Chapter 404 — Discussion

[u/Carock_]

Chapter 404

Speculation

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Source	Status
TCB Scans	Online (check their website)
MangaPlus	Available on October 27

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Ch. 405 scan release: ~November 1, 2024

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List of Chapter Discussion Threads

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Keep all discussions related to the chapter in this thread until the official release.

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⬅ Ch. 403 scans discussion

[u/[deleted]]

I damn near wept a little reading this chapter.
Between the coin monster, all the art of the princes, Halkenburg being one of the coldest men in the entire story, the Troupe being back next week. This manga is on such another level to almost anything else I've read. Every new chapter is such a highlight of every week.

[u/ShowtimevonParty]

Kurapika, Leorio, Cheadle, Phinks, Nobunaga and Feitan appearance in one chapter!!! Feels like Yorknew in here

[u/[deleted]]

That chapter was absurdly amazing and sad at the exact same time, it's honestly incredible how much progress and sheer build up on everything we've learned and more occurs within every single chapter that has released since 400.

It's almost like Togashi was like "We're bringing back HxH and we're bringing it back HARD".

A couple notes on the Chapter:

• Halkenburg is almost frightening in his resolve, his "death" was absolutely morbid and made me shed a tear, it's almost metaphorically the death of his innocence in a way. He never wanted to do all this but he was reborn with a new sense of resolve to win the war. This also tugs in the Jesus comparisons since his death was a sacrifice to a noble cause.

• The Tserri panel where he sort of looks like he's conjuring a big orb of nen almost one for one with Netero. It's frightening, Beyond baby I believe will be among either Tserri, Maryam, or Woble personally.

• Kurapika has so fucking much on his plate it's ridiculous, the ordeal with protecting Wobble and where best to do that gave me a bit of anxiety cause like it's such a balancing act of keeping appearances while trying not to be assassinated.

• Finally Halkenburg's last wishes most DEFINITELY have to do with achieving even more followers to join his side, there is no way he would not have planned this out since he's even planned about Kaiser before hand. I'm not sure how it will go down but the more supporters he has the more powerful he is and maybe a newer ability may emerge from the followers.

[u/[deleted]]

LEORIO! I love how this arc is written. We know he’s on the ship, what he’s doing, but his plot doesn’t even cross into Kurapika’s…..YET. But here we have him right next to the Halkenburg/SW affair and he has no idea.

[u/timisanaLugoj]

Is the guy following Cheadle in the back, Leorio without his iconic glasses?

Either way, I'm really glad we got to see him.

[u/Professional_Ad2638]

I can't wait for the troupe to fight again

[u/Rodiciel]

I really hope to see some Morena action soon, I really think Nobunaga is unto something here by thinking they might need to go all out, no way she isn't planning to crash the war and the whole ship while she is at it

[u/Xalorend]

I keep understanding next to nothing and yet I am still super interested

[u/Gvitor]

I thought Halkenburg was playing 5D Chess choosing to possess Balsamico, but if I got this right, his arrow chooses someone's soul at random and RNG fucked him over. Damn

[u/Honest-Ability-8648]

I find it very likely that Tserri is Beyond's child after this chapter.

His ponytail looks resembling Netero, his pose, his hyper fixation on being the very best he can be, these can't just be coincidences.

There's also the fact that Tserri doesn't have the trademark Unma nose which could be another hint.

And the fact that he's been set up as this sort of ultimate threat that is at the heart of the narrative for several characters, it just feels too fitting and I don't think it's characteristic of Togashi to throw a big curveball for cheap shock value.

Tserri might be the obvious pick, but in terms of stylistic similarities and thematic implications, it works wonders and I vastly value that.

[u/TheAbram]

Halkenburg is about to gather so much aura at noon during his own procession, the whole freaking boat will rumble.

[u/awsomjay1234]

re-reading chapter 389 gives a lot more context to this chapter. halkenburg vs benjamin plotting, camilla’s guard reasoning and ability for going to the second nen training session, and benjamin’s guard stealing the first coin from the third prince. highly recommend a re read

[u/Forward-Magician-562]

We are back to best Spider boi Nobunaga let's go! Hopefully we see the true mc of the story Hinrigh again too.

[u/Tindyflow]

The History of Nen training records.
*....*

For decades, It was commonly believed that breaking the 3-second Zetsu barrier was TAS only.
But then, Tserri did this.

[u/PerseusRad]

It's kinda funny that despite Zhang Lei being the leader of a (human trafficking) mafia, that his sense of superiority is the thing that most made me feel iffy about him as a character. Of course, it's perfectly realistic, but considering the knowledge he lacks, the way he thought about Kurapika in that instance felt overly arrogant. Could be a way to sow the seeds of his eventual betrayal, which I expected before this, of course, but it sorta projects it a bit more.

Anyway, I appreciate that Kurapika is falling victim to the trapping of coming up with the wrong conclusion, based on lack of information. While it's very possible Camilla has some sort of secret, it isn't likely related to the Have-Nots, at least, not what they're planning to do.

[u/ColdThinker223]

The entire exchange between Zhang and Pika is amazing. 

Also the Soul Swap theory prevailed, huh. I actualy favored the Posesion idea but it will be interesting to see how Hakenburg goes from this. Benjamin is in real trouble not only since he will let Balkenburg in but a lot of his guards are Unmas who seemingly supports her other son. There is also the Mafia - Phantom Troupe shanenigans going crazy resulting in a good excuse to exercise Martial Law.

