2 YEARS LATER...
Pitou raises Gon's arm tightly, and says: I won't make the same mistake twice!
Pitou begins to release a large amount of Nen from his body, which is taking the form of one of his Nen puppets.
Gon and Killua did not know Terpsichora, the Nen beast that increases Pitou's fighting skills.
Killua thinks: he's summoning one of his puppets! what is the one to control dead people!? maybe it works even on very weakened people, and she wants to use it on Gon to make him fight me!
Gon and Killua move backwards with Divine Speed, but Gon quickly stops due to his injuries.
Gon spits blood from his mouth and barely stands upright.
He returns to charge his Jajanken, looks up at Pitou and screams
Gon: Pitou! fight me!
In saying this he spits more blood.
Pitou withdraws the Nen she was letting out, takes a few steps forward to remove the distance that Gon and Killua had taken from her, knowing that Gon would not be able to move further, and begins to bring out the puppet's Nen again.
Gon then lowers his gaze and gets very angry, releasing a lot of Nen, but still not that much considering his state.
Killua gets next to Gon, but doesn't know what to do; he knows the best thing would be to go get help, but at the same time he doesn't want to abandon Gon to practically certain death.
Meanwhile Pitou shapes his puppet, which is... Doctor Blythe.
Pitou thinks: that puppet! it's the same one she used to heal Komugi, but also the one she probably turned Kaido into a puppet with... what if she wanted to heal himself!? in this way everything we did would have been useless!
Killua strengthens the hand muscles ready to attack Pitou.
Gon instead looks up and says
Gon: what do you think you're doing!? you have to fight against...
Gon then passes out from losing too much blood, and falls sideways to the ground.
Pitou crouches and starts using Doctor Blythe on Gon.
Killua gives a killer look.
Killua: stop now, or I'll kill you!
Pitou: hm? I thought you smarter.
Killua freezes for a moment, and then comes back angry.
Killua: what do you mean!? you don't want me to believe you're healing Gon! I saw your murderous aura clearly throughout the fight! you tried to kill him at any time!
Pitou: If you kill me, Gon will surely die, while if you let me there is a chance that he will be saved... it doesn't seem that hard to understand.
Killua gets very angry... but then thinks
Killua: fuck! I let myself be carried away by emotions... thinking about it, when Pitou uses Doctor Blythe she remains defenseless and it would not make sense to do it with me nearby that I can attack her... but I cannot attack her! shit, I have no choice, I have to trust and wait.
Time passes and at some point Pitou stops healing Gon and starts healing her wound.
Killua: hei! what are you doing!
Pitou says nothing and continues to heal.
Killua: hei stop! you haven't finished healing Gon yet!
Gon gives a little cough and opens his eyes a little, then Killua approaches him.
Killua: Gon are you okay!?
Gon: yes... I think so... what happened?
Killua starts to cry a little, but tries to restrain herself.
Killua: now it doesn't matter...
But Gon turns his gaze: he sees Pitou, and then his right arm hung up, even if he still can't hear it.
Gon: Pitou!... You said you were going to fight with the intention of killing me!
Pitou: and I did... but the fight was over before I could kill you.
Gon from looking serious and blank stare, he passes to an angry-comic look.
Gon: what's that supposed to mean!? don't try to cheat me!
Killua: Gon stay calm, your injury is still serious!
Gon: answer Pitou!
Gon tries to move and get up, but Killua holds him down.
Killua: stop it Gon!
Killua gets serious.
Killua: rather, how did you give Pitou that shot? I've never seen you give off such aura...
Killua is worried that Gon used some oaths, and Gon understood this, so he decides to explain to him what happened.
Gon: okay I'll explain what happened, in any case a similar strategy won't work again against Pitou.
To deliver that shot I mainly used 2 techniques that I have kept hidden in Pitou in these 2 years: the compression of the Nen and the Fishing Line.
Killua thinks: not the best in choosing skills name...
Skill Description
- Compression of the Nen: consists of compressing the Nen into a small space, while the Jajanken is loaded.
The compressed Nen can be placed inside the body, hiding it from the opponent who doesn't even know how much effective Nen has been compressed.
The compressed Nen, when it expands, causes far greater damage than the "Rock" that Gon used 2 years earlier, which dispersed a lot of aura.
Once the Nen is compressed, it can also be kept inside the body without using it right away, but the more time passes the more it decompresses, so you need to use it quickly enough to fully exploit its potential.
