The setup of these three long needles puts three levels of limits on his powers.
One: Light limit. Saiki Kusuo's powers now are way stronger than before. If he uses them without holding back, he might not be able to fix things back to seven years ago. But under a light limit, he can aim them just right.
Two: Normal limit. It holds his powers back to a level where he can use them easily and freely, even smoother than before.
Three: Full wipe. The wiped powers come back in a few days. If needed, a full wipe can protect the world from getting destroyed.
Even so, he didn't expect it to be this kind of collar.
"Haha! With the power issue, this is the only way it could be done!"
Who are you fooling? Stuff like "wanting it to look nicer" is just an excuse. He did this on purpose and plans to mess around with it somewhere.
Seeing Saiki Kusuo stuck on it for a long time, Kuusuke stepped forward and put it on him.
If he pushed back even a little against his brother's hand, it would break. Saiki Kusuo stayed still.
Once the collar clicked shut, Kuusuke patted Saiki Kusuo's wrist guard.
Saiki Kusuo took off the wrist guard right away and put it in the box a robot handed over from the side.
Saiki Kusuo had already told Kuusuke about how dangerous the wrist guard was. Even if it stayed in that world, Kuusuke would keep it safe.
Saiki Kusuo sat quietly for a bit. To go back to the Hunter world, he needed to look human, so he chose to switch genders instead of turning into some animal.
[Well, I'm off.] Saiki Kusuo grabbed the necklace. Without worrying about powers needing outside stuff to weaken them, he didn't have to stress about this thing vanishing if his powers came back.
A flash of light, and Saiki Kusuo disappeared from the place along with the robot cat on him.
Oh right, he should tell Kurumi.
In the empty yard, the Saiki family felt a bit sad.
"Kusuo, you could have just used your powers to go back from the start," Kuusuke said. "Were you just being tsundere... or refusing something?"
...
Hunter world, a year and a half later, somewhere on the Dark Continent.
The female version of Saiki Kusuo stood on a rock that weakens powers. Moonlight fell on her pink hair, making it look even softer than before. She checked out the world: powers normal, world normal, and the cat on her shoulder normal too.
So, what to do next?
What's the deal with the other me in this world? For a second there, I didn't sense his presence. What will he do when he finds out I'm here? Will he fight me over his place in the family?
Saiki Kusuo hid her presence and used clairvoyance from far away to check on the Zoldyck house.
Hmm, looks normal. Most important, the Zoldyck house hasn't fallen. Saiki Kusuo held her breath and vanished from the Dark Continent.
Instant move to Kukuroo Mountain.
...
In this world, age 17. In the Hunter world, age 19. Add in the half year just lived through, that's 36.5 years. Actually, back in this world, he once reset the world many times to stop a volcano from blowing up. If you count that, he's basically a 40-year-old guy heading straight for old age.
Now, after half a year of hard work, the 40-year-old nostalgic guy finally succeeds at making a cross-world travel machine, uses it, and his powers easily bring him back to the world called Hunter x Hunter.
In terms of time order, she feels more at home with the land she's on now in this world—Kukuroo Mountain. Not just growing up here, but her 19 years of life, she never left home for long. She knows every plant and tree here like the back of her hand. After a short two-year break, life in the Zoldyck house will start up again like always...
"Shh shh..."
A very soft footstep came from the forest. The huge size affected the trees. From reading minds, Saiki Kusuo knew this was that thing from before: the family's guard dog Mike. In normal days, Mike patrols the grounds seriously and eats anyone who's not Zoldyck and doesn't come through the front door.
Saiki Kusuo turned around.
She bumped into a wet nose. Saiki Kusuo pet Mike, and this time was no different. But with her x-ray vision, the body hiding in the bushes showed up clear: a fat giant beast, body like a pillar, legs like pillars, tail like a pillar, neck like a pillar. All in all, fat like a pillar, what is this... thing!?
"Woof!" A deep voice that almost felt blocked by fat in the throat.
