Hunter x Hunter 286

1
Hunter x Hunter
#286: Main Body
[insert text: A dangerous ant is now on the move!!]
Pufu: (That's the smoke-user taken care of...! // Now.. / I just have to head back to the palace, find out what's going on, and join the King...!!)

2
Pufu: (Though of course even if I am by his side... // ...likely the King will find me no more than an annoyance...) // Beelzebub!! // Come, fragments of myself!! // It is time to uncover the position and situation of those in the palace!!

3
Pufu: Kyahahahahahaaaaaa!!!
[Text: Pufu's "Beelzebub" is an ability allowing him to break down his body into miniscule fragments. // He can split himself into any number of different sizes, and the smaller the fragments are, the more of them he creates. // However...]
[Label: about this big]
[Text: No matter how small the fragments, he can never reduce the "main body", which controls all the others, to smaller than the size of a bee.]

4
Pufu: (Smoke-man... if you had not released that barrier of yours... // I myself would have been unable to escape. / My effective combat ability would essentially have been halved. // As a user of clones yourself, you should well understand... // ...that the ability of such separate selves is nowhere near that of the original. // But now that my main body is freed, I have no weak points! You have lost this battle. // You should have taken more care... // If you had been more careful, you could at least have considered, once you had realised that the cocoon was empty, whether my actual self had escaped from the barrier or not......!! // And even once you heard my voice from outside the barrier, you could have considered whether or not that was my "true self"......!! // The plan that I revealed to you back there was nothing more than a last resort......!! // Certainly, I could have escaped the barrier and gone after your friends, but only in the form of "cast-off skins". If there are others with similar skill to yours out there, then even if a few sacrifices were made in the process, they would eventually have worked it out... // That "this guy is just a fake!!")

5
Pufu: (Once that secret had been uncovered, and you learned the truth, if you had still not released my true self from the barrier... // ...you could have determined the true nature of my ability, and easily sought out my true body. // And once that had happened, that tiny self of mine... // ...would no longer have been able to fight against you. // In other words, if you had stuck to your original strategy and not released your barrier, though your friends may have suffered a little... // ...you would most likely have ultimately defeated me. // And I was 10% prepared to face that outcome. // That is just how splendid your aura was. // I suppose your heart must have wavered thanks to that gigantic explosion just beforehand... Such a pity!! // But thanks to that, I am free!!! / And now, I am off to see what is happening at the palace!!!
[Text: It is true that Morau had been in a far-from-perfect physical state ever since the staircase before the invasion.]

6
Pufu: (On the second floor of the West Tower... Pitou and Komugi; Komugi appears to be in the process of being repaired!!)
[Text: And Morau had indeed entered his battle of nerves with Pufu in a state of extreme tension.]
Pufu: (And directly beside him... a young boy who appears to be an enemy!!)
[Text: Thanks to his fatigue and impatience, he entrusted his fate to a hasty decision; that much is certain.]
Pufu: (I see three people by the entrance to the underground shelter!! Hina, a soldier ant, and Bizef!! // They may be heading underground!! // And behind them lurks Welfin... // He appears to be tailing the other three!! // ......... / It would appear that Komugi was damaged by the falling dragons... // However, why does the enemy beside Pitou not attack him...? Is he a friend of Komugi's...?)

7
Pufu: (In the soldier ants' waiting room in the East Tower... one person!! The human who was captured a few days ago!! // The birth will be proceeding imminently!!)
[Text: However...]
Pufu: (Ahhh... now this is something!! So many enemies!! // One, two, three... // Ah, but Yupi is taking them out one by one!! // So that's Yupi and about 50 enemies in the northwestern portion of the palace!! Old Smokey, and a ton of delinquents!! // Oh, and a weird little pointy-headed fat thing!! Allegiance uncertain!! // Is that pointy-headed thing some new ability of Yupi's...? Presumably only one of those delinquents is real, and the rest are smoke-clones... And the clones aren't being replaced because he can't use his ability without his pipe!! // Yupi should be able to weed out the real one from the clones in around a minute!!)
[Text: This was the only outcome in which Morau could prevent a one-on-one fight between Yupi and Knuckle, providing his much-needed support.]
Pufu: (But no King...?! Where has he gone?! // Wait up, guys... I'll be with you in a moment!!)
[Text: In terms of the outcome, one might say that the timing with which Morau chose to release his Smoky Jail was, in fact, perfect.]

