Leorio Returns After 8 Years! Hunter x Hunter Chapter 404 Spoilers!!

In the previous Hunter x Hunter chapter, Halkenburg is revealed to be the first Queen’s son, not the second’s, and uses his Nen ability, “The Boy Who Shoots the Arrow: Grimmel the Dissonance” to take control of Captain Balsamilco in an attempt to assassinate his own older brother Benjamin.

Hunter x Hunter Chapter 404 is titled “Speculation”

This chapter has 19 pages.

We begin in Room 1003 with 3rd Prince Zhang-Lei discussing the nature of his Guardian Spirit Beast’s coins to Kurapika, who was called here by the Prince’s order because he needed the former’s input on the coins.

Throughout much of the Conest, Zhang-Lei has spent his time speculating on what his coins actually represent.

Do they represent the value of Nen power, lifespan or some other type of exchange rate?

Zhang Lei notes that the value of each coin changes after 10 days.

At first, Zhang Lei notes that every coin is limited to a certain number, with the number reaching from 1 to 10 but he theorizes that they could increase the coin’s value if they distribute it to the wider public.

Through a public circulation of this Nen currency, Zhang Lei would have more and more coins produced rather than the limited one per day amount.

However, Kurapika is concerned that testing this theory will be quite difficult since the coin circulation will make the change in value harder to track, so before any circulation in the public can begin, Kurapika suggests that they check the difference between the coins held by the 3rd Prince and the ones given to others.

One of the employees, Tenftory, responds with confirmation that the values are different per person.

Tenftory notes that the front design of the coin, which contains Zhang Lei’s image, is the same but the back, which looks like a dharma wheel, the face of Zhang Lei’s Guardian Spirit Beast, is always different, which indicates that the back of the coin changes depending on the holder.

To validate this hypothesis, Kurapika asks Tenftory to move the coin on the table to the person next to him. 

So, Zhang Lei gives Kurapika a coin with the number 10 on it. As Kurapika accepts the coin, it transforms into a coin with Zhang Lei’s likeness just like Tenftory’s coin.

While Kurapika hesitates to speculate further with Coventoba watching them (Coventoba works for 1st Prince Benjamin), Zhang Lei permits Kurapika and he reveals his hypothesis, which is based on the narration in Chapter 376: “Determination” about Zhang Lei’s Nen Beast having a Conjuration ability that is a Compound Type, that is to say a conjured object that uses multiple abilities under multiple conditions and that the coin holder will gain some new ability.

Kurapika mentions that the circulation of the coin will allow the coin to accumulate or gather Nen, which results in coin owners gaining various abilities to be activated later on.

The nature of these coins reminds me of My Hero Academia’s main Quirk ability, “One for All”, which was originally a Stockpiling Quirk whose value grows with each generation of Quirk holder.

Kurapika then suggests that the number of days needed for the coin owner to activate Nen abilities from the coin might be, as Zhang Lei speculates, 10 (the original highest value of the coin) to the power of 64 or 840 days.

Kurapika even thinks that the Nen coins could awaken Nen abilities in someone without Nen, which fits Gon’s situation as while his Hatsu is gone, he still has Aura building up within it and it is something Gon is slowly able to see.

This could possibly be the biggest breakthrough outside the Dark Continent, assuming it goes out of control.

What if Togashi is setting up the circulation of these coins so that ordinary people without Nen training could use Nen?

This might be like the situation in My Hero Academia where 80% of the world has Quirks while 20% are Quirkless normal humans.

Imagine if Zhang Lei’s coins become a new form of currency or even a collectible item.

This is basically a form of Nen cryptocurrency. The longer time you hold to it the more it’s worth. 

Since the ability will take 3 years to awaken, the initial value of the coins will not be known and within the 840 days, Zhang Lei’s Guardian Spirit Beast will produce about 840 coins until the first one awakens its ability.

Additionally, it is likely the coin will not awaken any ability but simply accumulate the coin holder’s own Nen passively until the coin is returned to its source, Zhang Lei’s Guardian Spirit Beast and thus there is an incentive to make Zhang Lei king to realize the power of the coins.

