Hunter × Hunter Chapter 341: Calamity

Over a sprawling city skyline dominated by a massive central skyscraper, a voice answers "YES." Another speaker asks, "THE CONTRACT HAS BEEN SIGNED, HASN'T IT?" A bold caption states "THE STATE OF THE WORLD IS TIGHTLY BOUND!!" Inside a busy control room lined with glowing monitors and operators at workstations, a speaker declares that they are finally presenting an index allowing minimal worry and that this is their job. A large group of suited men and women gathers around a table; one explains they are examining the condition of countries' politics and societies, changes in plants and animals' ecosystems, natural climate shifts, and calculating voyage risk and natural conservation levels. Another voice proposes examining the world's voyage information management database. In a dimly lit hallway, a younger man with glasses and a striped tie states "I AM FULLY AWARE" and answers "YES." An older man with gray hair and a stern expression tells him, "YOU HAVE BEEN ASSIGNED HERE TO ADMINISTER THE ENTIRE CONTINENT'S TOKKOU. YOU ARE IN CHARGE OF A TREMENDOUSLY IMPORTANT DUTY" and adds "ABOVE ALL ELSE."

In an elevator lobby the older man states "NOBODY WILL BE ABLE TO GO TO THE NEW WORLD." The man with glasses replies "SO IN OTHER WORDS...?" A panel shows the older man looking distressed as beeps sound and he says the current situation is why they are under such a burden even now. The man with glasses touches his chin and notes the situation cannot be helped. In a multi-level office interior with workers at desks and armed guards on walkways, a large speech bubble explains the need to train staff in protocol for dealing with New World applicants, requiring diverse and comprehensive background investigations that must adhere strictly to regulations. The older man complains that they just went ahead and did anything they felt like. The man with glasses asks "YOU MEAN KAKIN, RIGHT?" A monitor displays "B5" while a caption notes the biggest problem now is not "sight scene" but "business." Another bubble states that ignoring Tokkou's inspection they put no limit on the number of participating applicants. The final panel shows the two men walking down a long corridor as a voice declares they will exert maximum effort to maintain safety levels, with staff then accompanying anyone deemed compatible for the voyage.

A massive stone building with ornate double doors dominates the scene under a cloudy sky. A voice notes that the New World's Gatekeeper particularly hates rude people. Inside a sterile hallway, suited guards stand watch as two men converse. One man warns that stopping Kakin will be incredibly difficult. Another states that if negotiations break down at the next month's meeting, they will have no choice but to open it. The word 'PANDORA' is spoken aloud. An older man in a pinstripe suit, hand pressed against a door, recalls that when he was young he used to smile and laugh without a care in the world. A younger man with glasses asks if that is a metaphor for something, his expression turning serious as he stares forward.

In a vast, brightly lit facility, the older man in a suit stands with hands clasped, facing a figure in a full hazmat suit. Multiple workers in protective gear move equipment and examine large cylindrical tanks. Inside the tanks, grotesque, twisted creatures float in liquid, some resembling mangled human forms with exposed organs or plant-like growths. The young man with glasses stares in horror at the tanks, eyes wide and mouth slightly open. Smaller panels display close-ups of the nightmarish specimens: a body fused with grass and debris, bulbous growths on stalks, a muscular torso with a massive chest wound, a hand-like root structure, and a spiraling mass of limbs and tendrils.

In a sterile laboratory lined with tall cylindrical tanks, twisted rope-like remains float in bubbling liquid. Hazmat-suited researchers examine the specimens while an older man in a patterned sweater speaks with a younger suited assistant. A man in a pinstripe suit and glasses stands in profile, sweat on his brow. The older man explains, "Well...they were. They are all humans. Is all this... what..." The suited man reacts with shock. In a side room, the suited man opens a book and reads aloud its description of the New World Traveller's Log, a record once dismissed as a madman's delusions but now treated as factual documentation of travels from hundreds of years ago. The older man continues, "And our current progress. Our compensation for humankind stepping foot into the new world."

The suited man reads from the book that the twisted rope-like corpses found in this world are the remains of humans who entered the New World and met a twisted demise. An exclamation of surprise comes from off-panel. The older man notes that allies and even mafia contacts have only theories about the voyage. He adds that witnesses from every walk of life—doctors, teachers, police—began twisting their speech before vanishing. The suited man is tasked with identifying the risks of voyaging to the New World. He slams the book shut with a loud SLAM and walks away, saying he will read it cover to cover by next week.

Three suited men stand before a reinforced door, staring in shock at the lone survivor who has emerged from the facility. The survivor, a massive figure with wild long hair, a thick beard, and tattered clothing, raises one hand and lets out a guttural cry. "FWAH!" A narration box explains that this is the sole survivor from inside the facility, though it is not a human. The survivor looms over the men, his back torn and scarred. In a sudden close-up, the survivor's face fills the frame, eyes wide and unblinking with sweat drops flying off as he stares forward intensely. Below, the man with glasses turns slightly and speaks while looking toward a glass partition. Through the window, the survivor stands alone in the empty room. "He has survived entirely self-sufficiently for close to 50 years," the suited man states. Another voice adds, "He does not require sustenance as a human does."

