Captured Snake and Chef Aspirations

[Warning: Long ass chapter. 2in1]

Creak-

"No, wait for me!"

Bang!

With an ominous sound, the door leading to the only way back slammed shut, separating the hundreds of applicants from the tunnel as well as blocking one ex-applicant from passing.

"How cruel." Several people seemed to mutter in pity, feeling fortunate that they weren't that guy.

Though, all of this escaped one young man's notice as he was too engrossed with something more interesting in his phone. If it weren't for someone tapping his shoulder, he would've completely missed the introduction to the second part of the first stage.

"Hmm?" Blinking his eyes in surprise, Juzou lowered his headphones and turned to face a familiar nail man. "I'm a muffin?"

"Click?" Tilting his head stiffly, the nail man appeared to be confused for a moment before apparently just ignoring that strange question and pointed to the examiner instead.

"Oh, the next part's about to start! Thanks for reminding me!" Juzou exclaimed in realization, nodding to the other man gratefully. It seemed that the man was trying to repay him for giving his needle back earlier.

And, right on time, the examiner, Satotz cleared his throat, attracting the attention of the applicants.

"The Numere's Wetlands, also known as the Swindler's Swamp. You'll have to go through here in order to reach the second round." Satotz began. "The rare animals you'll find in this marsh... will do their best to hunt you as prey."

As if cued, the wind began to blow ominously, causing the fog to move in ways that made it seem as though there were many creatures hidden within, waiting for the perfect moment to pounce on them.

"Follow me and pay close attention! Losing your way will lead to death." Satotz continued to inform them politely, not minding the eerie atmosphere or the nervous whispers of the applicants. "The reason why it is called the Swindler's Swamp is because of the wily nature of its inhabitants. They will deceive and trick you, so do be in the lookout."

"Don't be deceived! He's lying to you!" Suddenly, from within the mist, a man emerged, appearing wounded and beaten up. "He's not the real examiner!"

Amongst the crowd, Juzou tilted his head blankly. What's happening? Who's this guy? What was he doing?

By the way, what exactly are hunters?

"I am the real examiner!" The man iterated, trying a little too hard to make the applicants believe him. "I'll show you!"

Amidst the confused and suspicious examinees, the man pulled out a creature which looked like a monkey, except that it had a face which strangely resembled Satotz.

"He's one of the wetland creatures, a man-faced ape!" Shouted the man as several people gasped in shock. It almost looked a bit comical.

Somehow, Juzou felt like he were watching a stage play instead of participating in an exam. He even had the slight urge to applaud their performance, though it seemed that someone didn't share his sentiments and was starting to feel a little impatient.

"They disguise themselves as humans and cooperate with other wetland creatures in order to hunt down humans-" Suddenly, the so-called real examiner was cut off mid-monologue by four cards piercing into his body.

Well then, that sure ended quickly. Anyways, which Pocky flavour is your favorite?

"Gu-ugh..." He didn't even get to see who his attacker was before falling over, dead.

Thud.

"I see... hehe~♠️" Hisoka chuckled, letting his bloodlust ooze out freely, causing the examinees to move away from him in a manner similar to Moses parting the seas.

"Oh, that one's still alive!" A sudden exclamation from within the crowd broke the tense atmosphere and pointed out the ape which was previously playing dead.

Juzou instinctively threw one his knives towards the one that was about to escape, hitting it directly on the back of its head and killing in instantly.

"Urk!"

"..." The crowd went silent, turning to look at Juzou who, in turn, just blinked his eyes innocently.

"Oops." Juzou smiled awkwardly and jogged towards the fallen creature and fetched back his knife.

"Well, now we know who's the real one~" The crowd then turned back to look at Hisoka as Satotz flicked several cards away. "Examiners are Hunters who do this without pay at the approval of the Judging Committee. Any regular Hunter would have had no trouble dodging that kind of attack."

Hisoka really must be feeling restless if he attacked the examiner as well as the creature. He must have been itching for a fight for a while now and forcing himself to hold back must have taken a toll on him.

"I shall take that as a compliment. But-" Satotz said, his expression turning serious as he began to warn Hisoka. "any other attack on an examiner will mean instant disqualification."

