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109 HxH: Tombbound Power
🕑 Added 2024-10-11 06:04:07 +0000 UTCThe tension in the air was palpable. Leorio's skin prickled, and both Gon and Kurapika wore grim expressions. Killua, sensing the dangerous aura, instinctively moved back a few meters.
On the rooftop, Hisoka stood side by side with Illumi.
"Such a terrifying aura... ," Hisoka commented with a smirk, though his expression betrayed no fear.
"Almost reminds me of an old predator ready to strike."
"This is the first time I've encountered such strong resentment," Illumi replied, his usual monotone voice now tinged with curiosity.
"Something interesting must have happened here."
As they spoke, the unsettling atmosphere quickly dissipated. The boss, who had been ready to call the Hunter Association, hesitated as the tension suddenly faded.
"Is it over?" he murmured, slowly putting down the phone.
He stepped outside and cautiously glanced at the wrecked ship that radiated an ominous aura. Just then, a figure emerged from the cabin.
"What's the matter? Why are you all staring at me like that?" Ronnel asked, a faint smile playing on his lips as he noticed the group of 113 examinees frozen in place, their eyes fixed on him.
"You... you're alright?" the examiner asked, his gaze running up and down Ronnel's figure. After confirming that nothing seemed amiss, he cautiously continued,
"You were in there during that... incident, right?"
While the Hunter Exam was a dangerous, life-or-death challenge, accidents caused by negligence from the Association were an entirely different matter.
"Incident? What incident?" Ronnel replied, feigning ignorance, fully aware of what the examiner was hinting at.
The examiner seemed to understand this as well. Satisfied that Ronnel was unharmed, he nodded and returned inside, hands tucked behind his back.
The other examinees, wary of Ronnel's reputation as someone nearly as dangerous as Hisoka, scattered to continue their search for treasures and antiques, eager to distance themselves.
And just like that, the tension faded as if nothing had happened.
However, two pairs of eyes remained fixed on Ronnel from the rooftop.
"Do you really want to fight him? He's hiding a lot," Illumi—under the guise of Gittarackur—said to Hisoka.
"I can sense he's at least as strong as I am. If anyone ordered me to take him down, I'd probably decline."
The Zoldyck family had rules—don't take jobs beyond your capability. Greed was a surefire way to die.
Hisoka didn't respond directly, only licking the edge of his playing card with his bright red tongue. His eyes gleamed with excitement, undeterred by Illumi's words.
Seeing this, Illumi simply shrugged and leapt from the roof to resume his hunt for antiques.
"Hehehe, I thought only the Phantom Troupe and Chrollo interested me," Hisoka muttered to himself, his smile widening.
"But it seems there's another juicy fruit. Poisonous, perhaps, but delicious nonetheless. Though, with my current resistance, there's a chance it might be fatal..."
He vanished in a blur, leaving the rooftop empty once more.
Meanwhile, Ronnel handed over a few antique items he had retrieved from the Kurta clan's shipwreck. In exchange, the examiner provided him with the key to a private room—a rare luxury.
The examiner, having sensed Ronnel was different from the others, had chosen to be cautious and granted him the room to himself. No disturbances, just peace and quiet—a perfect setting for Ronnel to review his spoils.
Once inside the room, Ronnel locked the door, sat on the bed, and began sorting through what he had acquired. The shipwreck of the Kurta tribe held the most intense resentment he had ever encountered since awakening his Nen.
However, no matter how thick the malice, his Golden Finger ability—capable of dispelling negative states—easily neutralized it. The moment the dark energy surged toward him, it was obliterated, leaving Ronnel unharmed.
Along with that, he had gained the potential to develop a second Nen ability.
His first Nen ability, Gravekeeper's Grasp, dealt with corpses and lingering grudges—primarily an auxiliary skill. For his second Nen, Ronnel wanted something that packed a stronger punch. A martial arts ability that would complement his first, much like Kurapika's Judgment Chain and Emperor Time.
He envisioned a powerful technique, something more than a simple brute-force attack like those of Uvogin or Razor—whose abilities relied on singular devastating blows. They had no follow-up, just sheer raw power.
Many dark hunters focused solely on strength, aiming to cause the maximum amount of harm. Even the members of the Phantom Troupe were mostly like this, with the notable exception of their leader, Chrollo.
Chrollo used more sophisticated techniques, like poisons. During his confrontation with Zeno and Silva in Yorknew City, he wielded a dagger laced with a toxin so potent that 0.1 milliliters could paralyze an elephant.
Silva was immensely strong, but even he had to wrap his arm in his own hair to halt the spread of the poison.
It was a stark reminder that even the strongest hunters in the world were not immune to the deadly effects of poison or other debilitating abilities.
