Despite being outnumbered, Killua and Gin held the advantage against the Phantom Troupe.
Having unleashed his wild side, Gin lost some precision in his movements, but more than compensated with overwhelming physicality and the increased power of his roar as he pressed forward.
Free from Illumi's curse, Killua supported and attacked in swift, silent strikes befitting an assassin, coordinating seamlessly with Gin's movements.
As always, Gin's roar proved devastatingly effective against Bonolenov, while Killua's lightning remained a severe threat to Nobunaga and his blade.
"Tch! The scared little brat who was trembling before is suddenly acting all high and mighty!?"
"Now I'm all tingly, you see. Lucky for me you're exactly as slow as you look."
Killua and Gin divided their roles strategically. Killua suppressed Franklin while keeping Nobunaga in check, and Gin pressed the attack on Bonolenov while also restraining Nobunaga. Their primary objective was to take down Bonolenov first.
The awakened Gin pursued Bonolenov relentlessly with Killua's precise support. Whenever Nobunaga and Franklin attempted to intervene, Killua—now transformed into an elusive phantom of lightning speed—crushed their efforts with his exceptional combat instincts.
"Damn brat! How the hell are you reading my blade draws!?"
Nobunaga felt something was off. Despite closing the distance repeatedly, he hadn't managed to land even a scratch on Killua. Yet his limited arsenal, often mocked as being suited only for one-on-one combat, left him no choice but to swing his blade stubbornly forward.
"You're being way more annoying than a bunch of fleas!"
Franklin's combat style as a stationary turret, perfectly suited to his large and sturdy frame, backfired against him. He struggled desperately against Killua, who disrupted him at close range while aiming for instant kills at vital points.
"Ah, freedom is such a precious thing! My excitement's through the roof—I'm feeling absolutely incredible!!"
Killua savored an unprecedented sense of omnipotence as his body and aura moved beyond even his own expectations. He deployed numerous techniques that had been far from practical use until now.
Godspeed. Aura transformed into electricity, granting reflexes and speed beyond human limits.
Whirlwind, usable during Godspeed—high-speed combat controlled by conscious will.
Thunderbolt, also usable during Godspeed—automatic ultra-high-speed evasion triggered by reacting to the electricity clinging to Nobunaga's blade.
Thunder Rhythm. A disruptive footwork technique combining Gin's afterimage feint with the Serpentine Limb, leaving electrical hitboxes in the afterimages.
The way he mastered and wielded these abilities—techniques that would take ordinary Nen users a lifetime to develop—as mere applications of his core Hatsu was truly the work of a genius.
Yet he wasn't satisfied in the slightest.
"I've built the foundation to chase after him, but it's still not enough. If I want to stand beside Gon Asura, merely controlling electricity won't cut it!!"
Nen is the power to realize what the heart desires most strongly. Killua, clearly pursuing something beyond human, poured his resolve into his Hatsu.
"Your Hatsu needs a name, right? Taking inspiration from a foreign god my grandpa taught me about—Thunder Emperor. I'll become the king who rules even over the thunder god himself!"
The chick that broke free from its shell now soared through the heavens as lightning.
Following Hisoka's trail, Chrollo arrived at what appeared to be an ordinary, albeit spacious, intersection.
Hisoka, who had arrived a step earlier, hurled the restrained Pakunoda and the others into the prepared location. They were immediately engulfed by a massive amount of Bungee Gum, amplified by the magician's harassment using Texture Surprise, creating elastic and adhesive bonds.
The Bungee Gum connected to various objects around the area—cars, fences, and more. With a snap of Hisoka's fingers, it transformed into a grotesque spherical mass before Chrollo's eyes.
"Kuku, trash really is worthless, huh? ♣ To be neutralized so easily is utterly pathetic. ♠"
"For someone saying that, you've prepared countermeasures against Shizuku and Kortopi quite thoroughly. More importantly, Illumi—what's with that state you're in?"
As Chrollo pointed out, Shizuku's Blinky was powerless with Bungee Gum sealing its mouth, unable to vacuum up the aura itself. If Kortopi activated Gallery Fake, there would be nowhere to escape, and he'd be crushed.
What truly perplexed Chrollo was the sight of Illumi, bound tightly in Bungee Gum just like Pakunoda and the others.
Considering the distance from the battlefield, Illumi may have been restrained in mere minutes. Even Chrollo couldn't believe there was such a massive skill gap between Illumi—whose strength was uncertain even to Chrollo himself—and Hisoka.
