Chapter 305

In Haruto’s eyes, an enormous amount of Nen was now surging from Kagura’s body.

Aura poured wildly from every part of her, quickly enveloping her entire form.

Seeing that, Haruto finally relaxed, a faint smile appearing on his face.

Before attempting this, he had actually been carrying one concern.

Kagura was not a life-form from the Hunter x Hunter world, so Haruto had not been certain whether awakening Nen in her would even work.

Fortunately, Nen was fundamentally life energy released from the cells, making it highly compatible with carbon-based life in general.

Different world or not, human or yōkai, Kagura had successfully awakened it.

What surprised Haruto even more was the sheer quantity of her aura.

It was enormous.

On second thought, though, that made perfect sense.

Kagura was a yōkai. Her physical strength and vitality existed on an entirely different scale from those of an ordinary human.

Not far away, a sharp gleam flashed through Sesshōmaru’s golden eyes.

He could not actually see Nen, but as a powerful daiyōkai, his senses were extraordinarily keen.

He could clearly tell that Kagura’s presence had undergone a dramatic transformation.

More importantly, some invisible yet undeniably real energy now surrounded her body.

It was different from yōki.

Different from the spiritual power used by miko.

It carried pure, vigorous life force, wrapping steadily around Kagura’s body. Even Sesshōmaru could sense the immense potential contained within it.

There was no longer any doubt.

The power Haruto called Nen was real.

Whether the personal Nen abilities developed from it could truly become as extraordinary as Haruto claimed would still require proof, but at the very least, his explanation had become considerably more credible.

Sesshōmaru’s fingers shifted slightly, though he remained where he was and said nothing.

Haruto paid no attention to him.

All of his focus remained on Kagura.

Seeing her stare in fascination at the aura pouring from her body, Haruto immediately warned,

"Focus! Don’t let your attention wander."

"Do exactly what I explained. Gather all the aura leaking from your body and keep it wrapped tightly around you. Complete Ten!"

Kagura immediately snapped out of her daze.

She steadied her mind, concentrated entirely on the aura around her, and began trying to restrain its uncontrolled flow according to Haruto’s instructions.

Perhaps because she possessed an innate sensitivity to air currents and the movement of energy, Kagura adapted astonishingly quickly.

In less than a minute, the aura that had been spilling in every direction gathered around her like clouds drawn together by the wind.

It settled obediently around her body and stopped leaking away.

Kagura had successfully achieved Ten.

"Good."

Haruto nodded in satisfaction.

"Now maintain that state and familiarize yourself with what Nen feels like."

Kagura nodded and lifted one hand.

Mist-like aura covered her palm.

"So this is Nen..."

Wonder was impossible to hide from her face.

"What a strange power."

It was completely different from the yōki she had possessed since birth.

Yōki was forceful, aggressive, naturally carrying qualities of destruction and corrosion.

Nen was gentler and purer.

Most importantly, it was undeniably born from within her own body.

It belonged entirely to her.

Kagura studied the aura around her palm for only a short while before forcing herself to refocus.

She did not have time to lose herself in the novelty of it.

Her priority was mastering Nen as quickly as possible, then developing an ability that would let her escape Naraku’s control.

Under Haruto’s guidance, Kagura moved on to Zetsu, Ren, and Hatsu.

Perhaps because she was already accustomed to manipulating yōki, her learning speed was almost absurd.

Within barely an hour, she had grasped all Four Major Principles of Nen—Ten, Zetsu, Ren, and Hatsu.

Of course, true mastery would still require extensive training.

But for the moment, this was enough.

Once Haruto confirmed that Kagura understood the fundamentals, he took out a glass filled with clear water and placed a leaf on the surface.

He looked at her seriously.

"Next, we’ll use Water Divination to determine your Nen affinity."

"Different categories are suited to completely different kinds of abilities."

"Place both hands around the glass and release your aura."

Kagura nodded.

She extended her hands around the glass and began channeling Nen.

Aura flowed slowly from her palms toward the water.

The previously clear water gradually took on the faintest tint of blue.

The color deepened little by little until the entire glass had become a clean, pale sky-blue.

"The water changed color."

Haruto nodded.

"You’re an Emitter."

"About what I expected."

"Emitter?"

Kagura repeated the word without much reaction.

She did not particularly care which Nen category she belonged to.

As far as she was concerned, any affinity was acceptable as long as it could help her break Naraku’s control and reclaim her heart.

The real problem was that while she now understood the basics of Nen, she had no idea how to develop a personal ability—or what kind of ability would actually free her from Naraku.

With no better answer, Kagura looked to Haruto for guidance.

Haruto would have preferred that she spend more time strengthening her fundamentals before attempting to develop a Hatsu of her own.

The stronger someone’s foundation, the greater the potential of the ability they eventually developed and the less likely something would go wrong.

But one look at the hunger for freedom in Kagura’s eyes told him she did not have that kind of patience.

Fortunately, Kagura already possessed an extraordinary amount of aura.

Even if she began developing her ability immediately, Haruto believed her talent and obsession were more than enough to produce something powerful.

And if necessary, there were always Conditions and Vows.

Given how deeply Kagura desired freedom, she could impose an extreme restriction on herself—something like permanently losing Nen afterward, or creating an ability that could only ever be used once—in exchange for pushing the power of that ability to its absolute limit.

The difficult part was deciding what kind of ability she should develop.

"Emission..."

Haruto frowned slightly as his mind raced through the possibilities, trying to find the direction best suited to Kagura.

"The core problem is your heart. If we can solve that, Naraku loses his hold over you."

"And Emission actually gives us several promising approaches."

He paused before explaining in detail.

"Emitters specialize in projecting aura away from their bodies while keeping it stable."

"They can make that detached aura maintain a defined form, carry out predetermined instructions, and in some cases even possess specialized abilities of its own."

"Your control over wind already resembles the kind of thing an Emitter would naturally excel at, so this category suits you extremely well."

"Emission also has a very high ceiling. With the right ability, it can branch into things like spatial manipulation, specialized Nen beasts, spatial separation, barriers, and similar effects."

Haruto raised two fingers.

"Considering your situation, I can think of two directions that suit you best."

"The first is also the most direct: spatial manipulation."

"For example, you could develop an ability that swaps the positions of two targets regardless of distance or intervening barriers."

"Naraku has your heart."

"If you could create an ability like that, you could directly exchange its location with something in your possession and bring your heart back into your own hands."

"The moment that succeeds, Naraku’s control over you is finished."

Kagura’s breath caught.

Brilliant light erupted in her eyes.

That was exactly what she had dreamed of.

To simply reclaim her heart and sever Naraku’s control once and for all.

Haruto continued.

"The second direction would be a Nen beast."

"An Emitter can create a Nen beast with an independent function."

"For example, you could design one to share your life and act as a substitute for death."

"If Naraku crushed your heart, the Nen beast could bear the fatal consequence in your place."

"That kind of ability would probably be considerably harder to develop, though."

"Another possibility would be a healing-type Nen beast."

"One capable of regenerating an entirely new heart for you—one that belongs completely and exclusively to you."