No choice. The guy had helped him after all, and he was still the mission target. Saiki Kusuo rolled up his sleeves.

He'd worn that wristband for years, never taking it off—not even for showers. Now, about one-third of it had turned white, and it was glowing.

It wasn't a big deal, but when walking through dim areas of the Zoldyck mansion, the glow made it pretty noticeable.

Then his parents or the butler would wonder what kind of strange gadget he was wearing.

Saiki Kusuo couldn't really explain it. When they asked about it, it was Milluki who stepped in, saying it was some kind of glowing wristband from a manga. In an instant, Saiki was labeled as some kind of chunibyo.

To avoid getting weird looks from his family again, Saiki Kusuo had wrapped the wristband in black cloth. That way, no light would leak out.

The light wasn't fluorescent; it was a faint glow caused by excess energy.

In a place as dark as this cave, it barely worked as a flashlight. Saiki Kusuo removed the cloth, and the soft glow lit up the tunnel. Chrollo looked over and recognized it—he'd once wanted that wristband.

[That wristband from before… already glowing one-third of the way? What happens when it's fully lit?]

Probably the end of the world.

The two of them moved silently through the tunnel, and at some point, Saiki Kusuo noticed a change in the smell of the air. He followed the scent and looked up.

The sap from the Bewitching Tree? Saiki Kusuo had a sharp nose. A bit farther ahead and Chrollo would probably fall into an illusion. Saiki himself had eaten poison since he was little, so he didn't think the tree would affect him. He also didn't think someone as strong as Chrollo would fall for it so easily. But still, Chrollo was his mission target right now, so maybe it was worth giving him a heads-up?

Chrollo looked up: [I can't see clearly, but there seems to be something up there.]

You noticed, huh? Not bad. No need to warn you, then.

Chrollo didn't hesitate. He took a few steps forward and looked more closely.

Saiki Kusuo: ?

Chrollo stood still. Must've fallen into an illusion. Is this guy really the leader of the Phantom Troupe?

Shouldn't the Phantom Troupe's leader be more careful?

[Narrator: The Phantom Troupe is a group that acts without rules, doing whatever they want.]

Suddenly, the tunnel lit up a bit. Voices came from behind.

"Hurry! Get in there and save them!" It was Tonpa's voice. Saiki Kusuo instantly figured out what part of the story this was—Tonpa had tricked Gon and the others into coming here, hoping the Bewitching Tree would mess with their minds or even kill them.

Wait—Chrollo was still using that borrowed appearance. If Kurapika saw him now, he'd be exposed, wouldn't he? Kurapika was back there too. If he saw Chrollo's real face, that'd be a disaster. Saiki didn't know if Kurapika knew what every Troupe member looked like, but if he had a grudge, Chrollo's face would definitely be burned into his memory more than anyone else's.

Saiki Kusuo tugged on Chrollo. Hey, time to move...

The reply he got was a flying kick.

Saiki Kusuo: ?

The kick landed on Saiki without doing any damage, but right after that, Chrollo closed in, throwing an elbow and stabbing at his stomach with a knife. Hey, Chrollo—get a grip. How could a Nen user fall for this? Oh right, this tree's illusion poison was so strong even the Zoldyck family used it to kill people. So it worked on Nen users too.

Yare yare, this is such a pain. Saiki Kusuo stepped back, dodging just in time to stop the blade from cutting his clothes. Luckily, Chrollo wasn't using Nen. Was he seeing something from before he learned Nen? Saiki grabbed his arm and teleported them to the farthest spot in sight.

He remembered that to snap someone out of an illusion, all you had to do was punch them once.

But controlling his strength was the hardest thing for him. Punching someone could be way too dangerous.

He ducked to dodge another attack from Chrollo and covered his mouth, thinking hard. What now?

He backed up step by step while Chrollo kept chasing him. Just as Saiki Kusuo was about to use force, Chrollo suddenly stopped—frozen like a statue.

What did he see? Saiki Kusuo looked into Chrollo's inner vision.

A forest. A car. This was Meteor City? It looked cleaner than when he'd visited.

A young Chrollo stood on top of the car. Next to it were Uvogin and Franklin. Even as kids, those two were already huge. Uvogin looked older, even bigger than Franklin.

Inside the car, a girl was screaming for help. Saiki didn't know who she was, but her voice was unusually clear.

What was going on? If she was a friend, why not help her? Saiki wondered.

Wait—this was an illusion. Even if he helped, it wouldn't matter. Was this a memory about human trafficking? And the Troupe failed to save their own friend?

Saiki Kusuo more or less understood. The Bewitching Tree made people relive memories they couldn't let go of—and this was Chrollo's.

[Everything here is fake.]

Chrollo had already realized it—maybe he'd known all along.

Just then, Kurapika's voice came from behind. Since they'd opened the door wide, light poured in too.

Saiki Kusuo quickly wrapped his wristband tightly with a black cloth, grabbed Chrollo, and ran forward.

The Chrollo in the illusion was also dragged forward—he had been on top of the car but suddenly fell off. The people inside pointed guns at him.

Looks like the situation was taking a bad turn.

Saiki Kusuo thought about whether he should stop, but then heard Chrollo's voice: "I'm awake now. Don't worry about me."

That was a relief.

Chrollo touched his forehead.

[Whew, felt like I got shot in the head. The pain felt way too real. That poison... I wouldn't mind getting my hands on some of it.]

Shot in the head... wait, shot?! They actually fired at you?! Sorry for dragging you along... and after all that, you still want the poison?

"There are people behind us? Seems we're heading in the right direction," Chrollo finally noticed the sounds from the back. "But why are we running? It's not weird for us to show up here."

Saiki Kusuo: [You forgot the disguise.]

Oh. Chrollo opened his book, and his face and hair changed to look like Hisoka. The two kept moving forward.

The danger level had gone down. Hopefully Kurapika didn't know what Hisoka looked like.

Saiki Kusuo kept an eye on the back. Using telepathy, he could sense that everyone had fallen into some kind of illusion. Leorio saw a childhood friend who had passed away, and Kurapika was seeing spiders.

Honestly, even if Saiki Kusuo had asked Chrollo back then, it wouldn't have changed the fact that the Phantom Troupe attacked the Kurta Clan.

In Kurapika's illusion, there were flames everywhere. In the middle of the fire, some people were arguing. Kurapika could only make out their shadows and voices through the blaze.

"You idiot! These are all thatched huts—if you start a fire, the whole place goes up!"

"Oh? And the fire wouldn't spread without your air punches?"

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