September 2, 1999.
On this day, the Phantom Troupe, infamous throughout the underworld, was annihilated.
The two remaining members left at the hideout—Franklin and Feitan—were also captured. The location of the hideout had been discovered thanks to guidance from the Phantom Troupe's traitor, Hisoka.
Franklin had been suffering from near-fatal injuries, but thanks to Leorio, who responded to Aisha's request, he somehow managed to cling to life. He had not fully recovered and was still in a condition where he could barely walk on his own.
Although not a single member had died, all of them had been captured. They were forcibly neutralized through a special Nen ability and were now locked together inside a single room.
They had always taken whatever they wanted—money, food, treasure, even human lives. For people who had spent most of their lives doing exactly as they pleased, their current situation must have been unbearably humiliating.
And yet, at this moment—
"So you were still alive, you bastard!"
"Hah! As if I would die that easily!"
"Big talk for someone who lost to a bunch of kids—even if there were four of them."
"Shut up! You lost to a single girl!"
"Hey now. That girl beat the Boss and the others all by herself, didn't she? There's no way I could've won alone."
"Franklin, I'm so glad! You're going to be okay now, right?"
"Yeah… well, moving properly's still rough, but it's true—I survived."
"Well, either way, it's good you're alive. As long as you're alive, you'll recover eventually."
"Right. Survival comes first. We still have revenge to take."
"I think so too. For now, it's time to lie low and wait for our chance."
"…Kill. That woman… I kill her…"
"Oi, Feitan's looking pretty dangerous here. Someone do something, Boss."
"Leave him be, Phinks. He'll calm down soon enough."
"I'm more worried he'll break the chain's rule before he calms down," Shizuku muttered.
"More importantly, Boss, how are you so calm? How can you read a book in this situation?"
"There's nothing else to do. It's unfortunate that the only books available are the ones provided in this room."
They were all relaxing in their own ways.
It hardly looked like the behavior of criminals who had been defeated and captured. Anyone who didn't know the circumstances would never believe they had just been brought down.
At this point, their sheer audacity was almost worthy of admiration.
While they were chatting—if it could even be called that—the door to the room opened and someone entered.
Of course, only a very limited number of people were allowed inside this room, so there was no need to confirm who it was.
"…I have to admire your mental strength, being able to relax in a situation like this."
The ones who had entered were Aisha and Kurapika.
The two of them had heard the Phantom Troupe's voices all the way from outside the room, which had made them instinctively clutch their heads. Perhaps that was why Aisha's first remark had been that.
"You bastard…! You've got some nerve showing your face here! What, did you come to collect thanks for my leg?!"
Phinks shouted angrily.
Half the top of his right foot had been torn away. Although he had mocked Feitan earlier for his hatred toward Aisha, Phinks himself was boiling with rage.
It wasn't just his injured foot. He was also furious that his all-out attack had been brushed aside so effortlessly.
"Stop it, Phinks. Feitan too."
The one who halted the rising tension was Chrollo.
Phinks clicked his tongue but forced himself to calm down. If he attacked now, the hateful Judgment Chain embedded in his heart would pierce him instantly. The outcome of that was obvious.
Now was the time to endure humiliation and survive.
Someday they would break this shackle and take revenge.
That was the shared resolve of every member of the Phantom Troupe.
Feitan, who had been about to act without speaking, also stopped.
Even if they let their emotions take over, they wouldn't be able to strike back at the enemy. If they could have, none of them would be captured here in the first place.
The fact that the enemy had managed to subdue them all without killing a single one only proved how overwhelming that enemy was.
Acting recklessly here would be beyond foolish.
"So, why are you here?" Chrollo asked calmly.
"Have the arrangements been made to transfer us?"
"The one with business here is me."
It was Kurapika, not Aisha, who answered.
"Phantom Troupe leader Chrollo Lucilfer. There is something I want to ask you."
"…What is it?"
Chrollo had no intention of remaining silent.
One of the rules binding him was that he must answer Kurapika's questions honestly.
They were already completely trapped. Revealing a secret or two hardly seemed like a meaningful loss.
"You remember the Scarlet Eyes, don't you?"
"…Yes. One of the world's seven most beautiful colors. The distinctive eyes of the Kurta Clan."
"That's right. The ones you slaughtered and stole from their corpses."
Kurapika's voice began to tremble with emotion.
"Tell me where the Scarlet Eyes are—every one you know of! I know you sold the things you stole!"
Memories of the massacre resurfaced as he spoke, bringing back a surge of anger and grief.
But Chrollo answered calmly.
"I don't know."
"…Explain."
Chrollo wasn't lying. Kurapika knew that because the chain showed no reaction.
Still, he had asked with the faintest hope.
The answer he received was merciless.
"When I obtain something, I admire it until I'm satisfied. After that, I sell it to whoever seems suitable. Sometimes that's an underworld merchant, sometimes someone from Meteor City, sometimes a wealthy collector. I have no interest in where it goes after that."
"…Who did you sell the Scarlet Eyes to?"
"I believe… it was a broker from the underworld. From there, they probably spread to collectors all over the world."
"Tell me who that broker was."
"He's dead. No—more precisely, I killed him."
Chrollo gave the answer with a quiet chuckle.
His cold tone was enough to grind against Kurapika's nerves.
"You bastard!"
"Kurapika!"
Kurapika lunged forward in anger, but Aisha stopped him.
Her intervention restored some of his composure, though his glare toward Chrollo remained sharp.
Chrollo had spoken that way deliberately.
He had provoked Kurapika to gauge his personality—to gather even the smallest bit of information for the revenge that might come one day.
Though Kurapika's ability was what bound the Phantom Troupe, in terms of experience as an actor, Chrollo still seemed to be one step ahead.
"…Sorry, Aisha. I'm fine now."
Aisha let go of him after hearing that.
"So, any other questions?" Chrollo asked.
