CHAPTER 33:
"Come on, up we go, rise and shine!"
Biscuit woke up the trio before dawn had even started to rise. They were at least able to sleep lying down for the first time in days since they started Biscuit's training regimen. Not that anyone was going to openly complain. It was hard to catch sleep when you felt like a deer in the long grass. Despite their backgrounds in training and hardships, Biscuit had a unique factor of wrapping her lessons for them to decipher.
She directed them, standing with her shoulder's square and chin raised high, she made her announcement in a tone that was difficult to defy. As if she deliberately wanted to make them nervous. "This time you're going to collect every monster card in this region."
Still wiping their eyes, the three glanced at each other.
"All of them?" Gon blurted.
Biscuit's smile was razor-thin. "Every. Single. One."
Killua crossed his arms, his gaze sharpening. "And the catch?"
At this point, they were aware that nothing Biscuit presented was a flat surface; they had to always look for something beneath. A lot like her. This was her style of doing things. Depth of perception.
"None of these should be impossible for you. If you're lacking anything, it's not strength or speed, it's the ability to observe." She paused, her eyes lingering especially on Gon and Killua. "To analyze. To think on your feet. Combat isn't just about throwing punches, it's about understanding what you're fighting."
That single pamphlet of advice was all Biscuit was willing to offer for what was meant to be a novel of training.
She clapped her hands together and held them in place, "So let's get started, shall we?"
"Can we go to the bathroom first?"
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As usual, no time was wasted getting to monster hunting. Killua defined this as the perfect reminder that this entire ordeal, where they were at, was nothing more than a game they were playing. At least that's how the rest of the world would see it, but them? The hunters who entered knew this was like stepping into a world where the rules of reality applied only to them. Including death.
Biscuit stayed behind, urging them not to let the day burn away like a lit candle. While they were taken aback by her demand, Gon, Sakura, and Killua appeared visibly excited at the prospect of playing the game. It wasn't the primary quest to collect all cards and actually beat the game, but it was their starting point. They wanted to see for themselves what results had sprouted from Biscuit's hellish training. Turning them more into hunters by the day.
"Think we can take on all of the monsters on our own now?" Gon asked, cracking his knuckles.
Killua walked beside him, hands stuffed in his pockets as he rolled his shoulders. "After all that training? We better."
"How long do you think it'll take to collect every monster card in this area?"
In a forest area, there were more opportunities for animals or in this case, monsters to thrive following the same logic. There were plenty of places to hide, supplies of resources like food and water. However, in the desolate area they were in, it didn't offer much of anything. Biscuit hadn't just thrown them into this blindly, though; she'd already scouted the terrain, captured a few monsters herself. So she knew how many monsters lurked in this place. And she'd be aware if they were short-handed.
"If we count the monsters we ran into before, it shouldn't take too long. Bet I can bag them all in a few days, though."
That's when Gon began to rave, a competitive spark igniting between them. "I can do it faster!"
"Oh yeah?"
"Yeah!"
The two launched into their familiar back-and-forth, voices rising like sparring birds, until Sakura cleared her throat. "Funny, since I'm the one who already has a few monsters captured. You two were too busy running away last time."
The effect was instant, and the boy's face became beet-red. Gon's jaw dropped. Killua's eye twitched.
"Okay," Gon declared, jabbing a finger into the air. "Whoever captures all the monsters first gets to make the losers do whatever they want for a whole day!"
While they didn't know how many monsters there were lurking in the area or how long it was going to take to capture all of them, nor what weaknesses they had, there was one clear goal they could both agree on now. Do not let Sakura beat them again.
"Fine, I don't have a problem with that. Since I already have more monsters than the two of you put together,"
A little vein throbbed on Killua's forehead, his shoulder meeting his ears as he shook with a crooked smile. "Alright then and no secret alliances." He pointed between Gon and Sakura. "That means no teaming up."
Sakura tilted her head, feigning innocence. "Why? Afraid we'd gang up on you?"
Killua's face pulled. "No."
It was as if the fates had had enough of their bickering, because the ground chose that moment to tremble. A rhythm that went straight to your bones, but it was welcomed; in fact, that's when the three started to pull their concentration. Listening and feeling for the shift, as it grew, learning the direction it was originating, determining the size, and calculating arrival.
'Now!'
Something massive was approaching, and something familiar. It appeared quickly from a distance. The Melanin Lizard carved its way through, its trail digging up trenches in the dirt as it surged toward them.
"That didn't take long." Gon and Killua moved their stances, ready to bolt. But when they turned, Sakura had vanished. One second she was there; the next, she was a blur of pink, reappearing atop a distant boulder. Below, Gon and Killua stood frozen for half a heartbeat.