Mike sniffed: [This is... edible, no not edible, this smell, sweet scent on it, edible, no... wait, owner's smell! Even if it's a bit off, it comes from one of the owners!]
Finally sniffed it out, huh? Good boy, go to the side now. Otherwise, hurting you or beating you down would be pretty tough on my powers.
Mike: [Wait, this smell is from that owner we heard would never come back? Ah, kinda hungry, wanna eat something, no no, focus on work!]
So are you gonna work seriously or not? Has the fat taken over your brain already?
Saiki Kusuo looked at Mike but already planned to ignore him and head to the main house.
[At this moment, a bunch of ideas spun in Mike's little head. Why does the smell match the owner but feel different? The Zoldyck family has no new female kids. No matter how you disguise, the scent doesn't change... after a lot of thinking, he finally came to a conclusion in his tiny brain.]
[I get it, the owner got eaten by this person!!]
What kind of brain is that!?
[Revenge woof revenge woof revenge woof revenge woof!]
Facing Mike's huge body charging like a mountain crashing down, Saiki Kusuo stood firm, because she was about to hear a certain line.
"Sit, Mike."
Oh man, didn't expect that after becoming the brother, he'd still need his little brother to help identify him.
Saiki Kusuo turned and saw a short-haired little boy.
Two years apart, the boy had grown a lot taller and changed a bunch. The old kimono was gone completely. The boy had dark heavy makeup on, and his outfit was totally out there like never before. Inside his top was a black mesh shirt, over that a black denim vest, right arm had chain like a shoulder cape, left arm surprisingly had a bunch of tattoos, pants were ripped ones with spider and dark bug decorations. Saiki Kusuo had never seen this kind of style on any Zoldyck.
Who... is he!?
"Who are you?" The bob-cut boy looked a bit cold.
Ah, right, she's in a female body now. Who she is does need some explaining.
"Kalluto, wait, that might be my online friend!" A figure hurried out from the trees.
His steps were steady, build sturdy. After just a year and a half, his body had grown into a proper 5'11" big guy...
And the weight feels super familiar!!
How do you repay the person who used to manage your health, Milluki!
"Hmph, I'm the boss at home now, no one can tell me what to do. Come in. You should have told me ahead if you're coming. Are you GG or MM or an ant, heh..."
What era are these online friend names from? Watch out for scams, Milluki.
"Brother, even if it's an online friend, to enter the Zoldyck house, they should open the door themselves."
"Come on, Kalluto, don't worry about this one."
Saiki Kusuo watched the brothers talk.
Really surprising, why did Milluki...
Kalluto asked: "If big brother was here, would Milluki brother listen?"
"Shut up! Big brother isn't here now! This is the point, everyone's vanishing one by one!"
?!
[Vanish? How come!]
"You don't deserve to know our family matters." Kalluto's tone was cold.
Saiki Kusuo: [Oh man, if only I was "me."]
There are lots of ways to prove it. Saiki Kusuo teleported right in front of Kalluto.
[Too many changes. You two, explain everything in detail.]
"You're..." Kalluto's eyes widened a bit.
"You're..." Milluki got spooked by the teleport too. [This familiar skill, plus the oh man habit!]
Milluki: "Kusuo brother's girlfriend!"
Kalluto: "Kusuo brother took a gender swap pill!"
[Milluki's way off, Kalluto's closer. Overall, yeah, I did change gender.]
Saiki Kusuo went back to the house with the two kids.
"Right now, only the elders are home. A year ago, big brother left for the Dark Continent, along with the butlers Tsubone and Gotoh."
"Killua brother took Alluka out for a trip, hasn't come back in a year, no trace, but he sends letters home."
"Milluki brother is getting more rebellious, mom is heartbroken, won't even help me pick kimonos anymore."
The last one doesn't matter.
No. Saiki Kusuo blinked a few times and checked Kalluto's outfit closely. It felt like mom really needed to come save the world.
Going to the Dark Continent and Killua leaving home. Looks like some plot points keep going the original way even if changed.
