A Hunter Chronicle – 14

He also picked another one for Kurama and got 406. The blond blinked at the two pieces of paper.

"ARE YOU FREAKEN SERIOUS?"

Naruto shouted as Lippo looked at the numbers before bursting into an uncontrollable laughter.

"THIS IS BULLSHIT!"

Naruto shouted and threw the card on the floor, revealing it to everyone.

He was both hunter and prey as everyone blinked at the freakish luck.

Lippo couldn't stop laughing at how this turned out.

After the third examiner got back his composure, which did take a while and allowed the contestants to enter the boat that had arrived for some time.

He whipped out a radio afterward and called Netero to inform him of the current problem.

"Hmmm… is that so, that kid is strange. I was afraid of Kurama hunting another candidate, but this might work out fine…. Hmm… Oh I know, do this…"

Netero continued explaining how to fix up the next round to accommodate the blond on the radio as Lippo nodded with a devious smile.

He understood what the chairman wanted.

"So which number did you pick?"

Killua said as Naruto leaning back on the ship railing next to Gon.

The Zoldyck's family member already knew who Naruto's prey was from the little commotion before but he wasn't sure what Gon had picked.

"Don't worry, my targets aren't number 405 and it's definitely wasn't 406 or 407, since that would be impossible to get."

Killua said before rubbing the back of his head with a smile.

"Darn straight."

Kurama pointed out the obvious and took pride in his power.

It would literally be impossible to get 406 or 407 from Naruto unless you somehow managed to trick the boy.

That alternative was actually quite easy to do if you knew what the blond's buttons were.

Unfortunately, some of them were berserk button so one had to be careful not to get killed.

"Mine isn't 99… it's…"

Gon said with a weak smile and show Killua the number 44, which was Hisoka's.

"No way…"

Killua said as Gon just laughed before stopping abruptly and looked at the spikey white hair boy.

They both face palmed.

"You want me to steal it for you?"

Naruto offered as Gon shook his head.

He wanted to complete the task on his own power while Naruto had a smile on his face, approving it. It was good that Gon didn't take the easy way out.

Even if Gon accepted, Naruto wouldn't do it for him anyway since that would just get him killed next round.

The trio chatted some more while Kurapika and Leorio checked the sea close by.

They were thinking about how to capture their prey.

"Please leave the boat in the order of your arrival at the bottom of the towers during the previous round. But first, there is another announcement. A bonus task."

The female guide called out as everyone looked at her, wondering what this bonus task was.

"As you know, your prey tag is worth 3 points, while your own one is worth 3 points. All other one is worth 1 point each. You needed a total of 6 points after the week is over to be able to move onto the next round," the girl restated the rule of the round as everyone nodded. Lippo had told them before they got on the boat, so this wasn't anything new. Naruto yawned a bit, not paying much attention to the girl. He was looking at the island. It was covered almost entirely in foliage and reminded him a little of his old village.

"There's actually an exception to that rule as the Netero-sama had modified this round in light of a new situation. No.406 and No.407 badges are worth 6 points each. If you have either of them, you will be qualified for the next round."

The girl pointed out with a smile.

"WHAT?"

Naruto shouted, so did everyone else before they eyed the blond.

"JIJI, I'M GOING TO PRANK YOU SO BAD FOR THIS! WHY YOU SINGLE ME OUT!"

Naruto yelled, standing up and put his hands in the air.

"Hey, if that the case, we just need to hunt down Naruto."

Leorio told Kurapika implying Naruto currently has two badges, one for each of them.

Kurapika just shook his head, dismissing that idea.

"I think it would be easier for me to hunt down my prey. It's almost impossible to catch Naruto off guard."

Kurapika pointed out.

Leorio sweat dropped as he realized his mistake.

It was true after all; even asleep, the blond could avoid them on purely instinct.

They weren't trying then, but it was still creepy.

"Hey, maybe you should catch Naruto."

Killua whispered into Gon's ear as the spikey black hair kid looked at Naruto, who was screaming vengeance at Netero in the sky.

The chairman wasn't there, but Naruto didn't know that, or maybe he just didn't care and wanted to vent his anger.

"Give it up, your target is much easier than that idiot over there."

Kurama said as Gon nodded slowly in agreement.

To catch Naruto would be a lot harder than Hisoka.

At least Hisoka wouldn't know that Gon was hunting him.

The first candidates, Hisoka departed first.

Two minutes went by as required time gap between candidates before Naruto stepped off the boat. He walked toward the foliage a bit and sat on the sands and faced the contestants.

"HEY MORON, YOU'RE SUPPOSE TO HIDE!"

One of the contestants called out as everyone looked attentive at the blond, wondering what he was doing.

Most of them were all gunning for him and wanted to take his badges.

Alone, they wouldn't stance a chance, but together, there was a slim chance.

"Hmmm… I just want to see the look on your faces when I do this."

Naruto said as he stood up and did a hands seal.

"Kage Bushins (Shadow Clones)."

Naruto muttered as the surrounding exploded in white smoke.

The fog cleared slowly to reveal hundreds, almost a thousand, of Naruto standing about with a childish smile on their face.

Everyone eyes budged out, as this was the first time, they seen such a technique after all.

"There's only one real me here! So, if you do this."

One of Narutos said before grabbing a badge off him.

It ripped through his cloth before he exploded in white smoke and dispelled.

"I will disappear, along with the badges! So, hunting the fakes won't net you anything!"

All the clones shouted. Not that it was easy to hunt them.

They might have reduced powers, but they were still pretty fast and nimble.

"You think it was going to be easy to gang up on me? Bring it on; I take you all on, Dattebayo!"

They all shouted before dashing into the woods.

Many of them jumping across the tree; swinging like monkeys.

A few exploded as they tripped over each other while a few was snoozing on the sands, uncaring at all.

"Darn, catching Naruto has become impossible now."

Leorio said as everyone jaw dropped at the retreating sight of their mutual prey, thinking the same thing.

They all looked at their assigned prey number again before heading off as the female guide called them out.

They rather chase after that one than the hundreds of Narutos that now wandering in the woods doing god knows what.

The boat finally let off its last candidate and headed out to sea, and away from the island. In the control room, Lippo sat and checked the monitor.

"Now, where is everyone."

Lippo said and noticed two small blinking dots, indicating candidates, were still on the boat.

He tapped the screen to make sure it wasn't a mistake and check what dots they were.

His eyes bulged out as the screen shown who it was.

The two dots were also in the same room as him.

He looked up and saw Naruto sitting upside down the ceiling smiling at him.

"WHEN DID YOU GET BACK ON THE SHIP?"

Lippo shouted in agitation.

The darn kid was giving him headache, and constantly screwing up the exam.

"Huh? I never left."

Naruto replied childishly, wanting to use the monitor to see what everyone was doing.

He also gained some memory back from the clones that exploded.

Yep, our hero isn't even on the island.

All the clones were fakes! Have fun hunting, you poor candidates!