long mul = K3;
    int topBit = 0x7;

    int lengthAligned = length & ~topBit;
    int lengthRemainder = length & topBit;
    long hash = seed ^ (length * mul);

    for (int i = 0; i < lengthAligned; i += 8) {
      long loaded = load64(bytes, offset + i);
      long data = shiftMix(loaded * mul) * mul;
      hash ^= data;
      hash *= mul;
    }

    if (length >= 8) {
      long mul = K2 + length * 2L;
      long a = load64(bytes, offset) + K2;
      long b = load64(bytes, offset + length - 8);
      long c = rotateRight(b, 37) * mul + a;
      long d = (rotateRight(a, 25) + b) * mul;
      return hashLength16(c, d, mul);
    }
    if (length >= 4) {
      long mul = K2 + length * 2;
      long a = load32(bytes, offset) & 0xFFFFFFFFL;

                        Item l = left.hasNext() ? left.next() : null;
                        Item r = right.hasNext() ? right.next() : null;

                        // if this is shorter, then invert the compare and mul with -1
                        int result = l == null ? (r == null ? 0 : -1 * r.compareTo(l)) : l.compareTo(r);

                        if (result != 0) {
                            return result;