Wait, that means...
Some people who died are too. And Hisoka has already...
Saiki Kusuo wiped sweat. Heard Togashi say some folks are gonna die. Now two years passed, manga draws slow, but the real fights on the ship wouldn't have ended already, right?
"Kusuo brother, Kusuo brother!"
Saiki Kusuo's arm got pulled by Milluki, snapping her back.
The now much bigger Milluki actually choked up and shed tears: "Kusuo brother! Go save Illumi big brother!"
Save, huh? What?
What happened to Illumi?
He seems like the reliable big brother type who wouldn't be in danger even if the world exploded. The Zoldyck family earns money from jobs with their hard work. Would they really get punished by justice?
"The Dark Continent is a dangerous place! Kusuo brother! When big brother left, Kalluto specially made him a charm, and big brother put it right on his heart!"
"Heart spot! Hard to go wrong there, right! But that charm burned up eight days ago!!"
What One Piece life card thing.
"Yeah, we're all worried." Kalluto said calmly. "The butlers' charms broke two days apart too."
[Why not burn for them? What's that got to do with dying?]
"Ah no, the burning card is more special. The butlers just got normal paper. When theirs breaks, this side breaks too. It's basic link paper." Kalluto explained calmly. [Don't care about the butlers dying.]
Saiki Kusuo: ...
"Kusuo brother, why did you come back?"
In the main house, the elders are busy all over the world even if they didn't go to the Dark Continent. The real owners of the house are just these three kids.
Saiki Kusuo got served a bunch of snacks and kept the little brother chat going.
Milluki: "Been wondering, Kusuo brother, what's that bag on your hand? And what's that cat on your head?"
[Ah, this is a robot cat, don't mind it. Is there a charging outlet here?]
Saiki Kusuo didn't treasure this super realistic cat-shaped robot. If a normal cat is a skeleton, this robot cat looks like an even uglier machine pile in his eyes. He really couldn't like it.
Compared to that, the stuff in the bag is more important.
Saiki Kusuo brought three boxes of coffee jelly.
Eight per box, 225g each, each one costs up to 1800 yen. It's high quality with just a three-month shelf life!
No need to explain how tasty the jelly is, right?
Heavenly treat.
They say when visiting family and friends on holidays, you bring gifts. When mom asked what to bring for this side's family, he thought of this.
His favorite food, and he hopes to share it with them.
[Coffee jelly, the stuff brother loves.] Saiki Kusuo took out three.
He handed one to the butler and said the goal he'd thought about for a long time.
[Please make a million exact same ones...]
"Ah, um, young... er, young master! Sorry, I don't get it. You want..."
[I want it to be our Zoldyck family's regular snack from now on. Get someone to study it.]
"Yes! Young master Kusuo!"
"Brother won't eat?" Kalluto held the coffee jelly and asked.
[Eh, I've eaten tons of it on the other side already, don't worry about me.] Of course that's key. Before a long trip away from home, anyone would pig out on their favorite hometown stuff, right?
During the happy time eating coffee jelly, the brothers still had questions in their hearts.
Milluki asked: "Big brother, why come back? You went through so much trouble to leave home."
Well, whether to come back was a tough call. Though it looks like just two chapters and he's back, actually I struggled with it for half a year.
There was a full half year of original life stuff, but if I didn't come back, the comments section would turn into a cry fest! From the hints of going back, all sorts of reluctant voices kept coming through telepathy, one after another. I could hear every one, come on!
So no more pretending, just lifted a foot and came back. With powers, anything's possible.
Kalluto: "Will brother go out again?"
This... yeah, of course.
I hate most when my existence bothers others. At least solve the family issues first.
As for after that, with my abilities, jumping between two worlds is no big deal.
Both sides are my family, and family is special to me. I admit it.
I want them all.
Don't worry, I'm not the same as before now.
"Big brother, that thing on your neck has some style. Kalluto's been into stuff like that lately too!"
Not that kind of different.
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