In the blink of an eye, it was already the second day. After resting for four hours, Takeru woke up early again and went outside as the sky was just beginning to lighten.
First, he went to the edge of the area and found a huge boulder. With a light press, the boulder instantly split into numerous broken stones under the immense force.
Takeru then gathered all the broken stones and brought them next to the Trick Tower. He then began striking stones with stones...
This was the method Biscuit had taught Gon and Killua to train their Enhancement abilities and practice Shu.
The principle was to wrap a stone with Aura, then use it to strike other stones. The minimum requirement was to use one stone to shatter over a thousand other stones consecutively in a day to be considered qualified.
If the Aura-wrapped stone broke due to fatigue or lack of skill, one had to start over from the beginning...
Bang! Bang! Bang!
As the sound of shattering stones rang out, Takeru entered a state of intense concentration. However, he was still somewhat inexperienced at first.
On his first attempt, he only managed to shatter 312 stones before the stone in his hand broke because his Aura coverage wasn't concentrated enough...
Seeing this, Takeru sighed and began readjusting before starting the challenge again.
Watching Takeru's actions, Hisoka observed with interest. Illumi also watched Takeru with slight seriousness, recognizing Takeru's strength even without having fought him...
Hanzo and the others, however, looked at Takeru with confusion. Some even tried imitating him by striking stones with stones.
But for them, it was mostly one stone for one stone, and they couldn't possibly achieve what Takeru was doing… hitting multiple times...
Puzzled, Hanzo wanted to ask Takeru about his method, but Takeru paid him no mind. Hanzo hadn't learned Nen yet, so explaining would be useless.
Takeru could clearly sense that Hanzo hadn't learned Nen yet, as was evident from his later match with Gon. He possessed decent stamina and physical strength.
However, the fact that he bled after being knocked down by Gon's sneak attack showed that if he had been maintaining Ten with Aura, he wouldn't have been injured so easily.
Time continued to flow. Takeru spent each day tirelessly training himself. Hisoka, too, became engrossed in Armament Haki.
While enhancing Nen wasn't something achieved overnight, the emergence of Armament Haki offered him the possibility of another significant leap in power, which Hisoka naturally wouldn't pass up.
Moreover, Haki could be combined with Nen to enhance it further, making Hisoka feel his own potential ceiling could be raised as well...
Soon, over 71 hours had passed since Takeru and the others arrived for the third test. Gon's group was now facing their final trial: to either fight among themselves, with only three advancing, or to act as a group of five but lose 45 hours of time, which meant failure.
At the last moment, Gon thought of a solution. While choosing the five-person option, he used the provided weapons to break the wall. At 71 hours and 59 minutes, the entire group successfully escaped...
Seeing the five emerge battered and exhausted in the final few seconds, Umaru was quite surprised.
In comparison, she and Takeru had reached the tower base in less than a minute… that seemed rather impressive.
"Hey, Gon, Kurapika, Killua! Looks like you had a really tough challenge!" Takeru said with a smile to the three who came out first (Tonpa and Leorio were about ten seconds behind).
With his extremely powerful Observation Haki, Takeru was fully aware of everything they had gone through, which matched the original work quite closely...
"Hey, Takeru, Umaru!" Seeing Takeru had also passed smoothly, Gon showed a happy smile.
Though their interaction wasn't extensive, the straightforward Gon had already considered Takeru and Umaru friends, even if just ordinary friends...
This time, a total of 26 examinees had cleared the tower.
"Everyone, congratulations on successfully escaping the Trick Tower. Next, only the fourth phase and the final phase remain!" The examiner, who had been hiding in the shadows, revealed himself and addressed the group.
"Still two more phases!" A candidate sighed upon hearing this.
"The venue for the fourth phase is on that island over there… Zevil Island. Now, please cooperate. For the next phase, everyone must draw a lot!" The examiner said with a smile as an assistant cooperatively wheeled out a box.
"What is that for deciding?" Someone quickly asked.
"Hunters and the hunted," The examiner replied with a sinister smile.
"This box contains 26 numbered tags. In other words, the tags inside are the examinee numbers of the current candidates. Next, according to the order of your escape from the tower, please come forward to draw one."
"First, the first place!" The examiner gestured politely. Takeru walked forward.
Everyone was shocked to see Takeru was first. Gon and the others were incredulous, as when they had gone down, Takeru was still waiting up top...
Takeru approached the box. Although the tags were concealed, he used his Observation Haki to check and directly picked the tag belonging to Examinee No. 89.
"362," Takeru whispered to Umaru as she approached the box after him.
Umaru, understanding his hint, picked out tag number 362 belonging to an extra character, and returned to Takeru's side.
The third to draw was Hisoka...
After everyone had drawn, it was finally Tonpa's turn. As Tonpa picked his card, the examiner spoke again.
"Everyone has drawn, right? Next, please remove the sticker on the card together. That is your prey!" The examiner looked at everyone with a sinister smile.
Hearing the examiner, many immediately concealed their number tags. Takeru, however, remained calm as usual, showing no intention of hiding his.
Besides him, Hisoka, Illumi, and others confident in their strength also showed no signs of concealment.
"The number each of you drew was recorded in this box's memory at the moment of drawing. Therefore, how you handle that card is your freedom. What you must snatch is the number tag from your prey," The examiner explained with a smile.
"I see. So we don't have to risk our lives against people," The youngest of the three brothers sighed in relief.
"The methods for seizing the number tags are unrestricted. Do as you please. Even if you want to kill your target first and then easily take their tag, that's up to you," The examiner added the crucial point.
"That should be the most straightforward method, right?" The second brother of the trio said with a confident smile.
"Idiot, what are you afraid of!" The eldest brother bumped the youngest.
"Listen up, everyone. The number tag of your assigned target is worth 3 points. Your own number tag is also worth 3 points. Any other tags are worth 1 point. To advance to the final phase, you must collect a total of 6 points."
"Your primary task on the island is to collect number tags totaling six points. That is the passing condition for the fourth Hunter Exam phase."
As the examiner finished explaining the conditions, a boat arrived nearby. Takeru and the others followed the examiner onto the boat and headed straight for the island...
On the boat, an assistant acting as a guide explained the rules. He also mentioned that survivors who passed the third phase this year but failed this one would be unconditionally invited to the exam venue next year if they wished to participate again.
However, faced with the guide's explanations, everyone showed serious expressions, eyeing each other warily. No one paid attention to the guide, making him feel somewhat awkward.
It couldn't be helped. For the ordinary examinees, although there were still two hours of travel ahead, the battle had already begun. They were all wary of those around them while also glancing covertly at their own targets.
Of course, there were also those who were completely in the dark about who their target was...
For instance, Killua and Leorio didn't know who their targets were. Gon had drawn the fateful Hisoka. Despite the interference from Takeru and Umaru, it seemed not much had changed.
For example, Killua drew 189. Though it wasn't the original 199, his opponent was still one of the three brothers.
As for Takeru, to avoid trouble, he had directly chosen No. 89, mainly to resolve his opponent quickly and then have time for quiet training.