Ability intel can sometimes be a double-edged sword.
Morrow clearly knew Pakunoda's ability, so why didn't he stop her from raising her gun the moment Chrollo mentioned "intel"?
Was it because he didn't immediately grasp the implication, or was it simply too late to react?
Quite the opposite.
The moment Morrow heard "intel," he pieced together the clues from the existing information and instantly deduced that Pakunoda's Memory Bomb contained details about his abilities.
The reason he didn't intervene to stop Pakunoda was to let the other Troupe members solidify their belief that his abilities were limited to Starlight Convergence and Deceptive Shooting Star.
After receiving this intel, Kortopi naturally wouldn't be foolish enough to let his guard down against Morrow's abilities.
But what he was guarding against was Morrow's 1.0 version intel.
Thus, the "safe distance" he assumed was utterly meaningless.
Morrow, who had already upgraded his abilities to version 3.0, effortlessly pierced through Kortopi's lifeline in a single strike.
This was the misleading nature of ability intel, and by exploiting it, Morrow was, in a way, terrifyingly steady.
Kortopi's corpse collapsed to the ground, a death that could only be described as humiliating.
His ability was invaluable, though more suited for support.
Given the chance to prepare beforehand, he could have synergized with Amanda once more.
That overwhelming puppet army would have likely worn down even Kanzai and Hisoka, exhausting them to death.
Only Morrow, with his offensive ability like Insidious Shooting Star, could break through such a situation.
But since Morrow already understood Kortopi and Amanda's abilities, he naturally wouldn't give them the opportunity to combine forces.
This was also one of the reasons he opted for a surprise attack, effectively crippling half of Kortopi and Amanda's combat potential.
After casually eliminating Kortopi, Morrow made no further moves, standing like a true bystander observing the tense standoff unfolding before him.
Yet, despite his stillness, the fact that he had just blitzed and killed Kortopi in an instant cast an invisible but immense pressure over the Troupe members.
To put it simply...
On the surface, it was a one-on-one battle, but the Troupe had to remain constantly vigilant against Morrow's potential to instantly kill any one of them.
This inescapable psychological pressure was exactly what Morrow wanted the Troupe to experience.
"Take your time savoring the taste of 'adversity,'" Morrow remarked calmly as he watched Chrollo and the others.
Before the second rewind, when he was dealing with the Headless Corpse Army, the greatest source of pressure had been Chrollo lurking on the sidelines, waiting to strike.
Now, the tables had turned; it was Chrollo and his comrades who had to endure the pressure mid-battle.
Hisoka, ever perceptive, immediately picked up on the subtle shift in Chrollo's demeanor.
Though he knew this change stemmed from Morrow's actions, he no longer cared about maintaining a purely one-on-one duel.
Chrollo's earlier dismissal had, after all, managed to provoke him.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Seeing Chrollo still focusing his vigilance on Morrow, Hisoka flicked three playing cards straight at him without hesitation.
Then, without a shred of hesitation, he lunged directly at Chrollo, closing the distance in an instant.
Because the "Mirror Person" modeled after Chrollo had not yet disappeared...
This meant Chrollo hadn't deactivated his ability yet, naturally preventing him from using any new unknown abilities.
Capitalizing on this, Hisoka easily seized the opportunity to press his close-range advantage.
Chrollo sidestepped the three playing cards shot toward his face.
But the moment he steadied himself, Hisoka was already before him.
In the next blink.
The playing card between Hisoka's fingers sliced through the air like a blade, tracing several sharp trajectories toward Chrollo.
With gloom in his eyes, Chrollo twisted and turned, evading Hisoka's rapid consecutive strikes.
Yet he had indeed lost the initiative, unable to prepare additional abilities.
Moreover, he had to remain constantly vigilant against Morrow's potential sudden attack.
This left him temporarily at a disadvantage.
Morrow observed the clash between Hisoka and Chrollo from the periphery.
The Hisoka he knew would always exploit any close-range advantage by using In to set up various underhanded tricks.
Yet this time, Hisoka wasn't resorting to such tactics at all; instead, he was pouring all his aura output into wide-open, aggressive rapid strikes.
"He must be furious."
Morrow recalled Chrollo's earlier actions. For Hisoka, who only wanted an all-out, passionate battle of love and hate with Chrollo, such behavior was nothing short of an insult, a hurtful dismissal.
So much so that Hisoka, unusually, prioritized "venting his anger" over strategy in the midst of combat.
However, Chrollo's defensive capabilities were formidable. If Hisoka didn't take this chance to set up his tricks, Chrollo would eventually regain his footing, and such an opportunity might never come again.
"Though I gave you the chance to fight Chrollo, I can't just hand his head to you."
Morrow watched as Hisoka unleashed unrestrained attacks, murmuring to himself.
His next Astral Step would be reserved for Chrollo.
The only question was whether Hisoka could keep Chrollo, who hadn't prepared any hidden cards, suppressed long enough.
But never mind that.
What mattered was applying pressure bit by bit, driving Chrollo step by step into a corner.
With that thought, Morrow abruptly unleashed a terrifying aura of bloodlust.
Chrollo, still fending off Hisoka's relentless assault, instinctively glanced toward Morrow.
That split-second distraction gave Hisoka the opening he needed.
Bam!
Hisoka's fist connected with Chrollo's left cheek.
The sheer force behind the punch distorted Chrollo's face instantly, sending him flying sideways like a cannonball.
And as his fist made contact, Hisoka attached Bungee Gum to Chrollo's cheek.
He could have activated the ability right then, yanking Chrollo back to continue his assault.
Yet he didn't; instead, he deliberately deactivated it.
Hisoka retracted Bungee Gum and turned his head silently toward Morrow, who had just "intervened" in the fight.
Morrow raised his hands innocently. "I didn't lift a finger. He reacted on his own."
Then, gesturing with his Index Finger toward Chrollo, whose cheek was now swollen, he added meaningfully, "Don't say I didn't warn you. Giving him such a generous 'page-turning' opportunity will cost you."
"..."
A trace of regret flashed in Hisoka's eyes.
Before the fight began, Chrollo had looked down on him...
But it didn't matter; he could always reclaim his pride through battle.
Yet now,
He realized that as long as Morrow was watching from the sidelines, Chrollo wouldn't be able to fight him with his full strength.
Suddenly, Hisoka found the whole affair rather dull.
Meanwhile, Chrollo, his face swollen from a punch, could only feel a slowly intensifying sense of crisis.
He was a spider.
But it seemed he was already trapped in a web, unable to move an inch.
Reason told Chrollo that his opponent had clearly come prepared. In such adversity, the right move was to find a way to disengage and escape.
But...
That would mean abandoning his comrades.