"What the-
"No help, remember? I already got one of them." Sakura was deliberately cheeky, as if wanting to distract them. Since the monster was already pinned in her binder, she had this time to enjoy the show of the boys running for their lives from an aerial seal while the lizard chased them throughout the day.
Killua's glare could've melted stone. "I'm putting a scorpion in her blanket tonight."
"At least we've got our first monster!" Gon said, sounding optimistic.
"Not this monster!" Killua snapped, vaulting over a fallen log as the lizard's jaws snapped shut where his ankles had been.
Sakura giggled watching the boys, they might not have realized it from below, but she could see they had grown in speed. This test that Biscuit had set for them was going to be more than just learning to fight, but also to adapt and seek out their opponents' weaknesses, to grow. And, if they were lucky, to outdo each other spectacularly along the way.
After all what were friends for?
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"That was hell," Killua wiped a smudge of dirt from his chin, cracking his neck.
"It's only the first day," Gon beamed. "We should stay out longer,"
"It's nearly dark out." Sakura pointed, noting the sun dipping below the horizon. It was always the warmest at this point. But she could appreciate the way the colors of amber and violet would paint the sky for a few minutes. It was especially nice after a chaotic day.
"Exactly, I'm sure there are monsters that like to come out only at night."
"That's a good point," said Killua.
"Let's start tomorrow then," Sakura suggested.
"You're just saying that because you're ahead of us with the monster collection."
Sakura pinched Gon's cheek out of his pout. "You guys need a bath."
She was the only one in the same condition she left in this morning, offering to give the boys a day's head start, so she could spend hers laughing at the show they put on. At the end of the day, Killua and Gon looked like they had been tied to the back of a wagon and dragged along the wilderness backwards.
They were trudging into the clearing, their clothes caked in dirt and hair matted with sweat and grim. All the rewards reaped from a relentless cycle of chasing, dodging, and grabbing at every single monster that crossed their path, even if everything was happening all at once. The Melanin Lizard had been too aggressive, the Hyper Puff Ball too swift; both creatures, Sakura had already tucked neatly into her book without breaking a sweat. And to top it off, Sakura, who had been so entertained in watching them fumble over themselves, also failed to find any new monsters for herself.
At the end, they returned to camp with the same results but different barrings.
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"Tomorrow we're splitting up," Killua declared, his hair dripping wet after throwing the bucket haphazardly over himself to clear off the dirt.
Sakura sat cross-legged by the campfire, her chin propped in her hand.
"Not so easy to catch monsters, huh?" she asked, tossing a wet towel at Gon.
Gon caught it with a grunt and immediately began scrubbing at his arms, sending clumps of dirt pattering to the ground. "I guess they don't stay in the same places,"
"Maybe you should've thought about that before you went running around like headless chickens," Sakura said, plucking another towel from the pile and motioning for Gon to turn around. He obeyed, presenting his back, which she began wiping down.
"It wasn't that long ago you wanted us to run away from them."
"Yeah, but we're stronger now," Gon insisted, twisting to take the towel from her once she was done. He then turned to Killua, who stood with his arms crossed, scowling at the fire. Without a word, Gon started wiping down Killua's back.
Fixing them dinner by the fire, Biscuit looked over the three, "It doesn't matter if you didn't catch anything on the first day. But you're going to have to keep trying until you've got them all in this region,"
"How do you know if we even have all of them?" asked Gon.
"Because I caught all of them already," Biscuit stated. There was no pride or arrogance in her tone of voice, but something much worse. Facts. And that fact told them to accept was that Biscuit was leaps ahead. In this game and as a hunter.
Killua stiffened but didn't protest, deciding to turn his attention back to his friend, "Thanks, Gon, I'm good now."
"But your hair is still wet."
"It'll dry in this air,"
He moved to leave, but Sakura's voice stopped him.
"Hey, Killua." She held out a towel. "My turn."
Killua blinked. "Why? You didn't even sweat today. You just sat there watching us fumble around."
"I'm still covered in dirt," she pointed out, gesturing to the dust clinging to her shoulders and back. Killua hesitated, his expression caught somewhere between irritation and something unreadable.
"I'll do it for you," Gon offered cheerfully.
"Thanks, Gon,"
Killua's eye twitched. "Ugh, fine," he snapped, snatching the towel from her hand.
He stepped behind her, his movements stiff. Sakura had shed her outer shirt, leaving only her sports bra, the muscles of her back visible in the firelight. Killua's fingers hovered for a second too long before he finally pressed the towel to her skin, wiping in short, awkward strokes.
Sakura tilted her head. "Something wrong?"
"You look like a boy from behind," Killua said bluntly.