"Of course~♣️" Hisoka answered with a provocative smile, releasing his bloodlust in waves directed to the examiner who showed no reaction to it.

Caw! Caw! Caw!

Gradually, large birds began to descend from the sky in order to feast on the corpse of the two dead apes, causing the nearby applicants to inch away in apprehension.

"I'm sure many of you were swayed and started having doubts about me." Satotz spoke in an almost teasing manner which made several of the examinees laugh awkwardly. "But, now that it's done and over with, let us continue on to the second phase."

[311 examinees remain.]

And, once again, everyone was forced to run, except this time, they were actually faced with the possibility of death if they stop.

"Now, this is more fun~" Juzou hummed to himself as the fog slowly thickened, covering the examinees is a sight-hindering blanket, and in this blanket, several people began to disappear one by one, unknown to their companions who were just a short distance away.

"AaAhh! What- what is that?! No, AArRgh!!!"

And then, it all started.

With that first horrified scream, a cacophony of screams soon enveloped the crowd until, soon, there were screams of pain, terror, and confusion coming from all directions.

"Reminds me of home~" Juzou giggled, finding himself feeling nostalgic amidst the chaos. That was until a group of applicants came a bit too close for comfort, surrounding him and boxing him in with their bodies and leading him away from the main group.

Once far enough from the path, the four men stopped running and faced Juzou from four directions, cutting off all escape routes.

"This is him, right, bro?" One of them asked, spitting on the ground as though doing so would make him look tougher.

"Yeah, I'd recognize that scythe anywhere!" A bearded man answered with a grin, flashing his teeth to their victim. "Nearly cut me in half back in the tunnel."

"That does sound dangerous now, doesn't it?" The third said with a slight drawl, pulling out a dagger from its sheath. "Let's get rid of the competition early, aye?"

The rest of the group seemed to agree as they each pulled out their weapons, eyeing Juzou up threateningly.

"Hmm? What are you doing?" Juzou tilted his head, seemingly not understanding the situation, but, inwardly he was focused on something else.

Behind one of the men, partly hidden by the mist, stood a giant flower with it's closed bud slowly opening.

"Isn't it obvious? We're taking you out of the competition, kid!" A man laughed loudly, finding their victim's stupidity hilarious, not noticing the rows of serrated teeth which emerged from the now half-opened flower bud so close to the back of his head.

"Oh~ You are~?" Juzou smiled leisurely and suddenly jumped up, leaping over a man and easily escaping their encirclement. "I see! Then, byebye~"

"Huh?" Expressing their confusion for one last time, they wouldn't ever be able to understand what happened as, in the next moment, they suddenly found themselves becoming the prey of a very hungry carnivorous plant.

"What- aAAaGhh-" The man didn't even get to finish his scream before being eaten whole.

"No, don't-AAcCkkK"

"Bro- UuUaaAghH!!"

"NnooOo-AaHhH!!!"

And then, there was silence.

"Gomen, Shinohara-san~ But, you taught me that one must learn to adapt to different situations." Juzou chuckled as he carelessly wiped the blood splatter off his cheek.

Very good. There's really no sense of guilt when letting a person die.

Now then, he really should start looking for the way back or else he'd seriously get lost.

"Danger here! Danger here! Run away!" From above the trees, a ruse raven called out, warning Juzou against going towards a place where a lot of screams were coming from.

"So that way, huh? Thanks for the directions!" Juzou said and went straight towards the direction where the bird told him not to go to.

Humming as he lugged his Jason onto his shoulder, he began to jog towards the direction where the most screams came from, eventually passing by more and more people dying either at the hands of the wetland creatures or from other applicants.

"SCREEAAAAA!!!"

Suddenly, Juzou heard a loud roar which sounded like the combination of a pig's squeal and a high pitched screeching coming from directly in front of him but, due to the heavy fog, he wasn't able to see what exactly was making that horrible sound.

In any case, whatever it was, he'd rather avoid it as he had already wasted enough time trying to find the main group. Though, as he got closer, the fog gradually ebbed away, showing him a battle between two armored boars which seemed to be angry at an applicant who strayed into their nest.

Judging from the sight of two out of three cubs dead and frothing from their mouth, the applicant seemed to have killed the cubs and enraged their parents, causing him to be stuck in this situation where neither could kill the other.