"No."
Kurapika's voice was cold.
"Members of the Hunter Association will arrive soon to take you away. Once the law judges you, you'll be locked deep inside a prison where sunlight never reaches. There will be no freedom there. Humiliation will accompany every moment of your existence. Live out your lives there, forced to face your own helplessness, you scum."
"I look forward to it."
Chrollo replied calmly, his composure unchanged.
Of course, he didn't mean he looked forward to imprisonment.
He meant he looked forward to the day he would escape and take revenge.
Understanding that, Kurapika turned without another word and left the room.
"…So why are you still here, young lady?" Pakunoda asked.
"Do you still have business with us?"
Only Kurapika had left.
Aisha was still standing there.
She nodded.
"Well, it's nothing particularly important…"
"Then get the hell out of here! Looking at your face makes me want to kill you!" Phinks snapped.
"Oh? If that's the case, I suppose I should leave. I was thinking of putting Shalnark-san's joints back into place, but…"
"Wait! Don't go! Please fix them! I've been holding it in this whole time, but I'm seriously reaching my limit! Phinks, stop saying stupid things! What if she really leaves?!"
"…Oh ho. So you're about to leak, huh?" Uvogin said with a grin.
Everyone immediately understood Shalnark's situation.
Several members smirked mischievously.
"Leave quickly. Looking at you makes me want to use Nen," Feitan said.
"That's right. I'd love to settle the score for my broken sword," Nobunaga added.
"How about I return the pain in my foot double?" Phinks threatened.
"Man, I wanna punch something. Specifically a long-haired black-haired woman. So I recommend you leave soon," another member joked.
"Y-you guys!"
It was a shocking betrayal.
Well, more like teasing from his comrades—but for Shalnark, whose dignity was at stake, it was unbearable.
"I-I see… If that's how it is… then I'll leave right away…"
Aisha replied with exaggerated hurt.
"Wait! Why are you acting so wounded?! It's obviously a joke! Why are you playing along with it?!"
"This time, you've won," Chrollo said calmly.
"But someday you will regret sparing our lives. Wait for that day in fear."
"You too, Boss?! Don't close it like that in the middle of this situation!"
It seemed Shalnark had no allies left.
Even the women watching him with pity didn't help.
"I look forward to it."
"That's just you copying the Boss! And you even sound like him…! Just don't leave yet—!!"
That day, Shalnark's desperate cry echoed throughout the hotel.
In the end, someone felt sorry for him, and Aisha quickly put his joints back into place.
Fortunately, Shalnark managed to avoid suffering the level of humiliation that would make him want to die.
Incidentally, if Shalnark had actually lost control in that moment, the Phantom Troupe would technically have been responsible for hurting his heart.
Whether the chain would have activated because of that…
No one could say.
◆
A few minutes after a certain man's soulful scream echoed through the building…
In a room of the same hotel, five young men and women raised their drinks in a toast.
"Cheeeers!"
"Good work, everyone! Man, I thought things might go bad for a while there, but I'm just glad we all made it back safely."
The one who downed his beer with gusto after the toast was Leorio.
He was still technically a minor, but in his home country he had already reached the legal drinking age. So among this group of underage youths, he was the only one drinking alcohol.
Besides, just as Leorio said, they had managed to get through a series of dangerous events and gather here without losing a single person. Under those circumstances, it was only natural to want to celebrate with a drink.
And indeed, no one complained about it.
"Seriously. If even one thing had gone wrong somewhere, one of us might've been dead."
Killua leaned back in his chair, finally relaxing after surviving such a deadly situation.
Having been drilled repeatedly never to challenge someone stronger than himself, even after freeing himself from his brother's psychological control, everything that had happened had been mentally exhausting for him.
Now that the enemies had been subdued and he was surrounded by friends, this moment was the only time Killua truly felt at ease.
"Now we just have to hand the Phantom Troupe over to the Hunter Association," Gon said.
"I wonder when they'll arrive. Come to think of it, who's coming?"
"Hm? Actually, I don't know," Kurapika replied while glancing toward Aisha. "Aisha was the one who contacted them."
The other three also turned to look at Aisha, waiting for her answer.
And then she casually dropped a bombshell.
"Netero."
"…Huh?"
"I mean, I called Isaac Netero, the chairman of the Hunter Association."
Everyone except Aisha stared blankly, mouths hanging open.
It was only natural.
Even if escorting the Phantom Troupe was an extremely serious matter, no one would ever expect the head of the entire Hunter Association to show up personally.
"Are you an idiot?! You don't just call the chairman of the Hunter Association for something like that!" Leorio shouted.
"Wait, how would you even call him in the first place? What kind of connection do you have with Chairman Netero?" Killua asked.
"Whoa! Calling the chairman? Aisha, that's amazing!" Gon said.
"That's far beyond 'amazing' at this point…" Kurapika muttered.
With everyone staring at her in disbelief, Aisha hurriedly tried to defend herself.
"Well, come on! It's the Phantom Troupe, you know? Even if Kurapika's Nen is restricting them, we don't know what they might do.
"And the Phantom Troupe has made enemies of a lot of people. Especially here in Yorknew, there are still tons of mafia groups desperately searching for them.
"If the mafia attacked while we were transporting them, the Troupe might be fine, but a normal Hunter could end up getting killed along with them.
"But if it's Netero, we don't have to worry about that! Any mafia or assassins who attack would be wiped out instantly!
"And I told him to disguise himself, so there's a low chance anyone will recognize him!"
She puffed out her chest proudly as she justified her decision.
When explained like that, it did sound reasonable.
But still… that wasn't really the point.
What everyone really wanted to know was something else.
"I get why you called Chairman Netero," Killua said.
"But how did you even contact him? Is the chairman of the Hunter Association really that free?"
"Well… I do have Netero's phone number. I wasn't actually planning to call him personally, but when I explained the situation, he enthusiastically said he'd come himself."
