During Netero’s time on the mountain a butterfly is seen hovering around him. On his death, another butterfly emerges from the devastating power of the Poor Man’s Rose (Miniature Rose).
"A brief summary on butterfly symbolism:
The butterfly is a widely accepted symbol of transition or change because it goes through many stages of metamorphosis throughout its life.
In Japan a butterfly is also viewed as a symbol of one’s soul, living or dead. It is a personification of a person’s soul. It is also believed that souls take form of a butterfly as a sign of a person’s death.
Symbolism in HxH : There are a few ways to perceive this and everyone is entitled to do so however they want and below is how I see it.
On the first image it is quite easy to understand, that the butterfly essentially symbolizes Netero’s metamorphosis as he goes through the path of enlightenment. In a way, it also foreshadows Netero’s upcoming death. On its second appearance, during the finale of the fight between Netero and Meruem, the butterfly represents the departure of Netero’s soul from his body. In addition, It can also be viewed as Netero reaching ‘true enlightenment’, he emerges from the fight as a fully grown butterfly signalling the end of his journey.
For readers native in Japan, I assume this is something that they have caught on to quickly. I, on the other hand, after many, many times of re-reading, had only realized this now and I find it reassuring. Netero is my undisputed favourite in the series and it’s nice that Togashi portrayed him the way he did.
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I had only meant to do a short description of what I thought but I really did go on didn’t I? And I worded it really poorly too… ahh"