"Sorry, sorry. I was careless, sure, but consider my position here. Stopping Hisoka from having a one-on-one with Chrollo would definitely violate my contract."
Illumi had received his commission from Hisoka before Chrollo had. Interfering with Gon and his group was one thing, but interfering with Hisoka was something he couldn't do as a professional.
"Besides, look at this. Hisoka going this far was completely outside my expectations. Honestly, I'm extremely surprised."
With his expression unchanged as always, Illumi held a severed left arm in his hand, with Bungee Gum activated from that arm as its anchor point.
Given the situation, it should have been Hisoka's arm, but at first glance Hisoka appeared uninjured with both arms firmly attached.
"We were just chatting when he suddenly said 'Here, take this' and tossed it to me. It was so sudden that I caught it reflexively, and this is the result. That left arm is a fake made from Bungee Gum."
"You caught on. ☆"
At Illumi's explanation, Hisoka laughed and raised his left arm. While Texture Surprise maintained the skin's realistic texture, the movement from the elbow down resembled slime sliding along his forearm.
Chrollo grimaced, imagining the inhuman movements that could be unleashed from such a construct—movements he couldn't detect until seeing them directly, despite their flawless reproduction.
The fact that Hisoka deliberately revealed this precision fake, perfect enough to catch opponents off-guard on first encounter, was partly because Chrollo's fighting style was analytical rather than instinctive.
"How overprotective. Do you care that much about the Chain User and his friends? Those emotions, Hisoka—they'll definitely make you weaker."
"...Kufu, ahahahahaha!"
As the uncharacteristic roaring laughter made the theory of Hisoka being manipulated seem more plausible in Chrollo's mind, Hisoka wiped away his tears and displayed his usual unpleasant smile.
"Illumi said the same thing, but you don't understand. If I were protecting anyone, Chrollo, it would be you. ♠"
Ignoring Chrollo, who tensed at the leaking madness, Hisoka looked up at the sky and continued grandly.
"Your greatest strength is your vast arsenal and the brilliant mind that wields it to perfection and beyond. Your physical combat skills are quite high-level too, but honestly within the margin of error. ♦ If you're fully prepared, even I'd struggle to win... if you're prepared, that is. ♠"
Opportunities to strike seemed plentiful, but Hisoka's unfathomable nature made Chrollo hesitate to commit.
"I thought I'd be fine with it if there was a chance you could kill me, but you know what? I've already tasted it—the pure pleasure of fighting to the death, scraping bone against bone. ♥"
Chrollo believed Hisoka's weakness lay in his tendency to toy with opponents and his inconsistency, both born from his desire to enjoy battle. The opening existed in how he deliberately drew out his opponent's maximum potential before crushing them.
In other words, that was the only weakness this powerful fighter possessed.
"To be honest, you don't excite me much anymore. But you've kept me entertained for quite a while, so as thanks, I'll hunt you down with my own hands. ♦"
Chrollo frantically raced through his thoughts.
He ran countless simulations, combining his numerous stolen abilities in various ways. But in this sudden situation, his options were far too limited, and none seemed particularly effective.
Due to Chrollo's preferences, Skill Hunter contained more rare support abilities than pure combat abilities.
He couldn't formulate a viable plan against a Hisoka with no carelessness and no playfulness.
"I want to see Gon fight too, so let's finish this quickly. ♥ Goodbye, Chrollo. It's been fun until now. ♠"
Understanding everything all too well in his exceptional competence, Chrollo drew his favorite poison-coated knife.
The spider, dragged from its nest with legs torn off, would be violated by the clown who had cuckolded him without his knowledge.
Uvogin swung his fists with full seriousness. He'd landed countless blows and taken punches in return. He held overwhelming advantage in both number of hits and damage dealt.
Yet now, he was being pushed back ever so slightly.
During the brawl, Uvogin noticed a disturbing anomaly—Gon was gradually becoming stronger, harder, faster. An abnormal phenomenon.
His instincts rang alarm bells, warning that he needed to finish this now or face danger. That's why he'd attempted his Big Bang Impact at the moment he could guarantee a kill, only for Chrollo to exploit it and render it ineffective.
(What the hell is with this kid? Just how much stronger will he get!?)
