"Looks like you're ready."
In the dining room, a sumptuous lunch was already set at both ends of the enormous, long rectangular table.
Today, it was only Silva and Sean.
Tread, tread. He stomped his feet lightly, knocking the clinging snow off his boots.
Sean pushed the door open and walked in, immediately meeting Silva's sharp gaze.
The current head of the Zoldyck family had his hands clasped together, quietly watching as Sean pulled out a chair and sat down assertively, the corners of his mouth tilting up slightly.
"Whether I'm ready or not, I can't let you down, can I, Dad?" Rolling up his sleeves, Sean speared a piece of steak and put it in his mouth. After one bite, he spit it out with a 'Ptooey.'
"What's wrong? Not to your liking?"
"Not really... it's just a bit raw."
"Tsubone," Silva said indifferently. "Get the young master a new plate."
"If you were to lose on the spot due to diarrhea, and others found out, they'd say my victory as Silva was unearned."
"Heh. That won't be necessary!" Sean waved his hand to stop Tsubone, opened his mouth, and blew a breath at the plate. 'Puff.' A burst of flame swept over it.
The steak sizzled as the fat rendered, cooked to a perfect medium-well.
And this level of control over fire didn't look like someone who had only just recently found their specialization.
A flicker passed through Silva's eyes, almost imperceptibly. He looked deeply at Sean and said, "Your fire affinity is complete?"
Two years to master wind affinity, one year to master fire affinity. Tsubone, standing to the side, couldn't help but adjust the glasses on her nose. Her old eyes, hidden behind the lenses, were locked on Sean, filled with disbelief!
"Heh," Sean chuckled lightly. "How could that be?"
He bit off a piece of steak and began to chew it heartily. "Mmph... I'm sure you know how hard natural affinities are to train, Dad."
"Me? I just know a few little fire-breathing tricks, just enough to grill a steak."
'Is that so?' Unlike Tsubone, who visibly relaxed, Silva flicked his wrist, sending a fork shooting straight at Sean's face!
The speed of the action, the suddenness of the decision, was completely beyond everyone's expectations!
'Swish!' The steel fork, wrapped in tumultuous Nen, closed the distance in the blink of an eye!
'He hadn't even swallowed a piece of steak.' Sean shot Silva a sidelong glance and sneered, "I don't think it's time yet, is it, Dad?"
He flicked his hand, aimed at the fork, and made a finger-gun gesture. 'Biu!'
Fire Gun!
A flame bullet, moving faster despite being fired second, instantly melted the steel fork. Its momentum undiminished, it sped towards Silva!
The current head of the Zoldyck family chuckled deeply, his voice suppressed. "Son... that doesn't look like a 'little fire-breathing trick.'"
He tilted his head, dodging the flame bullet. Unfortunately, while he dodged it, the wall behind him didn't have legs. It was forced to take the hit, letting out a mournful cry as a massive hole was punched clean through it. The old man almost died from the heartache!
"I said, if you're eating, then eat! Who told you to start fighting?!" Wind and snow poured into the dining room through the hole. Maha Zoldyck, having just returned from down the mountain and still savoring the memories of last night's passions, heard the "gunshot," burst in furiously, and, without a second word, raised his hand to slap each of them.
"Hey! I'm telling you, it wasn't my fault." 'Smack!' The big slap landed squarely on Sean's forehead. 'Poof.' The boy instantly turned into a log, which rolled to Maha Zoldyck's feet.
His real body, meanwhile, had flown out the window at some unknown point, landing lightly on the top of a pine tree in the courtyard.
"Substitution Jutsu?!"
"You brat! Don't run if you've got the guts!"
"Watch me beat the crap out of you!"
Just as he was about to roll up his sleeves, Silva, who had taken Maha Zoldyck's slap head-on, reached out and grabbed him.
"Grandfather, 'the son's fault is the father's failure to teach.' It's better to leave this kind of thing to me."
As he spoke, Silva narrowed his eyes at Sean. "Six days from now. By the small lake in the mountains. I'll be waiting for you."
Sean clicked his tongue. 'Scary.' He stuck both hands in his pockets, rode the wind and snow, and vanished in an instant.
"So that kid really managed to master fire affinity?" His white hair flowing, Zeno appeared leisurely, his hands behind his back.
'That scoundrel.' He went up to the wall, felt the bullet hole; the wall, scorched by the flames, was still faintly hot.
One could imagine that if Silva hadn't, on a whim, tested him with that move... when the real fight happened, he might have been blindsided by that brat Sean!
"That brat, he definitely learned all the Fire Style jutsu in secret!" Maha Zoldyck grunted. "Fire erupting instantly with a thought. Last time, he was the one who secretly burned my ass!"
"So, Father, Grandfather, doesn't this make it more interesting?" Silva watched the direction Sean had left, chuckling darkly. "Honestly, if it weren't for fulfilling the agreement, I'd already be too impatient to wait!"
'Krak, krak!' His joints popped as a powerful aura suddenly erupted from Silva's body, even forcing the wind and snow blowing in through the bullet hole to roll back out!
"Triple Limit Break?!" Maha Zoldyck and Zeno looked at each other.
The latter walked a circle around Silva and couldn't help but nod. "It is indeed a Triple Limit Break. It seems you haven't been idle these three years either, Silva."
"With your final weakness in strength shored up, your chances of winning against that kid Sean have undoubtedly increased!"
'Win your ass!' With a cry of pain, just as Zeno finished his circle around Silva, his ear was suddenly grabbed by Maha Zoldyck.
"You scoundrel! Right now in the Zoldyck family, you're the only waste left!"
"Tell me, in two more years, what will you use to fight Sean?! Your head?!"
"Grandfather... ow... ow... ow..." Zeno felt he had lost all his old face, especially in front of Silva. He wished he could just ram his head into a wall and die.
He finally managed to escape from Maha Zoldyck's grasp and shot the old man a resentful glare. "With Silva here, where is the need for me to act?"
"And what if Silva loses?" Maha Zoldyck glared at Zeno, frustrated with his lack of ambition. "You scoundrel, you wouldn't just surrender, would you?"
"Rest assured, Grandfather. It is impossible for me to lose!" Before Zeno could speak, Silva said indifferently.
"Three years ago, Sean was able to snatch the bell from my hand. Three years later, as his father, I must regain some face... When the time comes..."
"I will spare his life!"
"Then it's up to you." Maha Zoldyck shot Zeno one last glare, put his hands behind his back, and left in a huff.
'That scoundrel is unreliable. Silva, beat him hard for me. This old man doesn't want to be forced to fight at his age.'
'Creaak.' The door closed heavily.
Only the father and son remained in the dining room, facing each other in silence.
After a long moment, Zeno rubbed his ear, which was aching from Maha Zoldyck's pulling, and glanced at Silva. "Are you confident?"
"A natural affinity Limit Break isn't so easy to deal with. Especially since that kid Sean looks like he's broken through twice."
But... "So what?" Silva turned his head, gave Zeno an indifferent look. "If I can't do it, does that mean you can, Father?"
"You should know, I am stronger than you now!"
Zeno: "..."
'F*ck your mother!'