That was definitely not the behavior expected of the leader of a massive organization.
But Aisha simply accepted it.
After all, that was just Netero. Enjoying things was both his greatest strength and his greatest flaw.
"I give up," Leorio groaned. "I don't even know where to start criticizing this. Forget it. I'm too tired today—I'm done thinking."
"Yeah, that's probably for the best," Gon said. "I don't even know what about Aisha is supposed to surprise me anymore."
"The fact that you guys are already this used to it is terrifying," Leorio replied.
"You'll understand eventually, Leorio," Killua said with a grin.
Only Aisha, who had known Netero for a long time, could accept the situation so easily.
Aisha could contact the chairman of the Hunter Association directly—and even spoke to him casually.
Netero himself acted in ways completely unfitting for a chairman.
There were simply too many shocking things at once.
Eventually, everyone just gave up trying to process it.
The only one who couldn't quite keep up was Leorio, since he hadn't known Aisha for very long.
Unfortunately for him, Gon, Killua, and Kurapika had already realized that being surprised by Aisha every time would be exhausting.
"I really don't want to understand that," Leorio muttered.
"…By the way, Aisha. How's your father doing? Since I treated him, I'm curious about his condition."
Leorio changed the subject, partly to escape the strange tension he felt.
But the concern itself was genuine. If a patient's condition worsened after treatment, it might mean something had gone wrong with his medical care.
"Yes. Thank you again for that," Aisha said sincerely.
"I called Eru Hospital to check, and his recovery seems to be going smoothly. Thank you all for helping protect Dominic-san too."
She had thanked them before, but now that the battle with the Phantom Troupe was over, she expressed her gratitude once more.
Of course Leorio had treated her father, but Gon and the others had also kept watch so the treatment could proceed safely.
To Aisha, they were all equally her benefactors.
"Heh, don't worry about it," Leorio said.
"I'm glad your dad's okay," Gon added.
"Well, I'll just consider it a favor you owe me," Killua said with a smirk.
"There's no need to thank us," Kurapika said calmly. "Compared to what Aisha has done for me, this was nothing."
Their warm responses made Aisha smile brightly.
Well… one of them wasn't exactly straightforward, but she considered that part of his charm.
"If anything, I should be the one thanking you," Kurapika continued.
"We were able to capture the entire Phantom Troupe because of you. You made me stronger, and you neutralized most of them. Without you, my long-held wish would never have been fulfilled. Thank you, Aisha."
"No, it's not like that," Aisha replied.
"I couldn't forgive the Phantom Troupe either. I didn't do everything just for your sake, Kurapika. So it's not something worth thanking me for."
"Still, Aisha, you're ridiculously strong," Killua said.
"You made the Phantom Troupe look like a bunch of weaklings. You fought that many of them and came out without a scratch."
He paused.
"…Well, actually, your hair didn't come out completely unharmed."
"Indeed," Kurapika nodded. "I've heard that hair is a woman's life. It's unfortunate, but you'll probably need to trim it evenly."
Everyone looked at Aisha's hair.
Her black hair, which had once reached down to her waist, had been partially cut when she blocked Nobunaga's Iaijutsu.
About half of it had been sliced off around the middle of her back, while the other half still reached her waist.
The result was a noticeably uneven hairstyle.
"Well, it can't be helped," Aisha said casually.
"We have scissors here anyway. Could someone just cut it all to the same length?"
"Then I'll do it," Gon volunteered.
Gon used the scissors to carefully trim Aisha's hair until it was even.
The cut strands fell onto a sheet of newspaper that had been laid out beforehand, and were then wrapped up together.
"Now we just need to burn it," Aisha said.
"I get throwing it away," Gon said, tilting his head, "but do you really have to burn it too?"
Aisha nodded as she tied her newly shortened hair with a hair tie.
Then she explained the reason.
"Yes. There are Nen abilities that use parts of a person's body as a medium. It's difficult to completely prevent someone from obtaining something like hair, but it's still better to make it as hard as possible."
For Aisha, such abilities would be nullified thanks to her [Boss Attribute], but that didn't mean she was careless enough to leave herself completely exposed.
"In that case, was it okay not to collect the hair that got cut earlier?" Gon asked.
"That couldn't be helped," Aisha replied. "The wind blew it away."
"Well, if you say it's fine, I guess it's fine… but I've been wanting to ask something," Leorio said.
"How do you get that strong?"
Leorio himself had grown stronger through harsh training alongside Hanzo, but Aisha's strength still felt like something from another world.
"First comes training, second comes training, third and fourth come real combat, and fifth comes training."
That was her answer.
There was no secret technique at all.
"Aisha's three basic instincts are hunger, sleep, and training," Killua said.
"I have no objections," Kurapika replied.
"Isn't that a bit rude?" Aisha protested.
No one disagreed with Killua.
From Aisha's perspective it was outrageous—but from everyone else's point of view, the description was completely accurate.
If anything, her protesting seemed stranger.
"So Kurapika, what are you going to do now?" Gon asked.
"Your revenge is over, right?"
He had been wondering about it for a long time. Gon was worried about what Kurapika would do after achieving his goal.
"Yes… that's true," Kurapika said thoughtfully.
"I want to continue searching for my clan's eyes. But before that, there's something I must do."
"Something you have to do?"
"Yes. As I said earlier, the success of this operation was largely thanks to Aisha's strength. Honestly, I couldn't have accomplished anything alone.
"And while we've captured them now, there's no guarantee they won't escape one day and return stronger.
"When that happens, I want to defeat them with my own power. If I rely on Aisha forever, it would be hard to call it true revenge.
"If they ever manage to escape prison… I'll crush them myself."
Kurapika finished with a fearless smile.
Gon grinned in response.
"Then from now on—"
"Yes," Kurapika interrupted. "I plan to keep training under Aisha."
