"First round. Hanzo versus Gon."

"You've got this Gon," Zepheena encouraged with a bright smile while Killua just nodded.

"I'll do my best!" Gon gave a thumbs up before joining Hanzo in the center of the room.

"I'm Masta. I'll be serving as referee for the tournament," the examiner spoke as he stood before the two applicants. "Good luck. Both of you."

"Hey, good to see you again," Hanzo spoke as he looked at Masta. "You were the one who was tailing me around during the fourth phase."

"You noticed that did you?"

"Naturally. I assume that each of the examiners was assigned an examinee to follow. Well, I'm sure I wasn't the only one who noticed."

Kurapika glanced at Leorio. "I noticed, but I didn't think it was worth mentioning."

"Yeah, why mention it? They were obviously just there to monitor us, not interfere," Zepheena added with a nod.

Leorio cleared his throat as he rubbed his neck sheepishly. "Yeah, duh."

"Well, I'm grateful. You recognized my talent and my rank improved as a result," Hanzo continued. "No surprise there really. Now, moving on. I have a question for you."

"What is it?" Masta raised a brow in curiosity.

"We can only win if our opponent surrenders. Correct? Knocking them unconscious doesn't count? No TKO's either?"

"Correct. Those are the rules."

Hanzo nodded as his eyes narrowed in on Gon.

"Begin!!"

Gon was the first one to make a move, launching out to the side to put some distance between the two of them.

"You must think you're pretty quick on your feet, don't you? I'll give you that."

Zepheena flinched as she watched Hanzo stay in line with Gon before knocking him to the ground with a swift slice to his spinal cord.

"Not half bad for a little kid. Now, if this were a regular match, I'd already be declared the winner," Hanzo mocked as he stood over Gon's limp form. He wasn't unconscious, but he was definitely not with it anymore.

Killua grit his teeth, telling himself that be could've dodge that attack, but he didn't voice his opinion.

Zepheena watched quietly as Hanzo maneuvered Gon's body, holding him upright against his knee.

The ninja pressed his knee between Gon's shoulder blades, making the boy groan in pain.

"C'mon, pull yourself together. You must feel awful. I hit you hard enough to bounce your brain around your skull. You get it, you don't stand a chance. Just give up and spare yourself the trouble," Hanzo continued to taunt.

"No way," Gon sputtered.

"Think about it. Surrender now and you'll have another chance. But being stubborn isn't gonna get you anywhere. So just give up."

"That's never gonna happen!!!"

With that, Hanzo slammed a fist into Gon's stomach which made everyone wince.

"Say it," Hanzo spoke calmly.

Gon merely got onto his hands and knees, shakily pushing himself to his feet only for Hanzo to land an attack righting the center of his chest. He fell back to his knees as he panted, pained sweat trickling down his face.

"Gon!" Leorio shouted. "Don't push it! You still have other-"

"Leorio, stop," Kurapika interrupted through grit teeth. "If you were in Gon's position, would you give up?"

"Hell no, I wouldn't!" Leorio snapped. "He thinks he's so tough..."

"Gon feels the same," Zepheena replied as she looked at Leorio.

The older teen scoffed. "I know that, but it doesn't look like he has much of a choice."

"My point exactly, but I understand," Kurapika continued, flinching as he watched Hanzo send Gon flying.

-

Three hours.

They had to sit through three hours of Gon getting the shit licked out of him. He bled and hurled, but none of that got him to break.

One more hit to send Gon across the floor, laying in his own spit and blood.

"Three whole hours... damn," Pokkle mumbled. "I don't think I could stand it."

Killua scoffed as he rolled his eyes, thinking to himself that this was nothing.

"Look, he can't even vomit anymore," Bodoro pointed out with a frown.

Hanzo walked back over to Gon and kicked his foot. "Get up."

Zepheena clenched her fists but said nothing. She couldn't stand this. She knew it was part of the exam, but watching Gon get pummeled, completely helpless at this point, it made her tear up.

"Zeph, you okay?" Kurapika asked, trying to distract himself for a moment after noticing her tears.

She quickly wiped her eyes and nodded, not looking away from Gon.

Leorio, however, couldn't contain himself. "Enough! I'm gonna kill you, ya hear me!!! Pick on someone your own size!!"

"If you get handle it, you'd better leave. It's only going to get worse," Hanzo warned as he looked at his fellow applicant.

"The hell did you say?!" Leorio took a step forward only for two examiners to move in front of him, stopping his interference.

"There will be no interference in a one on one match," Masta warned as he glared at Leorio. "Stay back. If you try to help Gon in any way, he will be instantly disqualified."

"It's okay."

Everyone looked at Gon as he struggled to his feet once again, still hunched over with his hands on his knees.

"Leorio... this is..." He started with a strained voice. "This is nothing... really... I can still fight him."

This very clearly aggravated Hanzo. He grit his teeth and proceeded to swipe Gon off his feet with the lightest kick.

"I'll break your arm." Hanzo brought Gon's right arm behind his back and began to apply pressure. "I'm not kidding. Say it. Say you surrender."

"Never!!!"

There was an audible crack.

Zepheena grabbed her own hand, a snarl crossing her features, but she didn't allow herself to move.

"Yo, Zephi," Killua mumbled as he looked at her eyes. "You right there?"

'That's right. She's a Kurta like Kurapika,' Killua thought to himself while his gaze was still on the girl.

"How can he do this? Can't he see that Gon won't give up? It's useless, and yet he's still gonna torture him," Zephi growled. "I can't stand-"

Gon threw a kick at Hanzo to cut off some pointless ramblings coming from the ninja. Everyone was caught off guard, as Gon once again fell to the ground.

Hanzo looked up in shock, clearly taken by surprise by the attack.

