One move, three gains.
The original disadvantage was instantly reversed.
Tsezguerra, who had already left the field, and his two companions all perked up.
They gazed excitedly at Morrow on the court.
This ball not only greatly boosted morale but also gave them hope of winning.
"BACK."
Razor decisively used his only revival opportunity to remain on the court.
After Nen Beasts No. 3 and No. 4 were eliminated, they could only retreat to the outer court on Morrow's side.
If Razor hadn't neutralized most of the Shooting Star's power on the volleyball...
No. 3 and No. 4 should have been completely obliterated when hit by the ball.
But it didn't matter.
Forcing Razor to use his revival chance while retaining possession was enough.
"Player Razor has chosen BACK and remains in the inner court! The match continues!"
Nen Beast referee No. 0 retreated outside the court.
At this moment.
The number of players in the inner court was four versus five.
Razor's team had four.
Gon's team had five.
But there were still Razor's Nen Beasts No. 1, No. 3, and No. 4 in the outer court.
While Gon's outer court only had Goreinu's black gorilla Nen Beast.
Razor used his revival chance! Now is the perfect time to use 'Black Goreinu'!
Goreinu quickly adjusted his breathing, trying to calm down as much as possible.
Then, he suddenly raised his hand to wipe the cold sweat from his forehead.
This was the prearranged signal.
If there was any action least likely to be noticed, it was definitely wiping sweat during high-pressure competition.
Morrow noticed Goreinu's signal and subtly glanced at Razor across the court, once again gathering aura that flowed like a river into the volleyball in his hand.
Seeing this, Razor thought for a moment before snapping his fingers.
Instantly, the Nen Beasts No. 1, No. 3, and No. 4 in the outer court, along with No. 6 and No. 7 in the inner court, all transformed into Nen and returned to Razor's body.
In that moment, Razor's aura output surged dramatically.
I can't remember the last time I felt this 'nervous'.
Razor retrieved most of his aura, his lips curling into a smile as dangerous light gleamed in his narrow eyes.
Morrow's presence put immense pressure on him.
So to increase his margin for error, he could only reclaim the aura he'd used to conjure the Nen Beasts, leaving only No. 5 in the inner court for emergencies.
He had considered recalling all Nen Beasts, but given Morrow's ability mechanics, it was better to keep one as a safety.
After all, whether it was the teleportation ability or the Nen bullets that pierced through space, both had extremely strong interception capabilities.
In a dodgeball match, this was incredibly advantageous.
Razor's body radiated a powerful aura as he stood with feet apart and knees bent, ready to respond.
However, he wasn't solely focused on Morrow.
Although Morrow indeed put tremendous pressure on him, he still noticed the black gorilla that had been staying near the sideline.
Normally, players positioned in the opponent's outer court would stand at the very back, allowing them to directly attack the opponent's back through passing or receiving.
But ever since appearing, that black gorilla had been standing very close to the center line in the outer court position.
Moreover, he had witnessed the white gorilla's ability in the previous match.
"..."
Razor maintained a calm facade but remained vigilant internally.
At that moment, Killua suddenly raised his hand, pointed at Razor, and loudly questioned, "Referee, isn't this a violation? If such actions are allowed, why didn't we just recruit those hat-wearing guys to make up the eight players from the start?"
As Killua voiced his loud protest, everyone, including Razor, turned to look at him.
In response to Killua's question, the referee quickly replied, "As long as the total number of players on the field does not exceed eight, neither splitting nor merging counts as a violation."
"Isn't that too sneaky?"
Killua protested indignantly, "He can't just release those Nen Beasts again after gaining possession of the ball, right?"
"Razor's actions fall within the scope of Nen abilities, which the rules permit."
The referee raised his index finger and added, "However, regarding substitutions between the inner and outer fields, he will no longer be able to split into Players 1, 3, and 4."
"Oh, that makes sense. I have no objections then."
Killua retracted his indignant expression, a flicker of cunning flashing in his eyes.
By exercising his rights as a player within reasonable bounds and questioning Razor's actions, he had merely aimed to distract Razor.
The referee, completely unaware, nodded and said, "Then, the match continues."
As soon as the words left his mouth, Goreinu had already received the volleyball from Morrow and swiftly slammed it toward the black gorilla near the centerline in the outer field.
「Black Goreinu」
As the volleyball flew, Goreinu activated the black gorilla's ability at the perfect moment.
Whoosh!
In an instant, the black gorilla and Razor swapped positions.
Moreover, Goreinu's timing was exceptionally precise, by the time Razor was swapped over, the volleyball was already inches from his face.
This was an absolutely guaranteed hit!
