The following contains spoilers for Hunter x Hunter Chapter 398, "Search" by Yoshihiro Togashi, translated by Lillian Olsen available in English from Viz Media.
Hunter x Hunter is a wildly popular manga written and illustrated by Yoshihiro Togashi. While the manga is known for going on long hiatus due to the author's deteriorating health, it has been back with a batch of chapters for 2 months now, and by the looks of it is set to continue for about 30 more chapters, which could see the end of the Succession Contest arc in Hunter x Hunter. The last 8 chapters have all been incredible and Togashi is yet to disappoint with the story.
Hunter x Hunter's last few chapters, 395, 396, and 397 were some of the best as the story went over the backstory of one of the most famous manga villain groups in manga history, the Phantom Troupe. This gave the readers much-wanted information on the Spider's group – especially on their leader, Chrollo Lucilfer. With so much knowledge concerning the group, thanks to the three "Founding" chapters, the story now goes back to the present time to focus on current events.
The Secret Entrance
In Chapter 395 of Hunter x Hunter, the readers learned that the present Phantom Troupe members – Nobunaga, Phinks, and Feitan had made their way into one of the hideouts of the Heil-Ly mafia family, but didn't find anyone there. Hunter x Hunter chapter 398 painted quite a picture as the group left the spot and instead decided to head to the other known entrance, which Hinrigh Biganduffno and Wang saw chapters earlier. Phinks theorizes that without the old man inside, the teleportation trap wouldn't work. They also do not take the main entrance as it was hypothesized to be one of the trap's triggers. To ensure the safety of everyone before entering the main room, they push in the man they captured from the other hidden hideout.
When the man tried to escape their grip and was forced back in from the main entrance, he vanished immediately, meaning the old man isn't necessary for the trap activation. Here, fans learned about two types of nen-infused traps - Barrier type and Land Mine type. Nobunaga deduces this specific one is a Land Mine type with multiple uses. As such, their plan to use the trap to teleport to Heil-ly's hideout needs a bit more patience.
Hinrigh Biganduffno's Plan
As the Phantom Troupe members got ready to enter the Heil-Ly hideout via the entrance in Hunter x Hunter 398, they were stopped by the underbosses of Xi-Yu and Cha-R, Hinrigh Biganduffno and Wang. These two had a proposal to make to them before they underwent this risky mission. Wang announced that Cha-R will be chasing down the two members suspected of being Heil-Ly members, while Hinrigh pulled out a Homing Device. With that, they use their bait to find the hideout they are looking for.
Sending a civilian would cause them to be killed and searched immediately, which is precisely why Phinks is skeptical of the plan. Hinrigh has something else in mind – he turns the device into an oyster with his powerful nen ability, and plans on making the bait swallow it. While the Spider's members were debating on which one of them will swallow it, Hinrigh takes the initiative to be the bait. After swallowing it, he explained to them how the receiver works so they'd be able to determine his location. Now, the trap has been activated and Hinrigh is on his mission.
Inside Heil-ly's Hideout
After Hinrigh Biganduffno's disappearance in Hunter x Hunter 398, the Phantom Troupe started looking for the location of the Heil-Ly hideout with the receiver given to them by Hinrigh himself. They determined it to be around 500 to 1000 meters away and most likely on tier 3 of the Black Whale – which is, overall, 1500 meters long, 800 meters wide, and 800 meters tall. Fans also got to see a glimpse of Hinrigh Biganduffno soon after, who was dropped into an empty bloody room with multiple doors.
While it was empty, there was fresh blood on the floor, meaning someone had been taken there recently. Immediately after, a strange figure was seen making an appearance, and while it made Hinrigh jump into a defensive position, it turned out to be none other than Nobunaga, who decided to follow Hinrigh in order to ensure his survival. Nobunaga, being polite as ever, asked for Hinrigh's name, as he admitted when they first met he had no interest in him, indicating some form of developed mutual respect between the two.
Nobunaga then asked Hinrigh if they should act or wait, however, now that they're already underway on their mission, the right thing to do would be to act, which is what Hinrigh responds with as well. With that, Nobunaga discovered that the walls are impossible to destroy due to someone's nen ability, likely Morena Prudo. As such, they decided to open each door in the room one by one and Hinrigh asks Nobunaga to protect the transmitter, even if he dies. With the two opening the last door, fans were left on an interesting cliffhanger and next week's events of Hunter x Hunter are bound to be even more intriguing.