Hunter × Hunter Chapter 232: Owl's Hearing and Bat's Assault

Gon’s eyes widen as he senses movement. "THEY’RE COMING!!" he shouts. In the next instant he yells "LEFT!!" and leaps aside. Close-ups show his intense eyes and a diamond-shaped symbol. The bat girl dives in from the left with wings spread and weapon extended, motion lines streaking across the panel. Gon is shown in the background dodging the attack amid heavy speed lines and impact bursts.

Gon strains to locate his opponent amid the chaos. "Damn... because of the sound of the bat's flapping, I can't hear the owl at all," he mutters as an owl feather drifts past his face. The panel explodes with impact lines as Gon braces himself. A detailed diagram illustrates the owl perched on a branch, clutching a small creature. Text explains how an owl's asymmetrically placed ears allow it to pinpoint sound sources in three dimensions, enabling silent hunting even in total darkness. Gon crouches low, sweat on his brow. The massive owl looms forward, wings spread, declaring, "Hohoho, my ears can hear sounds of higher frequencies that other animals cannot!! The sound of you stepping on leaves!! The rubbing of your clothes!! They all tell me your location!!" Gon spins around in alarm, shouting, "Right side this time!!"

Gon launches a fierce punch that connects with a burst of impact. "Gah!" the owl cries as feathers scatter. In a dark panel, Gon stands ready while bats flutter overhead. The owl and bat coordinate: the owl distracts with feathers while the bat prepares a long- and short-range combination attack. Gon realizes, "...Right before the bat attacks, the owl distracts me with its feathers." A close-up shows the bat girl with cross-marked eyes grinning, "What incredible aura... But it's no use!!" Gon braces himself amid large impact symbols as the bat lunges forward.

In the pitch-black training space, the massive owl numbered 3329 lunges forward with a sharp s...!! sound. Gon leaps high into the air as a voice declares, "THE DARKNESS IS OUR PLAYING FIELD!!" Below him, Killua twists away from the bat's slashing claws while thinking, "IF THE OWL IS ATTACKING TO SUPPORT... THINK BACKWARDS!!" Gon focuses intensely, his face tense as he commands himself, "CONCENTRATE ONLY ON THE SOUND OF THE BAT'S WING..." The bat's wings create sharp motion lines and impact shapes around Killua. Gon turns his head sharply, eyes wide, realizing, "THE BAT WILL ATTACK...!! NOW!!" In the final panel, Gon dodges right after the owl's strike, his body low and ready as the bat's wing passes close by.

Gon and Killua continue their high-speed evasion. Gon sprints forward with motion lines trailing behind him while Killua points ahead, shouting, "RIGHT ON THE MONEY!!" A close-up shows Gon's surprised face as he reacts, "WHA..." In the next panel, Killua stands with his back to the viewer as ultrasonic waves are detected, exclaiming, "ULTRA-SONIC WAVES!?" He then thinks, "I MISSED!? BUT IT WAS PERFECT..." The bottom half of the page is dominated by a large explanatory panel detailing how bats use echolocation to hunt in darkness by emitting ultrasonic waves and interpreting their reflections, noting that bulldog bats can distinguish prey from pebbles and accurately locate objects. A small reference note credits the "Encyclopedia of Animal Hunting" by IMAIZUMI Tadaaki.

Gon swings wildly with a powerful punch, but the strike cuts only empty air as motion lines streak across the panel. "DAMMIT, MISSED AGAIN," he mutters in frustration, his spiky-haired silhouette visible against the dark background. A distant, winged figure dodges effortlessly in the next panel. In close-up, Gon realizes the danger: "IF I DON'T DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT, THERE WILL BE NO END!" Nearby, the bat-like opponent thinks, "HE'S READING THE TIMING OF MY ATTACKS WITH ECHOLOCATION...!!" The creature notes its aura growing stronger and stronger while its feathers remain undamaged. Another bat remarks, "HE'S JUST A HUMAN BUT HE HAS GOOD HEARING," while a third observes, "HMPH... HE'S COMPLETELY FIGURING OUT THE DIRECTION OF MY ATTACKS." Gon braces himself amid swirling debris and impact lines, declaring, "FIRST IS... ROCK-!" as he prepares his next move.

Killua watches intently from the side, thinking, "THAT'S PROBABLY HIS SPECIAL TECHNIQUE." He adds, "THIS IS OUR CHANCE!!" A small bat comments, "THIS IS TROUBLESOME..." while another notes, "HIS AURA HAS INCREASED EVEN MORE!?" Killua declares, "WE WILL WIN!!" and considers, "IF WE CAN FIGURE IT OUT..." A bat responds with "...NO." In the larger panel, Killua's bats discuss helping: "WITH MY ECHOLOCATION... I AM GOING TO APPROACH AS QUIETLY AS I CAN," one says, while another asks, "SHALL I HELP?" Killua replies, "WAIT," and then shouts, "I'LL SEE THROUGH IT!!" Below, Gon stands in a rocky, grassy area at night, noting, "THE SOUND IS GROWING FAINTER," as he listens carefully with a focused expression.

