SALUTATIONS EVERYONE!
Another year comes to an end, and it has been wild for me. NOt what I expected but what ever is. There are so many new projects, from a new business, to new stories, and a newsletter I've started which I'll be sharing soon. It'll all be on my Tublr Page for updates and voting.
As I wrap up this year, I'm already prepping for next year 2026, where I hope I can create more delights of works for you all.
Enjoy the Chapter!
CHAPTER 31: Bisky's Curriculum
While no one knew what kind of expectations to hold for the enigmatic game Greed Island or what being a player entailed, this was very far from what they could imagine would occur. However, no one was seeing it in a negative light.
The progress of Gon and Killua in the span of seven days was like watching a seed become a tree in that same amount of time. Awe-inspiring, shocking, and outright impossible by normal standards, but that was just it about hunters. You had to be extraordinary to become one and even more so to continue to exist as one.
With their improvement being carried out in front of the audience of three, Sakura, Biscuit, and Binolt. Who was also having the progress of the two boys being carved into his flesh and mind. It wasn't long before they were overpowering him; the two who had seemed little more than pebbles in his path to freedom were now mountains he couldn't climb. And in a long time, Binolt was beginning to feel emotions he believed he had cut out with his own hands.
Despair.
There was no kindness behind these children's attacks, even when they weren't doing much to provoke him, even when they slept at the same time, allowing him to also recover. But his nights were filled with restless worries and voices whispering to him, to at least try to sneak away. But he knew it had become impossible. Their antenna was tuned quicker than he could react, and now he was trapped. This was more than just daily combat; it was becoming a battle of wills. One he was desperately attempting to win. And yet knew his chances were as thin as a hair.
Then there was Sakura, who was facing her own challenges. Quietly but no less brutal. Her body curled like a comma as she slept in stolen snatches between training sessions. This was her form of growth, where her new master had planted her. In a much different soil than the two boys. No, she wanted to drag her to the brink of exhaustion. Biscuit would come at her in these unpredictable intervals that had made this more than just a regular training session, but a mental challenge. Her attacks swift and silent as a ninja. However, she was not making things easy for Biscuit, despite the woman's strength and overwhelming experience.
She was superior in terms of Nen use; however, Sakura had chakra to make up for what she lacked in that area. And that had become a pull and push of tides, with both trying to overtake the shores of the other.
But they had taken time to step away and observe Killua and Gon. Biscuit had been convinced that the curtains of their performance were going to be drawn very soon, and she didn't want to miss it.
On this seventh day, that's when things finally came to a halt. When Binolt dropped his scissors and fell to his knees, admitting defeat, he was ready to place his fate in the hands of the young boys. More than grateful to just put an end to this torment. There were worse things than death, and that was existing without a purpose. And in the midst of his exchange, Binolt came to realize the insignificance of his own. He had been a tool to make these children stronger, and they had surpassed him quicker than it took him to commit his third kill in his life.
Binolt lay sprawled in the dirt, his breath coming in ragged gasps. His eyes, that were once sharp with predatory cunning, were hollow now, as if something inside him had fractured under the relentless pressure of Gon and Killua's growth.
"I'm done," he rasped, voice stripped of its usual sneer. "Kill me."
He believed what came next would be swift, with just a moment of pain, nothing he hadn't become accustomed to. However, what he met next reminded him that he had been bested by a child.
"Why would we kill you?" Gon asked, with genuine confusion in his voice. His eyes filled with an innocence that shone through even in the most inappropriate situations. "You've helped us a lot. Thanks to you, we were able to get stronger." He ended with a respectful bow. "Thank you!"
Unbeknownst to Gon, that was the moment a shift came to Binolt, who had lost his fighting spirit in the midst of that gorge. And when he took his leave, he left behind his belt of scissors and stated that he would turn himself in. Somehow, that promise was enough for Biscuit to allow him to walk freely. Despite her intuition, she was surprised that Gon's pure nature seemed to be contagious. She just hoped it wouldn't be too much of a hindrance in the future.
Killua hadn't been as certain about letting Binolt leave freely; however, he wouldn't speak against Gon's wishes, and neither would Sakura. Even if they shared the same sentiment.
With the conclusion met, they assumed this would mark the end of their day, as the first phase was complete. However, they failed to realize exactly that Biscuit intended to stay true to her word. That she was not as soft as Wing. And she was going to remind them of it right now.
Before Gon and Killua could properly catch their breath, she made the announcement. "Alright! Let's head to Masadora!"
As she held her finger in the air, the three remembered her previous rules and reacted, reading the number she had created with Gyo.
"Nine!" Sakura was the first to call out, a millisecond ahead. Showing off her trained reflexes. After so many sparring sessions with Biscuit, she had become familiar with some of her habits. And her favorite was to pull a fast one. Something she took beyond her fights and integrated into other aspects of her life.
