Illumi's Nen needles could alter appearances and modify the body.
Within this system, by stimulating certain acupoints and supplementing with Nen enhancement, forcibly extending life by a few seconds wasn't entirely impossible.
However, such an act held little intrinsic meaning.
Rather than extending life, it was more akin to clinging to existence for a few more seconds.
Yet, considering the possibility of Post-Mortem Will, any rational person wouldn't stand idly by and watch Illumi make his final struggle.
After all, Manipulation-type abilities, under certain control conditions, were the most prone to leaving behind Post-Mortem Will.
But Morrow wasn't normal.
So he allowed Illumi to insert several Nen needles into the acupoints near his heart meridian.
In just one second, the effect was immediate, a flush of color suddenly appeared on Illumi's pale face.
He seemed revived.
Morrow flicked his arm, shaking off some of the sticky blood, then pushed off with his heel, propelling himself backward.
Even while permitting Illumi to unleash his final desperate measure, it didn't mean Morrow would face it head-on.
After inserting the needles, just as Illumi regained his strength, he saw Morrow had already retreated a considerable distance.
"..."
The rush of blood to his face was suddenly excessive.
Illumi was deeply unwilling, mustering his last ounce of strength, his figure darting through the mist like lightning, charging straight toward Morrow.
Yet Morrow declined his invitation for a desperate struggle.
With Morrow evading, Illumi's charge grew increasingly feeble.
Moments later.
The color drained from Illumi's face like a receding tide, returning to its initial pallor, his eyes clouding over with a gray haze.
Seeing this, Morrow halted his retreat.
About ten meters separated the two.
Not a great distance.
But it was a gap Illumi could never cross, even in death.
The cost of enhancing the Nen needles was the abrupt stripping of his vitality once the life-extension period ended.
Illumi's eyes abruptly lost their luster, simultaneously losing the strength to support his body, causing him to pitch forward.
Thud.
His lifeless body slammed heavily into the mud, splattering filth everywhere.
Morrow stood in place, gazing expectantly at Illumi's corpse.
He believed that, given Illumi's personality and the unique nature of Manipulation, there was a high probability he would leave behind Post-Mortem Will.
However, the logical motive behind this Post-Mortem Will might not be mere revenge.
Rather, it would be the perpetuation of that extreme, almost pathological desire for control from his lifetime, then, after passing through the stage of 'death,' continuing to harbor the intent to utterly eliminate Morrow, the one who could influence Kalluto.
Just as Morrow thought this, a chilling aura suddenly emanated from Illumi's corpse.
Is it here...
His gaze fixed intently on the body, a flicker of excitement crossed Morrow's brow.
Under his watch, several Nen needles embedded in Illumi's corpse silently began to emit black smoke.
Once this smoke appeared, it visibly intensified and expanded, eventually enveloping all the Nen needles.
It was indeed the Post-Mortem Will of Manipulation... Under the control of this Post-Mortem Nen, Illumi's corpse abruptly stood up stiffly like a zombie.
The black Nen enveloping the Nen needles began spreading like thick smoke to every part of Illumi's corpse.
However, Morrow's figure flickered as his right hand directly reached for one of the Nen needles wrapped in black Nen on Illumi's corpse.
The moment his fingertip touched the Nen needle, the tree-ring pattern on the back of his hand suddenly generated a powerful suction force, swallowing the deathly black smoke-like aura like a vortex.
Immediately after, the deathly aura emitted by the remaining Nen needles was successively drawn into the Tree Rings like dominoes.
Morrow immediately lowered his head to look at the back of his hand.
The energy of the fourth Tree Ring instantly jumped from 4% to 11%.
Given the intensity of this Post-Mortem Nen, if it were the third Tree Ring, it could have charged at least around 10%.
Yet now it only increased by 7%.
Clearly, the energy threshold required for the fourth Tree Ring had become much larger than before.
But this was still an unexpected gain, and Morrow was quite satisfied, especially since...
He looked at the center of the Tree Rings.
The symbol representing the level had risen from Lv.72 to Lv.73.
Truthfully, before deciding to ambush Illumi, Morrow never expected that Illumi's experience would allow him to directly level up.
But after meeting Illumi, Morrow noticed that Illumi's aura output had significantly improved.
Not only that, but his ability system had undergone transformations far beyond his expectations.