His opponent was half his height with far less muscle mass. If he'd been disrupting with speed, that would be one thing, but to surpass him in pure power in a straight brawl—
That fact stripped away Uvogin's smile and composure, awakening an emotion in his heart he'd never felt before.
(Don't screw with me. I... I'm supposed to be the strongest!!)
His entire life devoted to being stronger than anyone, to thinking only of strength—it was being denied by a child definitely younger than him.
He could understand and accept losing to Chrollo or Hisoka through tricks and tactics, but he absolutely couldn't lose in a direct confrontation to some brat he'd thought was just the Chain User's accessory.
(I'll kill you, right here, right now, for certain!!)
Uvogin mobilized every ounce of aura he possessed, continuing to swing his fists as his emotions dictated.
(How embarrassing. I'm the one who explained it to everyone, yet I was the least capable of putting it into practice.)
Having gained physical abilities approaching prime Gon-san through Maximum Power—All I've Got, Gon marveled at those capabilities once again while inwardly smiling wryly at this unprecedented sense of challenge.
He'd never used Maximum Power for extended periods due to the backlash weakening, and had thought Prison was stronger anyway. He'd completely forgotten this crucial fact.
(Nen abilities only reach completion when mind, technique, and body are all aligned. Of course Muscle Brain Banzai—Power is Everything was stuck at 160%. My body simply couldn't withstand higher multipliers.)
Physical abilities he could control simply weren't enough. Only with a supreme body honed through a lifetime of training could the ability display its maximum effect. That was the true nature of Muscle Brain Banzai—Power is Everything.
(And even All I've Got right now still isn't enough. This is perfect. I can still get so much stronger!!)
The enhancement multiplier that continued rising with each punch finally hit the 200% plateau and capped out.
In percentage terms it was a 40% increase, but since the base physical abilities being enhanced had dramatically increased, the final result approached—no, surpassed—the strength of Prison.
(This is way too improvised and I'm completely getting thrown around. But no problem. The guy right in front of me taught me the best way to use this body!)
Gon in his current state didn't need the complex operation of a racing car. What he required was simply the straightforward purity of a drag racer at maximum velocity.
Just punch and just take hits. A pure muscle-head fighting style refined to its essence.
(I'll get stronger, right here, right now!!)
The battle of rippling muscles accelerated toward its finale.
Leorio had been in a trance-like state from pain and healing, but sudden intense pain from being tightly embraced yanked him back to reality.
(Crap, I lost my concentration!)
Leorio opened his eyes in panic. What filled his vision were Kurapika's wide-open eyes staring at him.
(Huh? Were the scarlet eyes that color? Wait, that's not important! What about the backlash from Pain Pain Go Away—Damage Converter!?)
He broke free from Kurapika's still-embracing arms and sat up. The dark aura that had been drifting through Cheapskate's Operating Room—One Man Doctor had completely vanished.
"...Looks like it worked out somehow. I'll ask just to be sure—you okay too, Kurapika?"
Leorio had absorbed the majority of the damage and was still far from fully healed, but Kurapika's treatment had concluded to the point where combat was possible.
"I'm fine. It was reluctant to let go, but the battle is still ongoing, so I can't afford to take it slow."
Seeing Kurapika stand up normally, Leorio tried to move as well but doubled over on one knee, struck by searing pain in his chest.
Beyond the pain, his aura was nearly depleted, making even standing up difficult.
"It's alright, Leorio. I sensed it while being treated—we have the advantage. The prophecy has definitely changed."
At those definitive words, all strength drained from Leorio's body at once. Like a taut string snapping, he leaned back against the rubble.
"I see. I'm fine. I won't die even if I sleep like this. Sorry, but Kurapika, go support Gon and the others..."
As Leorio's consciousness began to fade, Kurapika placed a gentle kiss on his lips.
"I've sent you a little aura. I want you to witness the moment of victory too."
Kurapika enhanced healing power with Inspirit Chain while simultaneously transferring aura to accelerate Leorio's recovery.
Turning a dazzling smile toward the dazed Leorio, Kurapika kissed him once more before turning away to return to the battlefield.
"This life you saved—I'll dedicate all of it to the Kurta Clan's memorial and to you. Prepare yourself. I'm an incredibly troublesome woman."
"Haha, I told you before, didn't I? I'll handle anything. Go win. Then I'll accept all of it."
Kurapika's aura blazed brighter as she dashed out of the building.
The Kurta empress awakened to new power descended upon the battlefield once more.
***
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