Chương 13: Island x Hunter x Hanzo

Jett was getting worried; there were only five minutes until the exam ended, and Gon had not come out yet. Two more minutes passed, and Gon and the rest were still not there. A stone door opened, and Jett quickly looked over only to see a half-dead man; Jett watched as the man dropped to the ground dead.

'Damn it, Gon, where are you?' Jett kept thinking; he wasn't worried about the other three. He was sure Killua, being an assassin, could somehow handle anything that came at him. Kurapika wasn't that strong but intelligent; he could figure his way out. While Gon had good instincts, he had no experience in fights. Jett believes that Gon can handle himself against regular people, but he doesn't know if he can survive if he encounters a Nen user. As for Leorio, he couldn't care less. He didn't really like Leorio or know why; he just disliked him.

There was one minute left, and now Jett was getting worried. No one was showing up, and he didn't know what to do. Should he quit the exam, he didn't care about it. Also, he had already given up on looking for the main character, and he realized that even if he did find out who it was, what would he do, follow him around? He wanted to get strong, but following the main character wouldn't make him strong. While he did have control over Nen, it wasn't to the point that it was effortless. So his time should be spent on training to become stronger.

Jett wasn't sure he wanted to continue without Gon. He liked Gon; he was the first friend he made. He had fun with Gon, but he also noticed something else. Gon had the potential to become a strong Nen user. If Gon failed this exam, he would teach Gon Nen; he was sure Gon could become strong. He didn't teach Gon nen because he was worried that he could hurt him. The dark emotions of the kid still linger inside the nen, while the kid is gone his emotions remain. Using his nen to initiate someone would not work; he didn't have any ill intent directed at Gon, but the lingering emotions from the kid were something he could not control. He would not attempt to teach anyone until he could banish them from his nen. It was best for Gon to learn Nen through the hunter organization. It was the best choice, but if he failed, he could only find a way to eliminate the lingering emotions and teach Gon Nen.

Another stone door finally opened at the last minute, and Jett looked expectantly. A smile appeared on Jett's face. From the stone door, Gon walked out along with Killua and Kurapika. Jett saw Gon turn left and right, looking for something, until his eyes finally landed on him. A smile made its way to Gon's face. With a small run, Gon hurried to Jett's side.

"Jett!" Gon jumps at Jett, grabbing onto his neck for a hug. Gon's weight threatened to make them fall, but Jett grabbed Gon by the waist and spun in place.

"I was getting worried that you weren't going to make it. You cut it close." Jett said, putting Gon down.

"hehe, yeah, we had to go through these trials where we all had to make choices then..." The rest of the group came to stand near them as Gon explained their trial, sometimes filling in information Gon left out.

"What about you, Jett? What happened?" Gon.

"Well, when we were on top of the tower. I fell, and then..." Jett explains his trial. Jett was glad; the prisoners Gon and the rest encountered were ordinary criminals. It made him wonder if his trial was somehow different. If anyone else experienced that guy, they would have died, well, except for Hisoka and that guy with the needles in his face. He wondered if someone had set him up or specifically made him drop in that place. It had been a question on the back of his mind, although now that it already happened and it was over, he didn't worry about it anymore.

(Beep!)

"At the end of the round, 26 participants passed, including one dead." The alarm sounded, and the number of participants who passed was announced.

A colossal stone door opens on one of the sides. The light illuminated the space inside, momentarily blinding everyone. Outside, they could see a forest surrounding the tower. Jett could hear the distant roar of creatures. At a distance, an island could be seen; in perspective, it looked small, but relative to the distance, it would indicate that it was a sizable island. In front of everyone, a short man in glasses, with his hair cut in a mohawk, stood facing them.

"Congratulations to all of you for surviving the tower. You only have two more trials left," he said.

'Two left.' Everyone thought at the same time.

As the Mohawk guy explained it, the trial this time around was a hunt. Each participant took a number belonging to one of the participants. The number they got would be the prey they had to hunt. They had to keep their and their prey's tags to earn six points. Or they could keep their tag and obtain three other tags to pass, equaling one point each.

"Well, pick a card in the order you arrived at the tower's bottom," said the mohawk man. The first to go was Hisoka, then the guy with the needles all over his face. The third one to go was Hanzo, and the fourth was Jett himself.

"Jett? You were the fourth one to arrive?" asked Gon.

"Did I not say that part?" a closed smile appeared on Jett's lips as he looked at Gon and Killua. Jett turned around, but he didn't see Gon clench his fist. Gon could feel the distance between him and Jett growing. Those times they had been in danger, all Gon could remember was looking at Jett's back as he protected him. He didn't know how to get stronger; he wanted to walk side by side with Jett. He wanted to fight at his side, but no matter how hard he tried, he only saw his back as he walked further away.