He gave a small wry smile.
"I suppose it sounds strange to say I won't rely on Aisha… while also asking her to train me."
"That's not strange at all!" Gon said brightly. "Let's get stronger together, Kurapika!"
"Of course," Aisha replied with a nod.
"If it's you, Kurapika, then after two years of intense training, you'll be strong enough not to lose to any member of the Troupe. I'll make you strong enough to handle multiple opponents at once."
"P-please go easy on me," Kurapika said nervously. "…At least don't train me to death."
Remembering the hellish training he had already experienced, he began to regret his decision slightly.
Anyone would, after recalling a regimen that made people wonder if it was actually torture.
At this rate, Kurapika wondered if he might die from training before ever facing the Troupe again.
"Aisha, train me too."
"…Killua?"
Killua's expression was more serious than Aisha had ever seen.
Actually, she had seen it before.
Just last night.
"You said the same thing yesterday," Aisha said.
"You wanted harsher training. I understand wanting to become stronger, but why the sudden urgency?"
Killua had always been eager to train to catch up with Aisha and Kurapika.
He had even asked her before to make his training stricter than Kurapika's.
But whenever the real training started, those requests usually disappeared quickly.
He never refused training—but he did complain about how brutal it was.
Seeing him act so differently now made Aisha curious.
"…Right. I said I'd explain later, didn't I?" Killua said quietly. "So I'll tell you now."
Then he explained why he had to become stronger.
He had a younger sister imprisoned deep within his family's estate.
A sister whose power was considered too dangerous to control, even by the Zoldyck family.
She was someone Killua had always been close to, someone he had played with constantly when they were younger.
His beloved little sister—
Alluka.
At some point, however, Killua's memories of her had disappeared.
Or rather, he had been unable to consciously recall them.
Killua believed it was because of the curse-like control needle implanted in his mind by Illumi.
"I want to set her free," Killua said.
"But right now, I can't do anything. I don't have the strength to rescue her… or the strength to protect her afterward.
"So I have to become stronger than anyone.
"Strong enough to defeat my entire family, even if they all come at me together."
"I see," Aisha said quietly.
"I'll help too!" Gon said immediately. "Let's all get stronger together!"
"Idiot," Killua said with a small laugh. "Do you even understand what it means to make an enemy of my family?"
Even as he said it, he already knew Gon wouldn't back down.
His best friend would help him no matter what.
Even if it meant opposing the legendary assassin family.
The thought made Killua happy—and strengthened his resolve even more.
He would gain the power to protect the people he cared about.
His sister. His best friend.
"Still… what kind of sister is she if even the Zoldyck family had to imprison her?" Leorio wondered.
He imagined what sort of being could frighten a family famous as legendary assassins.
In his mind, he pictured some monstrous creature calling Killua "big brother" in a cute voice.
"She's just a normal, cute little sister," Killua said.
Not a monster at all.
Just a cheerful, innocent child.
Her appearance was that of a delicate young girl, and despite belonging to an assassin family, her physical abilities weren't much different from an ordinary child.
The only thing abnormal was her ability.
She could grant any wish.
A power that completely ignored the normal limits of Nen.
Anyone who heard about it would immediately want to obtain Alluka.
That alone made it understandable why the Zoldycks kept her confined.
But that wasn't the whole story.
Such an ability could never exist without a price.
To have a wish granted, a person first had to fulfill three requests from Alluka.
At first, the requests were simple.
But after a wish was granted, the next set of requests would escalate depending on how big the wish had been.
For example—
Someone once asked Alluka to make them a billionaire.
The wish was granted.
But because the wish was so large, the next requests became impossible for a normal person to fulfill.
And if someone failed to grant the three requests?
That was where Alluka's true danger lay.
If the requests were refused, the person would die.
Not only that—the person they loved most would die as well.
Then more people would die, starting with those who had spent the most time with the requester.
There were other rules and conditions, but that was the ability the Zoldyck family understood.
A power so dangerous it could destroy their entire family.
Yet if controlled properly, it could also be the most useful ability imaginable.
To the Zoldycks, Alluka was nothing more than an uncontrollable wish-granting device.
But Killua didn't see her that way.
He understood Alluka better than anyone else in the family.
He even knew the secrets of her ability that the Zoldycks themselves didn't know—and must never know.
To him, Alluka's power was actually the gentlest ability in the world.
The problem wasn't Alluka.
The problem was the people who tried to use her power.
That was why Killua wanted to free her.
He wanted to show her the world.
Together with the other sister who lived inside her.
"She's just… a normal, cute little sister."
Killua repeated the words again.
Even Aisha couldn't fully read the emotions behind them.
Regret. Love. Anger. Sadness. Guilt.
But she understood one thing clearly:
Killua was blaming himself.
"Then we'll rescue her," Aisha said brightly.
"I'll help too. It's simple—we just need to become strong enough to defeat Zeno-san and Silva-san if they come."
"That's obvious," Killua said with a grin.
"I'll even get strong enough to beat you, Aisha."
"Oh? It won't be that easy," Aisha replied.
"I'm still getting stronger too."
"…You still have room to grow?" Killua asked incredulously.
"Of course. My aura is still increasing."
At that moment, the thoughts of the other four aligned perfectly.
Wait… it can still increase?!
"My martial arts also haven't reached my ideal yet…"
That wasn't your ideal already?!
"And my mentality still needs improvement. I used to be even more—"
What do you mean you were even scarier as a kid?!
"…? Why are you all staring at me with your mouths open?" Aisha asked.
"We just don't even know what to say anymore…" Killua sighed.
They had already been shocked by Aisha's overwhelming strength.
Learning that she wasn't even satisfied with it yet left them almost numb.
"Hisoka actually picked a fight with someone like that…" Leorio muttered.
"That's basically suicide."
"Yeah… I can't imagine Hisoka winning," Killua said.
