Hanzo left with his tag.
Killua fell into a long silence. No one knew what he was thinking, but it was obvious he was in a foul mood.
Throughout the Hunter Exam so far, everything had gone smoothly for Killua. He'd encountered almost no setbacks. That was precisely why Ron wanted to raise the difficulty for him.
"Killua still needs to work on mental toughness. But after this, when we get to the final stage and he faces Illumi, he'll probably do better than in the original events."
Off to the side, three figures crept closer to Killua—the Mori Brothers. Earlier, when they saw Killua's fight with Hanzo, they were preparing to leave, knowing both Killua and Hanzo far outclassed them. This year's exam, they realized, simply wasn't theirs to conquer.
Yet now, the situation had changed.
Killua had fought an exhausting battle with Hanzo, and in the end, Hanzo won.
Killua had taken a heavy hit.
"Even if the kid is strong, how much stamina could he possibly have left?"
"He's only a child—there must be a limit."
"He was beaten by Hanzo; he's probably done for."
"This is our chance. We can finish him off, grab his tag, and he won't be able to stop us."
Imori hesitated, but Amori was still seething over Killua's previous attack and didn't want to miss this opportunity for revenge.
"If we let this go, I may never get another shot."
Amori rushed at Killua from behind.
What Amori failed to notice was that, in that moment, Killua's aura suddenly grew menacing, utterly unlike before.
Amori froze, only to feel an emptiness in his chest as searing pain coursed through him. When he looked down, his heart was gone in a burst of crimson.
He collapsed on the spot.
"You brat! I'll kill you for that!"
"Imori, let's go together!"
Umori charged at Killua.
But Imori turned and ran, abandoning Umori on the spot.
Killua looked at Umori with dark eyes.
A surge of fear rose in Umori, but it was already too late.
Killua brushed past him in a flash.
Umori clutched at his throat, blood spilling through his fingers, and fell hard to the ground.
Without glancing back, Killua walked off into the forest.
Illumi disappeared in an instant. Farther away, Bourbon had been monitoring the scene, and Illumi's sudden exit gave him a fright.
"What's going on? Why didn't my snakes react at all? How fast is that guy? Just how strong is he?"
Bourbon felt a creeping sense of panic. Moments before, he was certain Ron and Gittarackur were surrounded by his snakes—hostages he could use to threaten Ponzu. But now he realized that might have been a grave miscalculation.
"Where did Gittarackur go? If he's this fast, my snakes can't hold him. If he attacks me, what do I do? I can't defend myself. If Gittarackur's that strong, then what about Ron? Am I really in a position to take them hostage? If either of them decides to attack me, I'm finished."
Illumi's abrupt departure rattled Bourbon badly, and that gave Ponzu her opening.
A bee darted behind Bourbon and drove its stinger into the side of his neck, injecting venom. His face changed immediately. Before he could recover, another bee landed on his cheek, forcing him to struggle. With Bourbon's attention divided, many snakes didn't receive new commands and simply stopped.
In the blink of an eye, Bourbon was at a major disadvantage.
He shot Ponzu a furious glare, then spun around and fled down the mountainside without hesitation. He didn't even try to hide his retreat.
Ponzu watched him go, choosing not to pursue. Even if she caught him, taking his tag would only net a single point, and she would still need two more. She'd already decided not to focus on passing the exam.
Bourbon rushed downhill, controlling his snakes to gather back around him.
"They're not following me? Why not? Did something happen to them? Could it be one of them was seriously injured? …Maybe I should go back."
Just as that thought passed through his mind, a figure suddenly hurtled toward him.