To use this technique one must have great concentration and a great ability to manage and hold the aura (Gon gains these abilities especially when he goes into a state similar to that used to hide from Hisoka).
- Fishing Line (or FL): it is a skill with which Gon can make a very thin Nen line come out of his hand, with the properties of a fishing line. The first end of the line consists of the hook, which sticks to the affected surface, while the second part consists of the fishing rod, which can be applied by Gon to any surface it touches (even with the feet).
The Nen represents only the line; generally Gon uses his arm as a fishing rod from which he releases the line, to hit the target in an extremely precise way.
The Nen line of FL, like the fishing one, is very thin but also very resistant, this makes it so that it requires a minimum consumption of aura and, at the same time, it is very difficult for the opponent to notice it during a fight.
Gon has also added a property to that thread to make it more resilient: it doesn't break if Gon wants to win more than his opponent.
Once the line has been applied to two surfaces (one of which can be its body) Gon can do 3 things at will: lengthen it, lock it and shorten it (like in a fishing rod).
This ability has other properties, which will be explained in the future.
Note: During the 2 years of training, Gon tried to reduce the thickness of the wire so much that it was almost imperceptible (similar to an aura residue, easy to notice outside the fight, but not during). In the fight he also created 4 lines, one for each finger, instead of only 1, to make them even thinner (there were also lines inside the hand, which held the fist closed).
Killua: I understand, so during the fight, all those times you charged the Jajanken with your right hand without using it, you were compressing the aura instead, storing it for the final blow!
Pitou thinks: actually, the Jajanken ability throughout the fight was never a real problem, he used it mostly to look helpless and get attacked.
Gon: yeah...
Killua: regarding the severed arm, with the first blow you delivered to Pitou's cheek, you applied the FL, connected to your right hand. When she then cut your arm off, being sent far away, you stretched the line.
Then, while your right arm was in the air, you rewound the thread and the fist followed Pitou's face until it hit her; basically an inevitable blow.
But if she had known about this ability, she wouldn't have been fooled, that's why you only used it at the end.
Pitou with a surprised face: no, this is not enough, even using FL for the first time I could have noticed it without problems.
If I have not noticed it is because I was very distracted; Gon attacked me immediately after the blow to the cheek, and while he was jumping he concentrated a lot of Nen on his feet so I paid no attention to the severed arm.
Even the fact that I lost my balance, and the two previous blows to the hands with electric shocks, were fundamental to distract me sufficiently... wait it will not be that... those were also part of the strategy!
I attacked him while he was in the air because in previous encounters he had only been at a very disadvantage while he was off the ground; even the blow I gave him with my foot, I thought it was something unpredictable since I had never used it before, but maybe Gon pushed me to use it to make me believe I was in advantage, even if it actually served to make me lose balance...
If all this were true, then from the beginning he had also decided to have his arm cut!
Killua: the fact remains though, that your last blow was very powerful... I would say too powerful...
Gon: I had to take a risk for that, during the fight I used every possible moment to compress and accumulate aura in my right arm, with the intention of having it cut.
A severed arm dies and generally the contained aura should disperse, but it can also happen that instead it strengthens becoming much more powerful, depending on the determination of the owner.
I was convinced that by exploiting the anger caused by the memories about Kite, while holding the severed arm in my hand, I would be able to impose a determination that would ensure the strengthening of the Nen, with the aim of killing Pitou.
Killua and Pitou with comical astonished face.
Killua: wait!? did you also include the fact that you would be angry in the plan!?
Gon: more than anything else, I wanted to create a strategy that in case of anger would allow me to fully vent... I don't like having to hold back in certain contexts.
Killua: but... but it's impossible that you have such a detailed plan... you are not that smart.
Gon gets comically mad: hey!
Gon is very serious again: it is a plan that I started preparing 2 years ago; I accepted the pact with Pitou to be able to observe her in detail while we were training, to fully understand her weaknesses and more frequent behaviors, minimizing possible mistakes (Gon also noticed that instinctively Pitou attacks more often with the left, understanding that the severed arm must have been the right).
Killua sad thinks: he spent these 2 years devising a similar plan...
Pitou surprised and frightened: but then it is as I thought! he kept me in check throughout the fight; practically everything he did served to make me believe I had won, and then throw me a fatal blow...
in particular, before receiving that blow I was so distracted that I didn't have time to accumulate a lot of Nen on my face, what if was a little more powerful, maybe I could even pass out.
