Stubborn Gon

Another week passed. The mountain mornings were still shrouded in thin mist, cool and tranquil.

Everyone gathered before the Testing Gate once more. The weight training had made their breathing much steadier than it had been two weeks ago, and their muscles had clearly grown firmer.

Gon stood before the Testing Gate, removed his protective gear, took a deep breath, pressed both hands against the door, and clenched his teeth.

"Haah--!" With a muffled roar, he exerted force through his legs, and the gate slowly opened.

The others stood outside the Testing Gate, smiling as they congratulated Gon. Gon was no longer limited to one hand. After this period of recuperation, his severed hand had already recovered completely the previous week. His recovery ability was even greater than Ryan's.

"He pushed it open!" Leorio cried out.

"You did it, Gon!" Kurapika said with a smile.

Gon turned around, his face full of delight. "Ryan is still the strongest. He can already open the third gate, and Leorio can open the second one too."

"Not at all, not at all." Leorio awkwardly scratched the back of his head. "I'm just a few years older than you, so my body's more developed and I'm a little stronger. Compared with Ryan, that 'nonhuman,' I'm still far behind."

Ryan stood to the side and gave Gon a faint smile without saying anything.

Indeed, he could now steadily push open the third Testing Gate. In terms of pure strength, he was no weaker than Killua. With Nen assistance added in, he could completely suppress Killua within the range of "normal strength."

However, that was limited to strength alone.

Killua came from a family of assassins and was proficient in martial arts, assassination techniques, and poison resistance. His ability to withstand blows had been trained from