Without needing to guess, it was clear that over the past year or so, Illumi had poured all his efforts and desperately trained in order to kill him.
Unfortunately, this unreasonable obsession ended up benefiting him instead.
Was it really necessary...
Morrow lowered his right hand and looked at Illumi's corpse, which had lost its 'power source' and fallen back into the mud.
He had once been puzzled about why Illumi had to go to such extremes.
Was it merely because he had become Kalluto's friend that Illumi saw him as a thorn that must be removed?
Did the belief that assassins don't need friends really need to be enforced to this extent?
The dead naturally couldn't answer Morrow's question.
If there was an answer, it should lie within the lingering wisp of Post-Mortem Nen.
That's right.
After Illumi's death, not only did the Nen needles on his corpse activate Post-Mortem Will, but even the Nen needle embedded in Killua's head received a slight enhancement from the deathly Nen, essentially eliminating any possibility of Killua removing the needle on his own.
From this perspective, the ideology derived from Illumi's extreme need for control could indeed be called pathological.
Morrow didn't know that his actions had caused the Nen needle in Killua's head to be subtly enhanced.
He stared at Illumi's corpse for a moment, then restrained his aura, bent down to search the corpse for communication devices, crushed them with a squeeze of his five fingers, and threw the remnants back onto the body.
After completing this, he stepped back to create distance.
Without his aura's deterrent presence, several figures soon emerged from the thin mist.
They were creatures from the Milsy Wetlands.
Drawn by the scent of blood, they immediately targeted the numerous corpses on the ground once the invisible barrier known as aura disappeared.
Morrow watched coldly from a distance.
Only when he saw a peculiar creature with a crocodile head and lizard body tear Illumi's corpse in half and devour it did he turn and leave.
Originally, Morrow had a plan to clear himself of suspicion by using the creatures of the Milsy Wetlands to finish off Illumi.
If he could have one of the wetland creatures devour Illumi alive, then if the Zoldyck Family ever tried to investigate Illumi's whereabouts and resorted to using the 'Wish-Granting' ability...
They would most likely receive the answer that Illumi was killed by a certain creature at a certain time and place.
This way, he could remove himself from suspicion.
But after much deliberation, he ultimately decided not to carry out this plan.
He felt that if the Zoldyck Family was determined to use the 'wishing machine' to uncover the truth, even if he implemented this plan, he wouldn't be able to deceive them.
Unless the Zoldyck Family was naive enough to believe that Illumi could die at the hands of a wetland creature.
That was absolutely impossible.
So just by adjusting the way they phrased their questions, they could basically figure it out.
This was the most broken aspect of the wishing machine.
Of course.
This was on the condition that the Zoldyck Family was willing to take the risk to do such a thing.
Anyway...
No matter how the future unfolded, Morrow wouldn't regret the decision he made today.
If he didn't kill Illumi here, he might be schemed to death by Illumi in the future.
I should still have enough time.
The fog was thinning, and Morrow carefully identified the direction of the Visca Forest examination venue.
Although he had indeed killed Illumi, he hadn't actually spent too much time and should still be able to make it to the second phase test venue.
Thinking this, Morrow left without looking back.
—--
On a patch of grass.
Corpses lay scattered in disarray.
The fatal wounds on the bodies were mostly on the neck, appearing as if they had been slashed open by a sharp weapon.
About ten meters away from the numerous corpses, Leorio was covered in cold sweat, clutching his abdomen that had been injured by a heavy punch, painfully vomiting bile.
G-Gon...
He lifted his pale face, looking at Gon who was being held up by Hisoka with no ability to resist. Though he wanted to get up and help, even standing was a distant hope.
Just about ten meters in front of Hisoka, Killua's eyes trembled violently, cold sweat continuously beading on his forehead.
His terrified expression made it seem like he would turn and flee at any moment.
"Hmm, you pass too~"
Hisoka smiled as he looked at Gon who was right in front of him, suddenly releasing his grip.
Gon immediately fell onto the grass, sitting dazed and disoriented.
Hisoka didn't look at Gon but glanced sideways at Killua, narrowing his eyes slightly as he said, "Your turn."
"..."
Locked in by Hisoka's gaze, Killua finally couldn't hold on anymore. Tormented by the voice in his mind, he gritted his teeth hard, then turned and fled at his fastest speed.
He felt unwilling, angry.
Complex emotions tangled in his chest like a ball of yarn.