So, as long as Hisoka or Morrow could catch the volleyball rebounding off Razor's face, victory in this match would be assured!
Smack!
A sharp sound abruptly echoed across the court.
The volleyball flying through the air seemed to have struck Razor's face.
But... the expected rebound trajectory did not occur.
Instead, the ball rebounded directly toward Goreinu!
This was because the volleyball had not hit Razor's face but his palm.
Razor had already prepared a countermeasure before being swapped over.
I calculated the timing perfectly... how did he react...?!
Goreinu's face was filled with shock, his pupils reflecting the approaching volleyball.
Thump!
The volleyball slammed hard into Goreinu's cheek.
The powerful impact instantly distorted his face, sending him flying backward like a cannonball.
The volleyball then crossed the centerline in the next moment, flying toward Razor's inner-field Nen Beast No. 5.
Thud.
Nen Beast No. 5 caught the volleyball steadily.
That was close.
Razor slowly lowered his right hand, narrowing his eyes as he looked at Goreinu, who had already flown out of bounds. "If you hadn't used the white gorilla's ability in the previous match, I might have been the one hit just now."
Any first-rate Nen user must possess two fundamental qualities.
One is combat insight, and the other is instantaneous explosive thinking.
The former involves rapidly deducing information such as the opponent's abilities based on various presented data, which typically requires extensive practical experience and knowledge reserves.
The latter refers to the ability to instantly conceive multiple countermeasures during the rapidly changing Nen battles and select the optimal solution to implement.
It was precisely due to these two qualities that the moment Goreinu threw the ball toward the black gorilla, Razor immediately used the available information to accurately determine the ability characteristics of the black gorilla.
Moreover, within an extremely short time, he also deduced the landing point where the volleyball would strike the black gorilla.
Thus, he was able to raise his palm in preparation even before the positions were swapped.
Of course.
The key to defending against this move still lay in the influence of 'time.'
If Goreinu had used the black and white gorillas' abilities for the first time in the same match, Razor might not have had enough time to analyze the hidden tactics amid such an intense duel.
Therefore, with the intervention of the time factor, even though Killua used questioning to cover for Goreinu's plan execution, it still failed to break through Razor's pre-established defenses.
"Tch."
As Goreinu lost consciousness, the black gorilla in Razor's inner court transformed into a burst of Nen flames and swiftly dissipated.
"Player Goreinu is out. Due to severe injuries, he must leave the court for treatment."
The referee announced, "Additionally, if Goreinu can wake up during the match, the black gorilla can re-enter the court. It should be noted that if Goreinu fails to wake up and the number of players in the inner court drops to zero, the match will end immediately."
"..."
Killua looked incredulously at Razor, who was walking back to the inner court.
The timing of Goreinu's throw just now had been calculated perfectly.
Even so, it was still defended by this monster.
—--
Outside the court.
Tsezguerra and the others were equally shocked and deeply frustrated.
Having already eliminated Razor's revival opportunity, if they had perfectly utilized the tactical value of the black gorilla, the match should have ended right then.
Ultimately, Razor was just too difficult to deal with.
If they hadn't brought in Morrow, Tsezguerra and the others couldn't even imagine what methods or tactics they could use to win this dodgeball match against Razor.
It's alright. As long as Morrow is still on the court, there's still a chance... and we have one more revival opportunity. The odds are still in our favor!
Watching Goreinu being carried off for treatment, Tsezguerra clenched his fists, comforting himself in this way.
—--
Inside the court.
Nen Beast No. 5 threw the ball back to Razor.
Morrow looked at Razor and asked, "On that last ball, you deliberately held back your strength at the end, didn't you?"
"You noticed, huh."
Razor slightly toned down his smile and looked very seriously at Morrow.
Although he had been on Greed Island for a long time...
He had indeed rarely encountered an expert like Morrow before.
In his memory, the last person who left such a deep impression on him was probably Ging.
"Goreinu's ability is truly valuable, but to still consider holding back in such an urgent situation... That's truly impressive."
Morrow praised sincerely.
Hearing Morrow's words, both Gon and Killua were taken aback.
Only then did they realize that Razor had not only defended against Goreinu's position-swapping ability but had even calmly assessed the value of Goreinu's ability in that split second with almost no reaction time, deciding on the spot to spare his life.
Faced with Morrow's sincere praise, Razor narrowed his eyes slightly and said, "If we're talking about skill, we're evenly matched."
As soon as the words fell, Razor's aura surged upward like flames, then swiftly converged into his ball-holding right hand as if drawn by an air current.
"To be honest, it's been a long time since I've had this much fun."
While continuously channeling aura into the volleyball, Razor's sharply defined face gradually revealed a cold, murderous intent etched with dark lines.