The towel froze mid-swipe.
Gon gasped. "Killua! You can't say that! Girls are sensitive!"
"Where did you hear that?" Sakura demanded, twisting to glare at him. "And I am not."
Killua rolled his eyes, gesturing at her. "Yeah, and this girl?"
Sakura's eye twitched. Then, with a smile that was all teeth, she leaned forward. "Oh yeah, since you two didn't catch any monsters today, that makes me the de facto winner."
The boys went rigid before they all burst out into arguments, over the rules of the bet, how they hadn't completed their tasks yet, trying to cheat until Biscuit finally threw the ladle at their heads. Gon and Killua went to bed that night, more determined than ever to catch all their monsters by tomorrow.
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A week had passed, and Sakura's collection of monster cards had grown faster than weeds, leaving Gon and Killua scrambling to catch up. The benefits of her victories had been sweet, watching them grumble through meals under her amused supervision. She didn't get to experience this level of competitiveness with Sasuke and Naruto. Their focus had been laxed in on each other only, blocking out everything else from their vision when it came to outdoing each other. In turn, Sakura had missed out on the appeal of competition and besting. Like a child being told they were part of the game and being told to sit on the bench and watch, only to realise later they were never playing.
The Bubble Horse stood before her. It's funnel-like mouth exhaling streams of red and white bubbles that drifted lazily through the air until it spun its tail, fanning it in Sakura's direction. They bobbed and weaved, forming an ever-shifting barrier between her and her prey.
Sakura exhaled slowly, her fingers flexing. She had brute-forced her way through most of the monsters so far, overpowering them with her chakra-filled punches, and they worked. It seemed not even monsters could escape her monster-strength. It was one of the reasons Tsunade was referred to as hokage despite her vices, including coins and booze.
All of the cards had descriptions, including the game's monsters. Sometimes the creatures had a weakness mentioned, and sometimes they could be tied to Nen techniques. And if she wanted to truly master this world's power, she needed to stop fighting like a shinobi and more like a hunter. But that didn't mean the skills weren't coming in handy or giving her a 'hax' as Killua once put it.
Sakura darted forward, testing the bubbles again. The red ones burst against her skin in harmless pops, while the white ones bounced off, unharmed.
Why? She frowned. Both had touched her skin. Both had reacted differently. There had to be a bit of mad scientist in a great medic. And they had to know the scientific method like scripture. Even though this was a game meant for hunters, it was the tools in her ninja kit that got her ahead in terms of tracking.
Is it aura?
A theory sparked in her mind. She activated Ten, letting her aura cloak her body like a second skin, and stepped forward again. The white bubbles bounced away. Then, switching to Zetsu, she cut off her aura entirely, and this time, when a red bubble brushed her arm, it burst instantly.
'Ah, so that's what it is.' A smirk tugged at her lips. There were easier ways to do this, a quicker way. But this wasn't just about capturing the monster; it was about training her Nen. Growing a new power, even if it meant moving to another point in the garden.
Sakura lunged forward, her body a blur as she weaved through the bubble field. Using Ten, white bubbles bounced off. With Zetsu red ones burst apart. She switched between the two states with the precision of a thread through a needle, her movements fluid, her mind sharp. The Bubble Horse reared back, startled by her sudden advance, but she was already upon it.
One hand shot out, her fingers brushing its shimmering hide, and captured. The monster dissolved into light, condensing into a card in her palm.
Sakura exhaled, grinning. "The boys are going to flip."
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"And what's what I did today,"
Even with the book in front of her face, showing off her latest card, they could see the tearing grin on Sakura's face. For a moment, the crackles of the campfire were all they could hear. Sakura held up the Bubble Horse card on display, just far enough away that the boys couldn't read its fine print.
"Wait, you got the Bubble Horse?" Killua's eyebrows shot up. "That thing's impossible to pin down!"
"Sakura, how did you figure out-
"Secret,"
Killua scoffed, but couldn't hide the competitive gleam in his eyes. He had managed to get that slime monster today, but it seemed pointless to boast about anything now.
"I caught the Worm Monster today!" Gon added, brandishing his own prize, opening his binder, and displaying a card depicting the very creatures that had chased them through tunnels weeks ago.
This display gave Killlua the push to show off his own binder. The slime monster and another card, this one showing the Hyper Puff Ball, its cotton-like form frozen mid-bounce.
Gon's jaw dropped. "No way! You caught it already?! How?!"
"Secret," Killua sing-songed, mimicking Sakura's earlier evasion.
Biscuit watched the three go on with impressed fascination. She assumed it would've taken at least a month for the boys to collect the cards. But they managed to push themselves to gather more than half the monsters out here in a week.