Unfortunately for Juzou, although he had no plans to interfere in this fight, they were currently blocking his way out, which meant, if he didn't want to go through the forest instead and possibly encounter a lot of troublesome creatures, he'd have to wait for them to conclude their fight.

But, suddenly, as the larger Beetleboar stomped the ground heavily, the ground beneath them gave way, forming a large sinkhole which trapped him along with the other applicant and the two Beetleboars.

"Arara~ Now, you're just forcing me to fight~" Juzou drawled out as he dusted himself off, flicking his wrist to throw several knives towards the Beetleboars only for them to be deflected by their carapace, doing essentially zero damage to the creature. "Hueh~? Armor?"

"Ditch those throwing knives! The armor of adult Beetleboars are harder than even Black Steel!" The other applicant growled from within a protection circle made of venomous snakes.

Although the snakes protecting him may have venom strong enough to kill people when given enough time, it obviously wasn't enough for the Beetleboars which were several times larger and had thick skin and armor which made it difficult for the snakes to bite through. The most he could do right now was slow them down and find an opportunity to escape.

"Harder than steel, huh?" Juzou mused thoughtfully, a grin appearing on his face as he kept his knives. "Then, I suppose it's your turn to steal the show, Jason!"

Without giving anyone time to prepare, Juzou directly swung his weapon from his shoulder and leaped towards the two Beetleboars who hadn't even noticed him yet.

"What-"

And, as if wielding a heated knife to cut through butter, a Beetleboar fell in just a single stroke under the disbelieving eyes of the applicant.

"Hehe! My Jason is made from the combination of an S-Class ghoul's kagune and quinque steel!" Juzou exclaimed proudly, leaping through the air to cull the other Beetleboar with a downward slash. "Cutting through this is a piece of cake~"

With the trouble solved, Juzou wasted no time getting himself out of the sinkhole, using the dead bodies of the boars as his stepping stones out.

"What a scary kid..." The applicant muttered to himself after recovering from the situation and quickly got out as well after gathering his snakes into his clothes.

Humming a tune, Juzou skipped off to the side and fetched back his throwing knives which were deflected towards a pile of rocks. He only had 66 knives on him and he wasn't exactly a fictional character who could just magically produce weapons out of nowhere. The law of conservation does not work that way.

Suddenly, a thick smell of blood blanketed the area, causing the forest to grow quiet and all nearby applicants to freeze.

"Wow! That's a lot of Bloodlust!" Juzou exclaimed with an excited grin. "I wonder what fun thing is happening over there~"

"You'd better not think of going over there if you still want your life." Beside him, the other applicant warned with a cautious expression.

Somehow, now that he had the chance to look closer without the distraction of the Beetleboars, he realized that the applicant looked oddly familiar.

"Hmm? Oh, it's you! Snake man 103!" Juzou exclaimed in realization, spouting out words that sounded like a random online username.

"My name is Bourbon." The man corrected after a short pause. Snake man? Can't he be called with a more creative name than that? Snake man just sounds like a lame villain name in a kid's story book.

"I'm Juzou! Nice to meet you~" Juzou grinned as he introduced himself politely. Though it did seem like an odd sight when one would note the corpses and destruction around. Not to mention the terrible screams that would pop up every now and then.

Speaking of screams, there were quite a few of those nearby. Actually, now that he paid attention to it, those screams seem to be getting closer and closer, followed by a rhythmic thumping.

"Wait, there are people over there!" A loud voice shouted. "Quickly, lead it over!"

"I can't! I can't anymore!" Another screamed, this one a little more panicked. "If we don't find a scapegoat soon, I'm really gonna hang up!"

"Shut it! I can see them!" A voice much closer now commanded. "This way!"

At this moment, the wind chose this time to make an appearance, blowing away the thick fog which blocked their sights and showed Juzou and Bourbon what exactly was making that noise.

There were around ten men running away from a giant Noggin Luggin Tortoise, and judging from the determined looks on their faces along with the usual fear one would feel when their life was on the line, and the fact that they were running straight towards Juzou and Bourbon in direct manner, it made it obvious that they were leading the wetland creature towards them in order to use them as their scapegoats.

