CHAPTER 209 HUNTING TRIP
<span style="font-weight:400">We were expected to wait in argemunal area. A few couches set out at least, Imandeered one since we were the first 5 people there. As more people showed up some people tried to take it. Like some bald guy calling himself a ninja. I showed him some real ninja moves and bitch pped him hard enough he spent the rest of the time sleeping on the floor.
<span style="font-weight:400">There were a few TVs so Jill, Kiri, and I just hung out in front of it. ying cards or watching TV. Kiri mostly opened up to us, but it wasn’t the type of ce to socialize as people continued to pour in every couple of hours.
<span style="font-weight:400">Gon and his group made it with a few hours to spare. They too used the trick of breaking a wall down and we were soon swapping stories.
<span style="font-weight:400">The 48 hours ran out and arge door at the base of the tower opened to reveal the next examiner. He was a shorter man with wide sses and a mohawk. He introduced himself and was soon leading the 24 of us out of there.
<span style="font-weight:400">From the tower we walked until we came to a boat ramp. Getting on the ferry-like boat everyone was pretty quiet. Mentally preparing for the next trial of the exam.
<span style="font-weight:400">“This is thest phase,” the examiner announced. “But like all things. The final step is the hardest. You all will be drawing lots from this box here.” He pointed to arge box sitting next to him. “In this box will be your targets.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Each of you was given a number tag when you arrived. Your target will be that number tag.” People that had been disying the tags covered them up quickly. Moving to hide them to help limit the amount of people that knew who had which number.
<span style="font-weight:400">“You will all have 1 week on this ind,” the examiner pointed ahead to an ind that the boat drove straight for. “Your objective is to steal the number tag of your target. That will be worth 3 points. Keeping your own white tag is worth 3 points. Stealing a number tag that is not your target is worth 1 point. You need 6 points total to pass this phase and be a full-fledged Hunter.”
<span style="font-weight:400">People became more serious as they looked around. “Hisoka, you were the first to pass thest phase. You pick your target first.”
<span style="font-weight:400">The magician walked forward and pulled a sheet of paper out. He smiled and sat back down. Kiri was next. It wasn’t long until it was my turn. I really hoped I didn’t get Gon’s number.
<span style="font-weight:400">Sticking my hand inside the box I dug around until I found one that felt right. I turned it around and my heart sank. Number 44. Hisoka’s number. But that wasn’t the worst part. I had received another quest.
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<b>Hunter x Hunter Quest 1.1:</b>
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<span style="font-weight:400">Steal Hisoka''s Tag
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<b>Rewards:</b>
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<b>Bonus Slot Upgrade</b>
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<span style="font-weight:400">“Fuck,” I hissed as I turned around. Making sure not to look at anyone as I sat down. Jill went up and grabbed her number. We were all silent as we went one by one to get our targets.
<span style="font-weight:400">I cursed mentally. Of course I would get the guy I didn’t want to fight. But I needed quest rewards. A bonus slot upgrade sounded too good to pass up. I had to think about how to beat Hisoka.
<span style="font-weight:400">The boat continued driving us and we were soon at the ind.
<span style="font-weight:400">“You may disembark in the order of finishing thest phase,” the examiner announced. “Hisoka, you first. After 2 minutes the next person in line will go.”
<span style="font-weight:400">Hisoka openly disyed his number 44 tag as he walked off the boat. Weing the challenge he…was right. I should have been looking forward to taking him on. All I had to do was steal his tag. But I wasn’t going to have him catch up to me and let me have it like he had let Gon in the original story. No, I was going to steal it and piss him off. I was going to beat Hisoka. Get over whatever trauma the manga had put me through. Somehow it had convinced me that the guy was impossible to beat though he and I hadn’t fought.
<span style="font-weight:400">I had a lot in my wheelhouse. A lot that he couldn’t begin to understand or counteract. I could find him easily with my Search quirk. I could control water, temperature, chakra, Haki, and get stronger with anger. I had so many skills at my disposal I was going to knock him down a peg.
<span style="font-weight:400">My name was called and I was soon running out onto the ind. Coming up with a n as I mentally prepared for beating up a clown.
<span style="font-weight:400">—
<span style="font-weight:400">“I’m going out,” I told Jill. We had been on the ind for a day. Finding a nice cave near the shore we had set up shop there soon after arriving.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Are you going to try?” She asked, hesitant.
<span style="font-weight:400">I nodded. “If I don’t make it back. Try to find an ally,” I suggested.
