Killua's forearm. His eyes were watering slightly, but there was nothing weak about the glare he fixed on Tonpa.

Tonpa hid his satisfaction behind a cooperative expression and returned the cloth to Spatial Storage.

Killua kept his distance until the smell faded. He cautiously lowered his arm, then stared at Tonpa, his jaw tight.

"You chose that on purpose."

"You wanted proof you'd recognize."

The boy's fingers moved at his side.

Tonpa decided the demonstration had been successful enough and shut his mouth before another comment ruined it.

'Finally. A question that made him regret asking.'

Killua returned to his rock and sat down, his displeased gaze still fixed on Tonpa.

Tonpa had proved the storage space existed. The story about his teacher had not come out with the cloth for inspection.

Killua pointed at the hole in the rock.

"Was that Nen too?"

Tonpa was about to answer, but the boy's gaze dropped to his waist, and the corner of his mouth slowly rose.

"I mean the shaking. Do you have to shake your ass every time, or were you celebrating before you fired?"

Tonpa bit back his answer.

That was not curiosity. Killua had seen the attack and its result. Yet he had deliberately returned to the one part Tonpa wished he had missed.

Worse, the boy was watching his face now, waiting for a reaction.

Heat rose into Tonpa's ears. He tightened his fingers against his knee, then forced them to relax when he noticed Killua's eyes shift toward them.

'You damned brat. I blasted a hole through a rock and brought down a tree, and you're still fixated on my ass.'

He adjusted his position, then immediately regretted it. Killua's smile widened as though he had received exactly the answer he wanted.

Tonpa spoke more curtly than he intended.

"It's an old technique that concentrates strength and aura in one finger. The movements are part of it."

"All of them?"

Tonpa held his gaze.

"Do you want an explanation, or are you looking for something to laugh at?"

"I can do both."

Tonpa felt a powerful urge to give him a practical demonstration. Unfortunately, his body had barely withstood the first one.

He cursed the boy inwardly, then reserved a longer curse for the Sutra's creator.

As for his explanation that the technique used Nen, that was a complete lie. The Finger Sutra relied on internal power, but Killua did not know the difference yet.

Killua looked at Tonpa's index finger, then at the hole.

"If that move uses Nen, why couldn't I see any aura?"

"Because you haven't learned to see aura. Every body gives off life energy. Nen is the control of that energy. I gathered some of it in my finger and released it along with the force of the attack."

Killua raised his hand and briefly copied the position of Tonpa's index finger before closing it again.

"What about making your presence disappear? Was that the same thing?"

"Almost the opposite. That's called Zetsu. It closes the aura nodes and stops aura from leaking out, which makes the person using it harder to sense."

Curiosity crept into Killua's eyes despite his caution.

"Are there other methods?"

"Three other basic principles. Ten keeps aura around the body. Ren increases its output. Hatsu gives it an expression suited to the individual. The storage space you saw is one of the abilities my teacher developed through it."

Killua was silent for a moment, then gestured with his thumb toward the spot where the cloth had disappeared.

"But how can one person make a storage space while someone else uses their aura to fight? If it's the same energy, why are the abilities different?"

Tonpa felt the conversation leave the territory he had prepared his lies for and head toward an exam he had not studied for.

"Because Nen users don't work with aura in the same way. There are six categories: Enhancement, Transmutation, Emission, Conjuration, Manipulation, and Specialization. Everyone has an affinity for one, and that determines what they find easier to do."

Killua looked Tonpa over, then glanced at the hole through the rock.

"Which category do you belong to?"

"With my injury, I never got far enough to find out for sure."

The answer was not entirely a lie, a rare advantage Tonpa decided to appreciate in silence.

"How does someone find out?"

Tonpa answered a little too quickly.

"A simple test. A glass of water with a leaf floating on top. The person releases their aura, and the resulting change reveals their category."

Killua raised an eyebrow.

"What change?"

Tonpa pressed his lips together.

Every answer he gave this brat immediately became the beginning of another question. He had thought he was buying a chance to return to the cave. Instead, he was sitting in front of someone determined to inspect every word before letting it pass.

'Damn you. Does your family send an assassin every time you leave a question unanswered?'

He drew a breath through his nose and relaxed his jaw before Killua could notice how irritated he was.

He had to answer this time. He had described the test himself, with enough confidence to leave no convenient way out.

He summoned the image of the glass and the leaf, then opened his mouth.

The answer did not come as easily as he had expected.

The water remained clear in his memory. He remembered that its volume increased with Enhancement and its taste changed with Transmutation. After that, the color change, the appearance of impurities, and the movement of the leaf became tangled in his head. No matter how he tried to sort them out, the results refused to line up with the right categories.

What he had said so far was the last of his organized memories of the explanation of Nen. The rest had become a collection of terms and old scenes, hardly enough to rescue a lie in front of a child who noticed a twitching eyelid.

'Damn Togashi. Four principles, six categories, compatibility percentages, and a test with a glass of water and a leaf. Couldn't people just shout the name of their attack and get stronger?'

Tonpa let the silence stretch for two heartbeats, then sighed as though the problem were his student's impatience rather than the holes in his own memory.

"You'll learn that when you reach that stage of studying Nen. Right now, the details of a test you can't perform won't help you."

Killua narrowed his eyes.

"So you're dodging the question."

"So you're trying to read the last page before learning the alphabet."

Killua kept staring at him. Tonpa could not tell whether he had saved himself or given the boy another reason to remain suspicious.

"Can you use all four principles now?"

"If I could use them properly, one attack wouldn't have left me like this."

Tonpa took a breath, then tried to close off his leaking aura with Zetsu. It was the only principle he could actually demonstrate.

His aura responded, but his control was incomplete. A faint trickle escaped near his shoulder. He focused on it until it diminished.

He watched Killua's eyes widen a little as the boy adjusted his footing in the dirt.

Tonpa maintained Zetsu for only a few seconds before deliberately releasing it.

"That's all I can safely demonstrate. Shutting off the flow is easier for me right now than releasing it and controlling it. As for the storage space, it's sustained by my teacher's ability. I don't create it every time I open it."

He paused, then looked at Killua.

"You use Zetsu too, without realizing it."

The boy frowned.

"I told you I don't know Nen."

"Not knowing its name doesn't mean you've never used any of it. Some people instinctively learn to reduce the aura they give off, especially when they're used to hiding."

Killua looked at his hand, then back at Tonpa.

"You mean what I do when I sneak around?"

"Part of it. Moving silently is a separate skill. But making your presence fainter is something you may have learned through training without knowing exactly what you were doing."

Killua fell silent for a moment.

Tonpa took advantage of the pause and raised his still-trembling index finger.

"But shutting off the flow is one thing. Releasing aura and directing it is another. Using Ten or Ren, or developing an ability of my own, requires control I haven't regained yet."

He looked at his finger.

"What I did earlier wasn't proper use. It was an unstable release. If I repeat it now, it might cost me an arm, not just aura."

Killua watched the finger tremble, then asked:

"Why didn't you tell us as soon as you woke up?"

Tonpa's hand stopped on its way to his knee.

'Damn your patience. Why can't it run out along with my energy?'

He slowly lowered his hand, then looked at the boy.

"What did you want me to do? Wake you all up one by one and announce that I felt better? Should we gather some firewood and throw a party?"

Killua did not smile.

"You could have just told us instead of waiting for us to fall asleep and sneaking out."

The sarcasm lingered on Tonpa's face for a moment, then he let it fade with a weary breath.