Biscuit didn't praise her, but chirped at the boys as if she were assigning homework. "Sakura wins. Gon, Killua, give me three thousand push-ups."
The boys groaned, not so much for the punishment, but because they were being bested once again by their friend. And after they had reached a new height, they were only to be reminded that there was a taller mountain not too far away.
As they got on the floor and started doing their sets, Sakura leaned down, "Don't take too long, boys."
They groaned. Realizing this was going to be their routine for a while. Who said playing games with friends was always fun?
..
..
The next 70 kilometers were filled with blurs of rocky terrains with steeps cliffs meant for mountain goats to climb, barren landscapes, open fields, abandoned villages that looked like they had a story to tell, and dust clouds kicked up from the four as they travelled towards their destination. Barely given time to admire the scenery. Biscuit was leading their little herd, moving effortlessly through the elements in her bright doll-like dress.
Gon, Sakura, and Killua followed shortly behind her. They didn't exchange more than a few words during this time, other than their excitement for whatever had caught their eye in this brisk journey. That was until Sakura sensed Killua wanted to shift formation when he dropped back after giving her a calling expression for a private talk.
They weren't too far from Gon, who was trying to take in as much of the scenes before they were gone. Right now, it was a wide field that extended out into a forest.
"So," Killua murmured, voice low enough that only she could hear, "what exactly were you and Bisky really doing while we were stuck in that pit?"
Her eyes flickered to Biscuit's back, afraid Killua's voice might've been carried by the wind and reached her ears. But if that were the case, Sakura had no doubt she would have turned back or called them to pick up the pace, or give Sakura a very pointed smile that had daggers at the ends of her mouth to make sure she understood the warning. She did give it a few seconds before responding, though.
"We were just sparring," Sakura answered with a sigh, her tone like cotton, weightless and soft. Unlike lies that were jagged, heavy, and unbalanced. She knew she had to make it look effortless because of who she was talking to. Killua had a knack for raising his suspicions with those around him. Assassins caution.
While her answer satisfied Killua, it still starved his curiosity, and Sakura saw his eyes become alight with interest. "Oh yeah, against that old hag? How did it go?"
She peeked at Biscuit, trying not to look as skittish as she felt. In terms of power alone, Biscuit shouldn't of had this much influence over her, but she carried certain traits that reminded her too much of Tsunade in her shadow that her mind had drawn parallels and now her body was reacting to them. Cautious and respectful. Just as she had with her master.
She exhaled, "She's going to be a great mentor."
'But you might not survive her,'
Biscuit called out to them before more could be said between the two. "Less chatting, more running! Why are you two so far behind!?"
"Yes ma'am!" Sakura kicked up her pace, and Killua, not wanting to be left behind, did the same.
..
..
..
Masadora, according to Killua, looked like it came out of an old console game for five-year-olds, who needed the stimulation of all that color to stay invested in play. Except the town wasn't pixelated, but standing upright in 3d, tangible and gleaming. While his comment was disparaging, Killua and Gon were just as taken by the sight as was Sakura.
From a distance, some might think it was a huge theme park, living up to its name, the Magic City. With buildings striped in candied hues, towers spiraling into the sky, contraptions hanging in the air that looked like stationary balloons, you could already see from the outskirts, far from the city walls. And yet they knew it was now a fantasy land. This was part of the game. And you couldn't afford to let your guard down.
Biscuit, on the other hand, appeared completely relaxed. They watched as her eyes darted around the stores that lined the sides of the streets, filled with players looking to purchase new cards. And raid some from each other.
Biscuit told them that they were free to explore, while she took off on her own, without informing them where she intended to go. Just to meet back at a set time.
Unfortunately, there wasn't much for them to do.
Killua kept reminding them to be careful about other players, who might attempt to steal the only valuable card they had. Gon wanted to explore the town, and they ended up wasting their hour barely moving at all. When Biscuit came to find them, she was sporting a new hairdo.
"How do I look?" Apparently, she found a hairdresser because her hair that had been in pig tails was now in a single high ponytail, and you couldn't tell that she had an uneven cut on one end.
"It suits you," Gon complimented in what they knew was sincerity. Sakura piled on with 'it looks great,' and Killua couldn't help commenting on what the point was in an old hag getting glamorous. Somehow, Biscuit was able to restrain herself, but Sakura gave him a hard knock at the back of the head.
"What was that for?"
"Idiot,"
Biscuit smiled at them with a look that made you forget her true age behind that mask of a twelve-year-old girl, "Let's find a department store."
A mirrored look of confusion and curiosity passed between them. "What for?" asked Gon
"Secret,"
..
