Chrollo helped Saiki Kusuo sit on the rock. Once he settled, Saiki finally relaxed. The yukata he wore was oversized, so Chrollo pulled it over Saiki's shoulders and gently dried his hair with it.
Saiki Kusuo froze, staying still: That's really not necessary… well, whatever. He didn't instantly evaporate the water from his hair because that'd look suspicious. If someone's drying it for him, it's fine. Once that's done, he can move faster without drawing attention.
"Your wristband looks different," Chrollo suddenly said, noticing the change.
Saiki Kusuo looked down. Yeah, the wristband had drained so much power last night that it had gone from one-third capacity to about one-ninth.
Looks like the time he can stay here is getting shorter.
"Is that power okay?" Chrollo still believed the strange powers came from the wristband.
Well, it's better that way. Saiki Kusuo held the wristband and thought—he should test someday if it could be restored. Maybe that would make the powers disappear.
Or worse, the moment it gets restored, the power might all rush back into his body at once. That'd be terrifying. It could even destroy the Dark Continent—even though that place is filled with monsters. Wiping out entire species wouldn't sit well with him either.
To restore the wristband, he'd have to take it off, and that's not something he can just try casually.
Right now, he had to wait for the chaotic energy to stabilize. That could take time. Until then, best to stay alone.
So the sooner this test starts, the better. He really needed sleep. Seven days should be enough for him to recover.
Saiki Kusuo closed his eyes. Chrollo, seeing how tired he was, gave his hair a quick rub and pulled his hand back. He'd wanted to hand Saiki his bag, but instead just set it down beside him.
Actually, Chrollo had already looked through the bag. It was made of strong, computer-like material and had a password. Nothing much inside—three books and a pouch with some coins and gems. The plain setup showed Saiki didn't care much about money.
What stood out was that the three books weren't the same ones Saiki had borrowed before. That reminded Chrollo of the time Saiki used his teleportation ability.
If this wristband could boost that ability...
Like that last teleportation at age nine—he still ended up in Meteor City. But now, he could reach a place like Greed Island in under ten minutes. Saiki had said he couldn't go to places he'd never been, so maybe he passed near those two cities before, then used flight to find the rest.
Could he now also teleport objects from far away?
And what about his stone ability—could he now use that more widely? Mind reading and telepathy still seemed to be working fine; he hadn't spoken out loud yet. Illusions had gone wild last night. And there was still his power to control fire—while awake, he could choose whether to burn nen or physical matter.
He could rebuild an entire ship in a single day. Just yesterday, someone near the World Tree had called him "Doctor."
The mystery around this guy was only getting deeper.
But... it was fascinating. Chrollo smiled faintly, slung his bag over his shoulder, and left. He'd spend the next seven days collecting points and then find a quiet place to train. After last night, he could briefly use new ability bookmarks—but it was just the beginning. He needed to refine them. Right now everything was still a mess.
Chrollo walked away.
Saiki Kusuo opened his eyes.
Jeez, this guy is terrifying. Even though I knew I had already exposed quite a few powers, I didn't expect it to be that many.
[If Hisoka finds out, Saiki will definitely become a bigger target than me. He'll attract all the attention...] Chrollo suddenly thought from afar.
Hey, come on, don't do that. Leave me out of this. Be a man and face Hisoka yourself!
...
The test finally began. Hisoka and Illumi went first, and Saiki Kusuo was the third to enter the forest. Once inside, he realized Illumi was waiting for him.
"What's your target number, Kusuo? If I run into them, I'll take care of it for you." Illumi was holding a nail, looking at him. Saiki Kusuo looked up—turns out Illumi had pulled one of the nails from his mouth, so he could talk now.
Illumi… he's really been putting in a lot of effort this whole time.
[Number 91.] Saiki Kusuo didn't say who it was—Illumi, being the professional he is, probably had everyone's number memorized by now.
"Want me to help you find a place to rest? It's still dangerous around here." Illumi reached out a hand to him.
But Saiki Kusuo didn't really want to get close to anyone right now. Especially not Illumi, who still had nails in him—he couldn't relax around that.
[No need, big bro. You go do your thing. I'll find a place to rest myself.]
Little brothers always like doing things on their own. Illumi understood, nodded, and left without saying more.
Saiki Kusuo used clairvoyance to find a spot and teleported there—it was a small clearing deep in the forest, far from the river. He raised a hand, and the grass on the ground was neatly sliced to reveal a flat patch of dirt.
He'd gone deep enough that it was far from the entrance, and he used his powers to make others subconsciously overlook the area.
He crushed a gold bar from his backpack, used a small part of it to trade for bug repellent from home, and sprinkled it in two rings around the area. His yukata was instantly dried, and he used telekinesis to ball it up into a pillow. Once everything was ready, Saiki Kusuo finally lay down, slowly and carefully. He didn't care about all the messy emotions or events anymore—he was just too tired and wanted to sleep.
He closed his eyes. The sun was still bright above him, but it didn't matter. His powers would keep him from getting cold even without a blanket.
[Saiki Kusuo — Asleep]
When Saiki Kusuo woke up, there was a huge leaf covering him. He rolled over, and the leaf slid off to the side. The sky was still sunny and clear. He opened his eyes and felt his body in much better shape than before.
But when he sat up, Hisoka was right in front of him.
Saiki Kusuo: ?
0.3 seconds of thinking. Judging by how he felt, it had been more than a day but not quite two. Judging by the sun's position, yep—he'd slept for 28 hours.
Hisoka was squinting at him, surrounded by red butterflies fluttering around. He hadn't been hurt before—so when did he get injured again in just one day?
"Hehehe~ the boy is finally awake."
Waking up to you is a really bad start to the day, Saiki Kusuo thought.
"Il-chan's sleeping over there. Here, this is card number 91." Hisoka pulled out a number card from his shirt and flicked it toward Saiki Kusuo—it landed beside his hand.
Hisoka pointed to a small hill nearby. Knowing Illumi liked sleeping in the dirt, Saiki Kusuo calmly accepted it.
So his big brother must've taken care of the target for him. Then… did he ask Hisoka to keep an eye on him afterward?
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