Chapter 9: Final test! The exam is over!

Enma entire body was burning in pain ever since he returned from the last test.

Torn muscle don't heal that quickly, not even in a bullshit world like HxH.

'Itto shura itself is really taxing. Against Hisoka I squeezed out everything from the technique. Ideally, I'd need more time to heal.

How the hell am I supposed to fight in this condition?'

He sighed, shaking his head.

'I'll probably need to use itto shura again, won't I?'

…

"Hope you rested well everyone! 9 Participants made it to this final test. Hisoka, Enma, Killua, Gon, Kurapika, Bodoro, Gitarrackur, Leorio and Hanzo.

The final test will be a tournament! Everyone of you will fight in a 1 vs 1!"

"Does that mean that only one of us will become an hunter?"

"Wrong! To pass, you need a single victory!"

Netero answered and revealed the board with the different match up.

Instantly Enma heart dropped.

'Gitarrackur… and even if I concede, one between Killua and Leorio…'

On the left side, the pairings were as follows, Gon vs Hanzo, the loser against Bodoro and the loser against one of Kurapika or Hisoka.

On the right side Enma vs Illumi and Leorio vs Killua.

"To win a match, you need to make your opponent surrender or incapacitate him. It's not allowed to kill the opponent, ban the immediate elimination. Is it all clear? First match! Gon vs Hanzo".

…

"Huff! I surrender!"

"Gon is the winner! Take him to the infirmary."

"Why did you surrender? You probably knew a way to make him quit without killing him!" Killua asked the ninja.

"It's because of his eyes… I had just broken his arm, but I couldn't see an ounce of hate in those clear eyes… He win me over at that moment…"

…

"Second fight! Enma vs Gitarrackur!"

The 2 soon made their way to the arena.

'Brr…He is creepy as hell! Should I quit? Yeah, I can't win even if he doesn't use nen.'

Decision taken, Enma raised his hand.

"I..qui-"

Before he could finish the sentence 5 needles flew in his directions at blinding speed.

Enma's sense, now more acute than ever, warned him of the immediate danger.

'…! Itto shura!"

The needles slowed down.

Ting! Ting! Ting! Puchi! Puchi!

Enma was able to deflect 3 of them, but was hit by the remaining 2!

"Gahhh!"

It weren't the needles, but rather the overall state of his body that hurt more.

Using the technique so soon after overloading it the last time was really bad for his body.

Enma clenched his teeth and, fueled only by the rage of the surprise attack, deflected 3 other incoming needles, and close the distance with the taller man.

'My hunter exam ends here. What a bummer!

Whatever! I want to let loose some steam for the remaining minute.

He can't kill me anyway.'

Instantly, he was onto Illumi.

The 2 started a beautiful dance.

Illumi evading all of Enma's swings and Enma deflecting all of Illumi's needles while also attacking at the same time.

Teng! TEng!...

Tendons started snapping one after the other and blood was oozing out of Enma's mouth.

This was the absolute culmination of the teen's physical limits.

Beyond that was the ultimate barrier that could not be surpassed by the physical body alone…

The teen, despite the incredible pain, was in an incredible state known as enlightenment.

His body moved on his own. Unknowingly, his consciousness was already blurred out, and he was now moving on instincts alone.

There, in the depth of Enma soul, life force leaked out…

That… was aura!

Light reflected on the sword as it went down in one magnificent last swing.

Illumi was dumbfounded.

When Hisoka told him of an interesting guy that was able to leave a big cut on his chest, his curiosity was raised.

Given the match up, he decided to play a bit with the guy, before giving up himself.

He knew he would have met Killua in the next round, and wanted to have a good chat with his little brother.

But this…this was even more interesting than he imagined.

Initially he was curious of the teen strange technique, but then, while fighting, he was surprised by his incredible battle instincts.

"…!!!!"

'He's using nen unconsciously!'

Illumi immediately coated both his arms with nen, while retreating at the same time.

The sword hit, and left its mark on the assassin's arms.

Illumi wasn't expecting the younger boy to use nen at the last second and was caught by surprise.

Plop!

Enma hit the ground unconscious.

Everyone Had their mouth wide open.

'What the hell was that! I couldn't even follow their exchange in the least!' Leorio thought.

'If it were me in the place of Gitarrackur… Gulp' Kurapika also analyzed the fight.

Illumi was silent. He looked at his slightly injured arms, and then at the boy on the ground.

'Should I kill him? No, I don't want to be eliminated…'

"I surrender!' Said Illumi in a monotone voice.

"W-what??? Why???"

He didn't answered and descended the arena.

"Enma passed!! Bring the boy to the infirmary!"

'Oh Oh Oh! Nice one kid! I felt nen in the last attack! With a little bit of training you can became a valuable asset…'

"..fufu…fufufu….fuhahahahìHaHAHAHA"

Hisoka enjoyed the fight too much.

"I told you hahahah!"

Illumi remained dead silent.

Leorio and Kurapika, on the other hand, were worried for their friend.

"Enma! Shit! He is out cold… What the hell was that technique? Couldn't see anything. Kurapika?"

"Same… It should be a martial art that uses all the potential of the human body, ignoring the natural instinct that prevent oneself to get injured.