"Wow, that thing is pretty fast for a tortoise." Juzou mumbled in wonder, readying his Jason for another unexpected battle. "I'll take the creature, you take the men."

With that said, without even confirming if his companion agreed, Juzou sped towards the giant tortoise with his weapon in hand.

Meanwhile, as the escaping men passed Bourbon, the snake charmer sighed and picked up his flute, and, instantly, his snakes tensed in attention, slithering in surprising speed towards the desperate men who longed for life only to kick an iron plate unknowingly.

"AaAhhH!!! My leg!!"

"S-s-snake!!!"

With those dying screams, two men were suddenly gone, buried under hundreds of snakes.

On Juzou's side, after he entered the creature's attacking range, the tortoise lowered it's head and struck with it's mouth opened wide for a bite.

Taking advantage of the creature's lowered head, Juzou used it as a stepping stone to get to a higher vantage point, which was the shell on it's back.

If one were watching on the sidelines, they could practically see three question marks on the tortoise's head as though it couldn't believe it's food just disappeared like that. And, it couldn't even twist it's head to look at it's shell so it didn't know that a human was right there.

"Hmm? This is a real strawberry???" Juzou was once again distracted. "It's huge!"

Suddenly, the shell he was standing on shook, reminding him of his current situation.

"Ah, I need to kill this human eater first." Surveying the creature for it's vulnerable spots from its back, Juzou secretly stuffed three head sized strawberries into his bag. "So, the neck is the largest weak spot..."

But this thing was quick to hide it's vulnerable neck inside it's hard shell everytime it senses any danger so, he'd have to act quick.

"Ah! No no no!!! I don't want to die yet!!!"

Just as he was thinking that, a sudden screaming attracted his attention towards a man who was only several meters away from the tortoise.

Right! A bait!

As the tortoise once again lowered it's head for a bite, Juzou readied himself, gripping his Jason tightly in his hands.

"And... now!" With one fluid motion, Juzou leaped off from the shell, angled his body and his weapon midair and used the extra downward force that gravity gave him to completely cut through the creature's neck.

Thud!

Landing lightly on the ground, Juzou tapped the giant head which landed with him with his foot in satisfaction.

And that was how you behead something cleanly.

With a resounding crash, the rest of the tortoise's body fell to the ground belatedly, raising a cloud of dust and fog with it.

"T-thank- ack!!" The man Juzou unintentionally saved stuttered, only to be cut off by a scythe slitting his neck.

"Hmm? Did he say something?" Juzou tilted his head. "Eh, nevermind~"

Skipping off towards the other three living men, Juzou rested his weapon on his shoulder.

Not bad! Snake man managed to kill 6 people during the short time Juzou was gone. It seems he's still quite powerful when it comes to dealing with people instead of beasts.

Grinning widely, Juzou leisurely took out three knives and threw them all at once, each landing perfectly at the back of his targets' heads.

"Perfect ending~" Taking out a jelly pouch from his pocket, he sat on a log beside Bourbon and began to eat his treat to reward himself.

"Want some?" Juzou asked his companion who was just looking at him as though he were an incomprehensible being.

"No." Bourbon answered dryly.

Whuuooo...

The wind blew and the trees creaked ominously.

Somehow, Juzou felt as though they were being watched and, judging from Bourbon's cautious expression, it was clear that he felt the same.

Ah, no matter. As long as they don't come to bother him, he'll pretend like he knew nothing.

"Squee! Squee!"

A sudden high pitched squealing sound interrupted, causing Juzou to slightly tense his muscles after being exposed to so much battles in a short amount of time, but quickly relaxed upon realizing that it was only a Beetleboar cub. The last one remaining from its nest.

"...It looks like a bug." Juzou voiced his thoughts openly. Such a thing really wasn't cute at all. And they said all baby animals were cute. Guess not.

It might look like a helpless cub right now, but pretty soon, it would grow to be like it's parents and start eating other humans too. Best to kill it now than to do it later when the damage had already been done. Plus, it wouldn't survive long in this dangerous place anyway now that it's parents were dead.

Having made up his mind, Juzou raised his Jason, ready to strike down as Bourbon quietly watched without interfering. This could be considered a Mercy Killing for it.