It wasn't hard to find a department store, and Killua took it upon himself to ask one of the employees about buying spell cards, he was kind enough to offer that information up without incentive, but when they approached Biscuit, she shot down even browsing.
The store was organized with nothing but a line of shelves holding cards on display in single files, making it easy for them to browse. Biscuit marched straight to the counter with a handful of cards.
"That's it?" Killua muttered, peering at the endless displays. Biscuit slipped her new cards into her book. "We're done here. Let's head back to that rocky area."
"Huh?"
"We're heading to the Back-lands again."
Killua groaned. "You're kidding, what for?"
But Biscuit was already walking away, leaving them to scramble after her, questions left behind.
..
..
..
The return journey was quicker than before; no one had fallen behind, and they kept a consistent pace, but due to the timeline, Gon and Killua were wheezing and huffing out their breaths and drenched in sweat by the time they skidded to a halt at their starting point. However, in all that time, Biscuit refused to give an explanation on why they were returning, and they came to a consensus that she would not tell them anything she didn't want to, and as of now, no one wanted to arouse her anger by poking her.
Killua bent over, hands on his knees, his breath coming in sharp gasps. "Damn… old lady…"
Gon wiped his brow with a grin. "We made it, though!"
"What are you tired of already?" Killua felt a weight leaning on him, pressing his shirt to wipe the sweat on his back.
"Shut up," He glared at Sakura.
Standing composed as if she had taken nothing more than an afternoon stroll, Biscuit clapped her hands, bringing them to attention. "Good! Now, we're heading back to Masadora."
"Has she gone senile?!"
"Um, but we were just there," Sakura was careful with her tone, not even hinting at her annoyance. They were meant to be starting training, but maybe Biscuit had forgotten something back in Masadora.
Biscuit's smile was sweet, but it somehow seemed poisoned. It was the kind of look that gave a knot in your stomach. She pointed back the way they'd come. "We're going straight."
Sakura blinked. "Wait, why? We just got here-
"No questions!" Biscuit snapped, her cheerful tone at odds with the steel in her eyes. "Straight ahead means straight ahead."
Then, she pulled out the cards she'd bought in Masadora, fanning them before releasing the items inside. Dropping at their feet were three shovels and wheelbarrows. That's when it dawned on them what their next task was to be, and they dreadfully lifted their heads in the direction she had pointed, a barren landscape filled with rocks as tall as hills they had maneuvered around previously. Now they stood more like mountains. The first obstacle in the training course of Biscuits.
Killua's eye twitched. "You're kidding."
Gon tilted his head. "Are we… digging?"
Biscuit's grin widened. "That's right! Straight to Masadora!"
..
..
..
"I don't see how this is going to teach us, Nen," Sakura mumbled as she dug her heel into the shovel before scooping out another layer of earth.
"Why don't you tell her that?" Killua gestured to Biscuit, who was standing at a distance behind, hands on her hips and eyes raised with expectations.
Sakura gave a subtle shake of her head, "Not worth it."
"Seriously, what did she do to you? Did she say something earlier?"
"I'm not talking about it,"
"So there was something!"
"Keep digging!"
"Huh?" Gon looked between the two with an expression that could only be described as a lost puppy.
"It's going to take a while for us to get to Masadora, so let's not waste any more time," Sakura said with a hint of salt in her voice.
"You're just upset because you can't pummel your way through." Killua pointed out.
When Gon and Killua were collecting their equipment to start the excavation for their tunnels, Biscuit pulled Sakura aside to give her some last-minute instructions. Specifically regarding her super strength and how she wasn't allowed to use that power or her fists to break through for the boys. And from her clipped tone, Sakura could tell that Biscuit wasn't going to elaborate on the reasons. Maybe she didn't want Sakura to do all the lifting, and she assumed that the reason might've been that it would interfere with the purpose of this trial. The impression that had been imprinted at this time, and from what Sakura had faced, Biscuit wasn't going to waste time when she set her mind on a project. And right now, that was the three of them.
Sakura hefted the shovel again and tossed the dirt into their growing pile. "This rocks pretty soft,"
Killua jammed his shovel into the earth with unnecessary force, only to blink in surprise when it sank nearly to the hilt with minimal resistance. "Huh. It's... softer than I expected."
"Yeah, I wonder how long it'll take us to get to Masadora like this?" Gon said.
Wiping his nose, Killua grinned, "Probably not long."
..
Everything was going well for about an hour, Gon, Sakura, and Killua were already making their way through the hill, but there was a lot of unexpected finds during this exercise that each of them noticed. Killua had noticed that the muscles under his arms were starting to tense along with his shoulders as he threw his entire body into digging through the rocky soil, which was starting to grow harder, and even his fingers were beginning to ache. Behind him, Gon started carting out the mountains of dirt that were threatening to block their exit from the tunnel. And Sakura realized that by the state her two friends were in, and the way her own body was starting to sweat under the earth, Killua's predictions were about to be thoroughly thawted.
