A Hunter Chronicle – 16

One of the Naruto got pierced through the heart and he exploded.

Killua was fighting dozens of them right now, they were very agile and quick, but relatively easy to kill.

One of the Narutos was sitting on a tree branch watching the fight as he continued to devour the 'liberated' biscuits.

His clones were under strict orders not to use any deadly technique, and they should give their opponent a chance to win.

Killua managed to kill a lot of Narutos so far.

Killua dodged a few fists at they missed him and carved up the earth and tree.

He flipped backward before ducking down to avoid a leg swipe across the back of his head from his blind spot.

'They're a lot weaker than the real Naruto, I can do this.'

Killua thought as he dodged a few more and quickly suppressed his presence and became hidden from sight as all Narutos looked around.

Some of them exploded as Killua assassinated them from the shadow.

"Wow, he's really is an assassin, I could barely feel his presence. Hmm… let's up the level a bit."

The one on the tree muttered creating another clone and popping that, allowing the new knowledge to propagate among the other, hence his command.

He bit off another biscuit, watching in anticipation.

All the clones nodded simultaneously as new memory entered their mind, and they removed the restriction on their ability.

Their strength and speed were now 10% of the original, which would be far more devastating to most candidates, and would kill them outright with a single hit.

But Killua needed a challenge.

The clones began to feel Killua's presence nearby without seeing him as they dodged the killing blow.

Killua was surprised for the first time that his killing strike had missed its mark as one of them grab his arm and slammed him into the ground over their shoulder.

Killua quickly rolled to the side, dodging the incoming fist that shattered the ground, shaking the earth.

'They have gotten a lot stronger, they didn't hesitate at all… are they trying to kill me!?'

Killua thought grimly as several beads of sweat slide down from his temple.

He immediately putted his hand up in a guard mode, blocking a kick from one of the clones from his blind spot.

It was futile.

The kick had enough power behind it to send him flying.

His body impacted into a tree, snapping that in half, but it did slow him down.

His guard arm ringed in pain for only a moment, but it recovered quickly.

"Shit… maybe it's too much."

Naruto muttered, seeing the clone kicked his friend away.

Killua stood up, and brushed himself, seemingly unaffected by the kick and checked if his bones were broken.

They weren't.

Killua eyes became deadly, they were now true killer eyes as he disappeared from view, one of the clones exploded in white smoke revealing Killua had impaled it.

He disappeared again, but this time his hand was caught by his intended target as his nails barely contacted the clone's chest.

The clones were surprised at Killua increased speed, but he was still slower than them as they quickly recovered from their shock.

The one that grabbed the offending arm sucker punch Killua into the ground, sending up dirt as the boy coughed out a bit of blood.

Killua was dismayed.

Even at his best, he could not fight them one on one, let alone fight them all.

So far, they have stopped ganging up on him, allowing him time to breath.

Grisly thoughts entered the young assassin's mind.

"Well, Killua have already passed my test, but I wanted to see how far he would go, I think it's…"

Naruto eyes narrowed as he saw Killua stood up, holding his head in distressed.

"What?"

Naruto muttered, seeing the strange behavior in his friend.

'You cannot defeat him… run…'

A voice in his head called out.

Killua was trembling.

He was completely frightened before the remaining clones.

The clones had a confused expression on.

Their friend had changed.

What before them wasn't a fearless assassin; it was a child who was terrified at facing someone much stronger.

"This isn't Killua… could it be Nen?"

Naruto, licking his teeth to remove the biscuit crumps before channeling charka into his eyes and saw a needle embedded in Killua's head.

It was constantly sending foreign energy into the boy's brain.

"When did that happen?"

Naruto asked himself, realizing whose weapon that was.

His other clones were still fighting Gittarackur elsewhere, and they were winning as the fighter reflex was getting slow from the exhaustion.

It was also interesting to know via the clone that was defeated.

Gittarackur wasn't who he appeared to be.

Naruto jumped down from his spot and dispelled all his clones in sight.

Killua trembling stopped as Naruto walked toward him.

The spiky white hair boy knew this was the real one.

"Naruto…"

Killua said weakly.