He was about to attack with all his might.
Morrow, Hisoka, Gon, and Killua instantly sensed Razor's intent emanating from his aura.
Confronted with this suffocating wave of aura, Morrow and Hisoka remained composed and calm, while Gon and Killua could only tense their muscles to avoid fear, though they couldn't help feeling somewhat nervous.
Razor infused a massive amount of aura into the volleyball before tossing it high into the air.
This posture clearly signaled a kill shot!
Seeing this, Killua immediately activated Godspeed without concern for energy consumption.
Gon also focused entirely in an instant, mentally preparing himself.
The volleyball, wrapped in solidified aura, hung suspended in the air.
Razor took a few running steps forward while subtly glancing at Gon.
If you can catch it, then give it a try!
Razor suddenly leaped into the air, his powerful arm swinging in an exaggerated arc as if carrying immense force to strike the volleyball.
Smack!
Accompanied by a loud noise that echoed throughout the arena, the volleyball shot out, its swirling air current tearing through the atmosphere, the surging Nen swirling around it like blazing fireworks, leaving only a nearly distorted spinning afterimage.
In an instant, the volleyball arrived before Gon.
「Ko」
Gon neither retreated nor avoided it, once again crossing his hands to meet the violently incoming volleyball, but wisely refrained from using his forehead as support.
This time, his aura adjustment was faster. Emulating the technique Morrow had previously demonstrated, he even compressed the quality while gathering aura in one place.
Boom!
The volleyball slammed into Gon's crossed hands like a heavy cannon.
The moment it made contact, the terrifying impact sent Gon flipping over, spinning completely around before crashing heavily to the ground.
Although he failed to block the ball, he managed to weaken a small portion of its power.
Thus, the volleyball passed Gon and flew toward the edge of the court.
But at that moment, Hisoka, utilizing his rubber-like elasticity, vanished in a flash and reappeared at the baseline.
A lost ball must always be retrieved by one's own hands.
Thanks to Gon momentarily blocking the volleyball, Hisoka was able to position himself a step ahead.
Facing the roaring volleyball, he instantly activated his ability, his body stretching elastically like rubber.
Simultaneously, he swung his hands forward, shooting pink adhesive threads like spider silk toward the ground, while his feet also released adhesive threads to firmly anchor himself to the floor.
Under the astonished gazes of Tsezguerra and the others...
"Thud!"
The volleyball slammed heavily into Hisoka's chest, but it was as if it had hit an indestructible rubber net.
The terrifying impact stretched his back into an exaggeratedly long arc.
"..."
Razor widened his eyes in astonishment.
By materializing his body into rubber, he became immune to blunt force and impact damage, then used adhesive aura to secure his position...
Razor looked at Hisoka as if he were staring at some discomforting alien creature.
Not only was Razor shocked, but Killua and Tsezguerra were also dumbfounded.
Hisoka seemed to enjoy the attention he was receiving. Instead of rebounding the volleyball, he wrapped it tightly with pink adhesive threads the moment his body sprang back.
His goal wasn't to counterattack, but to personally reclaim possession of the ball.
At that moment, Gon, his face covered in blood, struggled to stand up from the ground. Seeing that Hisoka had caught the ball, he couldn't help but sigh in relief.
Hisoka used his Nen to stick to the volleyball, swaying it casually as he slowly walked from the sideline to the center of the court.
"Nice catch."
Morrow suddenly spoke up in praise.
Hisoka glanced over upon hearing this.
He saw Morrow pointing at Gon and saying, "Give the ball to Gon."
"???"
Hisoka was taken aback.
Morrow stated matter-of-factly, "Everyone gets one serve. Don't tell me you want to hog the ball? Who would play with you then?"
"..."
Seeing that Morrow was serious, the passion that had just ignited in Hisoka's heart immediately cooled.
With complete resignation, he threw the volleyball toward Gon.
Gon instinctively caught the ball but immediately looked at Morrow, hesitating as he asked, "Teacher... do you really want me to serve?"
"Of course."
Morrow smiled slightly and said, "You saw my serve earlier. Now, let me see what you can do."
"Mm!"
Gon's eyes sparkled as he nodded firmly.
After witnessing one brilliant technique after another on the court, he had long been filled with an eager impulse to try.
Killua silently watched the ball in Gon's hands, suddenly noticing Morrow's expectant gaze directed at him.
I can do it too!
Killua immediately put on a confident expression for Morrow.
On the opposite side of the court.
Razor glanced at Morrow.
Really...
Completely at ease.
Razor thought to himself.
------------------
Bonus chapter @800 power stones.
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