'362, that's the guy called Kehmi; he is not someone strong. Should I say that is my good luck or my bad luck? While I did want to fight someone strong. I also don't want to reveal my hand until the last part of the exam; I have no idea what comes next. This also works well, this Kehmi guy was inconspicuous he practically blended into the background. Getting the badge from him should be easy, although he should have some skill if he made it this far. As for who's after me, let's deal with it if they come.' Jett thought to himself.

"What about you Jett?" Killua.

"Huh?" Jett.

"Whose number did you get?" Gon asked.

"OH! That guy over there with the bold cut." Jett said, pointing at his target.

"What about you, Gon, and you, Killua?" Jett asked.

"199; I don't know who it is, though," Killua said.

"Oh, I know. Is one of those three brothers, the fat-looking older one." Jett said again, pointing at someone.

"Mmm..." Killua said.

"What about you, Gon?" Jett asked again since Gon hadn't said anything. Gon slowly shows him a card with the number 44 on it. Gon watched Jett to see if there was any reaction. Jett's face showed nothing, but Gon could see it. Just like when he saw him fight that strange lizard creature, there was a glint of emotion in his eyes, as if something was burning. The more he saw that glint, the more something in him grew. It was both the same and different from the feeling he had felt before. If he had to describe the new feeling in two words, only a few words popped into his head. 'I wish he would look at me too.' those words popped into Gon's head as he saw that glint in Jett's eyes. Jett had only ever looked at him with cold expressionless eyes, while he didn't mind, he also felt like Jett wasn't looking at him, as if he was in Jett's view, yet he wasn't being watched by him.

Gon hides the badge and gets a little angry, not knowing why he got angry. Killua, a trained assassin on the side, saw and felt the emotions that Jett was letting out, and he also saw Gon's facial expressions. He somewhat understood Jett's emotions, yet Gon's emotions perplexed him; he couldn't put them together.

"Hisoka, huh? How interesting." Jett didn't see anything wrong with Gon, or more like he couldn't see it. He had turned around to look at Hisoka. Across the boat, Hisoka sensed someone looking at him, so he turned to meet his eyes with Jett. With a half-close-eye smile and licking his lips, Hisoka waved his hand at Jett.

"Ugh, that damn clown," Jett said as shivers ran down his spine.

"I'm sure you will do just fine, Gon. I know you will find a way to get that badge," Jett said. Gon didn't see the glint in Jett's eyes; he was looking down, already thinking about how to get the card from Hisoka.

When everyone was done choosing their badge, they were told to leave the boat in the same order. Jett was the fourth person to go after Hanzo. As soon as he was inside the forest, he entered Zetsu. While dealing with his target would be easy, he didn't know who was targeting him. The chances that Hisoka was targeting him were low; even so, he still needed to be cautious. While he welcomed the fight, he didn't know if he could win without using his Hatsu, and he also didn't want to be too reliant on his Hatsu. While he did enjoy the fight, there was still something missing, and he felt like only in a fight would he be able to find it, yet he didn't feel like he would find it in a battle with Hisoka.

He was also worried about someone else more than Hisoka, and that was the guy with needles in his head. He didn't know anything about him. If he had to guess, he was also an assassin. All of his movements were quiet, mechanical, and soundless. He was almost like a more experienced version of Killua.

Jett had many thoughts as he watched the other participants come off the boat. They were idle thoughts; there was no way he would get distracted while being hunted. After waiting for two hours, his target finally left the boat. Jumping from tree to tree, Jett followed as his target ran deeper into the island.

Watching Jett, I could tell this guy was strong and weak simultaneously; his strength was only above average. He could, at best, contend with a few of the participants, like the short guy in a turban who uses a bow, and he could probably take on the three brothers and kill Tampa while Jett wasn't a master in any marital art; yet. He could still tell if someone was stronger in basic human statistics. Having already seen and watched enough to know that this guy wasn't hiding any outstanding skills, Jett moved. Falling from on top of the tree after the guy had stopped to rest, he decisively delivered a shop to the guy's neck. While he already knew that he could kill, he wasn't bloodthirsty like Hisoka; that didn't mean he wouldn't kill if someone came at him with the intent. It had been like he thought; the guy was easy to take down. He hadn't even felt Jett exit Zetsu; he did want to give him a fighting chance.

