But just as Rammot thought he had successfully escaped, thought he was finally far enough away, and felt his heart relax in relief as though survival was within his grasp, his mind turned to what would happen after returning to the ant nest. He could teach the other Chimera Ants the Nen techniques he had learned, and since offering up such knowledge would surely earn him rewards from the Queen or Neferpitou, his own strength would then increase. At that time, if he gathered other Chimera Ants and confronted Ron again, they could kill him and fulfill his vengeance.
But—
Clap!
The sharp sound of hands slapping together rang out. Rammot suddenly realized the scene before his eyes had changed. No, more accurately, his own body had suddenly shifted. The abrupt transformation caught him completely off guard, and a jolt of fear shot through his chest.
"What?"
Before Rammot could react, a hand had already seized him firmly. It was Uchiha Sasuke, the very one whose arm Rammot had shattered earlier. With Ron replenishing his aura, Sasuke's body had instantly recovered. Now, he was cloaked in the power of Rashomon Susanoo. A massive dark-red hand gripped Rammot tightly.
Rammot finally understood what was happening and immediately struggled, condensing aura into his fists and smashing them furiously toward Sasuke. But the Sasuke of now was not the same as before. Previously, he had restrained himself under Ron's orders, which allowed Rammot to injure him. Now Sasuke was fighting with his full strength—as a complete A-rank Nen user. And among A-ranks, he possessed an overwhelming advantage.
Rammot never had a chance. Sasuke's grip on him was like a man casually pinching a dog by the back of the neck; his fate was already sealed. No matter how much aura Rammot poured out, no matter how many blows he struck, he could not harm Sasuke in the slightest. Sasuke's hold remained unshakable.
Ron watched him coolly.
"So this is all you amount to?"
He had expected that in the face of despair, Rammot might release some final burst of power. But Rammot failed to do even that, leaving Ron disappointed.
Rammot, seeing the anger in Ron's eyes, felt his own fury flare up....But it was far too late.
Crack!
The colossal dark-red hand of Sasuke's Susanoo clenched with sudden force. There was no time for Rammot to scream—his neck snapped instantly, and in the same motion his entire body was crushed in on itself.
Bones splintered with wet pops, blood bursting from his mouth and nose as the pressure caved in his chest. His limbs jerked wildly before being flattened, his exoskeleton crunching like a fragile insect carapace beneath a giant's grip.
The massive hand finally relaxed, and what remained of Rammot dangled grotesquely, his body misshapen and leaking blood from every orifice. His eyes bulged out, glassy and lifeless, as his twitching frame sagged into stillness.
Ron sent the corpse into Sumas's Trial Grounds. Over time, the body would be consumed, and Rammot's ability extracted.
Benas watched the kill, then looked at Ron, her eyes shining.
"We should continue forward. Benas, keep up."
"Yes, Uncle."
The two continued deeper into NGL.
..........
...
.
Outside, Gon finally regained consciousness.
"Where… where is this? Killua? What about Kite?"
He opened his eyes, but his memory seemed fragmented; perhaps the moments before he had blacked out were already forgotten.
Killua stayed quiet for a moment before answering.
"We're already out of NGL. This is a hospital. As for Kite… I don't know. After that night when we left, I never went back into NGL, and I haven't heard anything about him."
"We have to go back," Gon said firmly. "We must help Kite."
Killua shook his head.
"We're not even close to being able to fight those monsters. If we go back, all we'll do is drag everyone down."
"Those monsters?" Gon frowned.
"The Hunter Association has already sent people to handle them," Killua explained. "Three in total—Chairman Netero, and two others I don't know. They look very strong, probably about the same level as Kite. But even so, their aura didn't match that monster's. They showed me their Nen at full force, yet none of them were as terrifying as it. And Ron-nii also went into NGL—but not together with Netero and the others. He probably has his own plan. The words about dragging others down weren't mine, Gon. They were Ron-nii's."
Killua knew he couldn't convince Gon otherwise, so he invoked Ron's authority. Gon understood Ron's strength all too well.
Gon clenched his fists.
"Then what should we do now?"
"I don't know…" Killua admitted, his eyes showing hesitation. "Right now, we're still too weak. There's very little we can actually do. My father wants me to return home, but I don't really want to."
Suddenly, something occurred to him. He pulled out a card—a white card Ron had given him before leaving. Through it, he could contact Ron from anywhere.
"Killua, what's that?" Gon asked.
"A card. Ron-nii gave it to me, said I could use it to reach him no matter where he is."
Killua entered the message he wanted to send.
"Ron-nii, are you there?"
Ron drew out one of the Zodiac cards.
"Killua, what is it?"
"Ron-nii, are you inside NGL now?"
"Yes."
"What's the situation in there?"
"Still unclear. I'm at the outer edge. I found a village destroyed by the ants and saved one survivor. Then I killed one of the ants. I'm heading toward the inner zone now."
"Ron-nii… have you heard anything about Kite?"
"No."
Ron actually knew the truth, but only from the original storyline. In this world, he had never met Kite, nor received any information about him, so he could only answer this way. Gon's disappointment was plain.
"Ron-nii, can we come to NGL? Fight the ants together with you?"
"You want to come?"
"Yes."
"Is it you who wants to come, or is it Gon?"
Killua paused, then answered. "It's Gon. But I want to go too."
"Your strength isn't enough yet," Ron said. "If you came, I'd have to divide my focus to protect you, and more importantly…" He let the words hang for a moment. "Can you promise to obey my orders without question?"
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