"I didn't know whether the improvement would last, or how much I'd actually regained. That's why I wanted to make sure first."

He looked toward the broken tree trunk.

"And do it away from you. Would you have preferred me to test that attack beside Gon and the others?"

Killua followed his gaze to the trunk, then looked back at him.

He did not seem entirely convinced, but he did not repeat the question.

After a few moments, he said:

"You haven't answered my first question. What are you after?"

"Surviving the exam and helping you reach the end of it."

"Why us?"

"Because you're strong enough to keep me alive and stubborn enough to refuse to let me die." Tonpa allowed himself a faint smile. "If I were looking for pawns I could easily fool, I'd have chosen people who were less annoying."

"That's not an answer that makes me trust you," Killua said coldly.

"But it's an answer you believe."

Killua did not deny it.

Then he rose from the rock. His hands hung loosely at his sides, but his gaze remained sharp.

"Your story explains a lot."

Tonpa almost breathed a sigh of relief.

Killua added:

"That doesn't mean I believe all of it."

The relief caught halfway out.

"I'll be watching you. If you try to hurt Gon or any of the others, I won't ask for another explanation."

Tonpa hesitated before asking:

"Are you going to tell them?"

Killua looked toward the cave.

"Not now. I want to see which version of you comes back with me. The man who risked his life for Leorio, or the man who waited for us to fall asleep so he could test how much he'd been hiding."

He turned his gaze back to Tonpa.

"Don't make me regret waiting."

That was better than Tonpa had expected and worse than he had hoped. His secret would remain hidden from the other three. In exchange, he had acquired a watcher who never slept, remembered every word, and could tear his heart out if his next answer sounded less convincing.

It was not a comfortable deal. But it had bought him a way back to the cave, and in his book, that was close enough to success.

He slowly pushed himself upright. His legs protested, forcing him to lean against the rock. Killua watched without offering help or lowering his guard.

And he was right to do so, more than Tonpa wanted to admit.

Killua turned toward the path to the cave and walked a few steps, then stopped by the first rock and looked back, waiting.

He had no intention of leaving Tonpa alone with the rest of his secrets.

Ding!

[Killua Zoldyck's Current Status: Still Suspicious.]

Tonpa stared at the notification, then at Killua waiting by the path.

'Difficult customer. He listened to the entire pitch, then kept the right to return the merchandise.'

_______________________________

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[Boumargood]

• ────────── ◆ ────────── •

Chapter 85: A Pricier Vision

• ────────── ◆ ────────── •
​

Tonpa remained leaning against the rock, watching Killua wait on the path back to the cave.

The boy had taken only a few steps before stopping and turning toward him. His feet had made no sound against the dirt, even though their confrontation was over and he no longer needed to sneak around. Meanwhile, Tonpa's left leg trembled at the mere request that it support half his weight.

'Damn this brat. It took an old injury, an insane teacher, and a lecture on Nen to give him one excuse, and he's still suspicious of the commas.'

Tonpa pressed his palm against the rock and slowly straightened. Moonlight passed over Killua's white hair and the side of his face, then settled briefly on his forehead.

Tonpa's gaze stopped there.

An old detail stirred in his memory, followed by an idea that made the pain in his legs feel less urgent. He wasn't certain it would work, but certainty wasn't a requirement for trying. He only needed Killua to stay where he was for another minute.

It was a dangerous attempt. If he chose his words poorly, Killua might return to the cave and wake the others, and the problem would no longer remain between them. But returning with him without addressing his suspicions wasn't safe either. He would keep watching every movement, and one more mistake might be enough for Tonpa to lose everything he had built.

He kept the idea hidden behind his exhausted expression and made sure his gaze did not linger on Killua's forehead.

One corner of his mouth lifted.

"Killua."

The boy raised an eyebrow without moving.

"What now?"

"Do you remember what Leorio said about my ability to see the place we're looking for?"

Killua gave him a flat look.

"You're still calling it an ability?"

"Because it is."

"Then why did you look more surprised than any of us when we reached the cave?"

'Because the future decided to embarrass me in front of you personally.'

Tonpa let out a short breath.

"Because what I see isn't always clear. Sometimes I misinterpret the image."

"That explains why you only sound confident before we get there."

Tonpa kept his objection behind his lips. Defending the details of the cave would drag them back into an argument that offered him nothing to gain.

Killua's fingers and nails had returned to normal, but his stance remained ready. The cave was some distance away behind the trees, its entrance hidden from where they stood. Yet Killua had positioned himself in the direction leading to it, forcing Tonpa to pass close to him if he wanted to return to the others.

Tonpa sat on a low rock before his legs chose the ground for him.

"I think I might be able to see something more clearly now."

Killua raised an eyebrow.

"Because your aura came back? Weren't you using these visions before that?"

Tonpa had expected the objection from the moment he decided to reuse an old lie in front of someone who remembered his every word.

"They came to me before the injury and afterward. Aura only helps me focus them."

"Did your teacher teach you that too?"

"No. It's an innate gift that appears in some members of my family, not another Hatsu ability." Tonpa ran a hand over his knee. "After the injury, I kept getting weak, muddled glimpses. If my aura flow stabilizes, I might be able to make better sense of them."

Killua tilted his head.

"How convenient."

"It would have been more convenient if my aura flow had stabilized before I walked into a cave full of spiders."

"Your family has a lot of useful abilities for a bunch of thieves I've never heard of."

"If my visions were as useful as you seem to think, I wouldn't have taken the Hunter Exam more than thirty times."

Killua narrowed his eyes.

"Fine. What are you getting at?"

Tonpa did not answer immediately. He held his gaze for a moment, then furrowed his brow as though some old concern still troubled him.

"There's something I've wanted to check since we were in the tower."

Killua's expression did not change.

"And you thought to mention it now?"

"I wasn't sure there was anything worth mentioning. During our fight with the prisoner, I sensed something strange from you."

Killua raised an eyebrow.

"Maybe you sensed how annoyed I was to be stuck with you."

'I can still feel that, you little bastard.'

Tonpa shook his head.

"It wasn't a clear image. Just a feeling that disappeared before I could understand it. At the time, I thought it was an effect of the injury."

Killua's eyes narrowed.

"A minute ago, I was demanding an explanation for what you've been hiding. Now you're telling me there's something strange about me?"

"I'm saying I felt something I didn't understand."

"And you only remembered it after I caught you training in secret?"

Tonpa pressed his lips together, as though the question had irritated him.

"I remembered because I might be able to understand it now. A few hours ago, I wasn't even sure I could stand."

The suspicion did not leave Killua's face.

"Or you want me to get distracted worrying about myself and leave you alone."

'I wouldn't object to that either.'

Tonpa gestured at the rock beneath him.

"I'm still here. Give me a minute, then ask whatever you want."

Killua watched him for a moment, then took one hand out of his pocket.

"What do you need me to do?"

"Stay where you are and watch me. I won't touch you, and I won't ask you to close your eyes."

The boy's gaze moved to his hands, then returned to his face.

Tonpa added:

"If I see nothing, we go back to the cave. If I say something meaningless, all you'll have lost is another minute listening to me."

"I've lost enough of those tonight."

Tonpa did not reply. He kept his hands visible on his knees and waited.

Killua continued staring at him. He did not look convinced, but he did not turn toward the cave either. He kept his hand out of his pocket and settled his weight over his feet.

"All right. Show me what you sensed."

The corner of his mouth twitched.

"But stay seated. I don't want you starting that shaking again."