High in the night sky, the bat-winged creature glides silently without flapping its large wings, declaring, "WITH-OUT FLAP-PING MY WINGS." Below, the spiky-haired boy reacts sharply as the sound disappears, noting, "THE SOUND HAS VANISHED." A tiny silhouette of the creature hangs against the stars. Suddenly the attacker launches a powerful nose-dive, the panel exploding with speed lines and the bold cry "NOSE-DIVE!!!" The creature closes in, taunting the boy to reveal his technique: "IT'S COMING!" "YOUR SPECIAL TECH-NIQUE!!" "NOW SHOW ME!!" It mocks, "UNLIKE THE OWL, YOUR WINGS... MAKE A SOUND WHEN YOU'RE GLIDING THROUGH THE AIR!!" and concludes, "IT'S NO USE!!"

The bat creature dives straight down, vowing, "I WILL CUT YOUR ARTERY!!" and "THEN I WILL JUST ATTACK!!" It laughs, "KUKUKU YOUR HEARING IS SIMPLY NOT HUMAN AFTER ALL," while the boy remains motionless. The creature notes the boy's movement has been reduced "TO A MINIMUM." In a sudden reversal the boy thinks, "UNTIL I CAN DRAW HIM IN... TO A MAXIMUM," realizing, "HE LURED ME IN!!" The bat creature panics, exclaiming, "THIS IS DANGEROUS...!!"

A bat-like creature with wide eyes and an open mouth lets out a loud cry as motion lines streak across the panel. Nearby, a voice declares, "PLENTY OF TIME FOR ME TO ESCAPE INTO THE AIR!!" In the next panel, another winged creature hovers in darkness, shouting, "HOWEVER!! HE'S NOT READY YET!! IT'LL BE LESS THAN A SECOND FROM NOW UNTIL HE PUNCHES." Gon, wearing his torn outfit marked with the number 1, launches forward with a powerful punch, his body surrounded by intense speed lines and impact bursts as he strikes a large winged creature. The creature recoils violently. At the bottom of the page, swirling patterns fill the background while Gon strains and thinks, "I CAN'T... HEAR!!?" A battered creature nearby groans, "UGH," with sharp sound-effect symbols flashing beside it.

A voice asserts, "YOU'RE NOT THE ONLY ONE... WHO CAN LOCATE WITH SOUND!!" Gon appears with a determined expression, shouting "KEN!!!" and "JAN!!" as jagged sound symbols burst around him. Another panel shows a creature declaring, "I WON'T LET YOU GET AWAY!!" while Gon thinks, "I HAVE TO ESCAPE FIRST!!" A massive impact erupts as Gon strikes a glowing winged creature with a bright flash and the word "PAPER- !" A close-up shows Gon extending his hand with the exclamation "GOT IT!!" The creature is sent flying backward with torn wings visible.

A massive explosion erupts in the sky with radiating impact lines and debris as a bat-like creature is hurled backward. Gon peeks out from cover below with wide eyes and a startled expression, a speech bubble showing "!?". The scene shifts to a dark forest clearing where a massive gorilla-like fighter stands in a powerful stance, wearing a tank top marked 3329. Gon stands nearby, sweat flying as he reacts in shock. The gorilla declares "GOHO HOHO I WAS JUST IN TIME." Gon exclaims "CHANGED THE DIRECTION WITH A ROCK...!?" while the gorilla continues "DAMN...! I EVEN USED MY TECHNIQUE BUT I COULDN'T END IT!" and adds "GOHO HOHO ALTHOUGH I CAN'T FLY IN THIS FORM." Large text proclaims "GORILLA MODE!!" as the gorilla looms over the scene.

Explosive energy bursts outward with a bat-like creature and an owl-like figure caught in the blast radius amid heavy motion lines. Gon appears in close-up with a swirling aura around his head and a shocked "!?" expression. The gorilla's clawed hand reaches forward. Gon covers his ears as a bright flash erupts near him with the word "Look." In the next moment Gon is sent flying backward from another impact, arms outstretched. The gorilla's back and the bat creature are shown amid continuing shockwaves and debris. SFX "UHO" appears near the bat during the chaos.

Gon stands alone in darkness, surrounded by strange sound waves and motion lines. He wonders aloud, "IS THIS ALSO... ULTRA-SONIC WAVES!?" In the next panels Gon clutches his head in pain as intense sound effects blast around him, making him dizzy. Killua appears with a fierce expression, declaring, "BUT I'M MUCH BETTER THAN YOU IN ATTACKING WITH SOUND!!" and mocking the enemy with "WHAT A STUPIDLY LOUD VOICE YOU SCREAMED WITH, YOU LITTLE SHIT." Two large narration bubbles emphasize the tactic: "DISRUPTING WITH SOUND AND KILLING WITH STRENGTH!!" and "THIS IS THEIR TRUE COMBINATION...!!" At the bottom of the page a massive winged creature with a furry body lunges forward, its wings spread wide, while Gon stands ready in the background. The creature roars, "WHAT WILL YOU DO?" accompanied by the sound effect "KLUKLUKLUKU".