"Honestly, I can't even imagine Aisha losing," Gon added.
"I agree," Kurapika said.
"For someone who defeated Aisha, Chairman Netero truly lives up to his title."
In reality, their match had ended more like a draw.
But both of them insisted they had lost—and continued training even harder for the next fight.
Which made it even more absurd.
Even Netero, who had long passed his prime, was regaining and improving his strength.
For Nen users, it seemed human limits meant very little.
"But is it really okay?" Leorio asked suddenly.
"Hisoka knows about your father, right? What if he targets him to force you to fight seriously?"
"For now, Hisoka is still in this hotel, so it's fine," Aisha replied.
"But I don't know about the future. I plan to go guard Dominic-san before Hisoka does something unpredictable."
"Wait… Hisoka's in this hotel?!" Leorio exclaimed.
Yes—Hisoka was staying in the same hotel.
He had guided them to the Phantom Troupe's hideout and accompanied them back.
Afterward he had eaten at the hotel restaurant and was now resting in a room he rented.
Aisha was constantly tracking his presence so she would know immediately if he tried to move secretly.
"He's currently resting in a room on a lower floor," Aisha said.
"Oh—he moved a bit. Judging from the distance and motion… he's probably taking a shower in the bathroom."
"Hold on," Leorio said slowly.
"…How the hell can you tell that?"
"Huh? I'm just tracking his presence and movement. You can tell what someone's doing from how they move, right?"
"No. No you can't."
Her presence detection ability was absurd as ever.
At this point it was basically stalking.
Leorio was gradually reaching the point where he would simply stop being surprised by Aisha altogether.
"Anyway," Killua said quickly, changing the subject, "we know what Kurapika's doing. What about you, Leorio?"
He wanted to stop the conversation before everyone's brains melted.
"M-me?" Leorio scratched his head.
"After the auction ends, I'm going back to studying. If I want to become a doctor, I still have to pass the national medical school entrance exams."
"So we'll be separated again," Gon said sadly.
"That can't be helped," Kurapika replied. "Leorio has his own path."
"That's true," Aisha said.
"Personally, I would have liked to try training with you too, Leorio-san, but that's not something I can force."
She had been curious how much his healing techniques could improve through training, but everyone had their own path in life.
"Yeah," Leorio said.
"I'm interested in this 'hell training' of yours, but I've got my own goal. We'll meet again someday. Just contact me when you finish Greed Island."
"Okay!" Gon said. "Maybe by then you'll already be a doctor!"
"Hey, hey," Leorio laughed. "How many years do you think you'll spend playing that game?"
"Do you know how long it takes to become a doctor?" Killua added.
"Well… who knows?" Aisha said thoughtfully.
"Greed Island hasn't been cleared in twelve years since it was released. It might take us years—maybe even decades."
"Imagine finishing the game and realizing you're already in your thirties," Killua joked.
"No way!" Gon said. "We'll clear it in a year!"
Everyone laughed.
After surviving a deadly battle, the five of them enjoyed a brief moment of peace.
Before the next hell arrived—
training and studying.
Except for one person.
Aisha.
◆
September 4 — Yorknew
On September 4, rain fell across the entire Yorknew area.
It wasn't a full downpour, but the rain was strong enough to make going outside feel like a hassle.
It was on a day like that when Aisha received a message from Hisoka.
Yes—
a message announcing a death match.
The Battlefield
About two hours by car from Yorknew, in a mountainous region.
That was the battlefield Hisoka had chosen.
Why fight so far away?
Why choose a day with weather like this?
The location and conditions seemed almost like a trap, yet Aisha still headed to the designated place.
She didn't think Hisoka would set a trap now, when Aisha herself had already agreed to fight him.
Still, just in case, she had asked Gon, Killua, and the others to guard Dominic.
Aisha arrived roughly thirty minutes earlier than the agreed time.
Hisoka was already there.
He sat casually on one of the rocks scattered across the terrain, waiting.
"Hey there ♥ You're early ♣"
"It seems I've kept you waiting."
The call apparently hadn't been a trap meant to lure Aisha away from Dominic.
However, judging by the surrounding terrain, some other kind of preparation had clearly been made.
The entire area was covered in jagged rocks.
The ground was uneven and rough, far from flat. One careless step and someone could easily lose their footing.
More importantly—
it was terrain that restricted Aisha's abilities.
—A countermeasure against Shukuchi—
Just as Aisha guessed, the battlefield had been chosen specifically to deal with her Shukuchi.
Shukuchi was a movement technique that allowed movement in any direction by rapidly rotating the aura in the parts of the body touching the ground.
Its effectiveness had already been demonstrated during the battle with the Phantom Troupe and during her fight with Netero-kaichō. Even elite Nen users would struggle to deal with it.
Hisoka had seen a glimpse of Shukuchi through Pakunoda's [Kioku-dan / Memory Bomb].
From that brief glimpse, he understood how troublesome it was.
If Aisha could use Shukuchi freely, his chances of winning would be extremely small.
So Hisoka chose this method:
Use the terrain to limit her movement.
With the ground this uneven, even someone with aura control as extraordinary as Aisha wouldn't be able to use Shukuchi.
Using Shukuchi on terrain like this would be like putting rollers under your feet on a bumpy road.
On flat ground or walls it worked perfectly.
But here, she'd be sent flying in unpredictable directions.
Hisoka had deduced that weakness from the small amount of information he saw in Pakunoda's memory.
His analytical ability in combat far surpassed that of ordinary people.
Creating a situation that weakens the enemy, and using it to fight—
Many people might call such tactics cowardly, saying one should fight fairly and honorably.
But Hisoka didn't think that way at all.
In battle, there was no such thing as equal conditions.
If someone wanted fairness, they should play sports instead.
And even sports couldn't truly guarantee equal conditions.
The only thing close would be a video game where both players use the same character.