For a story requiring nearly all, if not all, the Kakin Princes to die, this makes Zhang Lei the most tempting to root for but also the easiest to kill precisely because he has nothing to offer yet besides crypto.

It is fitting in a way that Zhang Lei’s Guardian Spirit Beast would manifest a tangible reason why he should become King of the Kakin Empire.

If he is allowed to rule for 840 days, the kingdom would prosper with the Nen cryptocurrency.

However, like any cryptocurrency, there are conditions to actually gain and benefit from the currency in question and its value is dependent on the trust that people have over it.

If the coins circulate without fulfilling whatever conditions

Perhaps it is as easy as pledging obedience to Zhang Lei or like Morena Prudo’s ability, which involves taking lives or a similar act of Nen exchange but it could also be complicated enough that every single coin has its own stipulated conditions.

Zhang Lei also needs to be aware of what these conditions could be and so like any new currency circulating in the market, Zhang Lei would have to constantly speculate on the conditions required to realize the coin’s value.

This is what makes Zhang Lei’s ability full of potential but also full of holes. Obviously, Zhang Lei himself has no direct Nen power within the Succession Contest just with the Guardian Spirit Beast alone but he can command his employees or even the other factions of the Contest to bet on him with the long-term, 3 year waiting time of their singular piece of Nen cryptocurrency becoming a valuable gift that will only be fulfilled once Zhang Lei becomes King.

Wow, we are dealing with a ton of “Nen economics and finance” that barely mean anything until Zhang Lei wins the Succession Contest.

In a way, financial speculation is Zhang Lei’s game and would be an interesting concept to materialize as if a coin landed on Gon’s pocket, he could awaken a new Nen ability, either to fast track his progress to regaining his currently dwindling Aura or to even get a new Nen ability outside of his own natural reserves.

However, Kurapika decides to keep secret the fact that Zhang Lei’s Guardian Spirit Beast uses “Pseudo-coercive Manipulation” and requires “Pseudo-Coercive” loyalty to its creator or else they die from the effect of the Manipulation.

The Succession Contest Arc reveals the diverse types of Manipulation, with “Pseudo-coervice” being a form of Manipulation different from the easier concept of “Coercive” Type, the latter being full control of the target’s body.

This means that Zhang Lei’s ability has a risk of creating a dictatorship once Zhang Lei does become king, which puts Kurapika in a light moral dilemma.

Zhang Lei is described by most people, including himself, as a “Balance” type of person, having both dark and light.

His Nen cryptocurrency would be used to enforce his rule in order for people to benefit from it but perhaps even the mere act of having the coin could mean that the coin owner is forced to obey Zhang Lei at the cost of their lives.

Kurapika keeps this fact a secret in order to make use of Coventoba, who secretly holds the coin found on Day 1 in Room 1003.

Zhang Lei tells Kurapika that the alliance and information exchange shared between the two is done to secure 14th Prince Woble’s safety.

Zhang Lei does feel somewhat insecure of Kurapika practically acting like a player in the same game since Woble is just an infant, telling himself that Kurapika should not view himself as his equal.

Kurapika monologues about the strong balance maintained by the three Kakin Mafia Families and to break that balance would involve killing the true heads of the Mafia families, the Princes (3rd Prince Zhang Lei, 4th Prince Tserriednich, and 7th Prince Luzurus) and Kurapika thinks that someone might gain from the assassination of any of the three Princes.

That person would be Benjamin, who has every intention to declare special martial law in the Black Whale as head of the Royal Army of Kakin.

Knowing Benjamin’s personality, Kurapika thinks that If Zhang Lei intends to protect Woble, then Zhang Lei would be made into an ideal victim of a brutal killing that would easily be blamed on the Kakin Mafia, which would justify the declaration of special martial law.

Kurapika then debates over his options.

If he stays in Room 1003 with Zhang Lei, he would be a target for Benjamin’s plan to declare special martial law by setting up a Mafia war, which at the moment is still a possibility in Kurapika’s head.