Tonpa tightened his fingers against his knee, then relaxed them before they gave the boy the reaction he wanted.

'Damn you. Are you going to bring up my ass every time I try to use an ability?'

He closed his eyes and placed the index and middle fingers of each hand against his temples. He had no idea how someone with genuine visions would behave, so he settled for slow breathing and a grim expression. The lingering pain from the Sutra helped. He did not have to fake the trembling in his fingers or the heaviness in his shoulders.

Several seconds passed.

Killua spoke.

"Does your face have to look like that?"

"I'm concentrating."

"You look like you're trying to squeeze something out."

'And you look like you're waiting for a chance to pull something out of me if I fail, so shut up.'

Tonpa drew a deeper breath, then moved one hand through the air as though feeling for something he could not see. He let the silence stretch before opening one eye a sliver.

Killua had begun shifting his weight onto his other foot. He looked ready to put an end to the performance himself.

That was when Tonpa furrowed his brow.

"Are you afraid of opponents stronger than you?"

Killua's foot went still.

Tonpa continued watching through his barely open eye. Nothing showed on the boy's face but cold irritation, yet the fingers of his right hand spread at his side.

"That's what you saw?"

Tonpa closed his eye again.

"Answer me."

"Anyone with sense is wary of someone who can kill them."

Tonpa opened his eyes and kept his gaze on Killua's face.

"You didn't seem afraid of the prisoner in the tower. You were the first to attack him."

Killua narrowed his eyes.

"He blocked one attack. Was I supposed to run away and leave the rest to you?"

'Of course. He can't defend himself without insulting me along the way.'

Tonpa ignored the sarcasm.

"So you hadn't decided he was stronger than you."

Killua watched him for a moment, as though trying to work out where he was being led.

"I was testing him." One corner of his mouth tilted upward. "Or do you think I show everything I've got in the first attack?"

'Wonderful. When Killua hides his strength, it's called a test. When I do the same thing, we hold a trial under the moonlight.'

Tonpa nodded slowly.

"That's what I mean. With that prisoner, you gave yourself a chance to find out what he could do."

The small smile disappeared from Killua's face.

"What's strange about that?"

"Nothing. What's strange is what I sense from you when it comes to certain other opponents. As though something pushes you to treat defeat as a certainty before you give yourself that same chance."

Killua did not answer immediately.

His breathing stopped for a moment, then resumed in shorter breaths. It was a small change, but Tonpa had spent an entire lifetime watching the little things people tried to hide.

"My family trained me to avoid fights I can't win."

"And can you go against that if you have a reason to stay?"

Killua kept looking at him for a moment, then lowered his gaze to the ground.

His expression did not change, but his attention no longer seemed fixed on Tonpa, as though he were weighing the question against old memories.

His fingers moved once, then slowly curled shut. His nails were no longer sharp, but his shoulders and feet remained ready. He did not look convinced, yet he was no longer treating the conversation as a joke.

Tonpa said nothing more. When someone began searching through their own memories, it was rude to interrupt them with weaker evidence.

At last, Killua raised his head.

"Suppose you're not making this up. What's causing it?"

Tonpa fixed his gaze on his forehead.

"The cause is inside your head."

Killua raised a hand, his fingers stopping just before they touched his skin.

"What do you mean?"

Tonpa closed his eyes again.

"There's another image… Someone standing behind you."

Killua did not make a joke this time.

"He's taller than you and thin. His hair is black, long, and straight." Tonpa paused as though struggling to hold the details in place. "His face is pale, his eyes large and black. His expression is blank."

He slowly opened his eyes, as though the image were beginning to slip away.

Killua's hand lowered slowly. His shoulders stiffened, and his back foot dug into the dirt.

"Go on."

The words came out low and stripped of sarcasm.

Tonpa asked:

"Do you know him?"

Killua's lips parted slightly.

"Illumi…?"

The name escaped in a low voice. Then his lips closed, and his gaze returned to Tonpa.

Tonpa let confusion show on his face.

The name had come from Killua himself. He had never mentioned it in front of Tonpa, nor had he described anyone from his family to him. The name had escaped before any accusation followed, and Tonpa seized on that moment. His description seemed to have found its intended target.

"Illumi? Is that his name?"

Killua did not answer. He remained still, his eyes never leaving Tonpa.

"What's he doing in the vision?"

Tonpa brought his thumb and index finger together as though holding something thin.

"There's a needle between his fingers. You're younger in the image, and he's lifting it toward your forehead."

This time, Killua's fingers touched his head.

"Then?"

"He pushes it in here."

Tonpa pointed at Killua's forehead without moving closer.

Killua pressed his fingertips between the strands of his hair, then slowly ran them over his skin.

"There's nothing there. I would have felt it."

"I didn't say it was on the surface."

Killua's hand stopped.

He looked at Tonpa for a long moment before speaking.

"You could have seen him at a previous exam."

"I haven't seen him at any previous exam." Tonpa lowered his hand. "But the vision didn't just show me his face. It showed me what he did to you."

Killua narrowed his eyes.

"The needle?"

"And its effect."

Killua's fingers continued feeling along his forehead despite his steady gaze on Tonpa. He no longer seemed concerned solely with whether Tonpa was lying.

Tonpa had no need to exaggerate. If he claimed he could pinpoint the needle's location, its depth, and exactly how it worked, his incomplete vision would suddenly become a medical examination, and Killua would notice. What he knew from the anime was dangerous enough. He only had to present it in fragments and let the boy connect them himself.

Tonpa spoke.

"I don't know exactly how the needle works. My visions don't explain themselves. But its effect is clear. Whenever you face someone you believe is stronger than you, it plays on your fear until retreat seems like your only choice."

Killua's jaw tightened.

"Running away."

It wasn't a question.

Tonpa nodded.

"If the vision is right, the needle is still inside your head… and it's still affecting you."

Silence settled between them.

Killua lowered his eyes, his hand remaining against his forehead. The shock gradually faded from his face, replaced by the familiar coldness behind which he was so good at hiding everything. But his fingers did not move.

Tonpa resisted the urge to add advice or an explanation. Every extra word gave Killua another thread to pull. He needed to let what the boy had heard do its work.

After a few moments, Killua raised his head.

"Your last vision was wrong."

"It was incomplete."

"And this could be another lie."

"I'm not asking you to believe me just because I said it." Tonpa held his gaze. "But Illumi's name came from you, not me."

That was no proof that he possessed visions. He only wanted to bring Killua back to the moment when he had recognized the description, before he had begun questioning it.

The boy's eyes narrowed, but he did not reply. His fingers moved over his forehead again. This time, he pushed his hair away from the spot Tonpa had indicated.

Ding!

The System chimed inside Tonpa's head, and a blue window appeared before his eyes.

[Deception Registered.]

[Target: Killua Zoldyck.]

[Nen Points +20]

[Experience Points +20]

[Total Nen Points: 7,150]

[Total Experience Points: 10,790]

Inwardly, Tonpa's wicked grin began to widen, though his expression remained grim as he faced Killua.

He had not invented the needle, the man who had planted it, or the effect he remembered from the anime. If that part of the past remained as he knew it, then the only lie was the source of his knowledge.

Apparently, the System didn't consider the distinction worth objecting to.

_______________________________

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Thanks for reading.

 

[Galonious]

I do like how the mc is all 'Grrr I'm a dastardly liar who lies, they have no idea how eeevil I am'

When his optimal lying strat is 'I shall be genuinely helpful, useful, and self sacrificing. THE PERFECT LIE!!!'

