Akira placed the teacup back on the table, producing a crisp sound in the room so quiet you could hear a pin drop.
"I was thinking the sa thing!"
"However, not right now."
Seeing Chairman Netero grin widening, Akira second sentence made him retract his smile.
"We're on an airship right now, can't stretch our limbs and a fight wouldn't be satisfying. Below the airship is an endless expanse of seawater, with no place to land."
"President, I assu you're not the type to be satisfied with just a casual exchange of moves, are you?"
Seeing this, President Netero completely suppressed the fighting spirit in his eyes and calmly began to savor his tea. Akira words made perfect sense. The current setting wasn't suitable for a battle between them, so he would have to exercise so patience for now.
Akira drained his cup of tea in one gulp, stood up, and opened the door to leave. With a slight curl of his lips, he spoke thoughtfully.
"I won't keep you waiting for too long, old man..."
With that, Akira closed the door and walked straight out. Netero stared at his reflection in the tea surface, a glint of sharpness flashing in his eyes.
"Won't keep waiting too long, will you? Hohohoho..."
Akira actually had half a sentence left unsaid—he was quite eager for the experience points he'd gain after defeating the Chairman...
Though he couldn't take on the Heart T-shirt Chairman just yet, a regular Chairman was still within his reach.
He wondered how much experience an S-rank powerhouse could bring to his Pokémon?
Not long after Akira left, Chairman Netero also slowly rose from his seat and exited the room. The fighting spirit stirred by Akira needed an outlet, so he decided to find a few kids to play volleyball with.
On the Hunter Association airship, in a eting room reserved for guests, the three examiners of the day were enjoying a al while chatting.
"Hey, how many people do you think will pass this year Hunter Exam?" nchi asked curiously, still clutching her spoon tightly.
"Hmm, it's hard to say. The quality of this year candidates is noticeably higher than previous years."
"But I can confirm that one person is definitely going to pass..." Satotz twirled the end of his curled mustache, speaking with a aningful tone.
"Akira!" ×2
Satotz and nchi, as if sharing the sa thought, simultaneously uttered the expected na.
"If it's Mr. Akira, he'll definitely pass the exam with ease." Satotz words were filled with trust in Akira, and it was hard not to share that confidence.
Unlike nchi, Satotz had personally witnessed Akira summoning Tyranitar. If soone with that level of strength couldn't pass the Hunter Exam, then probably no one in the world could...
Seeing Satotz high praise for Akira, nchi was sowhat surprised. Recalling the events of the day, she grew curious.
Did Mr. Satotz know Akira?
Earlier, Akira had only told nchi that Satotz wasn't far away and was still observing from the forest. He could call Satotz over to help, but he didn't explicitly say he knew him.
Otherwise, nchi wouldn't have been so puzzled.
"Mr. Satotz, do you know Akira?" Straightforward as ever, nchi didn't beat around the bush and asked directly.
"Yes, we're comrades who've fought side by side."
The one who responded wasn't Satotz... but Akira, who stood at the doorway with a smile on his face!
Originally, Akira had planned to head straight back to his room after leaving the Chairman, but he happened to overhear the conversation about himself. So he decided to show up and have a good chat with his friends, since going back would just an sleeping anyway.
Thus, Akira spent so ti sharing his experiences in the Samok Desert with nchi. Then he shared stories of the Moros Ruins with Satotz.
anwhile, Buhara, who seed like an outsider, was happily devouring his dinner but still listened attentively to their conversation.
....
The next morning, the airship, which was supposed to arrive at 8 a.m., was delayed by over an hour due to an old man volleyball activities.
Trick Tower!
That was the na of the location for the third exam. It sounded like a place that would boost Special Attack by 2. The place looked rather peculiar, surrounded by a forested wilderness. In the center stood a thick, towering stone pillar, proudly rising from the ground.
The so-called "Trick Tower" consists of a massive stone pillar with a relatively smaller one stacked on top, as if placed there deliberately.
Yet, this peculiar structure is, in reality, a prison! It houses many criminals, such as fraudsters, serial killers, and the like.
The common thread among them is that most are serving extrely long sentences, typically over a hundred years. In other words, barring any unforeseen circumstances, they would remain in this prison until their deaths.
However, this place was chosen as the venue for the Hunter Exam, and the warden arranged for the prisoners to have their sentences reduced if they hindered the examinees from passing the exam.