But if he goes back to Room 1014, where the bodyguards are monitoring each other (the bodyguards stationed work for different Princes and Queens), it would be safer even with enemies like the mysterious Silent Majority user or the Nen abilities of the people in the room.

Kurapika emphasizes that both options are dangerousand likens the choice to walking on thin ice.

Meanwhile, Hunter Association 14th Chairman and Science Team head Cheadle brings in the body of 9th Prince Halkenburg that had collapsed last chapter due to his Nen ability transferring his mind to Balsamilco’s body.

And in this shot, we finally see Leorio, who has not been seen since Chapter 359: “Departure”, the actual departure of the Black Whale from the mainland released in 2016, eight years ago.

Here, he is with Cheadle and the medical staff as they take away Halkenburg’s body.

Even as one of the four main characters, Leorio is often in the background, as he was uninvolved from Greed Island until the end of the Chimera Ant Arc, nearly 200 chapters of absences (his main appearances end in Chapter 126 until he returns to the story outside flashbacks in Chapter 325 in the Chairman Election Arc), by which time he was studying for his medicine degree.

Although helping Kurapika with his role as the new Rat to replace Pariston among the Zodiacs, Leorio has barely been involved in the Succession Contest Arc ever since joining Cheadle, the incumbent Hunter Association Chairman, as part of the Black Whale’s Science Team.

While watching the body be carried away, Halkenburg, now inside Balsamilco, notes that Balsamilco will not regain consciousness until Halkenburg himself falls asleep.

With the diagnosis marked as “coma, the time it will take to confirm the stomach flu diagnosis will work in his favor.

In the event he asks his mother to forbid an autopsy, Halkenburg’s death will be attributed to unexplained organ failure. 

We now have full context for Halkenburg’s ability, “The Boy Who Shoots the Arrow: Grimmel the Dissonance”.

First of all, the name has some context, as it is the name for the film “We Need To Talk About Kevin” and David Grimal’s “Les Dissonances” orchestra put together.

https://twitter.com/TheHxHSource/status/1848077154824937800

“We Need To Talk About Kevin” is a 2011 psychological horror film about a young man (played by Ezra Miller) who was imprisoned for committing a school massacre.

Kevin grew up tormenting his distant mother, who acts as the film’s narrator, and hates everything in his life except one thing: archery.

Kevin murdered his father and sister with the new and powerful bow and arrow he received as a Christmas present from his dad, just like the Nen bow and arrow Halkenburg manifests.

The film is connected to the disturbing turn the pacifist Halkenburg takes after resolving to win the Succession War.

We do not even know exactly what he wants as soon as he left his father’s room in Chapter 382: “Awakening” and it was from learning of his circumstances as a Kakin Prince that a psychological change emerged.

David Grimal’s “Les Dissonance”, an orchestra comprised of renowned soloists that performs without a conductor.

With the context of the name itself, we learn in this chapter exactly how Halkenburg’s Hatsu works.

Basically, the ability involves forced personality transfer but the ability will randomly choose someone from Halkenburg’s group to take over the target and the consciousness of both target and group member are exchanged.

Although the  definition of “death” in the succession contest is unclear, the death of both body and consciousness is considered a necessary and sufficient condition. 

Recalling the experiment he conducted with Sumidori (Halkenburg’s own bodyguard) possessing Shikoku (1st Prince Benjamin’s bodyguard sent to Halkenburg), Halkenburg learns that upon his ability’s activation, Sumidori woke up and reported an identification number belonging to Shikoku. 

When personalities are switched, only one person remains awake, with priority given to the individual who activates the ability.

This aspect is why the ability also has the song: “Grimmel the Dissonance”.

Halkenburg’s ability is called “The Boy Who Shoots the Arrow: Grimmel the Dissonance” because there are actually multiple Nen users but Halkenburg is the origin point. 

No matter what anyone can do, the ability will force the target (Shikoku) to stay asleep as long as the Nen user (in this case, Sumidori).

