#chapter 401

Wriiiiting treaties by moonlight! Double dealing by daylight! That thing in her mouth was cree-py! She is the one called Guard Longhi.

Like this chapter that reference has layers. We have the First Prince's man framing this, he always knew Longhi was already a Nen user hiding her skills. Now we see them. Kinda like Genthru or Knuckle has a power she needs to explain. And it's a good one, contracts. This kind of stuff always reminds me of the early Chapter Black antagonists from Yuyu Hakusho. Classic stuff for Kurapika stories. Since they're more intrigue-based key pieces don't need to all be big fighters. Great combo with where we left off and Morena's ability. The whole RPG leveling thing.

Longhi has a big bomb to drop but we'll get to the implications of that in a moment. For now, I like this ripple that she is willing to make a separate deal with Kurapika. And Kurapika is interested in the ability to use this one-shot contract use from her. I also thought it was cool how casual Pika was about them negotiating a treaty as an excuse. Let's get on with the show though.

Longhi isn't just the child of Beyond Netero. She is one of many as the result of a decades-long plan to infiltrate the Kakin military. And we introduce the idea that one of the Princes might be Beyond's as well. The real thing we learn is that Beyond Netero has actually been working this angle with Kakin for a long time. And that is an excellent way for him to finally join the fray.

One of the Princes is Beyond’s Child

Longhi’s belief that one of the princes is Beyond’s child falls in line with something I've talked about often: that there are “secret bastards” in the Succession War. I discussed this idea in “Longbao Conspiracy” and “The Succession Cycle”. 

“When Morena is introduced…special attention is given to the practice of facially scarring illegitimate children, which serves to remind us of the illegitimacy of Onior and Brocco Li…In other words, Togashi is pointing us to the importance of illegitimacy, and the possibility of an unscarred bastard.” – LIBRARY OF KAKIN, “LONGBAO CONSPIRACY”

“…rather than imposing a condition which tested a participant’s relation to himself, Nasubi (perhaps inadvertently) created a condition that tests a participant’s relation to the queens.” – LIBRARY OF KAKIN, “THE SUCCESSION CYCLE”

In Chapter 401, Oito confirms that participants in the Succession War aren't necessarily Nasubi’s children.

This makes it increasingly likely that Zhang Lei is a bastard fathered by Onior Longbao. It’s also possible Brocco Li and the previous boss of the Hei-Ly have their own children in the Succession Contest, though I’m not convinced of this idea.

Whether or not Nasubi knows about the bastards is up for debate. I’m open to the idea that he knows about Beyond’s because they have history together. However, I find it unlikely he knows about Zhang Lei, since Onior has no official standing in Kakin and is shunned for being a “scarred bastard.”

Timeline

In my post titled “Clarifying 400”, I made some claims about the timeline in Chapter 400. Namely, I proposed a “backward time jump” between Melody’s scenes and the final scene with Longhi.

“…all students in Kurapika’s class have been awakened by day 10. This should include Tubeppa’s guard Longhi, who is seen receiving her water divination (or rather, not receiving it) at the end of Chapter 400.” – LIBRARY OF KAKIN, “CLARIFYING 400”

“We know Fugetsu was fine on day 9, and if Melody is to be believed, a few days have passed since then. This places Melody’s scenes on day 11 or 12 at the earliest.” – LIBRARY OF KAKIN, “CLARIFYING 400”

Chapter 401 confirms the time and date of Kurapika’s meeting with Longhi. 

According to the blurb at the end of the chapter, Melody will feature in the next issue, so we may also find out the time and date of her scenes.

Babimyna

I think Babimyna’s behavior here is reminiscent of this scene, which I wrote about briefly in my post titled “Kurapika’s Fate”. 

In chapter 401, Babimyna once again witnesses an emotional reaction to the cruelty of the Succession Contest, as well as possible cooperation between the princes. It seems to be affecting him.

Sakata

My head canon here is that Sakata is feigning concern here. He obviously has a vested interest in what’s going on behind that door, but the words he chooses sound a bit disingenuous and ingratiating. I think he’s trying to make himself seem sympathetic after what he did in Chapter 370, tryingto avoid suspicion.

30 Years Ago

If you've read a lot of my posts, you'll know I often bring up this throwaway line by Cheadle.

This is because I believe the Silent Revolution is how the previous Succession War—the one Nasubi participated in—was covered up. Now, we have yet another reference to “30 years ago”.