In a fight to the death, there is no such thing as honor.
There is only victory or defeat.
Life or death.
That was Hisoka's philosophy.
If he had any personal rule at all, it was simply this:
He wanted to enjoy one-on-one battles.
Aisha didn't consider Hisoka's strategy wrong either.
If anything, she admired the way he had deduced the nature of Shukuchi from such limited information.
Battle was about using every skill available—
physical ability, combat techniques, information, tactics.
Hisoka had simply done everything possible to increase his chances of winning.
Calling that cowardly was nothing more than the excuse of a fool.
Hisoka began to laugh eerily.
"Ku ku ku ♦ I've waited for this ♠ Ever since the day I met you at Heaven's Arena, I've imagined this moment over and over ♥ Then we met again during the Hunter Exam… no, ever since the day you threw me and knocked me unconscious, my desire has only grown stronger ♣ At last… I can fight you ♥"
As he spoke, a sinister aura wrapped around his body.
His aura rose higher and higher—
until it surpassed the level he had shown when fighting Kastro.
It reached a level comparable to Uvogin, the Phantom Troupe member known for possessing the greatest aura reserves.
"…Impressive," Aisha said calmly.
"It's been a while since I fought someone with that much aura."
"…I'd love to hear about the opponents you've fought ♣"
For a moment, Hisoka's battle excitement faltered.
He firmly believed he was among the strongest.
He didn't necessarily think he possessed the greatest aura in the world—but he also believed very few people could rival him.
Yet Aisha spoke as though facing someone like him wasn't unusual.
Just how many monsters had she fought?
Instead of thinking it was incredible—
Hisoka simply felt jealous.
"Alright, that's enough, Aisha ♥"
He grinned.
"Out here, you don't have to hold back for anyone ♦ Now… Show me your aura ♠"
"I see," Aisha replied.
"So that's another reason you chose such a remote place."
Hisoka had been captivated by the aura she released that day.
The monstrous aura she emitted when she crushed the Phantom Troupe during the underground auction raid.
It was different from his own aura, yet equally vicious.
From that moment on, he believed—
Aisha was the opponent he had been searching for.
Even Chrollo seemed dull compared to her.
To Hisoka, Aisha was like the other half of his soul—the opponent he longed for.
Part of the reason he chose this isolated place was to counter Shukuchi.
But the greater reason was simple.
He wanted to witness Aisha's full power.
But Aisha refused.
"I decline."
She looked at him calmly.
"…If you want to see it, then force me into a situation where I have no choice."
She casually ignored Hisoka's request.
Technically, since there was no one else around, she could remove Angel's Veil.
But there was no reason to do so.
Not being able to see her aura was an advantage, not a disadvantage.
Angel's Veil caused her aura consumption to increase tenfold, which would normally be a massive drawback.
But for someone with Aisha's enormous aura reserves—
one battle meant nothing.
"You're still teasing me, huh ♣"
Hisoka smiled.
"Well then… it can't be helped ♥"
He rose slowly from the rock.
"Let's begin."
And with those words—
the death match began.
Even after the death match began, the situation did not immediately change.
Aisha stood naturally, calmly taking a defensive stance.
Hisoka, meanwhile, did not move at all after the start of the fight.
"Are you not coming?" Aisha asked.
"I've waited for this for so long ♣ So I might as well wait until you come to me ♦"
For someone like Hisoka—a battle maniac—to refrain from attacking first in the long-awaited fight against Aisha…
That too was part of his strategy.
He had observed Aisha's fighting style during the battles at Heaven's Arena, during the Phantom Troupe incident, and even experienced it firsthand during the Hunter Exam.
From those encounters, he understood something important:
Aisha's martial arts used the opponent's strength and momentum against them.
Looking at their abilities objectively, Hisoka believed most of his specs were inferior.
His physical strength might be greater.
But Aisha's aura reserves were overwhelmingly larger, easily compensating for any difference in raw strength.
And in hand-to-hand combat skill, Aisha likely had the advantage as well.
If they clashed head-on, Hisoka knew he had almost no chance of winning.
So the answer was simple:
Don't fight head-on.
Battles weren't decided purely by raw stats.
Even though Hisoka believed himself among the strongest, he never assumed he was the absolute peak.
There were surely people stronger than him somewhere in the world.
But in combat, the strongest didn't always win.
The one who wins is the strong one.
Hisoka intended to use every trick available.
Maximize his own abilities.
Employ cunning strategies.
Exploit the opponent's blind spots.
Do everything necessary to win.
"I see. Then…"
Aisha took a step forward.
"I'm coming."
With those words, the silent standoff ended.
Aisha lunged forward with a powerful step, closing the distance at high speed.
The rain-soaked rocky terrain was slippery, but her movements remained perfectly controlled as she rapidly approached Hisoka.
What Hisoka didn't realize was that Aisha was constantly observing him using Gyo.
Through it, she had already noticed that Hisoka had spread Bungee Gum (伸縮自在の愛) throughout the surrounding rocks.
He had hidden it carefully with In, but it was impossible to deceive Aisha's Gyo.
Keeping those traps in mind, Aisha moved in and swung her fist—
But before the strike landed, she dodged several playing cards that flew toward her and leapt backward.
Hisoka had placed the cards in Aisha's blind spot beforehand and launched them toward her using the recoil of Bungee Gum.
Since Bungee Gum wasn't attached directly to Aisha, the aim was only approximate, but it was enough to force her back.
Aisha could have chosen to knock the cards away.
But she didn't.
Hisoka's Bungee Gum could not be nullified even by Aisha's Boss Attribute.
If it were a Nen ability meant to restrain her directly, Boss Attribute would cancel it.
However, Bungee Gum simply gave aura elasticity and stickiness.
The stickiness had a physical component, meaning Boss Attribute could not negate it.
Even if an attack didn't damage her, the adhesive effect could still take hold.