However, if one of those on Halkenburg’s side (including Halkenburg himself), who activated the ability, dies first, then the target struck by Halkenburg’s arrow will awaken and return to their original body while coexisting with the personality that came from Halkenburg’s side.

In the event that Halkenburg loses a party member, the priority switches to the target of Halkenburg’s arrow and not Halkenburg’s party.

After Halkenburg’s death, Balsamilco’s personality will return to his original body while Halkenburg’s personality will be forced to sleep.

To prevent this situation, just before Halkenburg’s body dies, Halkenburg plans to take a sleeping drug while inside Balsamilco’s body, giving him 10 hours to complete the next move to secure victory in the succession contest. 

This is one of the riskiest plays of the Succession Contest as Halkenburg is putting his life on the line to take down his full older brother Benjamin, who is the most dangerous player due to his military power to declare special martial law and hasten the massacre of the other Princes.

With the resolve to kill his own brother, is Halkenburg still going to protect the other Princes or will he still be bound to the fate of being a man who kills his siblings to win the Kakin throne?

Again, after awakening in Chapter 382, Halkenburg’s personality seemingly changed drastically so will he still fight for the best interests of the weaker princes?

We see Halkenburg in the medical room with Leorio and Cheadle taking care of the situation.

Meanwhile, the first three Princes are still in their rooms, with Benjamin monitoring the situation, Camilla getting her nails done and Zhang Lei still examining his Nen cryptocurrency.

We continue with 4th Prince Tserriednich’s Nen training.

Although he has lowered the time to receive his visions via his Nen ability is now below 3.5 seconds, Tserriednich is frustrated at how slow his progress is but Salkov is astonished at Tserriednich’s genius.

Note that this is Day 11 and Tserriednich began training Nen in Day 1, learned of his Specialist Aura Type in Day 4, then he awakened his own Hatsu in Day 8 (Sunday).

It took 8 days for Tserriednich to awaken his Nen abilities after merely knowing of Nen’s existence and 3 days after, he managed to improve his already broken Hatsu.

Babimyna speculates that the appearance of one of 2nd Prince Camilla’s bodyguard at the second Nen class could be linked to the Have-Nots, her private guard that can use Haunting Type Nen, which kill the targets in exchange for the user’s life, a type of Nen similar to Beyond Netero’s illegitimate children spread across the Kakin Army.

Kurapika is suspicious that only one of Camilla’s bodyguards is present for the Nen class and understands right away there is a scheme involved.

While the letter he received from Melody in Chapter 402: “Letter” did not say anything about Camilla’s secrets, Kurapika thinks that Camilla’s secrets might be bigger than Benjamin’s, Tserriednich’s, or Halkenburg’s if she is forced into action at this point. So Kurapika asks his fellow bodyguards to look out for that Have-Not and prevent him from approaching Woble.

In the operating table, Halkenburg is pronounced dead.

Before his death, Halkenburg released his final wishes.

1. A public announcement of his death and wishes.
2. A farewell from his supporters
3. A dignified transportation of his coffin by his personal guards

Benjamin instructs Balsamilco to honor Halkenburg’s last wishes and to treat him with respect. Inside Bolsomilco’s body, Halkenburg thanks Benjamin, almost sincerely.

Togashi draws Halkenburg’s face over Balsamilco’s skin. What a creepy visual.

An announcement of Halkenburg’s death is broadcast on Tier 3, and Phinks Nobunaga, and Felton listen to it.

Phinks suggests that they hurry to Tier 4, but Nobunaga notes they have more time thanks to Hinrigh hiding the transmitter in a hard-to-find location. Before heading to the Heil-Ly’s hideout, Nobunaga says that he wants to confirm something with the two remaining Mafia families, tthe Cha-R and Xi-Yu.

Next issue: the Phantom Troupe begins to take action.

As the chapter is numbered “404”, this is quite a chapter connected to death as Halkenburg is officially dead but also likely signaling a big step towards the climax of the bloody Succession Contest

Hunter x Hunter Chapter 405 will be released on November 4, 2024.

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