<span style="font-weight:400">“You can’t be serious,” she said, her eyes wide.
<span style="font-weight:400">“I am, the guy is strong,” I said. “He only cares about fighting other strong people.”
<span style="font-weight:400">In the manga Hisoka had done everything he could to fight the leader of the Phantom Troupe, Chrollo. Chrollo was an impossibly strong viin that could challenge Killua’s family. Master ss assassins. I didn’t know if Hisoka ever fought Chrollo, or who the winner would have been. I had stopped reading after the video game arc. Once the author broke his hand the story got a little out there. But if his goal in life was to fight the strongest people in the world, Hisoka had to be confident.
<span style="font-weight:400">“My goal is to steal his tag, but if I can beat him I have to try,” I repeated. “Keep practicing chakra. I’ll be back before you know it.”
<span style="font-weight:400">Jill frowned but nodded. She and I had sparred, and she was strong. I guessed as strong as a Genin from Naruto. Either she had good training or a strong family, I wasn’t sure which. I was confident she could make it to the end.
<span style="font-weight:400">She stood facing me, struggling with what to say for a bit. “I have no idea how strong you are, but if you die, I’ll be pissed,” she ended up on. Iughed and nodded. I found myself liking her more everyday. We had only known each other for less than a week but I felt like I could trust her.
<span style="font-weight:400">Kissing her cheek I used my Search Quirk, finding Hisoka on the other side of the ind. I was liking the Quirk more and more. If I knew my enemy it could ensure I didn’t run into them. And I could find my allies easily enough. I still hadn’t figured out the other information I was getting from them. But I hoped to go to MHA and talk to Ragdoll herself.
<span style="font-weight:400">Heading out of our small cave I jumped up and over it, ensuring I didn’t leave any tracks to our hideout on the sandy beach surrounding us. Draping myself in chakra I was hidden from sight. Using my Search quirk to ensure I didn’t run into anyone else that I knew I jumped from treetop to treetop.
<span style="font-weight:400">The ind we were on was ratherrge. I guessed a good 30 miles across. More of a forest than a tropical ind there were many caves and trees scattered over it. The perimeter was covered in sand though so it had been like a vacation so far.
<span style="font-weight:400">Jumping from tree to tree I reviewed what I knew about the power system of HxH World, Nen. It was confusing as hell, I knew that. I was pretty sure Nen was your soul or life force. I could tell it was different than Spiritual Energy like for One Piece. Hisoka had thrown the cards in my Observation Haki and I wasn’t able to sense it.
<span style="font-weight:400">That meant that Observation Haki might be useless. When using it I was sensing others'' spiritual energy. I was pretty sure that Nen use included sealing the Nen or something, which might have inadvertently sealed in the Spiritual Energy.
<span style="font-weight:400">That left me with chakra, water, Armament and Conqueror’s Haki. One thing I nned to do when I got back to Naruto was learn some different jutsus. I needed my own training arc. Felt like I only used Transformation, shadow clone, and coating my body in chakra. There had to be some more useful crap.
<span style="font-weight:400">I could trap Hisoka in a Genjutsu. But that sounded cheap. That was ast resort. I had thought about transforming into someone else for the fight but in all honesty I needed to do this fight for myself. I had challengesing up. I had to get used to fighting the unknown.
<span style="font-weight:400">I focused on Hisoka and closed in on him. He was sitting on a boulder at the center of a clearing. Weing all challengers. I took a few calming breaths and stepped into the clearing. It wasn’t long until he was looking my way.
<span style="font-weight:400">When I stopped a few paces away from the boulder I raised up my small sheet of paper that showed his number, 44. He smiled widely as he read it.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Quite bold to not try to sneak up on me,” he said.
<span style="font-weight:400">“What can I say? I’m curious,” I said with a smirk.
<span style="font-weight:400">He jumped down. Taller than me he looked down, but still wore a wide smile. “Not going to try to steal other tags?”
<span style="font-weight:400">I shook my head. “Nope, sounds too easy,” I said truthfully. It helped I had a quest too.
<span style="font-weight:400">He eyed me up and down. “You can’t use Nen,” he said. “But you have some skill. One I don’t know of.” He cracked his knuckles.
<span style="font-weight:400">We eyed one another, preparing. I kept Observation Haki up just in case. I could still feel him in front of me, so that was good at least. Then again, maybe he was underestimating me. Pouring chakra throughout my body I leapt forward. He dodged to the side, kicking out at me. I blocked it and felt that he was strong. But not impossibly strong. Angiea was much stronger.