"Pull it out! You are better than this, how could you allow other to control you."

Naruto said as his killing intent enveloped the area and placed an enormous pressure on Killua.

"Conquer your fear, pulled it out! YOU ARE AN ASSASSIN! FEAR HAS NO PLACE IN YOU!"

Naruto roared as the whole island filled with deadly aura.

It wasn't concentrated at anyone at all since that would knock them out cold.

"Hmmm… someone really ticked off Naruto."

Hisoka muttered as he placed a card vertical across his lip and smile.

"Are you done yet?"

Hisoka spoke into the radio.

Nothing but static was on the other side.

"Oh well, too bad, I wonder what his score was."

Hisoka yawned a bit and laid back, waiting for the stupid exam to end.

There probably weren't anyone left on the island that he could hunt beside the hundreds of Narutos.

Fighting them was pointless. He wanted to fight the real one.

"Get up Gon, is that all you have?"

Kurama said.

The humanoid fox looked at the downed boy with his crimson red eyes while birds vacated their nest overhead.

'What are you doing Naruto?'

Kurama thought as he felt the menacing aura surrounding them.

Gon stood up, breathing heavily and threw a fist at Kurama, ignoring the now dread atmosphere.

Gon had conviction in his eyes.

He truly wanted to be stronger.

Kurama side stepped the clumsy attack before saying: "Right."

Gon immediately turned right but got a 'light' slap on his left side sending him into the ground once more.

It was light slap from Kurama, but it hurt like hell to Gon.

"Trust your instinct! Stop getting tricked so easily! You are too trusting! In fight, ruse is also a weapon!"

Elsewhere.

"Shit, I never felt such shiver before."

Leorio muttered as Kurapika face palmed but didn't correct his partner.

'You did feel it before dumbass, but you passed out then! At least you didn't this time, so this is an improvement.'

Kurapika thought as he navigated through the forest, eyeing carefully for whatever was out of place.

There were a few things that shouldn't exist in the forest, they were incredibly suspicious.

Returning back to Killua, who was shaking heavily as the bright blue eyes looked directly at him.

The deadly glare was urging Killua to do what it was needed.

"I don't want to kill anymore; I don't want to be an assassin, I want to have fun…"

Killua said looking his hands as veins started to appear across it, strengthening his hands muscles, and made them strong enough to rip a man heart out.

"You are an assassin and you always will be!"

Naruto pointed at the boy accusingly as Killua's eyes went dark.

"But you know what? So am I. I'm ruthless, deadly, violent, blood thirsty and I know who I am. I accepted it. But it doesn't mean that I can't be kind, compassionate and loyal. I always want to have fun and enjoy life! Who said an assassin can't be more than they are? I am an assassin, I am a shinobi DATTEBAYO! BUT I AM ALSO ME! SO, PULL THAT THING OUT AND BE YOURSELF, DO NOT LET IT DICTATE WHAT YOU ARE!"

Naruto shouted, letting the words sink into Killua's skull.

The spikey silver hair boy mustered his strength and pulled the pin out of his head.

Blood sprayed across the grass in one swift motion.

Killua felt his head became light and fell slowly toward the ground as foreign Nen was expelled from his body.

Naruto immediately appeared by his side and cushioned him with his arm before he could hit the dirt.

"Thanks Naruto…"

Killua said, smiling weakly and looking up at the blond.

"No problem, that's what friends are for. Sorry for beating you up, I just wanted to know how strong you really are."

Naruto said as Killua nodded in understanding.

"Friends… yeah… I guess we are…"

Killua muttered as he fallen into blissful sleep, and slightly accepted who he was… is. Even if he didn't, he wasn't alone… not anymore.

He had at least one friend in this world.

Naruto was like him, an assassin.

Naruto bandaged his unconscious friend's head with some stuff he took out from his scroll.

Messy the job was; he wasn't a medic.

That never was his forte.

While he was doing that, he started to wonder what the reason behind the pin was.

It had stopped Killua from truly become stronger, stunning his growth.

Everyone has their fears and obstacles, but real strength came from those who can conquer it and break through the barrier to reach new height.

It was only then that they can truly grow.