She could tear it off immediately, but doing so would create a momentary opening.
So Aisha chose to avoid those attacks entirely.
Before Aisha even landed from her backward jump, Hisoka advanced.
Grabbing one of the flying cards, he slashed toward her with a delighted expression.
Aisha parried the strike before her feet touched the ground and attempted to seize Hisoka's right arm.
But Hisoka again used the recoil of Bungee Gum.
Releasing the gum attached to himself, he shot toward the rocks at high speed, then bounced repeatedly from rock to rock, flying around Aisha.
—I see. More troublesome than expected—
Just as Aisha thought, Hisoka's Bungee Gum was an extremely troublesome ability.
Its elastic movement allowed unpredictable, tricky maneuvers that were difficult to read on first sight.
The adhesive property also restricted the opponent while expanding the user's freedom of movement.
It wasn't a power focused on overwhelming attack strength.
But its versatility made it one of the hardest abilities to counter.
Aisha stopped tracking Hisoka with her eyes.
If she followed his movements visually while he darted in all directions, he could easily slip into her blind spot.
So she pretended to watch him while quietly deploying En.
Using that En, she predicted Hisoka's movements.
Her En spread out to a radius of 100 meters.
Within that range, Hisoka continued jumping from rock to rock.
But because of Angel's Veil, Hisoka couldn't detect the En at all.
When Aisha appeared focused on the spot where Hisoka had been earlier, Hisoka moved into her blind spot.
He released the gum attached to a card positioned in the direction she was facing, launching it toward her.
At the same time, he leapt from her blind spot directly toward her.
Aisha still hadn't turned around.
She seemed fully focused on avoiding the incoming cards.
From behind her defenseless back, Hisoka raised a card infused with sharpened aura, aiming for her carotid artery.
But the elaborate surprise attack—
the distraction, the blind spot, the timing—
was meaningless against Aisha, who was tracking him through En.
She caught Hisoka's arm behind her back.
Then she rotated her own body, attempting to twist and destroy his arm.
Hisoka instinctively tried to rotate with her to reduce the damage.
But he was midair, without footing.
Unable to twist his body properly, the joint of his captured right elbow was forcibly twisted and destroyed.
Even after breaking Hisoka's elbow, Aisha didn't stop.
Before Hisoka landed, she stepped firmly onto the ground and concentrated aura into her index finger.
Then she thrust toward his solar plexus.
But Hisoka used the elastic recoil of Bungee Gum, escaping before the follow-up attack could land.
He landed roughly 50 meters away.
Despite the severe pain that must have been shooting through his shattered elbow, Hisoka wore the same delighted, eerie smile.
"You really are wonderful ♥ It almost feels like it's impossible to catch you off guard ♠"
"Not at all," Aisha replied calmly.
"I'm human too. As long as I live, openings will exist. But more importantly… when I broke your elbow earlier, why didn't you attach your ability to me then?"
"Are you kidding? ♦ If I got that close to you, it'd be better to retreat like this ♣"
As mentioned earlier, a straightforward close-quarters battle favored Aisha.
If Hisoka had tried to attach Bungee Gum at that moment, he would have taken a lethal follow-up attack before he could use it.
Even while facing a powerful enemy, he had calmly assessed the situation and chosen the optimal response.
Aisha inwardly admired Hisoka's analytical ability and judgment in combat.
"Back to the starting point, then?" Aisha said.
"You broke my elbow and you call that 'starting point'? ♥"
The two stood facing each other again at a distance.
Just like the beginning.
The only difference was that Hisoka's right elbow had been destroyed.
And that unquestionably reduced his combat ability.
"Well then," Aisha said.
"Let's resume the same way."
With that, she once again rushed toward Hisoka at high speed.
How would Hisoka respond?
Would he bounce around again using Bungee Gum?
Or would he choose something different?
Watching both his movements and aura carefully while predicting his actions—
Aisha suddenly lost her footing.
"—What!?"
Had she simply stepped wrong because of the uneven rocks?
No.
Even on unstable ground, Aisha wouldn't make such a mistake.
Something else had happened.
The ground beneath her foot tore open.
But in truth, it wasn't the ground that had torn.
It was paper disguised as ground, which ripped when she stepped on it.
This was [Usuppera na Uso / Texture Surprise].
Hisoka's ability that transformed aura into an ultra-thin sheet capable of replicating countless textures.
It could imitate more than a thousand different surfaces—including rock and soil.
Using this ability, Hisoka recreated the appearance of rocky ground on durable paper.
He placed it over natural depressions in the rocks and fixed it with Bungee Gum.
Couldn't Aisha have seen through it with Gyo?
In theory, maybe.
In practice, it was extremely difficult.
Texture Surprise literally changed the aura itself into another texture.
Even when seen with Gyo, it simply looked like the material it was imitating.
And the amount of aura used in the disguise was minuscule, making it even harder to detect.
Combined with the rain, poor visibility, and the scattered aura of Bungee Gum everywhere—
even Aisha found it difficult to notice.
Inside that hidden depression lay a massive amount of Bungee Gum.
Unable to see it beneath the disguised surface, Aisha stepped straight into the trap.
Her left leg was swallowed into the sticky pit of Bungee Gum.
Seeing his prey caught, Hisoka instantly threw playing cards toward the pit.
Those cards also had Bungee Gum attached.
The moment they stuck to the gum pit, Hisoka infused them with aura, strengthening the adhesive force.
As a Transmuter, Hisoka wasn't particularly skilled with Emission.
So Bungee Gum weakened significantly when separated from his body.
To compensate, he connected the aura back to himself.
As Aisha tried to escape—
more attacks rushed toward her.
Dozens… no, hundreds of playing cards flew toward her.
Not only that—
massive boulders came crashing down as well.
The barrage was so overwhelming it was obvious this had been prepared in advance.
Aisha fully realized what had happened.