A chaotic scene shows people fleeing as massive tentacles and destruction erupt around them. Narration reveals that V5 was tested behind closed doors after a pact, and these are the results of that 'business.' A suited man with glasses explains that on their challenge journey they unleashed a calamity that wiped out all of humanity. Another panel notes there is more information in the Beyond Report about a virus rendering the afflicted immune to death. A man with glasses reacts with shock, "Fifty..." while an older man beside him sweats. The suited man continues that what remains is the last of a hunter who once embarked into the New World. In a dark room, a lone silhouette stands before glass doors. The scene shifts to a man with glasses sitting on the floor surrounded by books and a laptop. He states that during V5, organizations were formed from political expectations and the original scout brigade was created behind closed doors and sent to the New World. The man on the floor adds that shouldering the decision making was one single person known as a specialist—his own son, Beyond.

An elderly man with wild white hair in a topknot, a long beard, and earrings speaks with intense conviction against a black background, his hand raised near his face. "MY SON WANTED TO GO BACK AND CHALLENGE IT AGAIN BUT UNTIL MY DEATH I HEREBY PROHIBIT IT," he declares. He continues, "WITHOUT HEEDING TO MY COUNCIL, THEY TOOK AN UNEXPLORED ROUTE AND THIS IS THE RESULT... COUNTLESS VICTIMS RETURNED AND A NEW CALAMITY HAD OCCURRED." Smaller panels show a framed silhouette labeled with text about a wished-for strength that awakened differently, followed by the man recalling stepping into the New World only twice when young. A group including a man in a hat, a woman with glasses, and others react as further expansion into the New Continent is declared taboo. In a large central panel, the elderly man appears on a screen inside a ruined, overgrown room filled with battling figures, emphasizing that victory did not exist against harsh nature. The speech concludes in a meeting room scene: "YOU COULD SAY THAT THOSE WHO WERE ONCE HUNTERS ARE OF A FAR EXCEEDINGLY MORE RESPECTABLE CLASS THAN ME. THE STRENGTH MY SON SEEKED MIGHT ALSO BE KNOWN AS DETERMINATION...AN ESSENTIAL FACTOR FOR THE EXPLORATION OF THE NEW CONTINENT."

The elderly man continues his impassioned speech with radiating speed lines: "I WANT SOMEONE TO LEAD US TO EVEN MORE SUCCESS IN OUR EXPLORATION OF THE DARK CONTINENT THAN MY SON!!" and "AND THAT IS THE MESSAGE I AM TRYING TO CONVEY." A row of nine close-up reaction portraits shows varied expressions of shock, concern, and determination from the listeners. A tight close-up of the elderly man's face follows, with text stating the degree of difficulty is an undisputed A and that risk will be required for any kind of return. Multiple jagged speech panels elaborate: surrounding the organization with an incredibly great degree of risk is the dilemma it must face; this will be a high return venture but what the organization desires is to pioneer through the strange unknown and tackle these difficulties; however this is not an order, only a request. The final panel shows a tall building with a prominent X logo against a watery horizon.

A stern old man with a thick beard and mustache thrusts his finger forward, his face intense under dramatic speed lines. "ALTHOUGH AGAIN, THIS IS NOT AN ORDER!!" he shouts. He adds, "THIS IS LIKE OPENING THE DOOR AND LEAPING ACROSS THE THRESHOLD INTO A HAUNTED HOUSE!" Below him, a tense group of characters stares upward: a spiky-haired boy, a girl with pigtails, a figure in a hat, a fox-like person with glasses, a curly-haired man, and others. Multiple voices repeat, "I REPEAT! THIS IS NOT AN ORDER!!" A somber aside notes, "BUT JUST THINK OF THE FORGOTTEN DREAMS OF THE OLD MEN WHOSE NAMES ARE ALREADY AMONG THE DEAD..." A black divider panel flashes with the words "...IT'S NOT, THAT IS..." and "AN ORDER!!" The page ends on a wide cityscape under cloudy skies, centered on a tall tower bearing a diamond emblem. SFX crackle across the sky as a voice wonders, "...AN ORDER... IS IT? ...IT IS..."

