User blog comment:Kevo411/Nen Battle Poll - Gon vs Meruem/@comment-14902757-20141101055431/@comment-14902757-20141101213949

Granted that the power he received was for the entire Chimera Ant's extermination, here's my take. This is gonna be pretty lengthy though and I know there are flaws in my explanation here and there, but here goes.

First of all, Post-Rose Meruem has too many advantages having acquired and enhanced Youpi and Pouf's abilities. I totally concur that Gon would lose here. So let's focus on pre-rose Meruem vs Gon.

Secondly, you can't count Gon's speed out just because he lost a limb. He lost a limb because his guard was already completely down. And before using Netero's "thousands of attacks" against Meruem as reference, first, take a look at the bullets below.

We'll use Pitou's physical make-up and ability to resist damage as ATTACK POWER GAUGE:


 * Netero hit Pitou with one of Guanyin's hand and all it did was send Pitou away. No damage.
 * Meruem hit Pitou using his tail, with the intent to kill/decapitate, but he did not succeed. Bruised face and bleeding mouth.
 * Gon kicked Pitou (not a finishing blow) and it completely crippled the powered-up, Terpsichora-state royal guard.

See the difference between Netero's Guanyin and Meruem's tail? Based from these, Gon has the stronger physical attack (no nen) between him and Meruem considering Pitou was even coated with strong nen during Gon's kick. On the other hand, Netero already used nen but did next to no damage to Pitou. Netero not dealing even a scratch on Pitou further means that Netero's attacks are far too inferior compared to Gon's attacks.

Pitou was hit by a palm attack from the Guanyin while Meruem was hit by a chop (the first time Netero used Guanyin on Meruem). Pitou did not sustain any damage while Meruem was bruised(welt) and bled slightly. I attribute the difference in damage to the fact that Pitou had Terpsichora activated while Meruem had his defenses down (but focused nonetheless). Now this is a great opportunity to test Meruem's body's ability to resist damage against nen and physical attacks. Remember Meruem's self mutilation during his game with Komugi? Back then, Meruem demonstrated that his hands can damage his own body if he willed it (let down his guard on his arms). While Guanyin can damage an unguarded Meruem with a bruise and slight bleeding, Meruem's hands can completely chop off his own unguarded limb. When Meruem attempted to decapitate Pitou, was Pitou's guard down? Coz if it was, then it could mean that Pitou might even have a tougher body. But for the sake of King and Royal Guard hierarchy, let's say Pitou must have used a lightning speed coat of Nen to resist that attack. Coz otherwise, it would mean that Pitou's unguarded body was tougher than Meruem's (which is more on the ridiculous side). Based from all the points I have given so far, I believe pre-rose Meruem may have much bigger aura reserve than Pitou but he also had ALMOST the same physical make-up as Pitou. He may be more durable in a fight but the same kick attack which crippled Pitou while using over-the-limits Terpsichora would have also damaged him to a great extent IF his guard is down or is not enough.

As for Gon's body's ability to resist damage, note that  Pitou's ability to slice off limbs does not solely depend on sharp claws, nor does Meruem's. It's greatly influenced by speed, nen applied on the claws/fingers and also, the insufficient amount of nen that guards the victim's body part. So Kite losing his arm I believe was because of those three factors. Otherwise, even if Pitou's claws were sharp, if Kite had had enough nen and great reaction time back then, he would have been unscathed from Pitou's attack. Since Pitou reckoned Gon and Meruem had almost the same power, up to here, Meruem's only advantage is having a durable body... but considering their power levels, it becomes useless.. And yes, at this point, it should be clear that Gon-san was way more powerful than Netero.

So it comes down to SPEED.

Meruem said that Netero's praying hand was the only movement that surpassed his own speed. To compare Gon's speed to Meruem's, we first need a detailed comparison between Netero & Pitou's speed. This Wiki mentioned (under Netero's Speed and Agility Section) that Netero was faster than Pitou but I assume that that's also ONLY because of the praying hand motion. But there seem to be no way to really tell the difference between Pitou and Netero's speed. So, consider this: even though Netero's hands were so fast, still, both Meruem and Pitou were able to observe the movements of his hands. Pitou explicitly stated that Netero's attack "shouldn't have come from there" because Pitou was able to follow through Netero's hand movements but unable to predict where the hands of the Guanyin would originate. The originating point of the Guanyin's hands is also where Meruem commented that it was "a good attack, I could not anticipate it". So what I'm saying is that even though Netero's own speed was top-notch, it was still an "observable speed" for both Meruem and Pitou where, even Pitou could possibly adjust or adapt with in the long run. The main handicap for the two Chimera ants was the "originating point of the Guanyin's hands." Now here's where I can compare Netero's speed vs Gon's vs Meruem's. When Pitou launched Terpsichora against Netero, Terpsichora and Pitou were still "within their limits." And yet, even though they were still within their limits, Pitou was able to observe Netero's hands. If there were no hands appearing from nowhere, Pitou could have possibly avoided that blow from the Guanyin - the same with Meruem, of course with much more ease. But later on, we saw Terpsichora and Pitou exceed their limits. With so much at stake, I would think that Pitou's offense and defense were also over their limits when they attacked Gon from behind. And yet, Gon easily avoided that attack, and landed a blow which incapacitated a fully-guarded Pitou. That means that Gon's speed is so great that even an over-the-limits Pitou was unable to observe and anticipate. Interestingly, Gon's speed when Pitou initially attacked him was already almost the same as Post-rose Meruem when he disappeared and appeared somewhere else (in the lobby). Even Pitou's corpse which supposed to be even more powerful than the live Pitou was powerless against Gon who already lost a limb. These all mean that with Gon's speed, since Pitou reckoned they had almost the same power, he not only can land powerful and fatal blows on Meruem, he can also evade the King's attacks. Even if Mr Gon didn't have a tough body like Meruem, as long as he's aware of his enemy, he'll have enough aura to block Meruem's attacks.

Meruem is a very powerful character but the adult Gon has enough power that even Pitou was afraid that Gon would find the King. With that said, I believe that Gon is strong enough to destroy pre-rose Meruem.