"Ah- don't! That one's just been born!" Suddenly, a fishing hook came out of nowhere and tugged his Jason out of his hands, flinging it into a bush some distance away.

"A-reh~? That wasn't very nice~" Juzou pouted as he watched a little green boy running off towards the place where bloodlust was constantly oozing with the fishing rod still dragging his Jason away.

"Ah. Sorry, Tequila. I guess I'll have to separate from you for now." Giving his short-term fighting companion an apologetic smile, he turned back and began to leisurely chase after the mysterious child.

"It's Bourbon." The man grunted as his snakes went after the forgotten cub, biting it in its unarmored neck and giving it a lethal dose of venom. He really made no effort to hide his pettiness.

Whatever heroic thing that kid was trying to do, it sure was useless now.

"Okay, see ya later, Whisky!" Juzou joked as he disappeared into the mist.

Meanwhile, in another location.

"A homicidal maniac like you has no right to be a hunter!"

"Hope you enjoyed the exam cuz it's your last."

"Hmm... Let's see~♠️" Hisoka said thoughtfully and brandished a single card. "Yes, just this one should suffice."

"Ha- AaaAhhH!!!" With a loud battlecry, dozens of applicants jumped to attack a single man but, in just a few strokes of his card, they all fell down successively, no doubt dead.

It was quite funny how easily they died despite acting so tough before, thinking they had the upper hand due to their numbers.

"Oh dear, so many dropouts~♦️" Hisoka clicked his tongue in pity. "There's just you three left."

Hisoka glanced towards three people who seemed to be discussing something in hushed voices when, suddenly-

"GO!!!"

They all ran in different directions.

"Smart move~♣️" Hisoka smiled in approval. "For that, I'll grant you 10 seconds... One... Two..."

The chilling wind blew eeriely, complementing the deathly fog as it danced in a spectre-like manner, tempting lost wanderers to venture deep into its forests.

"Nine... Ten~" Hisoka fiddled with a card, barely containing his excitement. "Now then, who do I chase down first~?"

Walking strangely with his waist twisting this way and that, he began to stalk towards the treeline but halted shortly after due to an unexpected turn of events.

"No need to choose." Emerging from the fog, a suited man said, armed with a... branch? "It's just not my thing to run away after seeing something like that!"

"Leorio!!!" A blond young man shouted in both disbelief and frustration. With his reaction, the suited man could be concluded to have often done stupid things.

"Huh?! That idiot!!!" This man was more surprised and contemptuous than anything. He might have no prior connection to the suited man before this.

"Fufu... I like your spirit!" Meanwhile, Hisoka commended his action, mostly because he preferred to fight rather than chase down his prey and, the man offering himself was welcomed relief.

Blindly, the suited man charged, no fancy tricks or techniques. Just straight up charged at Hisoka with a branch. It was both amusing and disappointing to the jester. Especially when he was yearning for a good fight to loosen his aching muscles.

"Ack!" It was no surprise to anyone when the hit missed and the man stumbled unsteadily. But, just when Hisoka was about to finish him off, a tiny object appeared from the side and caught him unaware, hitting his cheek with a surprising amount of force.

Smack!

"GON??!!!" The man shouted in a strange mixture of surprise, anger, disbelief, and relief.

And, there, Hisoka spotted a young boy who had immense potential to grow into a powerful opponent. Perhaps, not the most powerful he'd seen in this exam, no, that was reserved for someone else, but still much more powerful than the rest of the rotten and green fruits he'd seen yet. The greatest thing was that this boy had yet to develop and could be completely molded by him to become the most perfect opponent.

"Not bad~♣️" Hisoka chuckled, intrigued by how a strange thing was actually used as a weapon. "A fishing rod? How interesting~"

"May I see~" As Hisoka stalked towards the boy, the man who he now deemed irrelevant, seemed to be angered about being ignored and swung his branch at him.

"Your fight's with me!"

Bang!

And, just like that, with a single punch, the man called Leorio was out cold.

"Urk!!!"

Swish!

The boy swung his fishing rod once again but after losing the element of surprise, his attacks no longer worked and Hisoka evaded it quite easily.

"Here to help your friend?" Hisoka cooed, grabbing him by the neck and choking the child. "What a good boy~♦️"

Though that didn't last for long.

