26, 2026, 4:30 PM EDT Rei Penber is the Deputy Lead Editor for GameRant's Anime and Manga team, originally from Kashmir and currently based in Beirut. He brings seven years of professional experience as a writer and editor, five of which have been spent shaping the editorial standard at GameRant. Prior to his current role, he served as a Staff Writer at CBR (Comic Book Resources). Rei specializes in all things anime and manga, delivering industry-leading coverage for series like One Piece, Naruto, Jujutsu Kaisen, Solo Leveling, among many others. Rei excels at deep analysis of lore and intricate breakdowns of the narrative, along with high-level powerscaling. When he isn't working to improve GameRant's coverage of the latest developments in the anime and the manga world, he is re-reading his favorite story of all time, One Piece. Sign in to your GameRant account Hunter X Hunter is a legendary series by mangaka Yoshihiro Togashi. It made its debut in 1998, and since then, it has cemented itself as an iconic series, and that is despite its long and unending hiatuses. Hunter X Hunter endured a two-year hiatus, but in 2026, it finally returned with Chapter 411, published in Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump Issue #31. Since then, we have been getting weekly releases of the manga, with significant developments in each chapter. In Hunter X Hunter Chapter 413, covering the Succession Contest Arc, fans got to see some of the biggest developments, especially focused on the First Prince of the Kakin Empire, Benjamin. Benjamin was already strong, but Togashi has set him up to become a new God of the Hunter X Hunter world with a massive power-up through his Nen Beast. While Benjamin might fail with his ascension, whoever becomes the Kakin King will gain a massive boost of strength and powers to conquer the whole world. Because of that, even characters like Meruem could be outdone in the current ongoing arc. Hunter x Hunter Sets Up Prince Benjamin To Become A New God Hunter x Hunter first started in 1998, but it’s still ongoing today, in 2026, albeit with slower serialization due to hiatuses. Since 2014, we have been in the Succession Contest arc of HxH, which started with chapter 349 in Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump Double Issue #37-38. Right now, with Hunter x Hunter’s return, we recently saw the release of chapter 413, which was published on July 12, 2026, in Weekly Shonen Jump Issue #33. This chapter definitely shocked many with some of the reveals that were made, especially as it threw the spotlight on the First Prince of the Kakin Empire, Benjamin Hui Guo Rou. Previously, we had learnt that Benjamin was dying, and in this chapter, we received the confirmation that it was due to the TSK-17 poison. This poison was administered to him by one of his allies, Furykov, but not out of disloyalty, but due to a bigger scheme to protect the Prince from the curse of Beyond Netero. Based on the information released in this chapter, had he not poisoned Benjamin, he would have activated the curse and killed Benjamin while also getting rid of his Nen Beast. They can’t let that happen, as Benjamin’s Nen beast is key to his next power up, which he claims will turn him into a God of the HxH world. Benjamin specifically claims he could become the guardian deity and God of the whole world, a being that surpasses even the Kakin King. With Furykov’s Nen ability Combo Master, Benjamin’s Nen beast powers are finally decipherable, and what's more, a special weapon will be created to enhance it. We don’t know what this Nen beast can do yet, but it’s set up to be a powerful ability that could allow Benjamin to win the Succession contest. Benjamin is still dying, but he believes that he will be immortal thanks to his Nen beast. The details of how this happens are still unclear, but we have seen Nen Beasts survive past the death of their user, such as in the case of Kocho, whose beast still lives on and aids her sister. Benjamin’s Nen beast could outlive and even absorb him upon his death, and guide his lineage forward as the unbreakable Succession of the Kakin Empire. To achieve this level of power, he will have to win the Succession Contest, and in hoping to achieve this, he plans to eradicate all the other Princes, with Tserriednich and Camilla being his two next targets. “My guardian beast’s ability that Furykov deciphered, in conjunction with Benjamin's baton, will make me the spiritual core of the Kakin tree, taking the