Hunter × Hunter Chapter 263: Break-In ③

Under a turbulent night sky filled with heavy black clouds, Pitou stands poised on the edge of a rooftop, tail curled and body tense. A faint premonition stirs. "It was a faint premonition... but then, just a few seconds later..." If asked what reason made him think of looking up in the sky, he would only be able to reply "I had a feeling." A small panel flares with the words "SOME-THING'S COMING." The premonition sharpens. In the next instant Pitou leaps to a tall chimney overlooking the vast palace courtyard, eyes wide as he spots movement below. "ENEMIES!!" he shouts, the word bursting from a jagged speech bubble. Motion lines and impact symbols explode around him. The feeling hardens into absolute certainty. "It changed to a conviction." Below, the ornate courtyard stretches out with rows of sculpted trees, distant buildings, and scattered debris under the same stormy sky.

A vast overhead view reveals a massive circular crater etched into the ground, its surface fractured with countless radiating cracks. At the very center of the pit stands a tiny, indistinct figure. Massive black X-shaped marks and sharp motion lines explode across the frame, partially obscuring the scene. Narration reads: "Even with Pitou's unusually keen senses, it should have been impossible for him to discern their presence at that distance." A second box states: "But at this moment, the intruders were still far above." Below, the page shifts to a dark panel where a small cat-like creature perches atop a tall, glowing white pillar. Text boxes flank the creature: "based his conviction on his animal instincts." and "It must be said that Pitou, now in battle mode..."

Killua stands in profile, his sharp gaze fixed on the man opposite him as a jagged spark of tension flashes between them. The man grits his teeth, his expression hardened and intense. On the wide staircase inside the grand hall, a muscular figure sits with knees drawn up. He speaks aloud in surprise: "PITOU'S "EN" DISAPPEARED?" The scene erupts into a massive vertical splash panel showing the palace exterior under heavy impact. Enormous black stylized sound effects dominate the frame while two narration boxes appear. One reads: "There was little doubt that Pitou's senses were sharper than usual..." The other continues: "due to the extraordinary combative abilities of the beings descending from above." Dust and debris fill the air around the domed building below.

In a tight close-up, Pouf stares upward with a grave, focused expression. Narration explains, "Pufu soon realized that the reason for this diversion was coming from the sky." "As Pitou's 'En' climbed upwards," the view widens to a vast night sky filled with heavy clouds. A towering white column of energy or smoke rises from below while a large, detailed butterfly silhouette dominates the right side of the panel. Far beneath, the domed rooftops of a city are visible. At the same moment, "At approximately the same time, the two royal guards..." "grasped those beings within their field of vision." Extreme close-ups show two pairs of wide, alert eyes intently scanning the scene.

The team gathers at the entrance as the door stands open. One member grips a long weapon while others crouch in position. Motion lines streak across the floor. A caption box states "Simultaneously..." In the adjacent panel a hand holds a stopwatch against a black background. The bubble reads "TEN SECONDS UNTIL WE BREAK IN." Below, a row of close-up faces appears in sequence. The first shows a boy with spiky hair looking forward intently. Next is a stern face with a headband, followed by wide-eyed surprise and a sharp profile. Additional panels reveal another spiky-haired boy glancing sideways, a sunglass-wearing man with long hair, and a round-eyed figure with an open mouth. Numbers 8, 9, 6 and 7 mark several of the portraits. At the bottom a dramatic close-up captures flowing hair and motion lines as the group prepares to move. The layout emphasizes the synchronized countdown and the focused expressions of every participant.

As Morau was counting down, a tight close-up shows Gon's face pressed against a dark, heavily shaded vertical surface. His spiky hair is sharply detailed at the top, one eye narrowed with intense focus and the other partially shadowed. The expression is rigid, with visible tension lines around the eye and cheek. Below, two small inset panels continue the sequence: one filled with dense diagonal hatching and the other showing a fragment of hair and shadow. Narration states that until they quietly, coldly, became sunken... The fact that Gon's eyes grew deeper and darker... In the lower half of the page, Killua appears in profile, facing left. His spiky hair is rendered with fine lines, a single sweat drop visible on his cheek, and his expression is serious as he watches from the side. The final narration box concludes that this change was noticed only by Killua at his side.

A colossal serpentine dragon dominates the sky, its elongated body twisting in powerful loops through dense layers of clouds. The creature's scaled form stretches from the upper left across the center, coiling back toward the right before descending. Its fierce head emerges from the lower clouds, jaws parted wide as if roaring, with energy or flame-like details flaring around the mouth. The dragon's body is rendered with heavy linework emphasizing its muscular, twisting motion. Far below on the ground, a small square structure sits isolated amid dark patches and scattered clouds, appearing like a distant building or arena viewed from high altitude. The sky is filled with stylized cloud patterns that frame the dragon and create depth between the soaring beast and the tiny structure beneath it.