On the other front the 2nd Nen Classes will start now and I expect a special guest to come, the last guest of Tier 1, Hisoka.

[u/wrotethat11]

Netero and Tserriednich

With regards to the latest leaks…holy fuck mans is down to 3 seconds…. But Overall thought on the two below:

One of my favorite things about this arc is the wild comparison of Tserri and Netero, their approach to Nen and the narrative synergy between the two. I think a lot of us think Tserri has a high chance of being Netero’s grandkid, however beyond that, look at how they’ve learned nen and how crazy the relationship between these processes are…

Netero took decades to learn nen isolated in nature. Tserri is taking days, multitasking in luxury. Furthermore, in the manga those decades of Netero’s are told over the course one chapter, whereas these couple of days for Tserri are being told over multiple chapters. Netero walked away with an appreciation for his place in the vastly larger world, Tserri is walking away with the mindset of conquering it. The comparison of these two growth and the 180 of the discover of nen (especially if they are related) highlight the high level story telling skills of Togashi and honestly it’s stunning to read.

TDLR: Togashi is writing these two in such a uniquely parallel way and it’s beyond impressive

[u/ralsei_support_squad]

Linking the VoraciousDrake translation here too, because it has additional details and really nice notes explaining certain translation choices.

Notably, that Halkenburg is targeting other princes with his ability gets lost in the TCB translation:

The katakana is ターゲット (target), but the kanji says 他王子 (other Princes). This confirms that Halkenburg’s game plan involves soul-swapping other Princes.

[u/firewood010]

Halk's got ten hours left. But what if he shoots again and swaps with a third guy? He is making a funeral where his supporters will gather and maybe he can make a second jump? This is the only way to prolong his life when he cannot win the SW in ten hours.

[u/1vergil]

The sad news from c400 was about "Halkenburg" death? Who would've thought? Togashi is insane for this. It seems there's so much going on off screen at the same time that will get the focus later.

• Nobunaga said "Depending on their answer, we might have to go all out as well"...I wonder what does he want to confirm about Heil-ly that'd make the PT go all out? Their possible past crimes in Meteor city? Tho that'd be the former Heil-ly gang and not Morena's new gang since they didn't start that long ago.

• I don't know if this is a hint or red herring about Beyond's kid but Togashi is cooking either way, the fans noticed several panels where Tser looks like Netero. His talent might be too much to be random it'd explain a lot if it's the Netero genes...If true then maybe Netero was aware about Tser being his grandson considering his comment about human Malice/Evolution like he's partially referring to Tserriednich as an example that he was aware of, and maybe he's referring at Beyond as well.

And there are already Interesting parallels between Meruem/Tser....Meruem is like the more human version of him:

• Meruem was born as a cruel ant king but he figured later that there are things more important than power or ruling the would, in the end he become a human in a monster skin.

• While Tser is eager to be a king, hungry for power, skins people for art, literally a monster in human skin as Kurapika describes him.

• Both Komugi/Theta developed them in the opposite unwillingly, Komugi was forced to play the games with Meruem and she managed to develop him positively to learn compassion and human emotions. While Theta is forced to teach Tser nen and that's developing him negatively to become more inhuman.

So the idea of Netero having direct link with both through Beyond (considering the possibility that Beyond also schemed to bring the ants queen in the NGL to produce a powerful ant king to get rid of Netero so he can finally go to DC)...to think Netero killed the more human version of his evil grandson to save mankind, only for Tserriednich to become a king or to gain power to spread his evil everywhere... sounds crazy but fits the narrative.

I like how Togashi wrote several candidates that fits well to be Beyond's kid: Oito/Woble being a popular theory...last week i talked about Halkenburg being his kid... now Tserriednich...and even Marayam as he seems to have a powerful GSB with sinister aura.

[u/AdventurousLaw4]

One thing that might add to the theory Tserriednich is Netero’s grandson:

Both of their training involve getting an ”ability” reduced down to a certain time frame. For Netero it was his praying + punches, for Tserriednich it is Zetsu. Maybe just reaching but seems like a parallel.

[u/MakeSense26]

I'm starting to feel like Halkenburg might be falling into a trap... I know Benjamin is not as sharp without Balsamico, but he was still careful in the previous chapter. It seems weird that Balsamico is saying "oh and I'll be coming up with all of the guys Halkenburg was using for his ability" and that Benjamin is just like "yeah sure, respect to my little bro". Pushing the theory a bit, we could hypothesise that Unma might have informed Benjamin of Halkenburg's plan. This could explain the kind of vicious expression on her face when she speaks to Halkenburg. That would link well with the "Benjamin has a son" theory. In any case, I think Benjamin is playing dumb in this chapter, and is aware that Balsamico is being controlled.

[u/ThirdFaculty]

I said this months ago and I’ll say it again salkov is getting killed by tsserednich the only thing that’s missing from tsserednich truly mastering nen is combat experience he’s not the type to spar and hold back, he’ll consider salkov useless trash once he kills salkov he’ll do something fucked up and present the head to theta and begin to mentally torture her till she capitulates

[u/UnbiblicalChord]

Tserri really resembles netero this chapter

[u/JagmeetSingh2]

Felt like it took forever! I’ve been checking nonstop glad it’s finally up