But the one thing he didn't feel was regret.
He envied Kalluto so much for having such a close friend.
So after an internal struggle, he had decided to turn back and find Gon.
But when he faced Hisoka's overwhelming strength, he couldn't even move a finger.
He was angry at his own incompetence and cowardice.
But no matter how much he despised himself, he couldn't change the fact that he had fled in panic.
The faster Killua ran, the stronger the taste of blood from his bitten lips became.
Hisoka had already left a strand of Bungee Gum on Killua. Watching Killua flee swiftly, Hisoka merely had a thought. As the pink adhesive thread contracted, Killua's body abruptly flew toward Hisoka.
Wh-what...!?
Killua's face drastically changed. Before he could react, Hisoka had already clamped a hand around his neck.
Hisoka examined Killua, displeased by the escape attempt. Unconsciously, a dangerous glint appeared in the corner of his eyes.
"Let him go."
From within the thin mist, Kalluto's cold shout suddenly rang out.
Hearing Kalluto's voice, panic flashed across Killua's face.
Before turning back to find Gon, he had clearly told Kalluto to go ahead first.
"Kalluto, ru-run... quickly..."
Killua struggled to shout toward Kalluto.
Of course, Kalluto couldn't abandon Killua. Holding the purple bamboo fan, he glared coldly at Hisoka.
Seeing this, Hisoka's lips curled into a pleased arc. The situation was developing even more interestingly than he had anticipated.
"I can let him go~ But what's in it for me?"
Without waiting for Kalluto's response, Hisoka continued on his own, "Then help me find Morrow. Think carefully before answering, this isn't a negotiation."
"Don't even think about..."
Kalluto had just started speaking when his words were cut off, as if his throat had been seized.
Because Hisoka had used a playing card to slice a bloody wound on Killua's body.
"Think carefully before answering~"
Hisoka repeated his reminder in a lighthearted tone.
"Hisoka, you bastard...!"
Kalluto's face was instantly replaced with fury, his eyes almost tearing Hisoka apart.
Hisoka merely narrowed his eyes slightly, as if enjoying this gaze that wanted to shred him.
"Kal... Kalluto, don't... don't worry about me, just... go."
Killua's eyes trembled as he spoke haltingly, urging Kalluto to flee from here.
Hisoka knew what Killua wanted to say, but he didn't stop him. Instead, he considerately loosened his grip slightly.
After Killua finished speaking, he looked again at Kalluto's face.
Besides the anger, there was now a trace of struggle.
This was exactly what Hisoka wanted to see.
From beginning to end, he had never intended to pluck these unripe apples.
But that didn't stop him from exploiting human weaknesses to force Kalluto to agree to his demand.
Seeing Kalluto still hesitating, Hisoka's other hand held a playing card, casually pressing it against Killua's carotid artery.
Witnessing this, Kalluto's pupils sharply contracted.
Faced with the possibility of his brother being killed by Hisoka, Kalluto chose to believe in Morrow's capabilities.
Even if they found Morrow, so what...
With Morrow's abilities, he would definitely make this bastard regret it!
"I agree."
Kalluto gritted his teeth.
Hisoka's lips stretched into a wide grin. Without speaking, he only signaled with his eyes for Kalluto to fulfill the condition first.
Receiving Hisoka's gaze, Kalluto hesitated for a moment before saying:
"My tracking ability involves creating a living paper doll tailored to the 'target,' then determining the target's direction and distance based on the doll's vibrational response. But creating a living paper doll requires specific matching materials, which I don't currently have with me."
"Lying isn't good for children~"
Hisoka saw through Kalluto's lie at a glance, his lips curling into a dangerous arc as he issued a warning with his aura.
Kalluto froze for a moment, then gritted his teeth and said, "You're a dog, aren't you!"
"Hmm~ Though it's quite surprising you carry paper materials suited for Morrow with you... thanks to how much you value him, I don't have to wait around longer."
Hisoka's gaze toward Kalluto held a hint of amusement.
Kalluto took a deep breath and, under the pressure of Hisoka's aura, could only obediently create Morrow's living paper doll.
The moment the living paper doll was completed, it began vibrating intensely toward a specific direction.
"Huh?"
"Oh!"
What's going on?
Kalluto and Hisoka stared at the violent tremors of the living paper doll, their reactions momentarily differing.
Such intense vibrations meant the target was extremely close.