Because the broadcast announced "one hour before the exam officially begins," Yuu treated himself to an extra forty minutes of sleep.
It wasn't until there were only ten minutes left before the exam that Yuu followed the guide to the assessment venue.
...
Walking into the venue.
There were more people present than Yuu expected.
Besides his fellow candidate Hisoka and Chairman Netero, the examiners from every previous phase were standing nearby.
Satchi, Sam, Bisky, and the obese Fox...
To Yuu's surprise, Bisky, with whom he hadn't interacted much before, looked over when she noticed his arrival. She smiled and gave him a "thumbs up," seeming to cheer him on.
On the other side, Hisoka cast a gaze with unclear meaning.
"Finally, this moment has arrived."
When Yuu walked to the center, Hisoka also stood up from the corner and came to his side. His eyes scanned Yuu wantonly, and the smile on his face became more obvious.
The boy's evident progress made Hisoka feel even more strongly that staying for the exam was indeed a good choice.
"Do you want me to go easy on you later?" Hisoka teased.
"It's hard to say who will win or lose."
Yuu replied faintly, completely ignoring Hisoka's uncomfortable gaze. His calmness even earned Netero's appreciation.
"Next, I will introduce the rules of this final assessment to you."
Netero stood in front of the two. While speaking, he took the document handed over by Beans, showing the written rules to the two while verbally introducing:
"This assessment is decided to be a one-on-one duel between the two remaining candidates."
"The time limit is one hour. Any weapon is allowed, and means are unlimited. The victory condition of the assessment is not to defeat the opponent within the specified time."
"Instead, after it ends, all the examiners present will score the candidates based on various aspects of their performance in actual combat, such as physical fitness and on-the-spot reaction... Of course, if the opponent dies during the process, it will be immediately judged as a failure."
"If you have any questions about the above rules, you can raise them now..."
"No problem."
Hisoka narrowed his eyes and stared at Netero in front of him, saying coldly:
"Start the exam quickly, I can't wait any longer~"
Netero completely ignored Hisoka's gaze and calmly asked Yuu beside him:
"Do you have any questions?"
"Neither do I." Yuu shook his head.
Hearing this, Netero stroked his beard, checked the time, and nodded to Beans beside him.
Beans understood, holding a timing panel displaying "60:00," came between the two, and announced:
"Then, please come to the center of the venue, candidates. The final assessment will officially begin in two minutes. Please adjust your condition in advance."
...
Yuu and Hisoka immediately stood opposite each other.
The former was blindfolded, looking unusually calm, while the latter constantly sized up the boy in front of him with burning eyes, an exaggerated smile on his face.
"As expected... that guy is dangerous." Fox stood aside, feeling uncomfortable just looking at Hisoka.
Even Bisky, who had expectations for Yuu, wasn't very optimistic about the duel between the two.
"The difference in manifested aura volume is too big. Although that kid has made a lot of progress in the state of 'Ten', based on visual observation alone, his physical fitness is not that good. Even if there is progress, the magnitude of improvement won't be large."
"On the contrary, that guy named Hisoka seems to be stronger than Wing. Looking at it this way, it's completely a one-sided 'slaughter'..."
Thinking of this, Bisky glanced at Netero, who looked full of playfulness, and cursed in her heart:
"I really don't know what that old man is thinking... although I'm also looking forward to seeing these two fight."
At this moment.
Yuu focused on sizing up Hisoka, who was crossing his arms in front of him, and began to concentrate on thinking about countermeasures in his mind.
"Hisoka's advantages lie in physical fitness, on-the-spot reaction, and the use of 'Nen', while my advantage is the complete information gap."
"To cause effective damage, I must make Hisoka relax and concentrate the damage output on one point."
"Although the victory condition does not depend on defeating the opponent, if I deliberately display abilities for defense, I might have a great chance of winning.
"But for me, this is my first duel with a powerful Nen user. 'Actual combat experience' is more important than 'winning or losing' this time."
Thinking of this, Yuu began to calm his thoughts, concentrated on operating the state of 'Ten', and watched the time for the start of the exam...
Tens of seconds in advance, he lowered his body slightly and condensed Cursed Energy in the soles of his feet in advance.
Turning into an arrow ready to fire.
Waiting for the whistle.
"His aura has become serious... it seems he plans to launch a surprise attack at the very beginning of the exam. What a naive idea."
Hisoka noticed the changes in Yuu immediately and made a judgment in his heart.
Although he guessed that Yuu would launch an attack, Hisoka didn't prepare to defend, but looked forward to how...
The next moment!
Beans watched the time, raised his arm high and announced:
"Start!"
Before the voice fell.
Yuu's figure rushed forward suddenly, and the ground under his feet exploded with dust and gravel instantly, erupting with a loud noise!
"Bang————!!"
