"Killua and I found a few hidden doors here.
...There are five in total."
"That works out perfectly for the five of us."
"But we have no idea where these doors lead."
"Any thoughts?"
By now, quite some time had passed since the start of the Hunter Exam.
Gon and Killua were the same age and had naturally formed the closest bond so far. But deep down, Gon felt he could trust Kaizen.
It was an instinct—like the one he'd had when he first met Kite.
And Kaizen's strength was undeniable.
Even though Gon hadn't seen Kaizen's fight with Hisoka, Killua had told him about it when they were at Heavens Arena.
"You guys pick first," Kaizen said. "The Hunter Exam doesn't rely on pure luck. Every door leads somewhere, but the routes will be different."
"Still, if there's a route, it must lead to the surface."
Kaizen was certain of that.
The five doors had to correspond to five paths.
The group exchanged glances.
"Alright," Killua said, turning to Gon. "Gon, you go first."
After Gon chose, Killua followed. Then Kurapika and Leorio picked their doors, leaving Kaizen with the last one.
"Click."
The moment they exerted force, the stone slabs flipped open beneath their feet, sending them plummeting downward.
"Boom!"
They landed.
Kaizen and the others touched down smoothly—except for Leorio, who landed face-first instead of on his feet. His rough landing was likely due to the lingering effects of his injuries from Hisoka.
He still wasn't in peak condition.
"Looks like we picked a multiplayer route," Kaizen noted.
A small round table stood before them, and on the wall behind it, a screen flickered to life.
"From now on, the five of you must follow the rule: the minority obeys the majority."
"This rule applies until you either pass the assessment... or are eliminated."
On the table, five timers rested in a neat row.
"Well, let's get started."
Each of them strapped on a timer.
At first, the choices they faced were simple—clearly designed to ease candidates into the rule of majority decision-making. Kaizen moved forward, glancing at the crystal ball ahead.
Once they entered the second stage, the pace of the trial accelerated.
The progress indicator had climbed past twenty percent.
Still, there was a long way to go before hitting one hundred.
"Click."
The door ahead slid open.
But Gon and Killua didn't move forward.
Kaizen looked up.
The door had opened... but there was no passage ahead. Instead, a broken path stretched out before them. A single platform hovered in the middle, unconnected to either side. The structure on the far end mirrored their own.
Five figures stood on the other side.
A distinct aura radiated from them—one Kaizen recognized all too well.
It was the kind of aura only possessed by people who had spent a long time in prison.
A wave of nostalgia hit Kaizen.
When he left Zoldyck Manor for the first time, he had headed straight for Heavens Arena.
Back then, he wanted to test his strength—and earn some money on the side.
So he had taken on a few assassination jobs.
One of those assignments involved taking down a group of death row inmates.
There were five of them.
Three were ordinary men.
Two were Nen users.
But their mastery of Nen had been weak, undeveloped.
Kaizen had killed them with ease.
Compared to those death row prisoners, the criminals standing before him now were nothing.
Even the strongest among them was weaker than the weakest of the condemned prisoners he had faced before.
"Undo our shackles," a low voice rumbled.
"Clank!"
The heavy shackles dropped to the ground with a dull thud.
The sheer weight of them was evidence enough of their past restraint.
One of the criminals pulled back his hood, revealing a bald head covered in deep scars, giving him an even more menacing appearance.
The air grew tense.
Leorio and Kurapika tensed instinctively.
Gon's expression didn't change much.
Killua, however, shot a glance at Kaizen.
Kaizen simply smiled at him.
Killua quickly looked away.
A voice crackled from the speaker above them, explaining the rules of the next challenge.
Each of the five candidates would take turns fighting the five criminals.
To pass, they needed to secure at least three victories.
The bald man stepped forward.
Kaizen recalled how, in the original timeline, their group had been at a disadvantage because of Tonpa's interference. But this time, Tonpa wasn't here.
Kaizen had taken his place.
And in a scenario where they had won in the original, there was no chance of losing now.
Not that Kaizen was paying much attention to this test.
"Dragging out the exam by intentionally throwing a match would be pointless."
"Let's just get this over with."
"I'll take the last match."
"I can use this time to refine my new ability."
Kaizen could feel it—his new ability was nearing completion.
It wouldn't be long now.
And he was eager to see what it would become.
A Nen user's ability was shaped by their mindset. But it didn't always align perfectly with their expectations.
Sometimes, even seasoned Nen users didn't fully understand the abilities they had developed.
"You go first. I'll take the second match."
With that, Kaizen walked over to the corner and sat cross-legged.
Just then, he sensed something.
A strange yet familiar presence.
Powerful.
Hisoka?
Kaizen frowned slightly.
"The criminals here aren't anything special."
"Could it be... Hisoka has already met that examiner?"
Setting the thought aside, he shut his eyes and focused.
A swirling mist of aura appeared before him.
As his concentration deepened, the aura grew denser, shifting, changing...
His new ability was almost ready.
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