Saiki Kusuo didn't remember the exact rules, but since the one who made the rules was on the ship, he picked them up from his thoughts.

The final exam was a one-on-one elimination match. Win once and you pass. Lose once and you move on to the next round. A match ended only when one person said they surrendered—being thrown out of an area didn't count. And killing someone would disqualify you.

There were eleven contestants: four from the Phantom Troupe, three from the Nen group, Buhara, Bodoro, plus Saiki Kusuo and Alluka.

So, who would I be fighting?

Saiki Kusuo was a little curious.

But the chairman tossed his number card aside and started filling in the rest first.

Netero: [Just put this kid wherever there's a gap.]

Saiki Kusuo: …That casual, huh.

[And you barely showed your strength the whole time—other people were helping you. Even though you're from the Zoldyck family, I'm not going to favor you.]

Saiki Kusuo: I can't believe I'm being told I'm not strong enough.

Yeah, and back then, when the only ship that showed its strength was out in a storm, who was even there to rate its power?

[Same with this kid called Alluka—always being protected by Killua. That's not really… you know…]

Saiki Kusuo: …Two substitutes just showed up.

Since there was no way to see the final result, Saiki Kusuo gave up and decided to just wait until tomorrow after he got to the exam site.

The final exam venue was huge. As soon as Saiki Kusuo walked in, he saw the exam setup in the middle of the field covered by cloth.

Yare yare… with his x-ray vision, something like cloth was nothing—he could see through it in a second.

So, what's with the whole thing next to me—me and Illumi? Forget it. As long as it's not Hisoka, I don't care.

As for Saiki Kusuo's chances—should they be about what he expected? Only three in total: one against Illumi, and the other two against whoever loses until the end on the other side—Killua, Alluka… could be anyone.

Saiki Kusuo started thinking: if Illumi lost to him, in the end he'd probably face Killua, just like in the original story.

Even if it was like the original, after spending so many years with his younger brother, of course he'd care a little.

So… does this mean the choice is in his hands?

[The first opponent is Kusuo? Fine, I'll just surrender and let him have it. I won't run into Hisoka anyway, and I probably won't meet Killu either—Killu can beat the people in front. Boring.]

He was overthinking. The choice was in Illumi's hands, and Illumi had a chance of meeting Chrollo too—not completely safe.

Still, Chrollo would definitely win one early match and move on.

In this exam, everyone got an uneven number of 1v1 chances based on their ability. Gon had the most—five. Hisoka had four, Killua had four, and Alluka and Saiki Kusuo only had three. Obviously, slackers didn't get many chances.

Compared to the others, Illumi and Saiki Kusuo had been grouped in a relatively clean matchup—maybe because someone noticed their connection and pulled some shady strings.

Saiki Kusuo thought, at least two pairs here are friends, and among the eleven people, four are from the same family. No need for shady moves—you'd run into each other no matter what.

In the end, only one person would get eliminated.

Killua, if you don't want to face Illumi, you'd better win one match early, Saiki Kusuo thought.

On Killua's side, he was mapping out a route for Alluka. He had already planned to lose the match against Alluka on purpose, surrender to him, and save his last two chances: [I'm not going to waste my chances. In the last round, the toughest Hisoka will probably win one quickly. As for the rest, I'll handle them. Before that, if I run into Brother Kusuo… yeah, I probably will, right? How could Brother Kusuo beat that nail freak?]

Saiki Kusuo: Don't underestimate a psychic.

After thinking it through, Killua made a calm decision: [If I meet Brother Kusuo, I'll just surrender. If that nail freak gets cocky and lets Brother Kusuo pass, or if Brother Kusuo wins with some weird trick, then I'll take out the nail freak myself. He's way less dangerous than Hisoka, and I'd have an 80% chance of making him give up.]

Saiki Kusuo: Killua, your dreams have reached the clouds.

This kid is hopeless. Of course Killua thinks Illumi is less dangerous—it's because Illumi has always cared for him and never gave off any threat.

You can't judge strength based on someone's vibe, Killua.

[Am I… holding Killua back…?]

That thought—was it from Alluka?

Saiki Kusuo turned around and saw Alluka standing behind Killua, but his expression wasn't relaxed.

As twins, they understood each other's thoughts, so Alluka had probably already guessed Killua's plan.

But even someone loved deeply can feel uneasy about getting things without giving anything in return. Among family, it's fine not to expect payback, but Alluka, who had Nanika, had it deeply ingrained in him that giving and receiving had to match.

…Saiki Kusuo stepped back quietly, came up beside Alluka, and put a hand on his shoulder.

How could Alluka get stronger? Instead of just training his body, using what he already had would be better. Learning to use Nanika was the most suitable path for him—it could even be a shortcut to fighting.

But this power had no limit, and it could attract endless greed from others, along with curses without bottom. Whether Alluka should master it was a hard call to make.

Sorry, Alluka, I can't help you with that.

He didn't know how Alluka's story played out in the original or how things ended in their family, so to avoid affecting the outcome, he could only watch until the family decided.

Still, if Alluka ever needed him—if one day Alluka specifically asked him to help get stronger—Saiki Kusuo knew he would agree.

He had decided a long time ago that he would grant Alluka's wishes without conditions, to the fullest extent.

In the arena, the matches were already starting.

"First round, Kurapika vs. Hisoka—begin!"

Starting off with Hisoka, huh? With their abilities, there was no way Kurapika could win, but he didn't surrender and went up to fight.

Saiki Kusuo took Alluka to the edge of the field and sat down.

Alluka wasn't completely innocent or kind. Growing up in a family of assassins, he understood some things.

Even so, the fight that was about to happen here would more or less turn into a kind of…

battle of torture.

To win, you had to make the opponent admit defeat, but you couldn't kill them. What else could a strong fighter do?

Saiki Kusuo led his younger brother a bit farther away. Even though he no longer remembered the details of this part in the manga, he did remember that Gon was tortured until he almost fainted several times but still never admitted defeat.

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