place of the seed urn ritual! I will be the guardian spirit of its leader!! That will make me the highest power in Kakin, a supreme authority that transcends even the King!! The Succession battle wasn’t a battle of survival to pick the next king!! Kakin will soon rule the world as one nation, and the Hui Guo Rou Line, unbroken for all eternity, will lead it! This is a holy war to select the God - The Glorious Guardian and protector, who must see it through!” — Prince Benjamin in Hunter x Hunter chapter 413. Benjamin Is Powerful, But He Could Be Stopped Before His Ascension To become the new God of the world, Benjamin has to win the Succession Contest arc. However, this is easier said than done. Benjamin, as the first Prince, is powerful, and he has quite a lot of influence, so much so that he was even able to declare Martial Law. That said, Benjamin isn’t exactly the first choice we think of when it comes to who will win the Contest, and that is quite clear from Togashi’s setup. Benjamin could manage to kill some of the Princes, most notably Camilla, whose ability he has figured out, but he is unlikely to be able to kill all of them in time. Benjamin only has a few hours left before the poison fully kicks in, and that is definitely not enough time to achieve his goal. Halkenburg is also still on the move, and with him using his Nen ability, Possession Arrow, it’s hard to predict what the next action he takes will be. As things stand, it could lead to Benjamin’s downfall. At the same time, this downfall could also come through his brother Tserriednich, whom he has planned as a next target. Tserriednich’s Nen ability and Nen beasts make him very hard to kill, and attempting to kill him could be Benjamin’s end. Regardless, while Benjamin’s ascension might fail, whoever wins the Succession Contest is promised a great power-up that could make them the new God. Test your knowledge. Easy · 15s Medium · 10s Hard · 5s Permadeath · 5s Sign in to claim your place on the leaderboard! Leaderboard No scores yet. Be the first. 1/10 Question text goes here? Results 0 Points — Sign in to claim your place on the leaderboard! Leaderboard No scores yet. Be the first. The Next Kakin King Will Ascend To Unprecedented Levels Of Power And Become A God When thinking about powerful Hunter x Hunter characters, we often think of Meruem, the Ant King, or Nanika, a being trapped in the body of Alluka Zoldyck. Each in their own way has showcased tremendous abilities. Meruem’s growth rate was like no other, and his Aura Synthesis power allowed him to gain a wide array of abilities. Meanwhile, Nanika could make any wish come true for a price, and her Nen reserves are basically infinite. The Succession Contest arc could reveal a new character even stronger, so much so that they could be a God of this world. To understand why the Succession Contest arc can grant a character such a big power-up, the concept of Post Mortem nen, as well as strict Conditions with big sacrifices and their impact on Nen, must be understood. It was revealed that in the Succession Contest, 14 Princes are involved, and whenever one of them dies, they are taken to the burial chamber, where their bodies are placed for their nen to be harnessed. For the contest to succeed, only one Prince must survive, and the rest must be used to power them up. The amount of sacrifice that is used for this ritual is what makes it as impactful as it is. With the Seed Urn ritual, the winner can keep the prosperity in the empire. The base power levels of so many of the Princes are already high. The death of characters like Halkenburg and Benjamin, for example, would only amplify their sibling. We don’t know how strong the current King of Kakin, King Nasubi Hui Guo Rou, is, but he is certainly already one of the strongest around in HxH, and whoever succeeds him will be even stronger, and a character able to rule the whole world. Of course, Kurapika also revealed that there is a way to avoid the deaths of the rest of the Princes, but that would lead to the fall of the Hui Guo Rou family and the failure of the ritual. If that were to happen, no new God would be born, but the Kakin Empire itself would crumble. Hunter x Hunter TV-14 Animation Action & Adventure Comedy Fantasy Science-Fiction Release Date 2011 - 2014 Where to watch Close WHERE TO WATCH Streaming Studio Madhouse Creator Yoshihiro Togashi Streaming Service(s) Netflix, Crunchyroll, Hulu Powered by Expand Collapse
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