When Leorio didn't say anything, no one really noticed.
But once he spoke, Gon and Kurapika couldn't help but feel the same way.
The Hunter Exam is massive in scale.
Even before the main event begins, the preliminary rounds weed out a huge number of applicants. Only a handful make it to the real thing.
And Kaizen, Leorio, Kurapika, and Gon—those four had made it through the same qualifiers and gotten this far together.
That kind of thing is rare.
There aren't many similar examples in the history of the Hunter Exam.
Gon and Killua were already record-breakers.
At just twelve years old, both had passed the final test.
Though, in hindsight, it might've been inevitable.
As Netero once said: "If there aren't any promising rookies for ten years, then all at once, a wave of talent will burst forth—like mushrooms after the rain."
Among this batch of candidates, Kaizen, Hisoka, and Illumi were the outliers.
They didn't take the exam like normal participants.
Alita's participation, for instance, was a ripple caused by Kaizen's butterfly effect.
Gon, Killua, Leorio, Kurapika, Hanzo—these were the real rookies.
Bodoro and Pokkle had some prior experience, but even among them...
Gon was the son of Ging Freecss.
Killua came from the infamous Zoldyck family.
Hanzo was a trained ninja.
All three had serious backgrounds.
Even Kurapika wasn't an ordinary person.
Really, the only one here without a legacy behind him… was Leorio.
Kaizen found himself comparing the situation to Konoha in another world. In Naruto, before the rise of the "Konoha 12," there hadn't been any outstanding young ninja in a long time. Then, suddenly, an entire generation of prodigies appeared—most of them second-generation talents.
The current Hunter Exam felt a lot like that.
...
Kurapika glanced toward Hisoka, then turned to Gon.
"Gon. What happened on Zevil Island this time?"
"It couldn't have been easy to snatch Hisoka's number plate."
"That guy…"
"When we met up again, your whole vibe was off."
Gon froze for a second.
Then smiled.
"I'm fine."
With so many people around, he didn't explain further. Either he didn't want to burden them… or he wasn't ready to talk.
Leorio gave Gon a solid pat on the shoulder.
"However it turned out, Gon, you really helped me out."
"No matter what, I've got your back."
"If it wasn't for you, I might've been kicked."
Kurapika's gaze shifted again to Hisoka.
He'd interacted with him before.
Kurapika wanted to cooperate with Hisoka… but never fully trusted him. Honestly, he didn't like the guy.
Between Gon and Hisoka, Kurapika would choose Gon every time.
...
"What about Killua?" Gon turned to him.
Killua shrugged. "My target was one of the three Amori brothers. I took him down and got the number plate. But right after, I got ambushed by someone else."
"Who?"
"Hanzo."
Killua looked in Hanzo's direction, his expression tightening.
"Hanzo? Why?"
Killua shook his head. "He said he had a job to do. Someone hired him. But I can't figure out who'd ask him to do something like that."
"He beat me," Killua added, "but didn't finish me off. Didn't even take my number plate."
It was odd.
"Who won the fight?" Leorio asked.
"Him."
"Seriously? That guy Hanzo… he's stronger than you?"
Killua nodded. "He's no joke. If you run into him next round, be careful."
Leorio looked surprised. He already knew about Killua's background—the Zoldycks, the world's most feared assassin family. Killua had casually killed Johness earlier.
Among the group here, only Kaizen was stronger.
Kaizen was just on a different level.
Gon, Kurapika, and Leorio couldn't match Killua, not yet.
"So… Hanzo's stronger than Kaizen?" Leorio asked, half in disbelief.
"No," Killua replied flatly.
...
"Looks like Leorio and I had it easy," Kurapika said. "On Zevil Island, we ran into Tonpa and his team. Took them down and got the plate."
"And Leorio just happened to bump into a candidate coming down the mountain."
"That guy happened to have the number plate Leorio needed."
Leorio scratched his head sheepishly. "Total luck. The guy was already messed up."
Kaizen raised an eyebrow.
Based on what they were describing, that person might've been Bourbon—who'd lost a fight to Burns and had to retreat down the mountain.
"No wonder Bourbon had that look on his face…"
Killua looked over at Kaizen.
"What about you, Kaizen?"
"My target was a sniper. Not much to tell. Took her down, got the number plate, wandered around the island for a few days. When the call for assembly came, I went to the port."
"Sniper? You mean… Siper?" Killua asked.
Kaizen nodded.
"That woman's no pushover. Long-range specialist. If she'd been my target, things would've gone very differently."
Gon chimed in. "A few days ago, I saw Pokkle attack his target from far away. He was using a bow, dipped in poison."
"One hit. Instant KO."
"Yeah… long-range fighters have an edge."
"The only reason I managed to get Hisoka's number plate was because I used a fishing rod to grab it from a distance."
Everyone turned to Gon in shock.
...
Elsewhere, in the examiners' conference room—
Netero presented the structure of the upcoming competition to the other proctors.
"Chairman, is this real?" Menchi blinked in disbelief at the outline.
"Of course," Netero said with a grin.
"But… doesn't this mean ten candidates will pass and only one will get eliminated?"
"There's no helping it. We've got too many outstanding newcomers this time. It'd be a loss for the Hunter Association to let any of them go. Don't you think they're all qualified to become Hunters?"
Lippe nodded. "True… But still, Chairman… Isn't this final exam a little too childish?"
Netero chuckled.
"Don't worry. I've added a little twist to it—no one's going to die."
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