Hello everyone, this is Gon Freecss, and I'm all healed up with plenty of time to spare before my match with Kastro. My opponent this time is another one with solid techniques, so I'm really looking forward to the fight.
***
"Ladies and gentlemen gathered here today, the time has finally come!"
On this day, Heaven's Arena was in an abnormal state, with a single match accounting for ninety percent of the day's revenue. Every seat was, of course, sold out, with standing spectators packing the aisles. Not only was the arena itself overflowing, but crowds had gathered anywhere and everywhere a television screen was showing the match.
"In this corner, the fighter closest to becoming a Floor Master, a true powerhouse with a handsome face that has earned him legions of female fans! An elite martial artist whose only loss was his very first match on the 200th floor!"
As the familiar announcer's voice echoed through the dimly lit arena before the fighters' entrance, the boisterous venue gradually fell silent.
"And in the other corner, the unsinkable battleship in a small body! The insane tyrant who remains undefeated and undamaged!"
The hushed arena watched as the entrance gates were illuminated with a production as elaborate as the Battle Olympia, and at last, the two fighters made their appearance.
"Kastro of the Tiger Bite Fist! 'King' Gon! The fighters are making their way to the ring!!"
The moment Gon and Kastro appeared, the entire venue erupted in a deafening roar of applause. The sound was so immense it threatened to drown out the announcer's voice as the two warriors walked slowly to the center of the ring to face each other. They exchanged bold smiles, their silent, imposing auras gradually quieting the crowd once more.
"Alright! We're just moments away from the start of the match, but it seems Gon's outfit is a little different from usual. It looks similar, but maybe two sizes too big? Long-hair, give us your analysis!"
"Hmph. I have no idea what it means, but I doubt he would do something for no reason. The King must have his motives."
"Putting our useless long-haired commentator aside, the preparations for the match are complete! Let's hope for a fight as heated as the Gordeau match! Let the match… begin!!"
As the bell rang, Gon remained motionless. Kastro, watching him carefully, assumed the basic stance of the Tiger Bite Fist. From the Gordeau fight, he knew his opponent possessed monstrous strength and defense, but little else was known, so he opted to observe for the time being.
"Just wait a second, okay? It's a pain if people think I'm someone else just because I haven't shown them," Gon said.
"…?"
"Muscle Savings: Withdrawal… Muscle is Power!"
At Gon's whisper, his body grew rapidly, and his baggy clothes became a perfect, form-fitting size. As usual, not only his muscles but also his aura output increased, and a single bead of cold sweat trickled down Kastro's face.
"Wh-what just happened!? Gon has gotten buff! I don't even know what I'm saying, but he got bigger and buffer!?"
"What a magnificent pump-up. I have never seen someone enlarge their entire body like that."
"Hey, that's not what a pump-up is!"
As the announcers and the entire venue buzzed with confusion, Gon did a few stretches and loosened his neck as if to check his condition, then slowly raised both his hands.
It couldn't be called a stance; there was no technique or theory behind it. It was the posture of a bear rising up to intimidate its foe.
Facing Kastro, who emulated a tiger, Gon's stance was one of pure, untamed, violent instinct.
"Wh-what is this!? In terms of physique, there isn't a huge difference between the two fighters, but from my perspective, Gon looks absolutely gigantic!!"
"This is not good. Kastro is completely overwhelmed. It wouldn't be surprising if this ends in an instant."
Kastro desperately tried to still his trembling body, feeling a newfound respect for Gordeau, who had faced this very thing. To conquer fear, one must possess an even stronger conviction. Kastro could not bring himself to believe he possessed the same conviction Gordeau had.
"…Kastro, are you okay with this?"
"What did you say?"
Gon's gaze held no disappointment or ridicule for the pathetic display—only a simple question of whether this was truly enough for him.
"I watched a few of your matches. Your movements were powerful and efficient, showing long, intense training."
Indeed, several of Kastro's previous opponents had been on the verge of becoming Floor Masters themselves. Yet, in all his prior matches, Kastro had never once used his Hatsu, winning every fight with only the Tiger Bite Fist and his aura.
"I don't know why you trained to become so strong, but the purpose that's supporting you right now… it's the wrong one, isn't it?"
"…Are you saying that seeking revenge against an opponent who defeated me is wrong? I have no future until I erase the humiliation that was carved into me in that match."