Everything Hisoka had done—
flying around earlier, retreating after her attack—
had been meant to lure her to this exact location.
Aisha struck down only the cards and rocks that would hit her.
At the same time, she began rapidly rotating the aura in her trapped left leg, attempting to twist and tear apart the Bungee Gum binding her.
But before she could free herself—
before the prey could escape the trap—
Hisoka attacked from her true blind spot: directly behind her.
He had grabbed onto one of the boulders he launched and used it to circle behind her.
While Aisha dealt with the incoming cards, rocks, and Bungee Gum—
Hisoka delivered a full-power punch.
Yet even that strike—
was caught by Aisha.
No matter how cleverly he attacked her blind spots,
Aisha never left an opening.
Amid the storm of incoming obstacles, she had noticed Hisoka moving behind her.
And if he reached her blind spot in this situation, it was obvious he would attack.
Of course she wouldn't take that hit directly.
Now all she had to do was hold his fist and use his own attack's momentum to unleash a soft technique.
Just like the earlier exchange—
the result would likely be the same.
Both Aisha and Hisoka understood that.
That is—
if not for the mad clown's trick that followed.
Aisha felt a strange sense of discomfort the instant she initiated Aiki after catching the punch.
—No resistance…?
She was definitely gripping the fist. And yet, there was none of the sensation that normally came with successfully applying a soft technique.
It felt as though she were gripping only the fist itself—
Aisha instinctively turned around at the unsettling thought.
What she saw was Hisoka—his arm ending at the wrist—swinging down with all the aura he could muster toward her. In her own hand, she was gripping only his left hand.
—He cut off his own fist?!
Aisha was speechless.
In her experience, there were indeed ability users who attacked by separating parts of their body. But those were abilities specifically designed for that purpose. Once the ability was released, the detached body part would return to normal.
But this was different.
Hisoka had used his left hand as a discard, cutting it off beforehand to slip past Aisha's Aiki technique.
The severed wrist had its wound sealed with Bungee Gum, stopping the bleeding. After that, the wrist had been reattached using Bungee Gum as well. The cut itself had been hidden with Texture Surprise, recreating the texture of skin so that it looked perfectly natural.
From the outside, it appeared to be a completely intact arm without a single injury.
But of course, the wrist itself had never truly reattached.
Everything had been prepared to catch Aisha off guard.
Everything was for the sake of victory.
Even Aisha was stunned by that relentless hunger for victory, and just as Hisoka intended, she created the tiniest—yet undeniable—opening.
Hisoka's full-power strike slammed straight into Aisha's face.
—That had some impact… didn't it? ♥
It was a strike infused with everything he had—an attack using Ko. Even someone like Aisha should not escape damage from such a direct hit, Hisoka believed.
Blood sprayed through the surrounding air, though even Hisoka couldn't tell whether it was his own blood or Aisha's.
But one thing he knew for certain:
If he let this chance slip away, his chance to win would disappear.
Hisoka pulled the violently blown-away Aisha back toward him using Bungee Gum. He didn't believe that single strike would finish her. Without giving her time to counterattack, he would press the assault and end it here.
Dragging Aisha toward himself with the elasticity of the aura-gum, Hisoka saw—
Aisha's eyes.
Even after taking his full-force attack, her gaze remained unwavering, filled with indomitable will.
A shiver ran pleasantly down Hisoka's spine.
And then—
Hisoka clearly heard it.
Though Aisha hadn't moved her lips, though she had not spoken aloud—
—"Angel's Veil… released."
In the next instant, a vast and vicious aura erupted from Aisha's body.
Hisoka had already been told beforehand about the quality and volume of her aura, so while it thrilled him, it did not surprise him.
But the next moment did.
Aisha, who should have been helplessly dragged toward him through the air, suddenly accelerated, spewing massive amounts of aura from her body.
Caught off guard by the sudden shift in speed, Hisoka misjudged the distance.
Aisha's attack struck him cleanly.
Her fist drove forward as if to pierce through Hisoka's abdomen.
As Hisoka spat blood, Aisha launched a relentless follow-up.
Without landing on the ground, she moved freely through the air, unleashing a three-dimensional assault that battered his entire body.
She kicked up his jaw.
Dropped her heel onto his collarbone.
Drove her elbow into his back.
Slammed her knee down onto his head.
The flurry of attacks was almost like a dance—
graceful, yet ferocious.
Hisoka defended with Ken at full power, converting all his aura into Bungee Gum to cushion the impacts. Even so, the damage steadily accumulated.
If he could defend using Gyo, it might have been manageable. But Aisha's movements—flying through the air at high speed and attacking from every direction—were too fast for him to shift his aura between offense and defense in time.
Each time Aisha struck him, Bungee Gum stuck to her body.
But every strand was instantly torn apart as she spun her aura at high speed.
Hisoka attempted several counterattacks between her strikes, but every one of them cut through empty air without touching her.
Realizing he would be beaten one-sidedly at this rate, Hisoka dispelled Bungee Gum and attempted to escape the area using the rebound of the elastic aura.
But that move had been completely predicted by Aisha.
The moment Hisoka released Bungee Gum, Aisha instantly switched her fighting method from strikes to Aiki.
Using the kinetic energy of Hisoka's rebound, she redirected the force—amplifying the momentum and throwing him instead.
The direction she threw him was…
straight upward.
Hisoka shot into the sky at tremendous speed.
In midair, there was nothing for him to attach Bungee Gum to. And without any way to fly, he could only be carried helplessly by the force.
Through his fading consciousness, Hisoka saw something.
Aisha was flying toward him—
At a speed far greater than his own ascent.
Seeing Aisha soaring through the air, wrapped in that massive, ominous aura, Hisoka's face twisted into an expression of ecstasy.
—Ah… how beautiful… ♥
Those were the final thoughts of Hisoka Morow in this deadly battle.
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