In an office, a man in a hat asks Beans, "DID THE PRESIDENT HAVE ANY OTHER LAST REQUESTS?" Beans replies, "NOT AS FAR AS I KNOW..." and "ERR WELL..." while a small creature reacts nearby. The scene shifts outdoors where characters discuss the situation: "WHAT SHOULD WE DO?" "SINCE HIS HAIR WAS LONG THAT HAD TO HAVE BEEN TAKEN BEFORE THE FIRST ONE..." "RIGHT WHEN IT FELT LIKE WE LOST HIM..." and "SHIT... WHAT GOD AWFUL TIMING FOR THAT DAMNED OLD MAN TO MAKE AN APPEARANCE." A close-up shows the old bearded man and the hatted character agreeing, "SO IT LOOKS LIKE IT'S ALL ON US." and "YEAH." A fox-like character with glasses states, "SINCE IT WAS AN ORDER, WE DON'T HAVE ANY CHOICE." A gloved hand is raised as someone says, "I'VE GOT A QUESTION." The final panel features a man in a headband and patterned sleeves asking, "BUT WHEN THAT ALL HAPPENS, THERE'S GOING TO BE OPPOSITION TO BEYOND'S HUNT, RIGHT?" while adding, "GOING AFTER THE DARK CONTINENT DOESN'T AFFECT US IN THE LEAST..."

A spiky-haired boy with a stern expression declares that if Kakin and the organization are competing, it should be fair. He adds that before waking up, he also didn't like getting orders to grab onto the legs of his competition. A helmeted man and a girl with glasses and ornate headpiece respond sharply. The girl asks why he is always so uncooperative and guesses he doesn't care that it would be great for everyone involved if things worked out. She questions their reason, calling him monkey. The boy asks if there is anyone here who thinks that way about the New World. The helmeted man confirms that the president's son prepared for the challenge decades ago as well. In a wide cityscape panel showing a riverside town with a tall tower, an unseen speaker wonders who's that much of an idiot, while another voice states that as far as they know, they can only think of one person. The page ends on a close-up of a bandaged young man with intense eyes standing in a narrow, cluttered street lined with signs and hanging laundry, his expression serious and focused.

A hand places cards on a table as voices discuss Beyond. One states that for Beyond the starting line was just in a different place and it wasn't a matter of fairness. Another notes that if he already withdrew, even if told otherwise, he wouldn't be up for it. A close-up of a wide-eyed character says if Ging joins in then they will come along even though they don't want to. An older man in profile questions whether V5 is even right in all this before deciding. A bearded man with glasses insists hunters are required since there are no obvious contradictions to the president's orders and confirms Saiyu and Kanzai are in agreement. In a chaotic meeting room, multiple characters argue loudly. One accuses failure to see the importance and warns of political affiliation before the president's will. Others debate the first private organization interfering, land and natural resources, and whether the conversation relates to hunters. Cheadle is addressed directly about settling down. The page ends with a bald character reacting in shock with !!!? then answering a phone with Yes?

A towering man with long black hair in a topknot and a heavy beard stands alone against a swirling, dramatic sky. He wears loose traditional robes cinched by a wide sash and belt, fists clenched at his sides. The lower panel closes in on his scarred face, eyes narrowed and teeth bared in a fierce grin as he speaks.

Beyond Netero walks forward with his back to the viewer toward a gathered assembly of the Zodiacs and other figures. Beans stands among them in the distance. Speech bubbles appear as Beyond addresses the group. In the lower panel Beyond turns, his face intense, one gloved hand raised as he issues instructions while the Zodiacs and Beans react in the foreground.

A close-up shows a mustached man with a fierce glare and bared teeth leaning forward aggressively against a dark, explosive background. He speaks with a wide grin: "SO HOW ABOUT SOME 'GIVE AND TAKE'?" Below, the same bespectacled man sits barefoot on the floor in a quiet room, hunched over an open book he is intently reading. A laptop and scattered papers lie nearby. Large text beside him declares: "HUMANITY BROUGHT BACK FROM THE DARK CONTINENT, THE FIVE GREAT CALAMITIES."

A grid of panels illustrates the Five Great Calamities. Gas life-forms drift in a barren landscape. The desire of co-dependence is depicted with shadowy figures. The weapon Brion stands as a massive armored figure. The unidentifiable sphere protects ancient ruins. Human feeding beast Papu attacks in a field. Pleasure and life exchanging shows entwined figures. The two-tailed snake Hellbell coils menacingly. The apparition of murderous contagion spreads across a scene. A silhouetted figure reacts in shock with "?!?" and "SUCH". Text labels the immortal sickness - Zobae disease as the deceiver of hope and endless despair. At the bottom, the glasses-wearing man stares forward in horror, sweat pouring down his face, exclaiming "NO PLACE FOR HUMANITY TO RETURN...!" and "THIS... THIS IS...". Translator note reads: "RETURN IS WRITTEN WITH HOPE, RISK IS WRITTEN WITH CALAMITY". Large text asks "THE TABOO WAITING AHEAD, IS IT RETURN... OR IS IT RISK?" The page ends with "HUNTER×HUNTER ...NO. 341 /END".