Saiyu

Saiyu (サイユウ, Saiyū) is a Blacklist Hunter and a member of the Zodiacs with the codename "Monkey" (申, Saru). He is part of the Defense Division, created in preparation for the voyage to the Dark Continent.

Appearance
Saiyu is a lanky man with a very short haircut, protuberant ears and a monkeylike face. Part of the hair at the back and on the top of his head was shaved to form two small heart shapes. He wears a headband, most likely a reference to the magical headband of the Monkey King Sun Wukong from the Chinese classic Journey to the West, as well as a pair of long wristbands, a sleeveless jacket short enough to show his six pack abs and, on the front of which is the kanji symbol for monkey (申). Near each shoulder is the symbol of a crescent and a 5-pointed star which together may represent "being towards a bright future" and "the five pillars of Islam", these being symbols present on the flags of some Muslim countries. His outfit is completed by a pair of calf-length trousers with orange spirals on the knees and a fake tail on the back and kung fu shoes.

Personality
Saiyu is characterized by directness in manner and speech, without subtlety or evasion. He is not afraid of saying unkind or rude things about two powerful fellow Zodiac members like Ging and Pariston, and publicly challenging the former.

13th Hunter Chairman Election arc


After Netero's death, Saiyu and the other Zodiacs gather to discuss how to proceed without Netero as the Chairman. He, alongside the other Zodiacs sit within a meeting room waiting for the Rat Pariston Hill. While the Zodiacs talk amongst one another, Saiyu claims that it's unbelievable that Ging actually showed up, because of his tendency to shirk on his responsibilities and he insults Pariston for his tardiness. Ging then questions Saiyu's taunt against him and asks if he wants to die, but Saiyu confidently says he can try if he wants. Pariston then arrives and immediately takes control of the situation and announces his candidacy as the New Chairman of the Hunter Association and proposes they skip the election as a whole; this makes nearly the entire table of Zodiacs infuriated. Though after some discussion and consideration, it's ultimately decided that they will go through with an election and the rules will be chosen via a lottery that was suggested by Cheadle, much to Saiyu's disapproval. With all of the Zodiacs having written down their own set of rules for the lottery Beans is chosen to choose the lottery winner and picks Ging.



In the First Election for the 13th Hunter Chairman Saiyu places in 35th and again in the Second Election for the 13th Hunter Chairman. Despite his animosity of Pariston, during a meeting to decide new rules for the Third Election for the 13th Hunter Chairman, he uses his Priest Staff to stop Kanzai from attacking Pariston. And after the Third Election was held Saiyu places in 27th and another meeting is held discerning the increase in number of absentee voters. On the day of the lecture, Saiyu along with the other Zodiacs all bear witness Leorio Paradinight lose his cool and send Ging flying. Right after the lecture the Fourth Election for the 13th Hunter Chairman was held and Saiyu places in 35th, exuding him from elections for not making the top 16 candidates.



Saiyu along with Mizaistom Nana and Gel monitor the voting for the Sixth Election for the 13th Hunter Chairman. Eventually, he attends the final round of the auction, guarding one of the exits to ensure no one leaves until a Chairman has been elected. He becomes irritated when, Pariston steps down as Chairman of the Hunter Association, making Cheadle Yorkshire the Vice-Chairman, become the new Chairman.

Dark Continent Expedition arc


As Beans abruptly interrupts a meeting that Cheadle is holding, Saiyu questions if Cheadle will also step down as Chairman, to which she denies. Beans then presents a video to the Zodiacs, catching their attention in which the King of the Kakin Empire Nasubi Hui Guo Rou makes a controversial and ambitious declaration for a large scale expedition to the Dark Continent. Saiyu comments that he's surprised that Hui Guo Rou has developed such an economic advancement that he can ignore the contract made by the V5. Though after watching the entire video and seeing that the previous Chairman Isaac Netero's son Beyond Netero will be leading this expedition and the speed Beyond gave was left flabbergasted like the other Zodiacs. Beans then confesses that the previous chairman left 2 DVDs for the Zodiacs to watch in case someone that called himself his son was to appear. Frustrated that Ging and Pariston aren't around and that Ging will be near impossible to find. Cheadle however announces that both Ging and Pariston have withdrawn from the Zodiacs and that the V5 has given them a new assignment, that being hunt Beyond Netero.



