Aboard the Hunter Association airship high in the distant sky.
Gon and the others walked to the observation deck and looked through the enormous window in the direction they had come from.
"Why do you think Roy did this?"
For a long while, no one said anything. At last, Leorio could not hold back and broke the silence.
"Don't forget what Roy said to the captain on the Ship: Sea God when he first took the Hunter Exam. The reason he wanted to become a Hunter."
"They said Chairman Isaac Netero of the Hunter Association is the greatest martial artist in the world, so he wanted to fight him, right?" Leorio muttered.
Gon also stared toward the horizon. "That was Roy's main reason for coming to the Hunter Exam, wasn't it? And now…"
"Yeah. He's accomplishing his goal right now. We shouldn't go disturb him."
"But the other side is still the Chairman of the Hunter Association, and the greatest martial artist in the world, like you said!"
Killua shoved both hands into his pockets. "Even if Roy is really strong, if he's up against that old man, then probably…"
No one spoke, but the heavy mood only deepened.
At a window some distance away from them, Hisoka leaned slantwise against the glass and looked in the direction they had come from, the corners of his mouth curling into a silent smile.
"Relax. The Chairman won't deal too harshly with a promising seed."
At that moment, a voice sounded from beside them.
"Mr. Satotz! And Examiner Menchi."
"Mm." Satotz and Menchi walked over. "The Chairman is a man with a very good sense of proportion. Anyone he acknowledges, he shows mercy to. And your companion is unquestionably outstanding. The Chairman will definitely cherish talent and won't harm your friend."
"Mm-hm, exactly." Menchi nodded in agreement beside him.
"So what you need to do now is prepare properly for the retest of the second phase. Once you pass, the Chairman will probably have already returned with your companion as well."
"Yeah!" Gon nodded hard.
"Hey! Look over there!"
All of a sudden, one of the examinees on the airship shouted.
His eyes were full of terror, his face overflowing with disbelief.
"Hm?"
Everyone followed the direction of his gaze, and all of them were startled.
Naturally, Gon and the others looked as well, and their eyes immediately widened.
"That's the direction we came from! The place where Roy and Chairman Isaac Netero are fighting!"
In the distance, right within everyone's field of vision, violent explosions were erupting one after another!
Each explosion formed a massive dome-shaped ball of light, and dozens of those giant light spheres were appearing at the same time!
And the direct result of those light spheres was that whole stretches of forest were collapsing in swaths, or simply vanishing outright!
All the fierce beasts living in the forest were so frightened they practically lost control of themselves. One after another, they used every ounce of strength they had and fled madly from that region.
From the examinees' point of view, it formed an incomparably spectacular torrent!
"Hey, hey! You've got to be kidding! Is that really power a human can unleash?!"
"Is that really a phenomenon caused by a duel between just two people? No way!"
"A-As expected of Chairman Isaac Netero! He really is the world's strongest!"
Obviously, the examinees all attributed this phenomenon to Isaac Netero and selectively ignored Roy.
"Roy…"
Seeing the explosions in the distance, full of overwhelming power, and hearing the thunderous blasts that could still be faintly felt from so far away, the hearts Gon and the others had only just calmed were immediately lifted again.
Meanwhile, right beside them, Satotz and Menchi both had grave expressions, and even a drop of cold sweat slid down their faces.
"Hey, Satotz."
"Mm?"
"Chairman Isaac Netero… he should be an Enhancement-Type, and one who focuses on martial arts, right?"
Satotz stared into the distance and, seeing those explosive techniques so obviously similar to Emission-Type abilities and completely inconsistent with Isaac Netero's martial arts style, nodded with difficulty.
"And from what I've heard, Chairman Isaac Netero's Nen ability isn't like this either." Menchi's voice was extremely heavy.
Satotz said nothing.
Very clearly, both of them had already guessed it. The distant explosions and roaring blasts were obviously not caused by Chairman Isaac Netero.
And if they were not caused by Chairman Isaac Netero, then the answer was obvious.
"That examinee… I never imagined he would be this powerful." Satotz spoke with deep feeling.
He recalled the terrifying aura he had sensed back in the underground passage.
Menchi's face was full of agreement. Clearly, she too had thought of the corpse of the leader of the Great Stamp pack.
The explosions continued to thunder without end, and the airship flew farther and farther away until the distant scene gradually disappeared from view.
…
At the battlefield where Roy and Isaac Netero were fighting.
At this moment, Isaac Netero stood quietly opposite Roy.
He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. When he opened them again, two extremely obvious emotions could be seen in his gaze.
(End of Chapter)
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