'At this rate, they're going to be done in less than a month,' Biscuit glanced over at Sakura,
'I thought she was just holding them back,' Biscuit mused, absently twirling a lock of hair around her finger. 'But it looks like she's a good source of motivation, too.'
Choosing to become a rival instead of a shield now, she had forced the boys to sharpen themselves. And, they were rising to the challenge beautifully.
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The campfire had burned down to embers, and the only sounds were the crickets chirping along with the snores of the only human residents in the area. Everyone was curled in their sleeping bags, all resting well except for one.
Killua had been waiting. He counted the seconds between each breath, his ears straining for the telltale hitch that meant she was deep in sleep. When he was certain, he moved like a shadow, slipping out of his bedroll with practiced silence.
Gon's eyes snapped open instantly.
"Killua? What are you doing?" he whispered, sitting up.
Killua clamped a hand over his mouth, leaning in so close his breath tickled Gon's ear. "I'm taking Sakura's ring."
Gon's eyebrows shot up. "Why?"
"If we get the ring, maybe we can open her book," Killua hissed, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "The descriptions have facts about the monsters, weaknesses, and habits. It'll help us beat them."
Gon frowned. "But isn't that cheating?"
Killua's eye twitched. "She's gonna beat us in one day, and we still have at least three monsters left. Cheating is just a strategy when you're losing."
Gon opened his mouth to argue, but Killua was already creeping toward Sakura's sleeping form. Reluctantly, Gon followed, his bare feet silent on the ground.
Killua knelt beside her, his fingers hovering over her outstretched hand. The ring glinted in the moonlight. He held his breath as he pinched it between his thumb and forefinger, easing it off her finger. Sakura's eyes flew open.
"What are you two doing?"
"RUN!"
Killua and Gon bolted like startled deer, their feet kicking up dirt as they vanished into the darkness. Sakura sat up, blinking the remnants of sleep from her eyes, before she lunged after them.
"GET BACK HERE!"
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"I know you're here," Sakura called. Glancing around the seemingly empty plains. "You can't use Zetsu to hide forever."
Gon and Killua had separated in their rush out into the darkness to get away from Sakura. They used Zetsu as quickly as possible and hoped that would be enough to keep them hidden.
With Gon's ears and eyes, he could maneuver better through the night, and he could see Sakura moving along the plains despite being less than a silhouette. However, Gon failed to realize how the ninja operated and the tricks they had up their sleeves. Like clones made of smoke.
Gon, crouched behind a boulder, peeked out….And Sakura was right behind him.
He yelped, but she clapped a hand over his mouth before he could make another sound. "Shh," she whispered. "Play along."
Gon's eyes widened, but he nodded.
Meanwhile, Killua had ducked behind a cluster of bushes, certain he'd escaped. He held up the ring, grinning to himself.
'Now let's see what she's got,'
Then two shadows loomed over him.
"Nice try," Sakura said, snatching the ring back in one swift motion. Gon grabbed Killua's arms, pinning them behind his back as Sakura stood over him, her smirk victorious.
"How did you even find me?!"
"Gon sniffed you out," Sakura said, tapping her nose.
"Killua smells like sweets," Gon added helpfully.
Killua's face burned. "I do not-
He twisted suddenly, breaking free from Gon's grip and lunging for the ring. Sakura sidestepped, but Killua's momentum sent them all tumbling backward-
And then they were rolling, a tangled mess of limbs, down the steep hillside.
They landed in a heap at the bottom: Killua sprawled across Sakura's stomach, Sakura half-crushing Gon's chest, and Gon wheezing under the weight of both of them.
Killua's hand had somehow ended up pressed against Sakura's side. He flexed his fingers absently.
"Did you put on weight?" he asked, genuinely curious.
The night erupted into chaos.
That's all for now Folks. I hope this read gives you a breather from any tough times, and that 2026 will be your new best year!
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EARLY CHAPTERS FOR MEMBERS NOW: BUYMEACOFFEE
-Kunoichi amongst Heroes chapter (95, 96, 97, 98)
-Kunoichi amongst Pirates chapter (42,43, 44)
-Crossroads of Fate chapter (34, 34, 35, 36, 37)
-Through the Looking Glass chapter ( 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48)
- (Bleach crossover) Kunoichi amongst Reapers: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
-Commission: Demon slayer x My hero academia (PART 1 & 2)
- Kunoichi amongst Benders (Avatar x Naruto crossover) (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
-Kunoichi amongst Heroes WHAT IF SPIN OFF: Dorms and Exams
-(SEQUEL) Through the Spyglass chapter 1, 2, 3, 4, 5,6
-SPECIAL HALLOWEEN CHAPTER: Shinigami amongst Shinobi