Very Jessie and James of him.

 

[WeaverAishiteruze]

I do like how the mc is all 'Grrr I'm a dastardly liar who lies, they have no idea how eeevil I am'

When his optimal lying strat is 'I shall be genuinely helpful, useful, and self sacrificing. THE PERFECT LIE!!!'

Very Jessie and James of him.

Click to shrink...

Is it a lie when people donate to charity because they want to feel smug and superior rather than to actually help the charity?

 

[Galonious]

Is it a lie when people donate to charity because they want to feel smug and superior rather than to actually help the charity?

Click to shrink...

Effect over intent. I don't really care if someone donated to feel smug. Positive material effects of that donation are more important than what- the imagined negative effect of smugness?

If you donating for tax evasion reasons then maybe actually does have a negative effect on the world though. The avoidance of paying one's fair share of for public upkeep and governance is absolutely a negative effect and not just an intent.

 

[Pollyamorous]

I know he wants to help here, but jeez this feels like it's going to cause so many issues later.

Pretending you can occasionally get a vague glimpse of the future? Yeah, that can work. But doubling down and saying that, actually, you can totally just concentrate and then get specific visions of past events and the people doing them?

Honestly, the best way to handle this is just to never talk about it again. Because any conversations about it are going to bring up questions, which will then require immediate answers that Tonpa can't really provide outside of building up more and more lies that'd quickly get criss-crossed and tangled up.

Which obviously means that he's going to keep trying and lie again while using it so he can squeeze out just a few more points, and he'll totally stop next time don't worry about it.

 

[Boumargood]

• ────────── ◆ ────────── •

Chapter 86: A Needle That Doesn't Lie

• ────────── ◆ ────────── •
​

Killua remained standing in front of Tonpa, his hand against his forehead. Only his thumb moved, slowly passing over the spot Tonpa had indicated, as though he expected the skin alone to provide a convincing answer.

There was nothing on his face Tonpa could trust. The visible shock had faded, and his eyes had returned to that cold stillness that sometimes made Tonpa wonder whether the Zoldycks trained to kill their expressions before they trained to kill people.

Ding!

The System chimed inside Tonpa's head, and a blue window appeared before him.

[Killua Zoldyck's Current Status: Very Confused.]

Tonpa read the words, then looked at the expressionless face before him.

'Good thing the System added "very." I would have thought he was considering the weather.'

One corner of Tonpa's mouth curled into a wicked smile while Killua was occupied with his forehead. The moment the boy looked up, Tonpa hid it and adopted the uncertain concern of someone whose vision had yet to be confirmed. It would hardly be wise for the muddled ability he had invented hours earlier to become infallible all of a sudden.

Tonpa spoke.

"If what I saw is really there, you might be able to feel it now that you know where to look. Try feeling around that spot again."

Killua's hand did not move.

"You sound sure."

Tonpa quickly shook his head.

"I'm not sure of anything. If you find nothing, I may have misunderstood what I saw."

Killua watched him for a long moment. His gaze moved from Tonpa's face to the hole through the rock behind him, then returned, while his fingers continued pressing against his forehead. He seemed to be weighing two possibilities: either the man in front of him really possessed a strange ability, or he was a liar who knew things he had no business knowing.

Tonpa hoped he would not settle on the second.

His own confidence in the plan, however, was eroding with every passing second.

He remembered the needle clearly. He remembered Killua removing it himself in the anime. But he could not remember when Illumi had planted it, or whether its location matched the spot he had indicated. His memory was useful when it supplied the outcome. Less so when he needed the details that led to it.

'If it isn't there, I'll have to convince him that a needle from the future cast its shadow over my present vision. Even I wouldn't buy that.'

Killua's fingers finally moved. He parted the hair at his forehead and pressed his fingertips against the skin again, slower and deeper this time.

He stopped, his eyes narrowing slightly. He pressed the same spot again, then shifted his finger a fraction and repeated the motion. He no longer looked as though he were merely humoring Tonpa. He must have felt something.

His face remained impassive, but his breath caught for a moment. Tonpa leaned forward instinctively, then pulled back when Killua's eyes shifted toward him. There was not enough distance between curiosity and decapitation to justify the risk.

Killua relaxed his hand, then curled his fingers as his nails lengthened and sharpened. With a precise movement, he slipped the tips of two nails beneath the skin at his hairline, showing no sign of pain. A small drop of blood trickled along his temple.

Tonpa held his breath.

Killua's fingers shifted slightly within his hair, then closed around something. He slowly drew his hand away, and a slender metal tip appeared between his nails. He paused for a second, as though the length of the buried portion did not match what he had expected, then continued pulling until a long needle emerged from beneath his skin, stained with a dark red streak.

Killua stared at it.

He raised it to eye level, and the metal gleamed in the moonlight. The small puncture at his hairline continued bleeding, but he did not wipe it away. He ran his thumb along the needle's shaft, then raised his other hand to feel the spot it had come from, as though checking that his own body had not deceived him.

Tonpa carefully released the air from his lungs before his relief could become an audible sigh.

'It really was there. Wonderful. My future was hanging on the accuracy of a scene I watched years ago.'

Killua turned the needle between his fingers. For the first time since he had begun removing it, his expression changed unmistakably. His eyes widened, then rose to Tonpa and stayed there without a word.

Ding!

A System notification appeared before Tonpa, obscuring part of the needle.

[Killua Zoldyck's Trust: 22% → 26%]

Four percentage points.

He had saved the boy from a control device buried inside his head, and all he got was four. If Tonpa had found the needle in someone less stubborn, it might have come with an apology and an extended warranty.

His disappointment did not last long. He had recovered four of the five percentage points he had lost earlier. More importantly, the boy had pulled the evidence out of his own head. Tonpa no longer needed to argue that it existed.

Killua lowered his gaze to the needle again. He took a slow breath, then abruptly raised his head and looked between the trees. His eyes moved over the shadows. Afterward, he looked at his other hand and opened and closed his fingers once.

He bent his knees slightly, then straightened. It was a small movement, more like a test of his balance than preparation for a fight. His gaze returned to the needle, and he let out a longer breath than before.

Tonpa did not understand exactly what Killua was feeling, but something in his posture had changed. His caution had not disappeared, nor had he become any less dangerous. Only the tension drawing his shoulders tight had eased, as though he had discovered that something he considered part of himself had come from a piece of metal he could hold between two fingers.

'Congratulations. You've discovered that one of your important decisions was a piece of iron. Some people need years of therapy to reach a less obvious conclusion.'

Tonpa gave him a few moments to study the needle, then furrowed his brow and looked at it with concern.

"Who is Illumi? Why did he put that in your head?"

'I know who he is, I know his family, and I know why he did it. Right now, I know more about Killua's head than its owner has learned in twelve years. Best to keep how I acquired that knowledge out of the discussion.'

Killua closed his fingers around the needle. When he looked up, his cold expression had returned so completely that Tonpa almost doubted the notifications he had seen.

"None of your business."

He wiped away the blood with his thumb, then added:

"And don't think this changes what I said. I'll still be watching you. If you try to hurt Gon or any of the others, your visions won't save you."

Ding!

Another window appeared before Tonpa.

[Killua Zoldyck's Current Status: Grateful, Confused.]

[Deception Registered.]

[Target: Killua Zoldyck.]

[Nen Points +8]

[Experience Points +8]

[Total Nen Points: 7,158]

[Total Experience Points: 10,798]

Eight more points. Apparently, the needle's removal had made Killua more willing to believe in the vision that led him to it, even if the rest of Tonpa's lies remained under scrutiny.

