In an ordinary fight, it wouldn't have been so obvious, and most people wouldn't have caught on. But this was Netero—a powerful Nen user who once stood at the pinnacle of the human world.
Ron could have force-fed more aura into Baki to raise his strength, but he didn't, because it wasn't cost-effective. Putting that extra aura into Baki wouldn't pay off as well as giving it to Natsu or Uchiha Sasuke.
"How will Ron handle this problem?"
From Netero's point of view, Ron had two ways to deal with Baki:
One was to simply abandon him,
and the other was to recycle him somehow.
But for a Nen user, the first option wasn't good. You could compare it to a resource. Most resources on Earth are limited. Once you use them it was gone forever, they aren't renewable; after using them, they become trash. As for dealing with trash, there are two ways: throw it away, or repurpose it.
In a sense, a Nen user is also like a resource container. Once Netero noticed how out of place Baki was, Ron quickly stopped using Baki in direct combat. With a thought, Baki retreated to the periphery.
As soon as the Gravity Game activated, the gravity acting on Netero lessened drastically. By now, Ron could reduce his target's gravity to one-twentieth. If Netero's mass was about sixty kilograms, then he would only feel three kilogram's worth of gravitational pull—roughly the weight of a small piece of pork on a cutting board. At that level, one's movements could be severely affected.
"Gravity-type ability?"
The instant Netero felt weightless, Uchiha Sasuke attacked. Lightning flickered. Right before his strike hit, however—
Netero reached out and caught Sasuke's wrist. Sasuke twisted his wrist, and Netero lost his grip.
Not far away, Baki slammed both hands together.
In the next moment, Natsu and Baki switched places.
Baki landed, quickly tucking himself into a cockroach-like posture, and lunged at Netero, arms spread wide in an attempt to grab hold. But clearly Netero had already guessed Ron's intentions; he struck Baki with a single palm.
The force sent Baki hurtling away like a cannonball, giving him no chance to cling to Netero. However, the instant Baki touched Netero, the gravity effect on Netero shifted—from one-twentieth normal gravity to double normal gravity.
That sudden change was huge. If it had been three kilogram's pull before, it shot up to one hundred twenty kilograms in a flash. Netero's movement paused again.
"Fire Dragon's Roar!"
Natsu inhaled forcefully and spewed flames in Netero's direction. The scorching heat distorted the air as it rushed forward. At that moment, it was already too late for Netero to dodge completely.
"These abilities… truly multifaceted."
Netero glanced at Ron, eyes showing approval. Then he lifted his hand and thrust his palm outward. A powerful burst of wind rose in front of him—caused not by any advanced wind manipulation, but purely by his raw physical power. It formed a wall of air that split Natsu's flames in two, sending them left and right. Even so, it was a hurried defense; some of the fire still fell on Netero's body, and a small flame caught on his training clothes. Netero calmly patted it out.
"Flames, shape transformation, gravity, lightning, hand-to-hand combat, and mist… Ron, the abilities you've developed for these Nen Beasts are truly varied. And most of them can coordinate with one another. I can't help wondering how you managed it. Talent alone can't explain this."
Netero studied Ron with genuine curiosity. Few people understood Nen as deeply as he did; creating even one ability wasn't easy. Even if it was for a Beast, the user had to thoroughly grasp its concept. It required true clarity of thought. If one's mind was chaotic and unfocused, it would be nearly impossible.
Ron spoke up. "Chairman, how about we stop here for today? There's still the rest of the exam ahead."
Their spar ended without a definitive result—but that was only natural. No matter how talented Ron might be, he couldn't possibly surpass Netero right now. Netero's aim was simply to gauge Ron's strength; achieving that was enough. There was no need to defeat him.
"You've refined your Nen quite well. Your foundations are solid. I see no problem handing future new Hunters over to you for guidance. Still, you sensed that mismatch just now, didn't you?"
"Already decided how to handle it?"
"Good," Netero said with a smile. "Come to think of it, very few people choose this Beast-focused Emission style, especially the way you gather inspiration from everywhere to create new Beasts. It's not a bad method at all. That red-haired Beast—you took your cue from Heaven's Arena, correct? And the one with the red eyes—did you draw inspiration from the Kurta to some extent? That little lamp, I'm not sure. The fire Beast—was that from Fiore Kingdom or from the Saheerta United Republic?"
Outside the training room.