With his hands in his pockets, Killua slowly approached Gittarackur.
Gittarackur showed no reaction.
He simply watched Killua with a smile.
Then Gittarackur suddenly spoke.
"Long time no see, Kil."
Killua froze mid-step. For some reason, the man before him felt suffocatingly familiar.
Gittarackur's body began to twitch.
He started pulling out the tacks embedded in his face.
Once he had removed them all,
Gittarackur went through another fit of twitching.
His hair grew longer and turned black, while his face changed shape amid the violent spasms.
When Gittarackur finally stopped twitching,
his true appearance stood revealed before everyone.
Perhaps they should no longer call him Gittarackur.
They should call him Illumi.
A chill rose in Killua's heart as he stared at Illumi.
Looking at Illumi before him, Killua truly understood what hellish terror felt like.
Killua spoke in a trembling voice.
"I... Illu..."
Illumi stared at Killua with his wide, feline eyes, his face expressionless.
"I heard you stabbed Mom and Milluki."
"You even made Mom cry."
"She said she was incredibly moved. She was so happy to see how much her son had grown."
"What a coincidence. I never expected you to take the Hunter Exam too, Kil."
Killua lowered his head and murmured,
"I don't really want to be a Hunter. I just happened to have some free time, so I came to have a look."
His voice grew quieter toward the end, and he no longer dared meet Illumi's eyes.
Illumi remained as expressionless as ever.
It was as though he had been born without the ability to show emotion.
His empty, lifeless eyes stayed fixed on Killua. Those pitch-black eyes were like the gaze of the abyss.
They made it impossible to breathe.
"You should know that you aren't suited to being a Hunter at all. The profession best suited to you is..."
Before he could finish,
Cordis stepped in front of Killua.
"Cordis!" Gon cried.
Seeing Cordis rush forward, Netero said sternly,
"You mustn't interfere in someone else's match."
Cordis turned around and replied earnestly,
"This match isn't fair. I think we need to make a few adjustments."
Seeing how serious Cordis was, Netero exchanged glances with the examiners beside him, then closed his eyes in tacit approval.
Illumi tilted his head as he looked at Cordis, his face expressionless.
"Pai Pai? Is something wrong?"
Cordis didn't answer Illumi. Instead, he placed his hand on Killua's head.
He felt around as though stroking his hair.
This baffled not only Killua but everyone else present.
Had Cordis risked disqualification just to cop a feel of Killua?
Only Illumi knew what Cordis was doing.
The spot Cordis was touching was exactly where Illumi had implanted a Nen Needle in Killua.
Seeing this, Illumi stopped caring about anyone else present.
He activated Ren immediately.
Without holding anything back, Illumi released all his aura.
Aside from Netero and Hisoka,
even all the examiners present felt an immense pressure.
Apart from Cordis and Hisoka, none of the others had awakened their Nen Abilities.
All they felt was an intense chill washing over their bodies and minds.
Some of those with weaker constitutions even passed out on the floor.
Illumi had intended to use this move to make Cordis recognize the danger and back off.
Even Killua had never felt an aura like this. He dropped to his knees with a thud, clutching his head with both hands.
Illumi's past teachings replayed endlessly in his mind.
Seeing this, Cordis crouched down with him.
Illumi's aura still affected him greatly, but it remained within what he could endure.
Forcing himself to withstand the suffocating sensation, he kept his sole remaining hand on Killua's head and continued feeling around.
There was no helping it. Illumi had embedded the Nen Needle too deeply.
In the original story, Killua had pulled the Nen Needle out himself.
Cordis wasn't Killua. He could only rely on his sense of touch to search for it bit by bit.
Soon, Killua felt a sharp pain in his scalp.
Blood streamed down from the top of his head.
Cordis slowly withdrew his blood-soaked hand, holding a needle so thin it was almost invisible.
As the Nen Needle came out,
the Illumi who constantly appeared in Killua's mind vanished with it.
Killua felt more relaxed than he ever had before.
Cordis returned the Nen Needle to Illumi and said,
"Now it's fair."
With that, he returned to his original spot without looking back.
Killua shook his still slightly dizzy head and looked at Illumi in confusion.
Then he glanced back at Cordis a short distance away.
He reached up to touch his head.
His hand came away covered in blood.
How had Cordis made his head bleed just by touching it?
Had he hidden a knife in his palm?
Seeing Cordis remove Killua's Nen Needle, Illumi knew he could no longer control Killua.
His goal this time was to bring Killua home.
He had originally intended to use the Nen Needle in Killua's head to take him home without any trouble.
But circumstances had changed. Bringing Killua home would probably no longer be so easy.
All he could rely on now were his unbeatable powers of persuasion and his authority as the eldest brother.
At that thought, Illumi seemed to regain his confidence.
"The reason Dad and I trained you was to make you..."
Before he could finish,
Cordis began shouting from the sidelines.
"Killua, the Nen Needle's gone! Why are you still scared of your brother?!"
Killua was still confused.
Nen Needle? What Nen Needle?
A faint flicker of emotion appeared on Illumi's expressionless face.
It was clear that he was desperately restraining himself from rushing over and killing Cordis.
Ignoring what Cordis had just said, he continued,
"To make you someone who, toward everything..."
Gon interrupted him halfway through.
"Killua! Don't listen to your brother! We're friends! Let's become Hunters together!"
Killua carefully sorted through what had just happened.
It seemed that after Cordis suddenly rushed over and touched his head until it bled,
his mind had become unexpectedly clear.
All of Illumi's teachings that used to surface constantly in his mind had disappeared.
That left Killua remarkably clearheaded.
And he no longer felt any of his usual fear toward Illumi.
Even knowing that Illumi was many times stronger than him,
he wasn't afraid in the slightest.
Interrupting someone while they're talking really is pretty annoying.
But the plot needed it.
Some people might ask why I removed Killua's Nen Needle so early.
Honestly, it was mainly because I felt so bad for him in the story.
Fuck, I'm kidding.
I just fucking didn't want to write it.
What are you gonna do about it?
Before you continue