His gaze returned to the word "Grateful," then to Killua, who had concluded his thanks with an unmistakable threat.

'A Zoldyck tsundere. Because the ordinary version wasn't dangerous enough.'

The needle disappeared into Killua's pocket.

Tonpa was about to speak when the boy abruptly raised his head. His eyes settled on the trees leading back to the cave.

Tonpa closed his mouth.

He heard nothing.

Killua lifted a hand to his forehead, wiped away the remaining blood, and let his hair fall over the spot.

Then Tonpa heard the first rustle.

Dry leaves crunched underfoot, followed by a closer rustle to his left.

'Who…?'

Tonpa tightened his fingers around the edge of the rock. His legs were not ready for another confrontation. They were not even ready for a retreat that preserved a little dignity.

He cautiously raised a hand and pulled his collar over the scratch on his neck.

A branch moved between the trunks.

A hand appeared, pushing it aside. Then Gon's face emerged.

Tonpa let out a breath.

'Gon. At least—'

The branch swung back before it could settle. Another hand caught it, and Kurapika appeared behind him.

Tonpa's fingers froze again.

'Damn it. The rest of the interrogation team has arrived.'

Gon opened his mouth, but his gaze passed over Tonpa and settled behind him. His steps slowed.

Tonpa remembered the rock.

Then the tree.

'Of course. The evidence is still standing. Most of it, anyway.'

Kurapika stopped beside Gon. He examined the split trunk and the fragments scattered across the ground, then fixed his gaze on the seated Tonpa and his trembling arm.

"What happened here?"

Tonpa straightened a little, trying not to lean too heavily against the rock.

"You two… What woke you?"

Kurapika raised an eyebrow, then looked at the tree.

"A loud crash. You weren't in the cave, so we came looking for you."

'Of course. I should have asked the rock to die quietly.'

Kurapika glanced at the path behind him, then added:

"The sound echoed between the rocks. We couldn't tell which direction it came from. We followed your tracks and only heard your voices once we got close."

"And Leorio?"

"He didn't wake up."

Gon had approached the rock while they spoke. He bent toward the hole and ran his fingers along its edge, then tilted his head until he could see the shattered trunk through it.

He looked up at them.

"Did someone attack you?"

"No," Killua answered. He pointed his thumb at Tonpa. "He was training."

Tonpa's fingers froze against the rock.

'You bastard.'

He slowly turned toward him. Killua was looking at Gon, but the small smile at the corner of his mouth left no room for doubt. He had done it on purpose.

Gon turned fully toward Tonpa.

"You made this hole?"

His gaze caught on Tonpa's trembling hand before returning to the rock.

"How?"

"With one finger," Killua said.

Tonpa almost breathed a sigh of relief. Then the boy's gaze dropped to his waist, and the corner of his mouth lifted.

"But that wasn't the interesting part."

Tonpa clenched his fist.

'Don't you dare.'

Killua looked up at him and waited a moment longer than necessary.

"He kept shaking his ass before he fired."

Gon's expression went still.

"Shaking his… what?"

"His ass." Killua pointed toward the rock. "I thought he'd lost his mind. Then I saw what happened to the rock."

Heat rushed to Tonpa's ears. The boy's smile told him he had noticed that too, and that the brief pause before answering had been deliberate.

'Damn you. You watched a rock get pierced and a tree shatter, and my ass is the only thing that stuck in your head?'

He spoke through his teeth.

"I thought you were keeping what you saw to yourself."

"I said I wouldn't tell them now." Killua's smile widened a little. "Then they showed up and asked."

'You bastard. Even your promises have a shorter lifespan than a fly.'

Gon looked at Tonpa's waist, then raised his eyes with a seriousness that made everything worse.

"Do you have to do that for the attack to work?"

Tonpa opened his mouth, but caught Kurapika pressing his lips together before turning toward the rock.

'Laugh. Go on. All we need is Leorio, and my humiliation will be complete.'

"It's part of the technique," he finally answered.

His reply came out more curtly than he intended. He rested his trembling hand on his thigh.

The suppressed smile disappeared from Kurapika's face. He stepped closer, his gaze moving from Tonpa's trembling hand to the rock.

"A few hours ago, you could barely stand because of the poison. How did you manage this?"

The answer caught on Tonpa's tongue.

Gon was waiting for an explanation of the technique. Kurapika was waiting for an explanation of his sudden strength. Killua looked ready to enjoy both.

'Wonderful. The private interrogation is over. The public hearing has begun.'

Before Tonpa could speak, Killua turned his head toward the trees.

"Let's go back first. If you could hear that from inside the cave, someone else might have heard it too."

Kurapika looked into the surrounding darkness, then nodded.

"We'll talk inside."

Killua passed Tonpa on his way toward the cave and paused briefly.

"Try not to practice on anything else along the way."

Tonpa almost replied, but the boy had already moved on.

He settled for watching him go.

'Enjoy yourself. I'm adding this to your bill.'

Kurapika followed Killua after one last glance at the destruction. Gon stayed beside Tonpa, watching him press both palms against the rock to push himself up.

He offered a hand.

"Let me help."

Tonpa waved him off.

"No need. I'm just a little tired."

He took one step. His left leg trembled, and his body listed to the side. Gon caught his arm before he lost his balance, then drew it over his shoulder without waiting for permission.

"I know. That's why I'm helping."

Tonpa looked at his face and found neither mockery nor suspicion. Just a straightforward answer that made protesting seem more ridiculous than accepting the help.

'I'm not relying on a child. I'm simply distributing my weight efficiently.'

They started after Killua and Kurapika. Tonpa tried not to put too much weight on Gon's shoulder, but abandoned the effort when his leg protested again.

A few steps later, a sharp prickling sensation stung the back of his neck.

He quickly scratched it, but found no relief. Another prickling sensation appeared on his forearm, then a third between his shoulder blades, where his fingers could not reach. He tried to ignore them. They multiplied until all his skin seemed to itch from the inside.

'Damn the Sutra, the poison, and this body. If something else starts coming out of me, I refuse to clean it up again.'

He clenched his jaw and shifted his back beneath his shirt, trying to ease the itching without the others noticing. It did not help. He became acutely, irritatingly aware of the air passing over his skin. The pinpricks widened into tiny openings he could feel with every breath.

His steps slowed. Gon lifted Tonpa's arm a little and settled it more securely over his shoulder.

"Does your leg hurt?"

Tonpa opened his mouth to answer, then felt a warm flow spilling through his skin from more points than he could count.

The irritation vanished at once, replaced by cold fear.

'What's leaking out of me?'

Ding!

The System chimed inside his head, and a blue window appeared before his eyes.

[The aura nodes have been fully opened.]

Tonpa stopped mid-step, his eyes widening.


_______________________________

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[Pollyamorous]

Ha, (one of) his lie came true! Now hopefully they actually start to line up with his pile of fibs, or he's gonna have to really stretch the truth to keep up with the things he's said.

 

[Boumargood]

• ────────── ◆ ────────── •

Chapter 87: Forced Open

• ────────── ◆ ────────── •
​

Tonpa remained standing in the middle of the path, his arm over Gon's shoulder, while the notification hung before his eyes.

[The aura nodes have been fully opened.]

He read it again. Before he could decide whether to celebrate or find somewhere safe to collapse, the window expanded downward, revealing several new lines.

[Nen Status: Awakened.]

[Awakening Method: Forced opening of the aura nodes.]