"Well, you look like you're having fun." Emerging from the mist, a young man spoke in a relaxed manner, causing Hisoka to turn around with an excited grin.

"My, what a pleasant surprise to meet you here, Juzou~♣️" Hisoka purred, directing the full brunt of his bloodlust towards Juzou as he dropped the boy to the ground. "To what do I owe the pleasure~?"

"No need to worry. I'm just here to pick up my Jason~" Juzou said, picking his weapon up which seemed to have fallen into the nearby bushes, not reacting to heavy killing intent crashing onto him.

"Now, don't be like that~" Hisoka drawled out, eyes flashing erratically as he started to walk towards Juzou with his waist twisting oddly. "Play with me.♠️"

"I'd like to play with you, Hisoka, but if we don't head towards the second phase soon, we're going to get disqualified~" Juzou hugged his Jason to his chest and began to walk back. And, after just finishing with his own fights, he'd much rather sit in a corner and eat his snacks in peace.

"Aww~ What a pity~♠️" Hisoka said with a pout, cheeks puffed and obviously dissatisfied but, nevertheless, he made no move to attack and, instead, picked up a passed out man who he slung over his shoulder under the watch of a hesitant green child. "Oh, you don't have to worry about him~"

Hisoka smiled to the child in a friendly manner contrary to the previous aggressiveness from before. "He's alive and passed the test~"

"As did you~♣️" He added after a short pause, making Juzou acknowledge the presence of the small boy.

"A child like you should be careful~ You can't just steal someone else's weapon recklessly. That's dangerous~" As he passed by the green child who took away his Jason, Juzou smiled and patted the boy's head, acting as though he didn't mind having his beloved weapon stolen from him at all.

"Ah, you're the guy who killed all those people and animals a while ago!" Suddenly, the boy came to a realization, having recognized Juzou from his weapon and revealed the fact that he had been watching him.

"I didn't kill them~" Juzou defended himself. If they didn't attack him first, he wouldn't have fought back. They were responsible for their own deaths. "I was just assisting them with their surprise suicide!"

"Surprise suicide~" Hisoka smiled, intrigued. "What an interesting way to put it~♦️"

Beep!

"Hisoka, hurry up. The second phase is about to start." An unfamiliar voice spoke from a strange device which looked like a combination of a phone and a tracker.

"We're on our way~" Hisoka hummed, giving the green boy one last meaningful look before walking off into the fog with Juzou. "Friendship is such a fine thing, isn't it, Juzou~♥️"

Juzou tilted his head, not knowing what exactly Hisoka was pertaining to but answered anyway. "It is~"

[150 examinees remain.]

...

DONG!

"The theme of the second exam will be... COOKING!!!"

"Oh, is it starting?" Juzou yawned, leaning against a tree. All this running and fighting was starting to get to him. Now, all he wanted to do was find a nice and quiet corner to take a nap.

He should've bought canned coffee when he had the chance. If he wasn't so distracted by all the snacks and sweets, he wouldn't be having this problem right now.

Somehow, during the time he was daydreaming, the introduction already concluded, with their task being to cook Roast Pork.

Hopefully, they had ingredients stocked in their kitchen or else Juzou wouldn't know what to do. He really wasn't well versed in spotting edible plants that grew naturally in the woods and he'd rather not be disqualified for poisoning the examiners.

Oh, it's Liquor! Maybe he knows what to do!

"So... Cooking~" Juzou, having spotted Bourbon nearby, immediately came over and stuck to him as though they had known each other for a long time.

"What do you think?" Bourbon huffed, making no comment of the other's actions.

"She's very fashionable." Juzou replied seriously, nodding to himself as he popped a candy into his mouth.

Bourbon furrowed his brows, giving the younger man a judgemental side glance. "The test, not the examiner."

Juzou paused, his smile turning into a pout. "Oh, I can't cook."

"Well, we're dead." Bourbon shrugged as he followed the crowd into the forest with Juzou skipping after him. "I can't cook either."

...

Pigs, pigs, pigs... Where are they?!

Bourbon hissed under his breath. He must have circled the surrounding area multiple times already but still caught no sight of the pigs. Just where could they go?