The Zodiacs watch a second video left by Netero. In it, the former Chairman prompts them to make an exploration of the Dark Continent even more successful than his son's. The risk is an A, but his must not be considered an order. A discussion concerning the expedition follows, During the discussion about the Dark Expedition, Saiyu raises his hand and asks Cheadle about the idea of doing their own expedition to the Dark Continent in opposition to Beyond's hunt, in which Cheadle responds coldly regarding to the motive of doing the expedition.

Their discussion is later interrupted when Beyond Netero himself calls them. Saiyu, along with the ten remaining members of the Zodiacs, meet up with Beyond, who instructs them to call the V5 for him in exchange for handing himself to them and proposes a "give and take". Beyond is taken into custody, and Cheadle starts questioning him. The other nine Zodiacs listen to the conversation outside the cell. Saiyu is present when Beyond signs the contract with the terms the Hunter Association has set.

Cheadle summons a meeting to introduce the new Boar and Rat, and she starts explaining about the V6, the Five Great Calamities, the difficulty of the mission, which is A, whereas the Chimera Ants were ranked B, and asks if anyone has any questions. Kurapika raises his hand, saying he has many. The first is how many infiltrators on Netero's side the Zodiacs have managed to identify, much to everyone's shock. However, Mizaistom quickly asks Kurapika to talk outside the meeting room and explains to the younger Zodiac about the situation and asks him to keep his theory to himself for the time being.



Afterwards, the Zodiacs sum up their preparations for the journey, with Saiyu casually saying he has nothing to say, although he believes he would be fine guarding Beyond by himself. He is put in the Defense Division. It's revealed that when the Zodiacs first began it was divided into several factions. Saiyu was part of the Reformists Hardline faction along with Cluck and Pyon. When Mizaistom calls a new meeting, Saiyu jokingly inquires if Kurapika and Leorio have not been invited because he wants to talk about bullying. Though after hearing Mizaistom's announcement, he seems flabbergasted by it seeing is how that a spy may be hiding amongst them. However, unbeknownst to him, Kurapika is using his dowsing to determine who is lying, and it turns out the person in question is Saiyu. Like the other Zodiacs, he agrees to reveal his powers, but warns them that if any information on his abilities get leaked, they'd better prepare themselves.

In the Black Whale, Saiyu alongside Kanzai and Saccho stand guard over Beyond's cell. When Kanzai comments that having three Zodiacs watching Netero is a waste of personnel, Saiyu mocks him.

Abilities & Powers
Being a Zodiac, Saiyu is one of the best Hunters, and his authority in the Hunter Association is inferior only to Cheadle's. He is very confident in his abilities, boldly challenging Ging, whom Isaac Netero considers one of the five most skilled Nen users in the world, in combat, although the fight never occurred. Aside from being a Hunter, he is also a martial artist, which means he is a competent close-quarters combatant at the very least. He conjures a staff as his weapon.

Nen
Saiyu was seen stopping Kanzai with a rather long staff when the latter was about to attack Pariston. Since this weapon was nowhere around him and he was never seen carrying it after that moment, it is highly likely he conjured it, as was confirmed later on.

Quotes

 * "I use three Nen monkeys: see no evil, hear no evil, and speak no evil. Any idiot would get it."

Trivia

 * Saiyu's name comes from Saiyuki (西遊記, Saiyūki), the Japanese language title of the Chinese classic Journey to the West. His design is based off the Monkey King from the same novel.
 * Saiyu refers to his staff as a nyoibo. In the Dragon Ball series, Goku's staff is a nyoibo as well. Both have the ability to stretch. In both cases, the staff was inspired by Sun Wukong's staff on the aforementioned novel.
 * Saiyu's Nen ability is a direct reference to three wise monkeys.

Navigation
Saiyu