[Releasing aura and training to control its flow are now possible.]

Tonpa's index finger rose unconsciously and stopped beside the words "Forced opening."

He lowered his gaze to his arm. He saw neither light nor vapor, but the warmth leaking from his skin suddenly made sense. This was his aura. His own life energy was flowing out through the open nodes without waiting for his permission.

He tried to summon the sensation he used for Zetsu. The leakage around his shoulders slowed briefly, then escaped again through his chest and arms. He concentrated harder, but the flow was greater than he was used to, and exhaustion made controlling it even harder.

The unfamiliar flow made him pause, but he took it as another consequence of awakening Nen. His body had changed several times that night. One more strange sensation hardly seemed surprising.

'Excellent. It finally works. Now I just have to figure out how.'

Until now, all he had possessed was an incomplete Zetsu that let him suppress his presence for a few seconds. Deliberately releasing and directing aura had been beyond him. Ten, Ren, and Hatsu had remained names on a panel, not skills his body knew how to perform.

The new message had not granted him that mastery. It had made further training possible, and for the moment, that was enough to hold his attention.

'Forced them open? From the inside?'

His thoughts returned to the Sutra. The ten shakes. The pressure that had accumulated in his lower back, then traveled through his shoulder and arm until it crowded into the tip of his index finger. He remembered the skin stretching tight over it, and how, for a moment, it had felt as though something too large were trying to pass through.

The knowledge transferred from the book had been clear: the Sutra used internal power, not Nen. But the strain it had placed on his body might have forced his aura nodes open.

He did not know how that had happened, or why the effect had only appeared now, after the attack, the confrontation, and all that talking.

He looked at his index finger, which had not quite stopped trembling.

'Maybe my lousy Talent saved me this time.'

One corner of his mouth almost lifted.

Then it stopped.

He did not even know whether his Talent rank determined how much aura his body held. The elixir had made sensing it easier, but it had told him nothing about how much energy he possessed or how much his body could withstand.

Perhaps his Endurance had saved him. Perhaps he had stopped just short of a limit he had not known existed.

Being alive did not explain what had happened.

'Wonderful. I almost gave my lousy Talent a certificate of appreciation without any evidence.'

His extremities grew cold despite the warmth seeping through his skin. He already knew that the second level required energy he did not possess and control he had not learned. Now he had discovered that even the first could leave behind a problem that only appeared after he thought he was finished with it.

He would not repeat the attack until he understood what it had done to his body. As for a second finger, that would stay out of his experiments until he met the requirements, however tempting the hole in the rock might be.

It was not fear, as he explained it to himself. It was professional respect for the possibility of exploding from the inside.

"Trying to take something else out?"

Tonpa raised his head.

Killua had stopped several paces ahead and was looking at the index finger raised beside a window he could not see. Kurapika stood next to him, while Gon remained beneath Tonpa's arm, following the movement of his finger with his eyes.

"You're staring into space and moving your finger again," Killua said.

'Damn this brat. He pulled the needle out of his head but kept every bit of his memory.'

Tonpa lowered his hand and kept his expression serious.

"It's a concentration technique. I trace my aura channels in my mind to understand what's changed."

Killua looked at the empty spot he had been pointing toward, then back at him.

"Do imaginary channels need a finger to keep them from getting lost?"

Ding!

The System chimed inside Tonpa's head, and a short message appeared.

[Deception Failed.]

Gon let out a laugh before covering his mouth with his free hand.

"Sorry, but you really do that every time."

Kurapika released a short breath and tried to turn it into a cough, but the laugh that followed ruined the attempt. He briefly looked away from Tonpa.

"Excellent technique," Killua said. "All it needs is something real to point at."

'Damn this brat and his mouth.'

Tonpa tried to lift his arm from Gon's shoulder and stand on his own. His leg trembled, so he settled his arm back over Gon's shoulder without comment.

He opened his mouth to salvage what remained of his dignity, but a second chime interrupted him.

Ding!

A new window appeared over the failure message.

[Requirements for Nen Synchronization met.]

Tonpa blinked. The System had never mentioned any such requirement. He hardly needed another cryptic notification while three people watched his troubled relationship with thin air.

The window flickered, and a question appeared beneath it.

[Would you like to synchronize Nen?]

[Yes/No]

'Synchronize it with what?'

He looked at the two options, then at Killua. The boy was still watching his hand.

Tonpa curled his finger before it could rise again. He did not have to touch every window he saw, yet he kept doing it as though the System were a screen he was accustomed to using alone.

That habit was giving Killua enough material to torment him until the end of the exam.

He considered postponing it. He could wait until they returned to the cave and the others were occupied, then make his choice away from eyes that remembered every twitch. An unknown synchronization might change something in his body in front of them, leaving him in need of another explanation on top of those they already doubted.

But the System was offering it immediately after awakening his Nen. Perhaps this was the next step. Perhaps it would explain the unfamiliar flow he could feel through his body.

He looked at the question again. He had waited too long to gain access to Nen to dismiss a new feature without finding out what it did.

Curiosity won.

Killua started walking again, with Kurapika following. Gon turned to help Tonpa continue along the path.

This time, Tonpa kept his hand lowered and focused on Yes.

'One yes. That's usually all a catastrophic decision takes.'

He selected it.

The options vanished, replaced by a single line.

[Synchronizing the Host's abilities with this world's laws of Nen.]

The next instant, the flow escaping through his skin drew inward. It did not stop. Instead, it gathered close to his body, then moved through his chest and arms in a warm wave.

He tried to direct it.

It did not respond.

He was not the one gathering it or controlling its course. All he could do was feel it moving as the synchronization began.

His fingers tightened on Gon's shirt at the shoulder. A second pulse passed beneath his skin, following immediately after his heartbeat.

The muscles in his back stiffened, then relaxed all at once. His balance faltered, and Gon planted his feet, taking more of his weight.

"Did something happen?" Gon asked.

"Just a cramp."

Killua looked at Tonpa's hand clutching Gon's shirt, then studied his face for a moment before turning and continuing down the path.

Tonpa waited until he had regained his balance, then loosened his fingers.

He returned his gaze to the window, waiting for another line.

None appeared.

The message remained before him, its glow slowly dimming and brightening again.

'A notification that every aura node in my body has opened, followed by a loading screen. Of course. Speed must be a paid feature.'

He continued walking with Gon's support. The boy slowed whenever Tonpa's leg faltered. Every time Tonpa glanced at the window, he found the same message, while his aura continued moving around him in ways he could not control.

It was not painful, but it left his skin warm and his head lighter than it should have been.

A few minutes later, a faint flicker of firelight appeared between the trees. A rough, intermittent sound followed from inside the cave. Tonpa tensed before recognizing its steady rhythm.

Leorio was snoring.

'Reassuring. The lookout went off to punch holes in rocks, and the one left in the cave is snoring. An excellent division of responsibilities.'

They reached the entrance. Leorio lay beside the low fire, an arm over his eyes and his mouth open. His snoring did not change when Killua entered, or when Kurapika's foot dislodged a small stone near his sleeping spot.

'If sleeping were a phase of the exam, this man would have earned his license years ago.'

Gon stepped into the cave and helped Tonpa duck beneath the entrance.

A low gurgle came from near the fire.

Tonpa tensed. Killua's eyes shifted toward the source. Even Kurapika stopped mid-step.

Leorio stirred in his sleep.

BRRROOOT!

The prolonged sound echoed through the stone cave.

Complete silence followed.