Right when he was about lose his sanity, from the corner of his eye, he suddenly found a familiar person leisurely sitting on a branch partly hidden by the leaves, acting as though he were on a vacation instead of taking an important exam.

What is he doing? Was he not worried about the test at all or was he just not taking it seriously?!

Even though they had nothing to do with each other up until a short while ago, Bourbon couldn't help but feel mildly concerned about this boy who had unintentionally saved him before.

"What are you doing just sitting there?" Bourbon asked, leaping towards the tree branch Juzou perched himself on. "The pigs won't come to you on their own."

"I'm taking advantage of other people~" Juzou replied, not bothered by the fact that he just revealed to someone how he planned to benefit from others efforts.

"Why not work for it yourself?" Bourbon frowned, looking down upon such dishonorable methods but, the next answer made him raise an eyebrow.

"See, our natural scent is too bloody. If we take the normal route, we'd probably never find the pigs. Any normal animal would just hide away from us." Juzou said with a pout.

Does he really smell like blood? Bourbon discretely tried to sniff his clothes.

Juzou squatted on the tree branch beside Bourbon. Both of them hiding within the canopy of the tree secretively for some reason. "So, instead of wasting energy trying to find them myself, I have a better plan."

"Oh? Then, please tell me what exactly this amazing plan is." Bourbon said with scrutiny, mildly suspicious but willing to hear him out.

"See those four over there?" Juzou pointed to a group with two children, one teenager, and one 'middle-aged' man. "My crazy radar tells me that those two children and the blond one are messed in the head~"

"Crazy radar?" What exactly did their mental state have to do with finding pigs?

"Yeah! If you're around crazy people for as much as I have, you'll develop it too. Makes it easier to spot the fun people~" Juzou continued on, not realizing that the person he was talking to had an expression of 'hearing but not comprehending'. "Anyway, the kid in green gives me the feeling that he'll either do something amazing or completely crazy so if we follow them, we might end up finding the pigs with no effort."

Somehow, Bourbon was starting to feel like he had suddenly turned into a babysitter.

"Hmm? Where did they go?" Turning back to watch the four applicants, Juzou's eyes widened in confusion upon realizing they had disappeared during the short moment he didn't pay attention to them.

"Down there." Bourbon pointed towards a slope leading downwards, leaping across branches and travelling ninja style towards where the four applicants disappeared to. "Found them."

"Oh~" Juzou hummed thoughtfully, arriving right after Bourbon to survey the sight below. "Carnivorous animals usually don't taste good~"

There, in front of the four applicants they were tracking, numerous large pigs were munching on what seemed like bones.

Upon realizing that their target turned out to be carnivores and might have just taken them as their next meal, the four unlucky examinees wisely chose to turn around and run, accidentally causing a pig stampede as they did so.

Unfortunately, the commotion also attracted other nearby applicants, creating more competition for Juzou and Bourbon.

Better move now when everyone else was still busy running for their lives.

"You know, my teacher once told me that when certain parts are covered in armor, that means they're covering a weakness." Juzou mused and jumped down right when a pig ran below the branch they were on, landing right on it's soft forehead.

"Thanks for the tip." Bourbon grinned sinisterly and dropped a large non-venomous snake on top of a pig which promptly bit it on it's forehead.

Now, with both of them having successfully acquired their pigs, all that's left was dragging them back to the testing site but, there was a slight problem.

"About the Beetleboars back at the wetland... Would we be able to cook them, by any chance?" Juzou asked hesitantly upon taking in the sight of the pig which was at least one size bigger than the Beetleboars.

"No. Their armor is too thick." Bourbon shook his head decisively. "Roasting it whole wouldn't work. Not to mention, it being part insect probably won't taste good."

"Eh, oh well~" Juzou shrugged and continued lugging his pig back to the test site.

"This pig must be at least three times heavier than Jason's body was!" He exclaimed, changing the topic so fast that other people would've gotten a whiplash.

"Jason's body?" Bourbon huffed in confusion. Last he checked, Jason was a weapon.

"Yeah! Jason used to be a person." Said Juzou, providing no other explanation.

...

DONG!

[70 examinees remain.]

Surprisingly, satisfying Buhara was much easier than expected as he quite literally ate every single roasted pig presented to him and passed them all, leaving only bones in his wake. This time, it was Menchi's turn to judge.