A curly-haired character grins excitedly with mouth open while the spiky-haired companion stares with wide eyes and a sweat drop at a sudden blinding radial burst of light. "— A DRAGON!!!" the exclamation erupts from the burst. Close-up panels show a single wide eye and another focused eye staring upward. A massive swirling vortex of black clouds fills the frame, centering on a small glowing dragon silhouette coiled in white light. Narration boxes read: "The shining dragon caught their attention only for a short moment." and "What they should have seen was astride its back." Far below the vortex, a small spiky-haired figure stands balanced on the top of a tall narrow pillar, gazing upward at the sky.

A massive white burst of energy explodes across a black background, a twisted coiled shape writhing at its core as heavy impact sound effects "ゴ!!" slam on both sides. Two close-up panels capture immediate reactions: sharp, narrowed eyes glare with fierce intensity on the left while wide, sweat-dropped eyes stare in shock on the right. The next panel shows a figure with wild white hair and a thick white collar throwing their head back, mouth stretched wide in a raw roar as more "ゴ!!" effects crash around them. Final close-ups focus on a pair of eyes—one pair furrowed in extreme tension with heavy brow lines and the other eye wide and strained—both reacting to the overwhelming force as another "ゴ!!" echoes.

Two combatants plummet through a massive swirling vortex of concentric lines and radiating energy. The spiky-haired fighter in striped pants and a dark vest twists violently in the upper half of the frame, body inverted, one leg kicked high, face locked in a fierce grimace with mouth open. Below him the bald muscular fighter in a black tank top marked with a large '3' and dark shorts extends both arms wide, legs bent, also caught in the same spiraling descent. Enormous black Japanese characters spelling 'ゴン' dominate the center of the composition, partially overlapping both figures. Sharp motion lines and jagged energy streaks emphasize the speed and force of their fall. The entire scene is framed by the repeating circular pattern that fills the background, creating a sense of overwhelming power focused on the name 'Gon'.

A massive vertical split divides the page into two towering black panels. At the top of the left panel a brilliant white starburst erupts, jagged lightning bolts radiating outward from its core. Below it, enormous white jagged silhouettes rise like the segmented body of a colossal dragon stretching from top to bottom, its form torn and irregular against the void. The right panel mirrors the same towering white dragon-like shape, narrower cracks of light running down its length. At the bottom center a rectangular white box contains the narration: "The moment Pitou's "En" came in contact with the dragon..."

Pitou's face fills the upper panels in close profile, sunglasses reflecting nothing, mouth slightly open and ears twitching as tension builds. Below, jagged outlines tear across black space like fabric ripping under pressure. A bright starburst flashes across a narrow black band. Narration states that both sides sensed each others' capabilities. And simultaneously, Pitou released his "En"... In the lower left, Pitou perches on a tall stone pillar, tail curled, body crouched and facing forward. Three vertical panels follow: a thin vertical crack, a distant tiny shape at the bottom, and finally a massive, jagged white aura erupting upward like a towering flame, filling the rightmost panel completely.

Against a pitch-black background, a small striped feline creature crouches atop a plain cylindrical pedestal. Violent white energy erupts outward in jagged, flame-like bursts that fill the surrounding space. A rectangular caption on the right states "In order to..." while another on the left completes the sentence: "go into complete battle mode." Below, the scene shifts to a tight close-up of a young woman with voluminous curly hair. Her large eyes are wide, one pupil contracted, and a single tear or drop of sweat trails down her cheek. Her mouth is slightly open in a tense expression. A caption in the lower right reads "How-ever..."

Against an expanse of pure blackness, a thin vertical white line runs down the center of the frame like a seam. To the left of the divide, a jagged, broken white form twists downward, its lower section dissolving into scattered dots. To the right, a similar but unbroken white shape coils in a sharp zigzag before terminating in a pointed tip. At the bottom of the page, two tiny, identical domed structures sit far apart on either side of the central line. A stark white rectangular caption floats in the middle of the darkness, declaring: "The dragon split—".

Countless white streaks rain down from the pitch-black sky, converging on the ornate domed roof of the palace below. The narration states that rained down upon the palace. Into a myriad of small shining dragons... A small, stylized chibi figure with crossed arms bursts into view inside a jagged speech bubble, reacting to the falling streaks above the palace spire.

A long-haired fighter with sunglasses snarls furiously while gripping a weapon overhead, his body twisted in mid-leap. Below him, Gon lies sprawled with wide swirling eyes and a slack expression, his body limp. Killua crouches nearby with a tense face, one arm extended. Another boy with a headband glares upward from the lower foreground. In the background a round gauge needle spins wildly past the numbers. A massive speech bubble declares: "GON BURNS WITH A SILENT FLAME... NOW, THE TORCH OF REVENGE HAS BEEN LIT!!" Across the right side of the page enormous letters explode outward: "GO!!"

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