Hisoka stood up, exited the meeting room, and closed the door behind him.
Once outside, Hisoka narrowed his eyes slightly.
"Truly a tricky old man. My judgment wasn't wrong earlier."
"But the more difficult it is, the more it makes me look forward to it."
Once Hisoka left, the voice from the intercom echoed again.
"Next..."
One by one, the candidates entered and exited the room.
Gittarackur, Pokkle, Bodoro, Gon...
Until it was Ron's turn.
Ron already knew the questions Netero would ask, having seen them in the original story.
In fact, even before the Hunter Exam ended, Netero had already entrusted Ron with the task of teaching Nen to the candidates who passed the exam. This stipulation proved that Netero had already assumed Ron would pass the Hunter Exam during the second phase.
"Chairman."
"Ron, please take a seat."
Ron sat cross-legged opposite Netero.
"Well then, I'll begin my questions now. Why do you want to become a Hunter?"
"One reason is that I've heard about the Hunter Exam and was somewhat interested, wanting to see it for myself. The second reason is that obtaining a Hunter License would make gathering information easier."
"Second question, besides yourself, which candidate do you care about the most?"
"Killua."
Ron still hadn't revealed his true identity to Killua, so he was curious to see Killua's reaction when he learned who Ron really was.
"Who is the candidate you least want to fight?"
"Hisoka."
In fact, Ron felt he could fight anyone, but Hisoka was just too troublesome. It was a kind of trouble he wouldn't face when fighting other candidates.
"Alright, I've finished asking my questions. You may leave now."
Soon, the responses from all the candidates were gathered in front of Netero.
Hisoka was most interested in Ron and least wanted to fight Gon.
Ron was most interested in Killua and least wanted to fight Hisoka.
Pokkle was most interested in Kurapika and least wanted to fight Hisoka.
Pokkle had a good understanding of his abilities, knowing he was probably no match for Hisoka but was on the same level as Kurapika—though this only applied in the present.
Once Nen was mastered, the situation would be completely different.
Kurapika could take on Phantom Troupe members. Even someone like Uvogin, who was an Enhancement-type, could be defeated, though restrictions and vows played a role.
This still showed Kurapika's strength. Pokkle, however, hadn't won against a chimara ant soldier.
Uvogin's strength was more than enough to beat a soldier. Even Shizuku from the original storyline killed a soldier. Uvogin's strength was above Shizuku's.
Killua was most interested in Gon and least wanted to fight Pokkle.
He cared about Gon because they were the same age and were friends.
He didn't want to fight Pokkle because he disliked him.
Bodro's main concern was Hisoka, and he didn't want to fight Gon or Killua.
From this, it could be seen that Bodro lacked talent. He didn't recognize the difference between himself and Hisoka, nor could he sense Killua's hidden strength.
Getting this far in the Hunter Exam was mostly due to experience, not innate talent. He was someone who no longer had much potential.
Illumi's response was the same as Ron's.
However, the difference was that Ron's interest in Killua came from the desire to see his little cousin's reaction when he found out Ron's true identity, while Illumi's interest was more about being a "brother control."
Ron cared about family but wasn't obsessive like Illumi.
Gon was most interested in Hisoka and didn't want to fight Killua, Kurapika, Leorio, or Ron.
Hanzo was most interested in Hisoka and didn't want to fight him either.
Elita was most interested in Ron and didn't want to fight him either.
However, Elita's reason was based on respect and gratitude for Ron, unlike Hanzo, who was wary of Hisoka.
Kurapika was most interested in Hisoka, Ron, and Gon. He would fight anyone if given a good reason but preferred to avoid unnecessary fights.
Leorio was most interested in Kurapika and didn't want to fight him either.
Because of Ron's appearance, there were some changes. In this world, Leorio didn't weather and get a number tag because of Gon's help, but because he was lucky enough to meet Bourbon, who was distracted and in a bad state.
One kick later, he got the target number tag he wanted.
From these answers, it became very clear that everyone feared Hisoka the most.
As for Nen users like Ron and Illumi, they attracted much less attention.
Though the candidate's strength wasn't drastically different, their other abilities weren't the same.
On a comprehensive level, Bodro was probably the weakest among them.
His strength was at the bottom of the candidates, his potential was the lowest, and his insight was the weakest.
Netero picked up a pen and began marking the list.
As Netero arranged the final matchups, the candidates gathered in small groups outside.
There were only eleven of them.
Hisoka, Illumi, Hanzo, Bodro, Pokkle, Elita—all standing alone.
But Ron and the others gathered together.
Ron was the first to leave.
Then, Gon exited the meeting room and walked toward Ron.
Next came Killua, Kurapika, and finally, Leorio.
Leorio leaned against the wall, looking around and saying, "I never thought we'd all make it this far. It wasn't easy."
When Leorio said it, everyone else couldn't help but feel the same.
The Hunter Exam was massive in scale. The preliminaries eliminated a large number of candidates. Very few actually made it to the official exam.
Ron, Leorio, Kurapika, and Gon had been on the same boat during the preliminaries.
They had all come this far together.
It was a rare occurrence. In the entire history of the Hunter Exam, there were very few similar cases.
Gon and Killua were legendary in the history of the exam.
The two youngest candidates, just twelve years old, had made it all the way to the final exam.
But this was actually inevitable.
Netero once said that if, for ten years, no new, impressive candidates appear, then one year, suddenly, many promising new candidates would emerge like mushrooms after the rain.
Among this year's candidates, Hisoka, Ron, and Illumi were exceptions.
They weren't ordinary candidates. Elita's appearance was the result of Ron's butterfly effect.
Gon, Killua, Leorio, Kurapika, and Hanzo were the true rookies.
Bodoro and Pokkle had some experience.
But here, Gon was the son of Ging Freecss.
Killua came from the Zoldyck family.
Hanzo was a ninja.
These three all had backgrounds. Even Kurapika wasn't ordinary.
The only true ordinary person was Leorio.
Ron couldn't help but compare this to the Naruto world, where there hadn't been many gifted young ninjas for years.
Then, the twelve Genin exploded onto the scene, all second-generation ninjas. This situation in the Hunter Exam was somewhat similar.
Kurapika glanced at Hisoka, then at Gon.
"Gon, did something happen on Zevil Island?"
----------------------
You can read up to 120 Advanced chapters!
Patreon(.)com/IDKjust