(Whoosh)

As Jett bent down to take the badge, he heard the sound of something cutting through the air at high speed. He could feel they were heading right for his torso. His body told him the exact spot where they would land; while they would hurt and hinder him, the attack wasn't fatal. Spreading his legs into a split and touching the ground with his stomach, Jett avoided being hit by the projectiles. His decision was right because if he had jumped, he would have been hit by two more projectiles that passed five feet above the first. Looking up, Jett saw two shuriken land in a tree to the side, making a thud sound.

Quickly jumping from the ground by pushing himself with his hands and doing a reverse backflip, Jett ran for cover behind a tree. With his back to the tree he searched in the direction the shuriken came from, not as soon as he looked from behind the tree five more shuriken came flying at him from his exposed side. Doing a roll to dodge to the side, he quickly kicks the ground and jumps into a tree with a tuck summersault, landing on a tree branch. Jett didn't stay still; he quickly moved inside the dense leaves of the trees to lose his enemy.

'The shuriken was most likely thrown at an angle to confuse me with their trajectory. More than that, if the opponent is using shuriken, then my opponent this time must be Hanzo. Now, am I his target, or is he just hunting me for the one-point badge.' Jett quickly thought.

Hanzo was a ninja, and his advantage was to stay hidden and target him from the shadows. Well, if he was a good ninja, that's what he should do, or was he a Naruto? Jett was hoping for the latter since dealing with an enemy hiding the whole time was difficult. While a Naruto-type ninja was a lot easier to deal with. Not that he was going to wait it out and find out. Jett jumped from tree to tree again, his eye quickly searching for something. Just as a few more shuriken came flying at him he spotted what he was looking for, he dashed in that direction.

Not so far ahead, a clearing could be seen. It wasn't big, but it was enough. He jumped high in the air as he came into the last tree. A dozen shuriken also flew at him as he was in the air. Twisting his body in mid-air, he avoided the shuriken. He tucked his body into a ball to decrease the air resistance on his body and land. Finally, landing, he took a defensive stance and waited.

"That was nicely done, boy. Have you had any ninja training?" a silhouette in the shade of the trees could be seen walking out.

"You could say that I watch some of the best ninjas fight it out, and when you watch, you can't help but learn a few things," Jett replied, lying through his teeth. While Naruto did give great reference about how a ninja operated, he didn't know shit about fighting against one.

"Interesting, you don't look like you're from my country. Have you ever been to Jappon?" Hanzo asked, finally coming out of the shadows.

"I can't say I have, now that the pleasantries are out of the way. Am I your target, or are you just hunting me for the point?" Jett asked. Jett, like the others, had hidden his badge. He didn't know if Hanzo knew what number he had, but at this point, it didn't matter.

" Now, what kind of ninja would I be if I didn't research my target first? You have the badge that I want. How about we make a deal? I had already hunted two other people on the way. I'll give you the two badges, and you give me yours. You would only have to hunt for one more." Hanzo offers.

"It sounds like a good deal, but I must refuse. I think I can take you on, also if I think I can't, I could run away, I'm sure you've seen my technique, I may even suspect that you came after me for that reason." Jett said just putting that last sentence out there. Hanzo stays quiet, not saying anything.

'No way, really!?' Jett mentally shouted. Hanzo was making a face that said he got it right. He would have lost if he were a poker player because he had a lousy poker face.

"While it is true you are my target, I also wanted to corner you to make you use that technique and see if I could copy it," Hanzo said honestly.

"Wow, you're honest, huh? Well, it's a trade secret, and since you only want to fight me to steal my technique, I lost any interest in fighting you. How is this? I will use my technique to leave here. If you can grasp anything from it, you can have it," Jett said.

"Deal, but can you do it slowly!" Hanzo said, Jett almost dropped his head at this guy's selfishness, it almost reminded him of Gon.

"Fine, better pay attention," Jett said, not caring if he learned it.

Jett relaxed his body, then slowly he tensed the muscles on his legs. He crunched the ground, then slowly scraped his foot back. Hanzo, at the side, observed, watching Jett's every muscle from head to toe. His body twitched as he tried to replicate the movements, and just as Jett was sliding his foot back, he was suddenly gone. Hanzo looked at the spot where Jett used to be, recalling every movement he made. If someone could see him, they would see Hanzo wiggling his toes. He grasped something and knew it had something to do with his toes.

On the other hand, Jett had a flash step a few times away from Hanzo's location. He stops when he reaches a small pound. He had gotten thirsty and needed to drink water. While drinking water, he started thinking. He had already obtained what he needed. While he did want to train, the situation was not good for it. Finally, Jett decided to find Gon and see if he could take Hisoka's badge. He would only watch from far away and not interfere. He looked forward to seeing what Gon would do to take the badge.