This is a practice that Pyon, a hawkish mber of the Twelve Zodiacs, has never approved of. Allowing these heinous criminals, who have committed grave offenses, to avoid imdiate execution is already an imnse act of leniency.
rely delaying the examinees to earn a sentence reduction is far too frivolous! On this point, Akira shares Pyon perspective.
As the airship docked at the top of the "Trick Tower" countless examinees began to disembark.
Among them were many who were visibly exhausted from lack of rest. The culprit, naturally, was Tonpa, who spread rumors everywhere, peddling his preditated lies to keep people on edge and unable to relax.
"Hello everyone, this is called the Trick Tower, the location for the third phase of the exam."
"All examinees must reach the bottom of the tower within the designated 72 hours, or they will be eliminated." The bean-faced man enthusiastically explained the rules to the bewildered examinees.
From this mont on, the third phase of the exam had officially begun!
The seemingly empty top of the tower was marked with intricate, trench-like patterns, clearly indicating the presence of so chanism.
After so ti, only about twenty of the original forty examinees remained on the surface!
"Mr. Akira, if you don't mind, would you like to join us and give it a try?" As Akira stood at the edge of the tower, observing the strange, pink birds circling the Trick Tower— Kurapika, not far away, extended an invitation to Akira.
It turned out they had discovered a total of five chanisms. Seeing that Akira was still on the surface, Kurapika offered him the extra opportunity. Among the examinees, Akira was one of the few they knew and held in good regard.
Receiving Kurapika unexpected invitation, Akira narrowed his eyes, suddenly struck by a thought. It was related to the Kurapika before him. His Nen ability required him to travel to unique locations, so... The ruins of the Kurta Clan, which had been wiped out...
Could that be considered an exceptionally special location? If so, what kind of Pokémon would it give rise to? Akira was curious!
As for how to get Kurapika to willingly reveal the location of the ruins, Akira already had a fairly comprehensive plan in mind. That plan involved the Spiders!
Amidst a whirlwind of thoughts, Akira accepted Kurapika invitation.
The five of them each selected a square and, almost simultaneously, leaped down, landing directly in the hidden chamber below. Four of them, including Akira, landed steadily, while Leorio face-planted spectacularly.
"Such a brief separation, huh?" Kurapika dusted himself off, calmly observing his surroundings before speaking.
As the five mbers of Akira group put on the prepared wristbands, a sowhat playful voice ca from the corner monitor.
"I am Warden Lippo. You've chosen the path of majority decision."
"In the upcoming challenges, you'll face many choices. Only by working together as a team can you reach the end!"
In the dimly lit surveillance room, the walls were densely covered with screens showing various examinees, along with scenes where no examinees had yet appeared.
To satisfy Warden Lippo viewing pleasure, caras were installed in almost every corner of the prison. In front of the nurous screens sat the relatively small-frad Lippo, sporting a purple mohawk.
Even with round glasses on, his narrow eyes couldn't be concealed, giving him an untrustworthy appearance.
Seeing that the so-called warden had stated the rules and then fell silent, Leorio, who was still rubbing his cheek, suddenly had an idea. The previous two examiners had recognized Akira, so having soone who didn't react was a bit unusual.
So, on impulse, Leorio pointed at Akira beside him and asked towards the monitor.
"Warden, don't you recognize Akira?"
"Crunch!"
Lippo was montarily stunned, then forcefully bit into a biscuit in his hand, angrily shouting into the microphone.
"Kid, not just anyone is worth my recognition."
In his view, soone who hadn't even passed the Hunter Exam couldn't be that remarkable. As he spoke, the cara seed to deliberately shift, turning to show Akira calm expression.
Akira himself didn't expect Lippo to recognize him. After all, the previous two examiners—nchi and Satotz—recognized him because he had spent ti with them. He had never t Lippo before. Probably not, right?
"He just seems like a sowhat handso guy to , how could I possibly..."
"This person is..."
Upon clearly seeing Akira face, Lippo suddenly rembered a major recent event.
No! Actually, more than one! His expression imdiately changed, completely different from his previous annoyance.
"Wait! What did you just say!"
"What's his na?!"
Before Leorio could respond, a chaotic sound of rummaging ca from the monitor. In no ti, Lippo had pulled out a file on Akira from his collection of information sheets.
Lippo looked at the photo on the information sheet, his gaze shifting repeatedly between the monitor and the photo.
In an instant, his head shook like a rattle drum.
"It's that Exorcist—Akira!!"
"It's the Akira who personally killed the S-class criminals Wrath and Envy from the Seven Deadly Sins!!!"