The thin figure that originally looked powerless burst out with unimaginable explosive power!
Crossing a distance of several meters almost instantly!
And delivered a fist to Hisoka's face!
Although Hisoka was prepared in advance, the speed was still beyond his expectation.
"Not bad."
While sighing in his heart, although Hisoka was surprised by Yuu's explosive power, this level was still easy for him to dodge.
Immediately, he leaned back at a strange angle, watching Yuu fly over from above.
Yuu twisted his body in mid-air, clicking his tongue: "Tsk!"
Then he braced his feet diagonally to stop the momentum of his body sharply, turning back to look at Hisoka who had a playful expression.
"That guy Hisoka... although he clearly noticed my intention to attack, he was thinking about other things entirely when dodging.
"Totally dodging by relying on combat instincts accumulated from long-term combat experience..."
Yuu's thoughts didn't delay his next round of attacks.
The moment he stabilized his figure, he exerted force again to rush towards the opponent, and especially released more Cursed Energy concentrated on his fist, suddenly attacking Hisoka's chest.
Hisoka looked playful and chose not to dodge, but crossed his arms in front of his chest.
Blocking Yuu's heavy punch merely by maintaining the state of 'Ten'.
With a "Bang"!!!
The immense force that followed instantly pushed Hisoka back five or six meters.
Accompanied by a harsh friction sound, two clear scratches were left under Hisoka's feet.
It could be seen that he was indeed trying his best to defend just now.
And even though Hisoka activated 'Ten' for defense with the advantage of aura volume, Yuu's straight punch still left a deep fist imprint on his arm.
Blood oozed from the skin in the indentation left by the fist imprint.
The power was so great... it exceeded the expectations of several examiners on the side!
"Is this really a duel between newcomers?" It was the first time Sam was surprised by this white-haired boy.
Although he had heard from Satchi before that the boy's talent was amazing and he was definitely a good seedling to become a Star Hunter, it was still hard for him to believe the so-called genius claim before seeing it with his own eyes.
After all, as examiners, just being able to learn 'Nen' already made them outstanding among humans.
"Good job... kid."
Hisoka stood still, looked down at the injury on his arm, savoring the powerful heavy punch just now, the expression on his face becoming more and more satisfied.
Then, in front of everyone, Hisoka raised his hand and stroked the injured part.
The traces full of blood disappeared immediately.
Without knowing Hisoka's ability, even a master like Bisky would have to spend time researching it.
Let alone the other examiners around with mediocre skills.
Hisoka smiled confidently, as if the previous injury was a 'false appearance', crossed his hips to look at Yuu, and mocked:
"If that was your full strength just now... then it's really disappointing. I thought you prepared more interesting moves behind the scenes~"
"I didn't expect you to be only at this level..."
Yuu was not affected by Hisoka's words because he knew that what the other party used to cover up the injury just now was merely his Nen ability—
[Texture Surprise]
Just adding imagination to his aura to change the texture of the object's surface, using deception of appearance to create a psychological burden on the opponent.
Not really able to erase injuries at will.
"However, to use such an ability well, one must also have Hisoka's amazing will. After all, the scars only disappear on the surface... but the real pain cannot be hidden by Nen ability."
Facing Hisoka's mockery earlier, Yuu responded calmly, saying lightly:
"That was just an appetizer just now. What comes next... is the main course."
Saying this, the Nen around Yuu flowed, and a large amount of aura gathered on his shoulder, conjuring a two-tailed black cat.
[The Greedy Metamorphic Demon Cat]
Yuu whispered instructions to Kuro on his shoulder:
"Kuro, target his 'Nen'. If you can't digest it, swallow the 'Nen pills' I left for you to enhance your digestive ability."
"If your performance satisfies me, I'll take you for a big meal later."
After speaking, Kuro meowed actively a few times.
Getting a response, Yuu chose to attack again.
"Conjuration... or Emission, maybe Specialization."
Hisoka stared at the black cat on Yuu's shoulder, calmly analyzing while busy dodging attacks...
"According to the rules I summarized myself, it should be Conjuration or Specialization... just can't see what the ability effect is yet."
Thinking of this, Hisoka decided to use his Nen ability to fight back. After all, if he didn't cooperate hard, it seemed he wouldn't be able to see the effect of the opponent's ability.
Then, a pink transparent "Nen" extended from Hisoka's hand, accurately stuck to Yuu's face, and pulled hard.
Thereby forcibly changing Yuu's movement trajectory.
Subsequently, Hisoka raised his hand and delivered a solid heavy punch towards Yuu's face.
Although Yuu raised his hand to block in time, he was still blasted away by the immense force.
In the ruins, Yuu was buried by dust.
Although in pain, he stood up with a smile on his lips, thinking secretly:
"That guy Hisoka... finally started attacking with Nen ability."
"Just what I wanted."
...