Leorio raised his hand, scratched his side, then placed it over his face again and resumed snoring as though nothing had happened.

'This stinking clown… He can't leave us in peace even when he's asleep.'

Gon opened his mouth to speak.

He took a breath at precisely the wrong moment.

He froze.

His face went pale. His free hand flew to his nose, and he staggered backward, pulling Tonpa's arm with him. They nearly fell together at the entrance.

"I can't breathe!"

Tonpa's palm struck the wall. He braced himself against it as the full force of the stench reached him.

'Damn this idiot. He's ruined the air in the entire cave.'

Kurapika retreated outside with a hand over his nose. Killua pulled the front of his shirt over his own.

"Move. Looks like an area attack."

Tonpa pushed himself along the wall, Gon supporting his arm beside him, until they made it out of the cave. Killua quickly followed.

Leorio remained where he was and let out a long snore, as though none of this concerned him.

"At least I don't think any applicants will be stealing our Badges now," Killua said from outside.

Gon helped Tonpa sit on a nearby rock, then moved two steps away and bent over with his hands on his knees. He breathed through his mouth, his eyes watering.

"How can Leorio sleep in there?"

"Natural immunity," Tonpa said, wiping his nose on his sleeve. "The attacker isn't affected by his own weapon."

The corner of Killua's mouth twitched.

"You're the poison expert here. I'll take your word for it."

'I'll add that to the list of things he's going to pay for once I learn to use Nen.'

It took time for the breeze to clear the smell from the entrance. Gon stood at a distance, taking short breaths, while Tonpa watched the synchronization window stubbornly refuse to change.

After a few moments, Gon raised his head and cautiously sniffed the air.

He stepped back half a pace.

"Not yet."

They waited a little longer before he approached the entrance and tested the air again. He stood still for a moment, then nodded.

"Now."

They returned cautiously. Killua went in first, followed by Kurapika. Gon waited at the entrance for Tonpa, who slowly rose and made his way over, using the rocks for support.

The boy held out his hand. Tonpa took it to cross the threshold, then braced his palm against the wall. He held his breath a moment longer, then cautiously inhaled.

The air was no longer trying to kill him.

Ding!

The System chimed inside his head, and the message before his eyes changed.

[Nen Synchronization complete.]



_______________________________

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[Vinni_w]

OK, I'm still reading this. I'm not sure why. Maybe I'm HxH fan and it's good, despite the title being a lie: (the hero is not a scammer), just a dishonest individual with a god out of thir box.
Maybe I'm still enjoying the show, while similtaneously waiting for the intro's conclusion. Idk.

 

[Boumargood]

• ────────── ◆ ────────── •

Chapter 88: Suspicious Specialization

• ────────── ◆ ────────── •
​

[Nen Synchronization complete.]

[All System-based abilities and Synchronized arts have been synchronized with the Nen system.]

[Status updated.]

The pressure that had accompanied the synchronization eased, and Tonpa relaxed his shoulders. He remained leaning against the wall, but a broad smile spread across his face.

It had worked.

He did not know exactly what had worked, but he was willing to postpone that question—until his gaze caught on the two unfamiliar classifications.

His smile gradually faded.

'System-based… and Synchronized?'

His index finger rose toward the line before he realized what he was doing. He was about to request the details when a slight movement beside him stopped him.

Killua had raised an eyebrow.

Tonpa continued moving his finger until it reached his temple, then scratched it, pretending to be distracted.

'Damn this brat. Even my happiness needs Zetsu.'

He dismissed the window and carefully lowered himself beside the wall. The pressure of synchronization was gone, but his legs had not regained their strength, and a faint warmth continued seeping through his skin.

He briefly tried Zetsu to test his control. The sensation subsided, then returned when adjusting his position distracted him.

His control was still poor. He left the warmth alone, assuming it was something he would get used to now that his Nen had awakened.

Gon had settled beside the fire after making sure the smell that had driven them from the cave was gone. Kurapika remained standing, brushing dust from the hem of his clothes, before turning his attention to Tonpa.

"I said we'd talk when we got back."

Tonpa's hand stopped on his knee.

Kurapika continued.

"How did you do that to the rock? A few hours ago, you could barely stand."

Tonpa looked up at Killua and found a small smile on the boy's face.

Killua did not need to say anything.

'Finished interrogating me, and now you're watching the rerun. What a helpful companion.'

Gon leaned forward, curiosity returning to his face.

"Did the attack really come out of your finger? How?"

Tonpa glanced at Leorio. The man was still asleep beside the fire, his mouth open, as though the noise, the smell, and the mass evacuation of the cave had not been sufficient reasons to end his rest.

There was no escaping the conversation.

Tonpa told his story again, keeping it shorter this time. He described his old training and the teacher who had tried to accelerate his progress, forcing his aura channels to carry more than his body could withstand. Then he explained that he had felt some of their responsiveness return after waking from the poisoning, so he had gone outside to test an old technique he was not sure he could still use.

He mentioned neither the storage space nor the capsule. No one had asked about them, and he saw no reason to volunteer another problem.

Gon's expression shifted with each new part of the story, while Kurapika remained silent for most of it. He did not look convinced, but his gaze moved several times between Tonpa's trembling index finger and the signs of exhaustion he could not conceal.

Killua, meanwhile, sat with his arms behind his head, listening to the shortened version as though waiting for Tonpa to change a single word.

When he finished, Kurapika spoke.

"You're assuming the venom repaired your aura channels, but you have no evidence."

"I never said I did."

Tonpa kept his tone calm, though he would have preferred a listener less inclined to inspect the bill.

"What I know is that I couldn't use that technique before entering the cave. Then I woke up and felt that something had changed. Maybe it was the venom. Maybe it was the shock my body went through. I might discover later that I was completely wrong."

Kurapika folded his arms.

"So all you're going by is the order in which those things happened."

"If I find a doctor who specializes in treating aura channels with venomous spiders, I'll ask for his opinion."

The corner of Killua's mouth moved. Kurapika lowered his gaze to hide a brief smile.

Gon kept watching Tonpa's index finger.

"But your ability really did come back, right? We saw what you did to the rock."

"Part of it did. If it had come back properly, I wouldn't have nearly collapsed on the way here."

The exhaustion, at least, was real. The story about an old ability beginning to return remained a lie he had not needed to revise.

Gon raised his head and spoke seriously.

"Then don't use that move again until you're sure it's safe."

Tonpa looked at him for a moment, then nodded.

'A twelve-year-old stopping me from killing myself with a stupid decision. I'm not sure which part of that is more insulting.'

Kurapika watched him a little longer.

"I'll accept that you didn't know what would happen. But you could have woken one of us before going out."

"I wanted to make sure first."

"And how would you have gotten back if no one had been there to help?"

Tonpa looked at his legs, then glanced away.

'That part of the plan was still under development.'

Kurapika said nothing more. He unfolded his arms and seemed to be finished with his questions for the moment.

That was hardly complete acceptance, but it gave Tonpa a chance to shut his mouth before he had to invent another detail.

Ding!

The System chimed inside his head. He kept his expression still as a window appeared before him.

[Group Deception Registered.]

[Nen Points +25]

[Experience Points +25]

[Total Nen Points: 7,183]

[Experience Points: 10,823/16,200]

'Twenty-five for repeating a story Killua's court has already heard. A profitable service, if not for the possibility of losing a hand while delivering it.'

Gon yawned, then tried to hide it behind his hand. The fire had burned low, and fatigue was beginning to show on his face now that his curiosity had subsided.