<span style="font-weight:400">I got serious. Punching forward again and again I let my anger go. Feeling myself be quicker. He dodged the first 2 but then my hit connected with his face. I knew it wasn’t advised to touch him, but it was worth the risk.
<span style="font-weight:400">He was thrown back, hitting the boulder with open palms as he somersaulted over it. I ran around the boulder and he had disappeared from my Observation.
<span style="font-weight:400">Standing in front of me he wiped his mouth of some blood. “Seems I need to take you more seriously,” Hisoka said. He appeared to like that news as I felt the intense blood rage leak from him.
<span style="font-weight:400">I jumped back. Intense fear came over me. Apparently I was at the 2nd stage of the fight. He walked toward me confidently. I thought All-For-One had a strong aura. Hisoka was so much worse. I felt like he was at my neck, ready to cut my head off.
<span style="font-weight:400">He pulled out a few ying cards. Fanning them out between his fingers he said, “don’t disappoint me.”
<span style="font-weight:400">I released my Conqueror’s Haki. He blinked, hesitating for a moment and I was on him. Ignoring my fear I kicked him with everything I had. He was thrown back, bending over as he flew back. Inded and was after him. Back on his feet he crouched, throwing 3 cards headed for my chest.
<span style="font-weight:400">I noticed then that I couldn’t sense just 1 of them with my Conqueror’s Haki. The other 2 I could feel their Spiritual Energy. I ducked down under all 3. But it was a feint, there was another hidden in their wake. He had predicted my dodge.
<span style="font-weight:400">The card embedded in my leg. Cursing, I pulled it out and kicked him in the gut. He took the hit, grunting. Landing a short ways away he somersaulted and extended his arms out, ready.
<span style="font-weight:400">Breathing in and out it was time to get serious on my end. I made water out of chakra. Freezing 5 bullets I sent them out. He dodged all but 1. It shot in and through his arm, striking the dirt after it passed through him.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Many tricks,” Hisoka said, ignoring the hole in his arm. “Maybe I’ll keep my skills secret.” He raised his unhurt arm and I was pulled to him from where I had been stabbed in the leg with the card.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Fuck!” I said as he drew his arm back. Hitting me with all he had I was thrown back, but was pulled to him again with his invisible Bungee Gum.
<span style="font-weight:400">Bungee Gum was Hisoka’s Nen ability. He was able to make an invisible Nen physical object that he called Bungee Gum. He was able to attach it to people. He could pull you away and probably push you back, I couldn’t remember. He also used it to make invisible sheets for reattaching limbs somehow and could use the Gum like puppet strings.
<span style="font-weight:400">He pulled me back to him but instead of taking it I grabbed his body with chakra. Pulling him to me. His eyes widened as my foot met his face.
<span style="font-weight:400">He hit the ground hard, practically bouncing off of it. My body continued forward. Grabbing the tag on his chest as I went passed Inded on the ground. I started running.
<span style="font-weight:400">Kicking it into gear I wasn’t sure what ended his Bungee Gum, but I hoped it was distance. Breathing heavily I jumped up to the top of a tree and began heading for the coast.
<span style="font-weight:400">I didn’t feel himing at me as I jumped from tree to tree. This made me more scared as the miles were eaten away. One of the challengers made the mistake of attacking me.
<span style="font-weight:400">It was a short man with a pink head wrap on his head. He tried to grab me but I twisted in the air, punching his face. Knocked out from the hard punch he had picked the wrong time to attack me when I was so on alert. I didn’t hold back.
<span style="font-weight:400">Thrown to the ground I cursed and dropped. Grabbing his white tag I was back on my way to the coast. Running out onto the water I draped myself in chakra and sat on the water.
<span style="font-weight:400">Breathing in and out heavily I forced myself to calm down. Watching the coast, I expected Hisoka to show up at any time. But he didn’t. I used my Search quirk, feeling him far away, but my mind was too focused, thinking he coulde for me at any moment. It was dusk before I felt confident enough that he wasn’ting.
<span style="font-weight:400">Groaning, I got up. My leg hurt but it wasn’t an impossible wound to move in. He had underestimated me. That wouldn’t happen again. I walked around the ind as I headed to the cave. Thinking over and over how I could have done better. But my quest wasplete. I had to ept the small victories.