Chapter 30: Brotherly Battle x Hisoka to the Rescue
"Fifth match, Killua vs. Jitaraku, begin!"
As the referee's voice fell, Killua confidently approached Jitaraku with his hands in his pockets.
At this moment, Jitaraku, who had hardly spoken from the beginning, finally opened his mouth.
"It's been a long time, Killua!"
Killua: "!?"
Killua looked at the nail monster in front of him with confusion. Did he know this person?
As if sensing Killua's doubt, Jitaraku raised his hand and pulled out each nail from his face one by one.
Then, under the astonished gazes of everyone, they watched as Jitaraku's face twisted and changed like clay.
In no time, the thin-faced, high-cheekbone Jitaraku transformed into a 'beauty' with a standard oval face and big eyes.
"What a brilliant disguise technique!" commented examiner Men Qi, slightly surprised.
Not just Men Qi; the other examiners were equally shocked by Jitaraku's transformation.
Unlike ordinary candidates, each of them was a Nen user and could even be considered experts among Nen users.
Yet, even so, they had not noticed Jitaraku's disguise before.
This ability is quite impressive!
Meanwhile, on the arena,
Killua instinctively took a step back in response to Jitaraku, or rather, to Ilmi, and exclaimed,
"Bro… Brother!"
"Killua's… brother?"
On the sidelines, Gon, Leorio, and Kurapika froze for a moment, recalling the time in the trap tower when Killua had spoken of his family and reasons for running away, their expressions tightening.
At this moment, Lorin looked toward Netero.
Jitaraku's disguised identity could fool everyone else, but it definitely wouldn't fool this old man.
He was sure of it.
This brotherly battle was surely orchestrated by Netero for his own amusement.
"That sly old man," Lorin muttered, pursing his lips.
On the arena,
"Killua, did you injure Mom and our second brother when you ran away?" Ilmi's big eyes stared blankly at Killua.
"Uh-huh." Killua nodded slightly, a nervous look on his face.
"Mom cried!" Ilmi said softly, "She was really touched, saying you finally grew up, and she felt very gratified."
As soon as these words came out, the few normal people present were left speechless.
After all, which mother would feel touched because her son injured her?
"But Mom still worries about you going out alone, so she ordered me to secretly follow you. Coincidentally, my upcoming task requires a Hunter's license, and I didn't expect you also wanted to become a Hunter," Ilmi said, staring at Killua.
Under the gaze of his elder brother, Killua lowered his head and nervously muttered, "No, I don't really want to become a Hunter. I just wanted to give it a try."
On the sidelines,
"Killua…"
Gon looked at Killua's current appearance with concern.
After all, since they met, Killua had always seemed confident and had never shown any fear.
"Oh, I see! Then I'm relieved," Ilmi said, his pupils seemingly swirling with darkness as he gazed at Killua, his voice drifting.
"You're not suited to be a Hunter; being an assassin is your true calling."
"You're a dark puppet without desires, lurking by day and emerging by night, with the only pleasure being killing. This is how Dad and I have raised you."
"No, that's not true!"
Killua instinctively countered.
"What's not true?" Ilmi tilted his head.
"I really don't want to become a Hunter, but I also have things I want," Killua replied nervously.
"You don't!" Ilmi directly denied him.
"I do! I do!" Killua shouted loudly, as if this would bolster his courage.
Seeing Killua shouting at him, Ilmi remained expressionless: "What do you want? Tell me…"
Confronted by his brother's cold tone, Killua's courage evaporated, and he lowered his head, falling silent.
"Of course, you don't have any! After all, how could a puppet have wants? Your only desire is to kill," Ilmi said softly.
But these words seemed to trigger something in Killua.
"Not true!" he shouted, then lowered his head, gripping his pants tightly and whispering, "I want to be friends with Gon…"
"I'm tired of killing. I want to play with Gon like a normal person."
As soon as his words fell,
Ilmi once again firmly denied Killua.
"No, you can't have friends. With people, you can only judge whether they can be killed or not; that is the real you."
"Right now, you're just confused by Gon's influence; you don't genuinely want to be his friend. You must have thought about killing him at some point!"
Killua's pupils suddenly contracted.
Noticing this, Ilmi pressed on: "Right? If you continue down this path, you'll only end up killing him because killing is your nature!"
While Ilmi continued to educate Killua, instilling his beliefs,
On the sidelines,
Gon could no longer hold back.
"Killua—" Gon shouted loudly, stepping forward.
"Gon!" Killua instinctively looked over.
"Gon, please don't disrupt the test," the referee instinctively stepped forward to block Gon.
Blocked by the referee, Gon didn't continue forward; he just flashed a big smile at Killua. "We've been friends for a long time, right?"
"Gon…" Killua froze, looking at Gon's smiling face, feeling as if an invisible shackle in his heart had broken.
Meanwhile, Ilmi, who had been watching Killua closely, felt a chill in his heart, his vacant big eyes directly staring at Gon.
"Killua, is what he said true? You are friends…?" Ilmi said softly.
However, hearing this voice, Killua, who had just begun to respond, trembled.
Others might not have noticed, but Killua could hear it clearly—Ilmi… was harboring murderous intent.
As for the target of that intent… it was obvious.
Killua instantly dared not make a sound.
However…
Beside him, Gon shouted directly.
"Of course, we are friends…"
Before Gon finished speaking, three streams of light appeared before him, but then three shadows flashed by, knocking the streams away.
"Ding!" "Ding!" "Ding!"
The crisp sounds rang out.
Three nails fell to the ground before Gon, making a clear sound.
Those were… Ilmi's nails.
And beside the nails, three playing cards were stuck into the floor.
The only one who used playing cards as a weapon here was Hisoka.
Ilmi glanced sideways at Hisoka.
At this moment, Hisoka was shuffling the playing cards in his hand, and when he noticed Ilmi looking over, he gave him a radiant smile.
Ilmi fell silent.
He was old acquaintances with Hisoka.
Naturally, he knew Hisoka's character.
Without a doubt, if he continued to attack Gon, Hisoka would definitely strike without hesitation.
It was just a question of what reason Hisoka would use to strike.
Would it be to protect this favored little apple, Gon, a bit more, or to take the opportunity to fight him a bit more?
Meanwhile, Gon, along with Leorio and Kurapika beside him, hadn't even reacted yet. Looking at the nails and playing cards on the ground, they seemed to realize that they had… almost crossed into the gates of death.