Lippo trembling voice echoed throughout the chamber, his already unpleasant voice made even more grating by his shock.
Akira stood with his arms crossed, a hint of surprise in his eyes, not expecting that even Lippo would recognize him.
What Akira didn't know was that since the Kila Volcano incident, his reputation had already spread throughout the Nen users' community!
A Nen user with nurous bizarre Nen beasts! A top-tier exorcist capable of effortlessly dispelling vast amounts of negative energy! A being with imnse power, capable of killing two mbers of the "Seven Deadly Sins"!
These titles have already spread far and wide!
In Lippo view, soone like Akira shouldn't possibly appear here. If every one of these feats is accurate... Why would soone of that caliber even need to take the Hunter Exam? It would be perfectly reasonable to just hand the certification directly to them!
The people around them still wore expressions of utter confusion. They only knew that the third examiner had also recognized Akira and seed particularly shocked! They had no idea who Akira really was.
Why did every examiner seem to know him?
Only Kurapika understood what Warden Lippo had said. Because the target of his vengeance was the world A-class criminals, the "Phantom Troupe," Kurapika had so knowledge of these criminals.
Naturally, he had also heard of the S-class criminals, the "Seven Deadly Sins"!
Beings of that level were already among the top criminals in the world! Even the "Phantom Troupe" was a step below the "Seven Deadly Sins."
Yet, the warden had just said that Akira had eliminated two mbers of such infamous figures?!!
"Akira... you killed Wrath and Envy of the 'Seven Deadly Sins'?" Kurapika swallowed hard, still sowhat incredulous, as he asked the seemingly "harmless" Akira beside him.
"Yeah." Akira eyes remained calm, simply giving Kurapika a matter-of-fact confirmation.
"Are the 'Seven Deadly Sins'... really that powerful?" Leorio scratched the back of his head, a bit nervous, as he asked Kurapika, who seed to know sothing.
Seeing that everyone was curious, Kurapika briefly recounted the relevant information about the "Seven Deadly Sins."
"So, Mr. Akira is that incredible?!" Gon eyes sparkled as he stared at Akira. Through Kurapika description, Akira had now beco a figure of imnse strength in Gon mind.
anwhile, Killua stood with his hands in his pockets, quietly observing Akira, feeling sowhat surprised. From appearances alone, he couldn't see any signs of Akira formidable power.
Glancing at the two with their varied expressions, Akira didn't respond, simply saying calmly.
"It's about ti we set off."
Among the four main characters, he didn't have much of an impression of Gon and Killua. He neither liked nor disliked them. Perhaps their values didn't quite align with Akira, so comparatively, he preferred Leorio and Kurapika.
Especially Kurapika, who had resolutely embarked on a path of vengeance for his fallen clan. He was even willing to sacrifice the developnt of his Nen abilities, setting a restriction and vow to only use them against the "Phantom Troupe!" This aspect resonated more with Akira.
Akira words snapped the group out of their astonishnt, reminding them that they were still in the Hunter Exam, which had a ti limit.
Every second shouldn't be wasted. Without the interference of Tonpa from the original story, the group smoothly made their choices and began descending toward the bottom.
As the five departed, a glint of fervor appeared in Lippo narrow eyes.
Akira sudden appearance indeed startled him, but after calming down, he realized this was a once-in-a-lifeti opportunity!
Originally, he could only watch battles between ordinary people, which could satisfy his craving but ultimately couldn't compare to a grand feast!
Previously, he thought the most significant battle this year would likely be between a candidate nad Hisoka and the forr examiner.
After all, both were Nen users, so it should be more exciting than battles between ordinary people. But now, with an even more formidable character arriving, how could he not seize this opportunity?!
The prisoners prepared in advance on Akira path were completely inadequate. He needed to arrange soone of sufficient caliber to face Akira.
Thinking this, Lippo fox-like, sinister eyes scanned around, and his fingers tapped rhythmically on the table.
"Tap, tap..."
Suddenly, an idea flashed in his mind—the best choice he could find at the mont!
"Go and bring out the person from Cell Zero, and place him in the checkpoint where these five are about to arrive!"
The guard beside him was montarily stunned, then exclaid in surprise.
"Warden, that person is..."
"Just do as I say!" Lippo, munching on delicious cookies, coldly glanced at the anxious guard beside him.
This was his quirk—he enjoyed watching people navigate challenges while eating cookies. For him, it was a pleasure. For the challengers, however, it was anything but...
Seeing the warden resolute tone, the guard had no choice but to obediently follow the order.
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