But what was really getting to Sakura wasn't the growing heat or aches; it was the frustration that she felt from looking at a puzzle she couldn't piece together. This happened too many times for it to go over her head.
What did this have to do with Nen training?
..
..
The tunnel stretched behind Sakura, jagged and uneven in some spaces, but enough to hold for its purpose. At some point they stopped caring about possible cave ins. With a wheelbarrow heavy in her arms, Sakura took out another load of dirt, tossing it into the pile outside. She took a breath of clear air, one that didn't fill her nostrils with shoveled debris, and glancing at the sky that had turned dark.
It had been hours, but they hadn't advanced more than 2,5 km, and that was after hours of constant digging, with literally no breaks. At some point, conversation was becoming a chore, and they had to endure the music of shovels and crumbling dirt while they repeated the cycle of digging and hauling.
Sakura wiped her forehead, dragging the sweat across before grabbing the wheelbarrow, ready to head back in, when a sound echoed from the tunnel. Something she could equate to a small avalanche. Sakura dropped the wheelbarrow and sprinted back through the narrow passage, her boots kicking up loose soil.
'I knew we should've dug evenly!' Sakura expected to find some kind of blockage in the tunnel, only to find the light on the other side.
"Are you guys okay!?" She clambered over the dirt at the entrance that hadn't been whisked away and found Gon and Killua sprawled on their backs, spread out in the rubble. Inhaling more of that dirt, with their limbs limp. Gon stared blankly at the rock ceiling, his voice hoarse. "Why... am I so tired?"
Sakura stood over them, stretching her arms above her head. While her stamina had run its course quicker than when she would've used chakra, and she was definitely aching, and had sweat clinging to her body just like the boys. Unlike the boys, she was still able to stand upright. Without the use of chakra, her stamina was diminished, although she was in much better shape than Gon and Killua, who had been stubbornly giving their all to keep up with her.
Killua shot her a half-hearted glare since any further would close his eyes and hissed. "Show-off."
She poked his head, "Want to do one more hill?"
"Shut up,"
While their fatigue was enough to turn the rocky terrain into marshmallow that they could sink into, Biscuit was quick to wash out that fantasy. No one had even heard her coming. "No lying down. If you want to rest, sit up."
There was whining but obedience as Gon and Killua dragged themselves upright, even on trembling arms that had become as strong as twigs. But just like before, Biscuit wasn't willing to tell before showing.
"Let's move,"
To their relief, this time it wasn't a far journey. Biscuit found what she was looking for, a near straight wall. That's where she set up three ropes, each tied to a pulley system anchored to a fist-sized rock.
"This is how you're sleeping from now on. Keep a part of your brain vigilant even at rest. I'll also throw this knife to cut the rope once in a while throughout the night."
Everyone eyed the makeshift pulley system and the rope in their hands. Gon and Sakura were staring, but Killua had already shut his eyes and was lightly snoring.
"You've got to be kidding," Sakura glared, watching him doze, head fallen, but the rest still upright.
This exercise was something Killua already experienced while training as an assassin; his dad had put him through this ringer when he was two. Meanwhile, Sakura and Gon were still examining their options.
Neither of them had trained like this before. As a shinobi, Sakura had learned to be a light sleeper, especially on missions when they had to be out in the open. Trained to wake at the slightest disturbance, so she could probably dodge the rock if she did fall asleep, but she didn't want to find out if she could do it. This demanded active vigilance, even in unconsciousness.
Unlike Gon, who was already dozing, Sakura attempted to sharpen her mind and settled into a meditative stance, her breaths slowing and mind shifting towards the edge of sleep. In a few minutes, her body went lax, yet her grip on the rope remained. This was the first time Sakura had felt this sensation of hovering between awake and sleep.
The only one left struggling was Gon, as the rest of the night was filled with his groans and calls of pain whenever the rock would hit his head.
THAT'S ALL MY LOVELIES! Hope you enjoyed this chapter and remember to stay strong and keep reading!
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EARLY CHAPTERS FOR MEMBERS NOW: BUYMEACOFFEE
-Kunoichi amongst Heroes chapter (92, 93, 94, 95)
-Kunoichi amongst Pirates chapter ( 41, 42,43)
-Crossroads of Fate chapter 32, 33, 34, 34
-Through the Looking Glass chapter 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45
- (Bleach crossover) Kunoichi amongst Reapers: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
-Commission: Demon slayer x My hero academia (PART 1 & 2)
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-(SEQUEL) Through the Spyglass chapter 1, 2, 3, 4, 5,6
-SPECIAL HALLOWEEN CHAPTER: Shinigami amongst Shinobi