"Between the pain and you blabbing, I don't know what cleared my head up more," Gon announced as he sat up with a grimace.

Leorio let out a loud laugh. "Hell yeah!!!! Atta boy!! Now kick him while he's down and he's finished!!!"

" You're only a few years older than me. Besides, this isn't a test to see who's stronger," Gon pointed out, pulling himself to his feet while cradling his broken arm. "It's to see who's willing to throw in the towel first."

Hanzo got to his feet and scoffed. "I let you kick me because I wanted to."

"You're a liar!!" Leorio screeched.

"You must be confused. That was not a warning. It was a direct order. Wasn't it too hard for you to understand? I'm quite happy to break it down for you," Hanzo taunted as he drew a knife from his arm and proceeded to show it off. "I'll cut off your legs. A permanent injury should open your eyes to the situation. But before we must resort to such things I want to hear you surrender."

"Well, that's a problem. I don't want to have my legs cut off, but I don't wanna surrender either!"

The mood changed in that moment. Everyone began to snicker, finding the young boys naivete amusing.

"How about we find a different way to fight?" Gon suggested which made Hanzo grit his teeth even harder.

"What the hell?!!! Have you not been paying attention?!!!" The ninja wailed in exasperation. "You're really making demands?!! You messing with me?!! I'm seriously about to cut your legs off!!"

"You do what you want, but I won't give up," Gon stubbornly replied. "Besides, if you cut my legs off I probably just bleed out. Mr Masta, he'd be disqualified for that right?"

Masta took a second before he realized he was being spoke to. "Uh, yeah."

"See? And that'd be bad for the both of us. So let's think of a better way."

Zepheena giggled as she shook her head. "What the hell, Gon."

"I think Gon's okay. He's in control now," Kurapika spoke with a light smile.

Leorio huffed as he nodded. "He's just so damn stubborn."

"But he's also convincing to Hanzo and the rest of us," the blonde Kurta replied.

Hano, however, was more than peeved. "I see you're still not getting it, so I'll try again. Die and you'll never get another chance. If I kill you right here now I'll get to retry the exam next year. We are not on equal footing!!!"

"He's not wrong," Killua spoke up but Zepheena shook her head.

"He is."

Killua turned to Zepheena in confusion.

"Look at his face. The only way Gon will ever give up is death. Either way, Hanzo loses this match, whether he can come back next year or not. Gon doesn't care either way, and there's no way to make him care."

"Is your pride truly all you care about? Even more than your life? Is it worth dying for?!!"

"I'm gonna go see my dad." The conviction in Gon's voice brought everyone to a pause.

"Your dad?" Hanzo questioned.

The teenage boy nodded firmly. "You see, my dad is a hunter. So I'm gonna become a hunter exactly like he is and then I'll be able to meet him. I know I'll find him someday. But I feel like if I surrender now, I'm never gonna find him. So I won't give up."

"Surrender," Hanzo started again, pushing the tip of his blade into Gon's forehead. "Or you will die."

Gon stood firm, not saying another word.

Hanzo lowered his blade with a huff before sheathing it. "I give up."

Everyone stood shocked.

"I'm not allowed to kill you. And I just can't think of another way to force you to surrender." Hanzo turned from Gon, resigned to his defeat. "I'll just take my chances in the next round."

"Well, I can't accept that," Gon denied. " We both have to come up with some way that we can have a proper match."

"Huh?" Killua's head tilted while Zepheena just laughed.

"Rock, paper, scissors!" Zepheena suggested.

"No!!" Kurapika, Leorio, and Killua shouted with horror on their faces.

"No janken! Please no," Kurapika whined.

"Why am I not surprised?" Hanzo grumbled. "You just said you would never surrender, so what the hell is the point of that, you idiot?!!"

"The point is, I don't want to win like this, okay?!!"

"Then what do you suggest?!!"

"Let's work together and figure it out!!!

"So in other words, I've already given up the match, but you want me to continue fighting and try and beat you again. But first we have to work together to find a way you can win, all so you can feel good about your victory, is that right?"

"Yeah!"

Hanzo immediately sent Gon flying with a punch. "Moron!!"

Everyone watched Gon bounce across the room, landing unconscious.

"Hey, referee. I lose, so move on to the next round," Hanzo announced as he turned away.

"Understood, sir."

"But I'd like to say something first," Hanzo continued. "When he wakes up, he'll probably try and decline his advancement. And as we've all seen, he's incredibly stubborn. Only one person can fail this phase, correct? So if Gon is disqualified, wouldn't that render the rest of our fights completely meaningless?"

"You've no need to worry Gon has certainly passed. Nothing he can say or do will change that now. As a matter of fact , he could throw a tantrum and kill me where I stand and he still wouldn't be able to revoke his license. As a matter of fact, he could throw a tantrum and kill me where I stand, and we still wouldn't be able to revoke his license," Nefero assured as he gave a nod.

"I see," Hanzo replied with a curt nod before returning to the group of applicants waiting for their turn.

"So why?" Killua spoke up and everyone looked at him curiously. "Why'd you let him win?"

"What did you say?"

"You didn't have to kill him. With your skills, you could have made a surrender somehow."

"I expect when I torture someone. My victim will despise me for the rest of your life. It's more effective and less stressful. When you're in pain, your eyes show a gleam of hostility toward the person responsible. Even with the most extensive training and discipline that sign of rage is difficult to suppress."

The more experienced applicants all gave a sort of look of understanding, knowing of such gleam.

"But Gon's eyes had no such gleam. Can you believe that? I had just broken his arm, but I could tell just by looking into his eyes that he had already forgotten all about it. So I guess you could say the little guy won me over. If you need a reason why 'I let him win', there you have it."

Killua hummed and gave a nod as Hanzo walked back to his spot without another word.