His fight with Hisoka flashed through Kastro's mind, and he converted the shame and terror that still tormented him into pure anger.
"As a martial artist, I will overcome this humiliation, this fear! And I will take it back… my pride!"
His aura, intensified by his powerful emotions, magnified his presence. The spectators felt an illusion, as if Kastro, who had seemed small just moments ago, had suddenly grown in stature.
"King! Become rust on my Tiger Bite Fist!!"
The enraged tiger bared its fangs at the lamenting tyrant.
Watching the match from the stands, Killua and the others frowned, realizing Kastro was even more skilled than they had anticipated. The talent Hisoka had acknowledged was no fluke. The sharpness of his Tiger Bite Fist was almost beautiful, and his use of Ryu to keep up with it far surpassed their own current abilities.
"Tch. Just like Wing said, he's a cut above me. If I could get a surprise attack in, I could kill him, but I'd never win in a straight fight."
The match had become less of a defensive fight for Gon and more of a one-sided beating. Nearly all of Kastro's attacks were landing, while Gon's occasional counters missed completely.
"Kastro's strong, alright, but what Gon's doing is even crazier. Why is he still moving forward in that situation?" Leorio wondered.
"Indeed. Is he gripping the ring with his feet?" Kurapika added. "To not take a single step back is, by all means, physically impossible."
Normally, Kastro would be awarded points for his successful hits, but the relentless pace of his attacks combined with Gon's unfazed advance left the referee at a loss. Eventually, Kastro dodged a wide swing from Gon and circled around, returning to the center of the ring after having been pushed to the edge. Kastro was breathing heavily but was uninjured, while Gon showed some minor bleeding but no sign of actual damage.
"…Two points for Kastro!"
The referee, after looking back and forth between the two fighters several times, declared the points for Kastro. The spectators, who had been holding their breath, erupted in cheers as if they had just remembered to.
"This is the true essence of the 'All Hail Muscle-Brains, Power is Everything' philosophy," Wing commented. "Unbelievably tough and overwhelmingly strong. He's unilaterally forcing an unreasonable situation where orthodox methods don't work. For Kastro, who appears to be an Enhancer, this must be a nightmare."
"But Gon is behind on points, sir. Is he going to be okay?" Zushi asked.
Zushi was the only one worried about Gon. Killua responded with a blunt, comfortless truth.
"He could erase him in an instant if he felt like it. If you're going to worry about someone, worry about Kastro."
Everyone else, Zushi aside, earnestly prayed that a future where Gon muttered, "Oops, I broke Kastro," would not come to pass.
In the center of the ring, Kastro tried to catch his breath, his heart filling with despair despite having scored. He had landed dozens of direct hits with his Tiger Bite Fist, an art in which he had absolute faith, yet the only damage inflicted on Gon was a few scrapes that barely drew blood.
(Ha… This is absurd. The power gap I feel is even greater than the one I felt against Hisoka that day.)
Kastro felt as though his Nen training since his loss to Hisoka, and even all the training that had come before it, was being completely invalidated. He was beginning to think that even using his Hatsu would be meaningless, and the option to forfeit was starting to surface in his mind when a single voice cut through the noise.
"That's it! Don't compete! Play to your strengths!!"
It was Gordeau, who had become a celebrity in Heaven's Arena. Ignoring the stir he was causing, he stood tall and unmoving like a temple guardian statue and roared.
"You don't have to crush him! The true essence of martial arts, of a match with rules, is to defeat an opponent you shouldn't be able to beat!!"
Even amidst the chaotic noise of the arena, Gordeau's powerful voice reached Kastro loud and clear. It poured fuel onto his dying fighting spirit, igniting it into a blazing inferno.
"The King is strong, but he is still unskilled in technique! Show us the pride of a martial artist, Kastro of the Tiger Bite Fist!!"
The heart-scorched warrior rose to face the demon he had so looked up to.
The two clashed again in the center of the ring, but this time, the dynamic had shifted. Gon was now on the offensive, with Kastro meeting his attacks. Though Gon had stopped using wide swings, his blows still held more than enough power. Kastro, parrying them, was careful never to block them head-on, instead redirecting or deflecting them from the side.
(Just as I thought, even my smaller swings won't connect at this level. In that case, what about a faster attack?)
As they reached a stalemate, Gon decided on his next plan, but the difference in their combat experience made his intentions completely transparent to Kastro.