Tonpa seized the opportunity before anyone found another question.

"Get some sleep. I'll stay near the entrance and watch the path."

Kurapika looked up at him.

"No. I'll take watch."

"I was unconscious for hours. I'm not sleepy, and all I'll be doing is sitting here."

Kurapika gestured toward his leg.

"Not being sleepy doesn't mean you're fit to keep watch."

"And you were supposed to be watching the entrance the first time too," Killua added from where he sat.

Tonpa pressed his lips together.

'Of course. The record of offenses is still open.'

Kurapika glanced toward the entrance, then back at him.

"Stay awake if you want, but rest. I'll wake Killua when my watch is over."

Killua nodded without objection.

Tonpa almost argued. Then he realized he had already obtained what he needed. He had not wanted to watch the trees. He wanted time to read his windows without anyone demanding an explanation for his facial expressions.

"All right."

He rested his head against the wall and left his hands on his knees.

'Time to read the System, and someone else keeping watch for me. I should have let him refuse in the first place.'

Gon lay down beside the fire. Leorio needed to change nothing; he continued snoring as though everyone else had disturbed his sleep.

Kurapika moved to the entrance and examined the darkness outside before sitting beside it, where he could watch the path and the trees.

Killua remained seated a little longer, then lay down with an arm beneath his head.

Tonpa waited until movement inside the cave had subsided. He stayed against the wall, facing the entrance, then summoned his Status Panel without moving his finger.

He wanted to see exactly what the synchronization had changed.

The window appeared silently.

[Host: Tonpa]

[Level: 5]

[Experience Points: 10,823/16,200]

[Talent: D]

[Strength: B]

[Speed: B]

[Endurance: C]

[Flexibility: C]

[Intelligence: C]

[Nen Points: 7,183]

[Trait Acquired: Poison Resistance]

[Nen Status: Awakened]

[Ten: 0%]

[Zetsu: 2%]

[Ren: 0%]

His eyes slid to the next line and stopped.

The Hatsu entry no longer displayed a mastery percentage.

[Hatsu: Processing…]

Tonpa frowned.

He brought the synchronization notification back into view and read it again.

Complete.

Then he looked at the Hatsu entry.

Still processing.

'Are you finished or not?'

He focused on the entry, and a smaller line appeared beneath it.

[Ability synchronization complete. Hatsu identification in progress.]

He stared at it for a moment.

'Of course. The work is done. We're waiting on the paperwork.'

He waited a little longer, but the three dots remained.

Below the unfinished entry, a new section had appeared.

[Registered Abilities and Arts:]

[Is That Your Mother?: Level 2] [Details] [Upgrade: 600 Nen Points]

[Oh, Is That You?: 2 uses remaining] [Details]

[Spatial Storage: Available for nonliving objects] [Details]

[Finger Sutra: Level 1] [Details]

His gaze settled on the upgrade option beside his first ability. Six hundred points was no small sum, but he could afford it now.

He left it alone.

'Paying before reading the details is a habit I leave to my victims.'

He selected the Finger Sutra's details first. The window expanded, and his breath caught when he saw the category listed beneath its name.

[Finger Sutra: Level 1]

[Classification: Synchronized]

[Primary Nen Category: Emission — 100% Efficiency]

[Supporting Category: Enhancement — 100% Efficiency]

[Energy Source: The Host's aura.]

[Development: Training and comprehension.]

[Synchronized: The System has adapted the art to Nen. The Host is responsible for using and practicing it, and bears its energy cost.]

Tonpa read the efficiency percentages again.

One hundred percent in both Emission and Enhancement was better than he had expected. He was about to start calculating what he could do with full efficiency in two categories when two additional lines appeared as he focused on the percentages.

[Full efficiency applies only within the registered art.]

[Synchronization does not grant general mastery of the category.]

'You could have let me be happy for three more seconds.'

So he could not do whatever he pleased with Emission and Enhancement simply because the Sutra used them. He still had to learn the art itself, supply its energy, and endure the consequences of using it.

He moved to the details of his first skill.

[Is That Your Mother?: Level 2]

[Classification: System-based]

[Nen Category: Manipulation — 100% Efficiency]

[The System provides energy, handles activation, and manages upgrades.]

[The ability does not consume the Host's aura.]

[No limit on the number of uses.]

[Effect: Forces the target to turn and check.]

[Resistance to the effect varies according to the target's strength and willpower.]

[Upgrade to Level 3: 600 Nen Points.]

[Notice: The forced effect does not count as deception.]

It was a relief that the skill did not consume his aura. After what the Sutra had done to him, he appreciated an ability that did not leave his body to pay the bill.

The turn remained compulsory, but that did not make it an automatic end to the fight. His opponent could still move or strike him. Tonpa would have to exploit the moment before it became another opportunity to kill him.

He remembered his fist hitting Hisoka's stomach and the pain that had traveled back into his wrist.

'It makes him turn. Making him regret it comes out of my pocket.'

He opened the disguise skill's details.

[Oh, Is That You?]

[Classification: System-based]

[Nen Category: Conjuration — 100% Efficiency]

[Effect: Gives an object a visual appearance identical to the target.]

[Duration: 1 minute.]

[The System provides energy and handles activation.]

[Uses Remaining: 2/3]

Tonpa's gaze moved between Manipulation, Conjuration, and Emission. The skills had worked before his Nen awakened, without requiring him to supply aura. The Sutra, on the other hand, had left him unable to stand.

He selected the explanation of synchronization, and new lines appeared.

[Before the Host's Nen awakened, the System operated System-based abilities independently.]

[Internal power and aura are compatible manifestations of life energy.]

[Before synchronization, the art used the Host's vital energy. It has since been adapted to use aura following the opening of the aura nodes.]

He remembered the pressure that had crowded into his arm and the emptiness the Sutra had left in his body.

Compatibility did not mean his earlier attack had been Nen. The System had changed how the art worked now, but not the fact that its energy would come from Tonpa.

'So the System handled the details and left me to discover that my body was footing the bill.'

He reread the distinction between System-based abilities and Synchronized arts. The explanation had changed how he understood his abilities, but it had not made his exhausted arm feel any better.

Ding!

The System suddenly chimed inside his head.

His eyes stopped halfway through a line, but his head did not move. He kept his face turned toward the entrance as a small window opened.

[Warning: Killua Zoldyck is watching the Host.]

Tonpa did not turn. At the edge of his vision, Killua seemed to be lying where he had been, his arm still beneath his head. He made no sound, and Tonpa could not tell whether his eyes were open.

'Kurapika is watching the entrance, and this brat is watching me. The division of responsibilities keeps improving at my expense.'

He kept his expression steady and brought the Status Panel back into view. He did not need to point or change position, and he gave Killua no new movement to add to his list.

There was one line at the bottom of the panel he had not read yet.

His eyes moved to it, and he frowned.

[Nen Type: Specialist.]

He read it a second time.

It was not the category he had expected for this body. Yet after seeing his abilities spread across several categories, he was no longer sure what else he had been expecting.

His gaze returned to the unfinished Hatsu entry.

The three dots were still there.

Before he could decide whether to try selecting it again, the System chimed.

Ding!

[Hatsu data processing complete.]

His eyes fixed on the entry.

The dots disappeared.

He read what replaced them.

His lips parted slightly. Then his gaze returned to the beginning of the line, and he read it again.

More slowly this time.

His fingers stiffened against his knee.

He forgot Killua.

Forgot that anyone might be watching his face.

'…What?'

_______________________________

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