"Second round, phase Two... Here's my order." Menchi began, pausing to add mystery. "I want Sushi!"

Sushi? Juzou tilted his head in recognition amidst the confusion of nearly everyone else.

"You know sushi?" Bourbon asked with an eyebrow raised.

"I don't know how exactly it's made... But I have eaten it before." Juzou said thoughtfully. "Plus, I have a phone with internet connection."

"Internet..." Bourbon's eyes widened in disbelief, as though he couldn't believe he actually forgot the existence of such an obvious solution. "Kid, you're a genius."

Turning around from the crowd, Bourbon and Juzou discretely pulled out their phones and began to search for easy sushi recipes but, despite their secretively movements, a few people still saw what they did. Particularly, a certain clown who had been paying attention to Juzou from the beginning.

Chuckling to himself creepily, Hisoka covered his lips with a card and began to silently follow the two unaware people as they headed towards a nearby river.

Moments later, the rest of the applicants sped off towards the nearby bodies of water as well after some applicants spoke too loudly and exposed the basic recipe for sushi. Really, some people just can't keep secrets.

...

"Psst. I found fish eggs." Juzou whispered to Bourbon secretly as they made their way towards several kitchenettes away from the other examinees.

"Good, good..." Bourbon nodded with a strangely sinister expression, making it seem as though they were conducting an illegal drug deal in the middle of kitchen wares, brandishing a sharp knife as he began to chop up his fish.

...

"No, I think you're supposed to add vinegar to the rice." Juzou said as he peeked at what Bourbon was doing while he cut the fish into heart shaped slices.

"How much vinegar?" Bourbon asked, only to receive a blank stare.

"I don't know." Came the direct reply. "Well, I'm done here so I'll go~"

"Oi."

...

"Fail!"

"I'm still hungry." Juzou mumbled, watching as the examinees were failed one after another. "Bourbon~ Do you still have some sushi left over? I already ate mine."

"There's still a few. You can have it." Still feeling down from his failure despite the effort he put in his work, Bourbon answered rather gruffly, shoving his sushi into Juzou's arms as though he wanted nothing to do with it.

Though, with the way he kept looking at Juzou like he was waiting for him to eat it, it showed that he was actually quite concerned about his creation.

"Oh, great! Thanks for the food~" Paying no mind to the inner workings of Bourbon's complex thoughts, Juzou straightforwardly grabbed a sushi and ate it. "Nom."

"How does it taste?" Bourbon asked with a dark expression, fully prepared to accept bad reviews.

"This is actually good~ I don't know why she failed you." Juzou said as he gobbled the rest of the sushi in the plate. "It tastes much better than the ones I bought from the convenience stores!"

"Then, why-" Hearing the positive comments, somehow Bourbon's expression grew darker instead of easing.

"Actually, Hisoka and 301 made good ones too along with 294, but the examiner still failed them anyway. Well, she failed mine too, so there's that." And, as if to add on to the fire, Juzou informed him in an even tone, as though it had nothing to do with him.

"So, the examiner is failing everyone on purpose?" Bourbon asked with a sneer.

"This exam is just destined to be a bust, I guess~" Juzou shrugged nonchalantly, but then noticed a sudden spike of killing intent coming from his companion.

"Nee~ Bourbon, are you good?" Concerned, he angled his body strangely and looked at the older man, confused about why he was so affected by this.

"No... I need to pass." Bourbon hissed between gritted teeth, eyes flashing with a bloodthirsty light as though he were seconds away from commanding his snakes to attack the examiners.

"That desperately?" Juzou tilted his head as he hugged his Jason within his arms, watching as his companion's expression darkened, fists clenched tightly like he were trying to reign his anger in.

"...Last year, I came just to test my strength. But, this year-" Bourbon looked at Juzou with a steel-like gaze. "I came with a purpose. I have to pass."

In response, Juzou tapped his chin thoughtfully with a relaxed smile.

"Hmm~ You shouldn't be too stressed about it." He said, looking towards the distant sky meaningfully. "You see, things like this that end up being too unfair for a lot of people typically end up being resolved one way or another."

"You just have to wait a little." Juzou said mysteriously.