Driven by despair, Gon placed a deadly restriction on himself, sacrificing everything for the strength to take Pitou down. In that moment, he became unrecognizable, a wrathful figure who struck without mercy, treating Neferpitou like nothing more than a punching bag.
In the end, Gon was hanging by a thread. Even with the Hunter Association pouring all their resources into saving him, it wasn't enough.
It was Killua who brought Nanika, the entity residing within his little sister Alluka, from the Dark Continent. Using her mysterious power, he made the impossible wish that saved Gon's life.
But now, if someone were to provoke Gon… would that terrifying version of him, the one consumed by rage and grief, emerge again?
"Gon…" Killua stood behind him, his expression tense. He raised a hand, as if reaching out, but the words caught in his throat.
Back when Gon first regained consciousness, Killua had tried to comfort him, saying, "Larry will definitely bring Kite back." But even as he spoke, he knew it was just a desperate hope.
Nearly half a day had passed since they'd gone, and if Kite's arm had been severed, survival seemed unlikely.
And if Kite had returned with Larry, why wasn't he here now?
The silence spoke for itself.
Biscuit, watching from the side, seemed to understand that same unspoken truth. Her eyes stayed fixed on Gon, her expression calm but resolute. A quiet sigh escaped her lips.
"I've got two pieces of news about Kite," Larry said finally, his voice casual, almost teasing. "One's good, one's bad. Which do you want first?"
The moment he said "bad," Killua's chest tightened. His face grew tense with unease
"Let's start with the bad news…" Gon began, but before he could finish, Killua quickly covered his mouth and interrupted, "No, let's hear the good news first."
Though Killua wasn't sure what the good news might be, maybe it could soften the blow about Kite's death. Even before Larry had shared any bad news, Killua had already assumed the worst, that Kite was gone.
Then Larry spoke up, "The good news is, I brought Kite back."
Killua's tense expression finally eased, and he let go of Gon's mouth, allowing him to speak.
"Really? You brought Kite back?" Gon asked, his voice trembling with cautious hope. "But… where is he?"
He glanced behind Larry, searching. But no matter where they looked, Kite wasn't there.
Seeing this, Killua's face fell again. Kite hadn't appeared, yet Larry claimed he had brought him back.
"Did he bring the body back?" he wondered.
Larry raised a hand. A moment later, a figure appeared beside him.
"This is…?!" Gon's eyes narrowed, then widened in disbelief. He took a step closer.
The moment he recognized what he was seeing, Killua's expression darkened. His instincts flared in alarm. He knew exactly what was coming.
It was Kite, or what remained of him.
Before them stood Kite, or rather, what used to be Kite. The body was covered in stitches and looked utterly battered.
When Larry left the ant nest, he had taken Kite's body, the one Neferpitou had left behind. It was meant as a keepsake, something for little Kite to reclaim when she grew up.
After all, being able to collect your own body was a strange kind of meaningful, though few people ever got the chance to see theirs.
Once a cool, handsome guy, Kite now resembled a zombie from a horror movie. Stitches crisscrossed everywhere, holding together pieces of the body that had been sewn back on.
But the seams were awkward and unnatural, making the hands, feet, and head look oddly twisted, as if hit by a speeding truck. Kite's silver-white hair was now dry and messy, hanging loosely on either side of the face, adding to the eerie sight.
"Larry, what's the bad news…" Gon's voice was quiet as he stared at the lifeless body.
The light in his eyes faded until they looked empty, his face darkening like storm clouds gathering before a storm. Everyone present could feel the tension radiating from him, like a volcano about to erupt.
Biscuit took a cautious step back, ready to run if things got worse, but seeing Larry standing firm, he stayed put. Gon's presence was overwhelming, carrying a force far beyond what his current strength suggested.
Larry finally spoke, his tone slow and heavy. "The bad news is… that's Kite turned into a girl."
The three of them stood there, all out of breath and struggling to process what they had just heard. What did it mean for Kite to become a girl? Especially when there were corpses lying right in front of them.
Gon, in particular, seemed completely overwhelmed, his mind felt like it had shut down, his head spinning like a robot ready to overload.
"Yeah. Kite came back… as a girl. And as a Chimera Ant, no less," Larry muttered.
***
They were in Limei Road City, the last city on Greed Island and the place where the staff was based. Inside a Western-style castle, Gon cradled little Kite gently in his hands, treating her like a precious treasure. He moved carefully, afraid that even the slightest motion might hurt her.
Despite Kite's unusually loud cries, Gon didn't show any impatience. Instead, he stared blankly at her, a mix of emotions swirling inside him. His eyes seemed empty, but the feelings were completely different from before.
Where there had been resentment, now there was joy. Setting aside the fact that Kite's body was now that of a Chimera Ant, the important thing was that she was still alive. That alone was enough.
Though there was no sign of the Kite they once knew on the outside, for some reason, Gon felt certain this was still her. He didn't need Larry's words to convince him.
"Did you expect Kite to be reincarnated as a Chimera Ant?" Killua asked, standing behind Gon alongside Larry. They could all see little Kite.
"Still, this is really the best outcome," Killua added, finally relaxing his tense expression. The fear and worry that had weighed on him seemed to lift.
Kite's 'death' had seemed inevitable, but being reborn as a Chimera Ant and given a second chance at life was a blessing in disguise.
According to Larry, as Kite grew older, she would be able to recover her previous memories, so there was no cause for concern. The person inside was still the same, only the body had changed.
Both Gon and Killua were surprised by this revelation, and Larry was no exception, though his surprise was a bit different.
"Has she really grown this much in just a few hours?!" Larry muttered, staring silently at little Kite in Gon's arms, clearly at a loss for words.