Fainted, Killua would have been able to kill me by cutting off my head... luckily he didn't have enough power...
Pitou has already started treating Gon again.
Killua: you were great Gon!
Gon smiles and then says: by the way...
Comic vignette
Gon: since when do you accept to die in vain?
Killua: hei! you won't really think I will leave you all the glory, baka!
Gon: I had prepared a fully articulated plan!
Killua: but what "articulate", you just had luck!
Gon: EEEHH!
They start arguing, but Killua notices that Gon is finally back as he was.
Even Pitou, who had spent 2 years with them while they were training, notices that Gon looks changed, as if he is relieved, as if... as if he had won...
Pitou has a huge intuition: Killua didn't run away with Gon because he probably didn't have enough aura after such a fight, so the only way Gon had to survive was Doctor Blythe!
Maybe he had to choose whether to use enough strength to kill me and then die, leaving only Killua alive, or to let me survive and be healed so he could be with Killua...
if so then... it's like I lost!...
no wait, if that was so then Gon also predicted that I would use Doctor Blythe to heal him, instead of killing both him and Killua, and that's impossible! I was fully intent on killing Gon from the start and throughout the fight... but...
Pitou looks at Gon with an expression that becomes more and more murderous and aroused, due to the insights he has had regarding Gon's abilities.
Killua and Gon sense this sentiment from Pitou, and turn to her with a frightened comical face.
Pitou notices this, and pretends nothing has happened, with a carefree face and a drop of sweat.
Killua, Gon: who do you think you're kidding!
They get serious again.
Gon very serious, but not with his initial blank stare: hei Pitou.
Pitou: hm?
Gon: our deal may have ended here, but I'll make sure you don't go around causing trouble among humans.
Pitou: hmmm...
Gon: and don't think I forgave you for what you did to Kite!
Pitou first lowers his gaze, and then raises it with a murderous face: well, I hope you don't, so we could fight seriously again in the future.
Pitou returns with a normal face: but for now think about getting back, I don't want you to break... you too.
Gon gets very angry, and then turns around.
Killua snorts and looks at Pitou seriously, thinking: what is she going to do from now on?
Pitou finishes healing Gon and the 3 set off towards the nearest town.
END of the fight. [→ next chapter]
Curiosity
Killua, in the previous 2 years, managed to get his grandfather to tell him that Pitou had taken a full blown blow from Netero without suffering any scratches. This information made Gon realize that the only possible strategy was to get Pitou to lower his defenses on the face, and surprise her with a single blow of a lot of compressed Nen (almost all of Gon's aura), so as to cause an explosion that will not kill her (impossible), but at least cause her to pass out for a short period of time. Once she passed out, Nen would have few defenses, and Killua could have cut off her head.
There are only 2 main things Gon incorrectly predicted about the fight with Pitou:
1) he thought that after hitting her in the cheek and pushing her away, he would use Doctor Blythe to stop. In this way, the electric shock would have full effect on Pitou's leg, and with the shoe she would not be able to inflict a fatal blow on Gon.
In the fight, however, Gon got distracted, thinking back to Kite, and didn't notice that Pitou stopped planting her feet on the ground.
2) during the fight Gon has always used a less powerful Jajanken, both to store much of the aura by compressing it, and to make sure that the Jajanken used against Pitou's cheek was strong enough to surprise her, and avoid a reaction too fast.
In the fight, however, Pitou reacted quickly enough to hit Gon in the neck (killing him), so Gon's face changed slightly at that moment.
The fact that Pitou froze for a moment, neither Gon nor Pitou know if it was due to Pitou instinctively aware of the FL, or something else.
Despite having two predictions wrong, Gon eventually could have used more Nen and caused such damage to Pitou that she passed out for a short time; Killua would later kill her by cutting off her head.
The fact that occurred during the blow to the cheek however, made Gon decide to behave as he did (using much more Nen to defend himself than to attack)... the more selfish part of Gon hoped that Pitou would not heal him with Doctor Blythe, in order to be sure he has "defeated" her.
Of the whole plan, Gon only told Killua that:
- he had to keep Divine Speed active throughout the fight, and beware of any Pitou attack directed at Killua.
- had to use the electric shock when Gon would hit Pitou's hand with the Sting, grab Pitou by the tail, and in case things got bad.