Gon looked left, then right, filled with curiosity. How could there be two examiners? It felt almost amusing—but in reality, his intuition had already given him the answer.
"Judging from the situation, something is trying to deceive us," Lu said calmly.
"Deceive us?" Leorio scratched his head, clearly confused. With two people standing there, it made sense that one of them had to be fake. Deception didn't seem far-fetched at all.
Things were becoming more and more interesting.
The two men stared at each other in a silent standoff. Neither spoke first, as if whoever opened their mouth first would be exposed as the fake. Their attitudes, however, were completely different.
Satotz, dressed in his purple suit, stood there calmly, saying nothing. His expression showed neither panic nor anger—only composure, as though the situation had nothing to do with him.
The injured man, on the other hand, was hunched over, clutching a cloth bundle. Only his head and his claw-like, almost human hands were visible. No one knew what the bundle contained. His face was twisted with rage, eyes wide and bloodshot as he glared at Satotz like a mortal enemy, as if he wanted to tear him apart.
The atmosphere grew heavier by the second.
"This is bad, Lu," Kurapika said quietly after glancing around. "After the brutal Underground Marathon, everyone's nerves are shaken."
Most of the examinees looked unsettled and anxious. Kurapika's first instinct was to consult Lu to see whether they should intervene—after all, this was still part of the exam.
"Not yet," Lu replied softly, shaking his head. He mouthed a few words without making a sound.
That kind of subtlety was completely wasted on Leorio. With his hot temper, there was no way he could tolerate something like this. Charging in would be the least he'd do.
"Hey, old man!" Leorio shouted, facing the injured man directly. "You should at least have some proof! Show us evidence that he is the fake!"
Indeed—words alone meant nothing. Anyone could claim to be the real one. Only solid evidence could prove the truth, assuming the evidence itself was genuine.
"Yeah, show us proof!"
"Evidence!"
"You need evidence!"
With Leorio's outburst, the previously tense atmosphere finally loosened a little.
"Then take a good look at this!" the injured man roared, as if finally finding an outlet for his anger. He hurled the cloth bundle into the open space in the middle of the crowd.
"What is that?"
"A magical beast?"
"Everyone—look at its face!"
The examinees stared at the creature that had been thrown out. It had a human face but the body of a monkey. Murmurs spread through the crowd until someone noticed what was wrong.
The problem lay in that human-like face.
"It looks exactly like the examiner," said an examinee in light brown clothes, his face pale with shock. "What is going on here?"
"That's right," the injured man said grimly, pointing at Satotz. "This thing is a Man-Faced Ape, a magical beast that lives in the Shimer Wetlands. They often disguise themselves as humans, using sweet words to deceive people. That guy over there is its accomplice! They're trying to trick all of you examinees, then eat you alive!"
He accused Satotz with righteous fury, his voice heavy with hatred. The story sounded disturbingly convincing.
"What?!"
Leorio immediately jumped back, standing squarely in front of Satotz in a defensive stance. "That's insane! Someone's planning to eat people?!"
"I don't know…" Hanzo rubbed his shaved head thoughtfully. "But the more I listen, the more that guy does seem suspicious." He began siding with the injured man. "Now that I think about it, the way he ran during the underground race… that wasn't normal at all."
"Yeah!" Leorio agreed. "No ordinary examiner could do that. That ability was way beyond normal!"
Some of the examinees slowly began to surround Satotz. After all, no one could stay calm after hearing that someone intended to devour them.
Of course, some people didn't move at all.
Hisoka, smiling as he casually toyed with his playing cards, remained at the edge of the group. Illumi lurked quietly in the shadows. Even Tonpa stayed far back, clearly intending not to get involved.
Those were the smart ones.
Leorio, on the other hand, was itching to jump in with the others.
"Leorio, wait."
Lu spoke up, stopping him. He didn't want Leorio to rush forward and become cannon fodder like in the original events. That would be terribly unaesthetic—and completely against Lu's style.
"Lu? What is it?" Leorio stopped immediately. He trusted Lu from the bottom of his heart, so he didn't ask why—he stopped first.
"Let's watch a bit longer," Lu said. "No matter how convincing a guess seems, it's still just a guess. It doesn't count as direct evidence."
Lu could expose the Man-Faced Ape's trick right away.
But on second thought, gathering data was more important than stealing the spotlight. Opportunities to observe Hisoka's card-killing techniques up close—without being the target—were rare.
This was a chance he didn't want to waste.
"Alright," Leorio said after hesitating for a moment. In the end, his trust in Lu won out. He stayed put, frowning as he watched the scene unfold.
The number of examinees surrounding Satotz grew—from two or three, to over a dozen—and it was still increasing.
"This is group psychology," Kurapika said, unable to resist analyzing the situation. "They all went through the first test together, so there's a shared sense of hardship. Once you're swept up by that atmosphere, it becomes impossible to judge right and wrong calmly."
"This kind of situation is also part of the Hunter Exam,"ou said, finally raising his voice so everyone could hear.
"Lu's right," Gon added. "It could be a test."
"A test?"
The examinees surrounding Satotz paused, shaken by Lu's words. Doubt crept back in as they reconsidered the possibility that both sides could be deceiving them.
"That was great, Lu," Kurapika said quietly. "You completely changed the atmosphere."
"Gon," Leorio whispered, "can't you tell? Like how you can tell magical beasts apart?"
"Not at all," Gon replied bluntly.
"Huh? Why not?" Leorio asked, disappointed.
"Because they don't smell like anything," Gon said, shaking his head. "Someone's disguise must be really good. But… my instincts feel uneasy."
"Well, that much is obvious," Leorio sighed. He'd hoped to show off a little.
Then he suddenly remembered how Lu had been able to identify the Trick Foxes before—how Rou always seemed capable of anything.
Leorio's eyes lit up with hope. He quietly sidled up to Lu.
"Lu… can you tell?" he asked in a low voice, careful not to let anyone else hear.