What is surprising is that Gitarrackur wasn't even that fazed by the flurry of attacks. Also, the last swing did nothing to him… Either his skin is incredibly tough, or there is something else at play.."

"Huh..?"

"Let's keep going! Killua vs Leorio…"

…

-Gon's room-

A day after the Final exam.

Gon, holding his Hunter license looked at the examiner in front of him.

"Mr Satotz, who was the one that didn't pass in the end?"

"Well, that would be Killua."

"Killua? But how?"

"Firstly, let me tell you what happened after you passed out…"

…

"Enma got injured? How is he now?"

"I'm afraid that mr Enma is still unconscious… He burdened his body and now is badly injured.

It was a dangerous technique, and it seems that he performed it 2 times in a short period."

"Oh no! Will he be ok??"

"Oh ! Don't worry about that, he should recover just fine. In fact, thanks to a really good friend of mine… he should be up from bed in a week or 2."

"Fiuu… Luckly he is not hurt too badly. Then what happened?"

"After Enma match, it was Killua vs Leorio, in which Killua withdrew without even fighting."

"As expected of Killua."

"After that came Kurapika vs Hisoka. They fought for a bit, then Hisoka whispered something in the blonde's ear and withdrew."

"What did he say to him?"

"That I don't know…"

"After that, in order, Bodoro first lost against Hanzo, then against Hisoka.

On the other side…."

…

"Gitarrackur is killua brother??"

"Indeed, his name is Illumi Zoldyck and is Killua's older brother.

Anyway...."

…

"…And that is why Killua was eliminated, because he killed Bodoro."

Gon was incredibly sad to hear that.

Not only that, Illumi used him to threaten his friend.

Anger rose in his body.

"Mr. Satotz, please, bring me to the others."

…

-Enma's room-

5 days later.

On the bed, a handsome young man was sleeping peacefully.

His breathing regular, and no apparent sign of discomfort was visible on his spotless face.

The only thing that suggested that he might have been injured was a drip that went from his right arm to a huge sack of fluid.

The teen eyelids fluttered, and he slowly opened his eyes.

"Finally! The sleeping beauty has woken up!"

Enma turned his eyes, only to be greeted by a beautiful sight.

"Miss Menchi… I'm in paradise?"

"Hmpf! Stop joking! Your are at the hotel room!"

"Ehm.. So…What happened to me?"

"You were in terrible shape kid… Luckily for you I was there to help."

"You helped me? Why?"

"That's right kid. I owed a favor to Chairman Netero and also I wanted to extort you for some of your secret recipes…"

Enma was dumbfounded. He felt his body and, indeed, he was only slightly sore all over.

"How did my fight ended exactly? I don't remember very well."

"Enma, first let me ask you this… How much do you know about nen?"

"Nen? I know most of the theory… but I haven't unlocked it, yet."

"Well, just so you know, on the day of your fight against Gitarrackur, in the very last exchange, you used nen."

"What?!"

"Yes! That would be fantastic! If not for the fact that you fainted soon after…

That was incredibly dangerous, cause your life force was leaking out.

I presume that you know what ten is."

"Yes, I know."

"Good. Given the fact you couldn't use ten and never trained in it, you couldn't contain your aura."

"..! So.."

"Don't worry, the chairman closed all your aura nodes before sending you here."

"I need to thank him…"

"Damn right you should!

Anyway, as I said, the state of your body… was awful, especially your heart, not gonna lie.

I used my nen ability, 'Fat chance' to heal most of your injuries.

You are out of danger now, but don't do anything stupid for the next week at the very least."

"Thanks a lot… I don't know how to thank you."

"Hmpf! What were you thinking about? using that technique when you're already in that state?? That was beyond stupid! Now I have nausea from using my Hatsu too much!"

"You are right, it was stupid of me. Ehm… Menchi, How does your ability work, if I may ask?"

"My ability, 'Fat chance' works using the fat in my body as fuel to perform certain feats... I'm not going into details, just know that in these days I had to eat for hours on end!

I ate that! At some point it starts to feel like I'm eating without tasting anything!

You better provide me with some of your best recipes."

"Sure! Well… What happened after I was out??"

"So.."

…

"...And that sum it all up."

Enma was in deep thoughts.

"So I'm an hunter now."

"Yep! Congratulations! Here your license"

Menchi passed a shiny card to him.

'Gon, Kurapika and Leorio already left after visiting me 3 days ago.'

Enma started playing with the precious card.

'They are probably going to search for Killua's whereabouts.'

"There is still something we need to discuss."

Menchi was serious.

The teen focused his attention on the young woman once again.

"Netero closed your aura nodes, but the block is only temporary. You need to learn ten as soon as possible."

"Can you be my nen's teacher?"

"Me? You wish! I have hundreds of restaurants to care about! No, I don't have time. The best I can do is guide you to learn Ten. Then you will have to find someone else."

"Too bad. I wouldn't have minded a beauty like you as my teacher."

"W-what the hell are you talking about? Cheeky brat!!"

Menchi blushed a little from the compliments.

"Okay, Let's do it quickly. Sit down there…"