Mastering Zetsu in just one hand clearly wasn't enough—but Joey's success gave him the key.
By channeling even the smallest trace of aura from the wallet, he could repeatedly reproduce the sensation of closing aura nodes.
That shortcut accelerated his training exponentially.
At first, it was just his hand. Then the effect spread to his entire arm, then his torso. Finally, when he managed to internalize the aura in his legs—he had fully entered Zetsu for the first time.
And during the second half of this process, his mind kept circling back to one thing: Kite's suspicion.
Why had Kite zeroed in on his mental energy?
Was it just because of his observation of Joey's "Nen beast"? Or the fact Joey had once awakened Nen but somehow ended up closing his aura nodes again?
Or was it because he had used his ability too soon?
Joey dug through the past few encounters.
Then it hit him—before Kite had ordered Gon and Killua to fight "Bugs Bunny," he'd clearly implied that any incompetents should just go back to the border with the others.
At the time, only Ponzu, Basho, and Joey were present. That meant—before Joey revealed his ability, Kite didn't even consider him a factor.
So the shift happened after he showed Killer Queen's explosion ability.
Was it the ability itself that tipped him off?
Could it be that Kira Yoshikage's Nen power had already been seen outside NGL?
Joey's brows furrowed deeply.
He remembered waking up—staring at that severed hand.
Even though it was a bit dried up, the skin had still looked soft and smooth—too clean for someone who did hard labor.
"Did Kira bring that hand from outside NGL?" Joey thought, heart racing.
"And did he leave traces behind during a kill?"
If so, then Kite's so-called "rescue plan" would be anything but simple.
After all, Kite's promise never included keeping Joey safe once he left NGL.
At this point, Joey realized: if he wanted to survive, he'd have to rely on himself.
The question was—how could he escape Kite's group without raising suspicion?
Joey honestly wanted to just shout: "I'm a good guy! The real villain is Kira Yoshikage! I even killed him!"
But both logic and reality told him—no one would believe it.
He'd walked himself into this mess.
Even if he stayed quiet, Basho would probably rat him out eventually. That guy had a knack for gathering intel, after all.
Thinking back, Joey realized Basho's shift in attitude probably came after seeing Killer Queen blow up the Crocodile Ant.
And Kite's own change? After the Bugs Bunny explosion.
When coincidences pile up, they stop being coincidences.
There was only one explanation: Kira Yoshikage had used Killer Queen in the outside world, and someone had taken note of it.
A sudden numbness in his right shoulder pulled him out of his thoughts. It was the wounded one.
"Sorry," came Ponzu's soft voice behind him.
"No worries," Joey shook his head and resumed Ten.
Her touch had reminded him just how tightly he'd wrapped the bandage—he could barely feel the pain anymore, only the numbness.
His loss of blood, and the tight wrapping, were probably why.
Not to mention, his nerves were stretched thin to begin with—and after realizing Kira may have outed his ability, that anxiety had only doubled.
He really didn't want to end up like the Phantom Troupe, always hunted, always moving. Joey was a good guy—he wasn't Kira.
Pushing away the chaos in his mind, Joey rechecked the wound.
After loosening the fabric slightly, he saw the bleeding had stopped.
Now he just had to prevent infection and avoid overusing his right arm to keep it from reopening.
He remembered a few medicinal herbs from the forest that could help. If he had the chance, he'd try to gather them.
Still, he hoped to find proper medical supplies at the base. NGL's ridiculous rules had kept even the most basic items out of their packs, and that was half the trouble.
Kite's voice cut through his thoughts.
"Not bad. Next, work on extending your Zetsu duration. After that, practice partially closing nodes—partial Ten is key."
Joey stared at Kite's cold, impassive face.
He really wished he could read anything from it—but that poker face gave nothing away.
With a nod, he closed his eyes and resumed his training.
Still, part of his attention drifted back to what came next—leading Kite's group to the base.
Kite wanted documents, but Joey had no idea where they were.
If he told the truth, there was no doubt Kite would eliminate him on the spot.
Even if he miraculously stumbled across the right files, what were the odds he'd be allowed to leave NGL alive?
No matter how he thought about it, going alone across the entire country was practically a death sentence.
And by now, if Joey remembered the timeline correctly, Neferpitou—one of the King's three Royal Guards—should already be born.
Saving Basho might've delayed Pitou's understanding of Nen, but how long could that really last?
There were other Hunters in the country—some probably still alive—and if Pitou caught even one...
She'd master Nen in no time.
Which meant, if Kite planned to push further in, they were guaranteed to clash.
Joey rubbed his temples. His head throbbed.
"Even the best-case scenario... still ends with me as either a corpse or a smear on the ground."
"Freakin' amazing," he muttered bitterly.
But for now, all that mattered was Kite's documents.
If Kite was so confident Joey would know where they were... then maybe Kira had actually known.
Only problem—Kira's dead.
The only things Joey had from him were that creepy wallet and the map.
He'd flipped through the map dozens of times—nothing stood out. And half of it was smudged with blood by now.
Even if it had secrets, they were probably ruined.
Which left the wallet. Aside from a bit of spare change, the only oddity was that ID card.
Maybe he could hand that over to Kite, see if the guy could pull anything useful from it.
Joey sighed.
"If only I had absorbed Kira's memories too…"
Who knew how many landmines that freak had buried over the past five years?
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