8
[Text: It is not illogical to assume that this was not merely a product of random chance, but in fact rooted in Morau's large amount of experience. // Immediately after the invasion began, Morau witnessed the power of his enemies, weighed this up against the power of his comrades, and subconsciously realised that his initial estimates had been too naïve. // Sensing that his comrades would be able to hold out for even less time than he had thought...]
Killua: ...He's gone.
[Text: ...he made the decision to attack the cocoon in order to escape the internal conflict driving him to go to his friends' aid even at the cost of releasing his barrier.]
Pufu: !!

9
[Text: It was Morau's cunning battlefield wisdom... // ...that saved his comrade from his predicament.]
Pufu: (An aura explosion?! Yupi's?! // A technique that could be used in a situation like that?! // ......That intrigues me, but my priority... // ...should be discovering the King's whereabouts!!)

10
Knuckle: (Thanks for that, Boss!! // If you hadn't done that, I was about to go in for a crazy charge...!!)
Flashback!Morau: Listen up, all right? I will only bring out "angry clones" of you if you are so enraged that you are losing sight of your surroundings.
Flashback!Knuckle: [aside]yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, ye~ah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, I get it, I get it...[/aside]
Flashback!Morau: If I do that, you are to blend in among the clones, take a breath, and think carefully about the best action to take in your situation!
Knuckle: (Now I've cooled down a little and thought about it, it doesn't make any sense for Yupi to have carried Shoot off anywhere. // Still, he couldn't have moved on his own... so who on Earth...?! // Ugh... I mustn't think about that!! // This isn't an enemy I can let my guard down against for an instant!!)

11
Shoot: (......... // Where......... // ...am I.........? // ......... // That's......)

12
Shidore: Aaaahhhhhhhhhhh~~!
Bizef: Aahhhhh...!
Hina: Oh, crap~~~~!! // We've gotta hurry!! // Get through before it's blocked off!!
Welfin: (Damn you...... Bizef is my prey!! // If I knew your abilities, I could attack, but...)

13
Killua: Once I've finished charging, I'm heading back to Gon. // You head over to where Knuckle is, okay? // With Pufu out of the barrier, the chances are high that the boss has been taken out. // Stake out the situation, and talk with Knuckle. / The two of you decide what to do, and don't rule out retreat.
Meleoron: Wh... What about you?
Killua: Now that Gon's like that, he's not going to move an inch... // So worst-case scenario, it'll be a double suicide.
Meleoron: .........
Killua: I'm kidding! // It'll be fine, okay? / I've got the magic word "Kaito" on my side, after all! // You can leave this to me.
Meleoron: (Are you sure...? // But then... // ...back there...)

14
Meleoron: (Why did you have that... // ...incredibly sad look on your face...? // ............ // ...It's okay, right.........? // You're not telling me because you can't, right? // ......So I won't ask, because I can't, okay?)

15
[no text just gon+pitou]

16
Pitou: Don't come... // ...any closer than that.

17
Pitou: Pufu...!!
Pufu: ......... // Why?

18
Pufu: If you had not said a word, then I could have eliminated the boy. / What are you so unnecessarily afraid of?
Pitou: ...... / This boy knew you were there. // If you had approached with intent to kill, he would have dived for Komugi without hesitation. // I don't want a sink-or-swim situation like that.
Pufu: ...I can't say I understand. // Surely he is here because he wants that girl saved? // Yet the way you speak, it is as though you think he would do her harm... / What exactly -
Gon: This has nothing to do with you.

19
Gon: So shut up...!!!
[insert text: Pufu, faced with an unwavering Gon...!!!]