"No need to climb."
"We can just jump up."
As soon as Saitama spoke, the forest fell silent.
Gon, Killua, Leorio, and Genos all turned toward him at once.
A hundred and twenty thousand meters.
That was how high the clouds reached. Just looking up at them made their necks ache.
Leorio's eyes widened. The color drained from his face, and he waved his hands frantically as he tried to object.
"Wait, wait, wait! Mr. Saitama, absolutely not! That's a hundred and twenty thousand meters! We're not hopping over a hill! The low pressure, the turbulent winds—we'll—"
He hadn't even finished his protest.
Saitama had already stepped forward and reached out with both hands.
He tucked Gon and Killua securely under his left arm, scooped up Leorio with his right while Leorio was still shouting, and gathered Genos in too.
The whole thing happened so smoothly that Leorio had no chance to argue.
"Huh? Hey, hey, hey! No! I haven't agreed to this!!"
Leorio's feet left the ground, and panic seized him.
Terror rushed through him. Tears sprang from his eyes as he clutched Saitama's clothes with both hands and howled:
"Help! I don't want to go up like this! I'm still young!!"
Gon hung beneath Saitama's arm, but instead of looking scared, his eyes shone.
He was nervous, of course, and his heart pounded wildly. But the thought of reaching the clouds and finding Kurapika filled him with far more excitement than fear.
"Whoa! Are we really going to jump that high?" Gon gripped Saitama's sleeve, his breathing quickening.
Killua tensed beneath Saitama's arm.
He knew Saitama's strength was unfathomable, but jumping a hundred and twenty thousand meters straight up still defied everything he knew.
He didn't struggle. He simply tightened every muscle and stared at the seemingly endless