(An attack that prioritizes speed over power and connects to the next one!)
It was a left jab that any boxer would admire. A fist that had pursued pure speed should have either landed or been blocked.
(!? He slipped under it!)
Dodging the lightning-fast attack, Kastro closed the distance and, with a stomp powerful enough to crack the ring, slammed both hands into Gon's abdomen. As Gon's head dropped from the impact, Kastro followed up with a knee to the chin. He immediately leaped back, and the fist that Gon threw in retaliation whistled through empty air.
And then, before Kastro's watchful eyes, a clearly damaged Gon dropped to one knee on the ring.
"Down! Gon is down!! The King has taken a knee for the first time!!"
The most surprised people in the entire arena were, without a doubt, Killua and the others. In all their training and sparring since the Hunter Exam, most of the damage Gon had ever taken was self-inflicted. They had absolute faith not only in his physical toughness but in his mental fortitude as well.
"Why?" Kurapika asked. "It was a brilliant combination, but it didn't seem like a powerful enough attack to be unbearable for Gon."
"I agree," Killua said. "I think he used his Hatsu. Wing, did you notice anything?"
"Unfortunately, I was unable to discern it from that exchange alone. However, from the movement of his aura, I am certain he used his Hatsu."
As Killua and the others puzzled over it, they noticed that Leorio, who was usually the loudest in these situations, was silent, his eyes fixed in Gyo. Staring intently at Kastro, Leorio spoke without looking away.
"Hey, Wing… I know Chairman Netero's Hatsu exists, so this is just to confirm, but an ability that… creates a copy of yourself… that's possible too, right?"
He ignored the shocked expressions on Killua and Kurapika's faces and explained what he had seen during the combination.
"Just before he attacked Gon, from the moment he stomped forward, Kastro's body blurred. There was another Kastro, perfectly overlapping the first one, right up until the last second. The hits to the stomach and the chin… both were actually two strikes, delivered in a fraction of a second."
While Killua and Kurapika looked on with a mix of frustration at Leorio for figuring it out first, Wing felt a great sense of surprise and regret at Kastro's Hatsu.
"I see. So Kastro's Hatsu is a doppelgänger. In terms of ability, it is incredibly powerful, which makes it all the more unfortunate. For an Enhancer like him to have learned this on his own… that is a difficult path."
"But old man Netero is an Enhancer and he conjured that huge thing, right? Compared to that, a doppelgänger should be no big deal," Killua argued.
Killua's question, born from his knowledge of the pinnacle of Nen, was refuted by Wing due to a fundamental difference in their premises. Creating a Hatsu far from one's natural category is like constructing a complex, massive building. It might be possible if one has an enormous foundation built from decades of training like Netero, but the hurdle was far too high for someone with only a year or so of practice.
"The fact that he managed to learn it at all speaks to the greatness of his talent, but it will likely take him a very long time to master it."
"Still, it's brutally effective," Killua admitted. "He's using it differently now, but its original purpose was probably to simply create a two-on-one situation."
Down in the ring, the scene had reverted to how it was at the start of the match: Kastro launching a fierce assault and Gon taking the hits. But where Gon had been able to advance before, he was now being slowly pushed back by Kastro's Hatsu.
"Ah! Gon is on the defensive! He's not going to lose, is he? He can still win if he uses that 'Prison' thing at the end, right?"
Seeing Gon taking damage and being pushed back, a worried Zushi spoke up. Wing, Killua, and the others just smiled wryly, not a hint of concern in their voices.
"As long as he doesn't lose points in an unfortunate way again, there shouldn't be a problem," Wing said reassuringly. "This stalemate is only because Gon is currently in the middle of learning. You can rest easy."
"Yeah, totally. His movements have gotten a lot better since he started using his Hatsu, but that's not enough to reach Gon," Killua added. "I'm more worried he'll misjudge his own strength and things will get messy."
"Ah, if that happens, I just hope there's enough left of him for me to save," Leorio muttered.
"Hee hee. But doesn't he look like he's having fun?" Kurapika chuckled. "Watching him like this, you could almost mistake him for an innocent child his age."
Despite being on the receiving end of a one-sided attack and being far behind on points, Gon was grinning from ear to ear, like a child playing with his favorite toy.
In a corner of the arena, a certain deviant, more excited than anyone else, was using Texture Surprise to copy Gon's smile onto a massive number of store-bought playing cards.
***
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