Know Your Own Strength, Idiot

"Bring this one to the examiners at noon," Maro said, setting aside a wrapped portion of roast meat.

The white-haired, blue-eyed boy rejected his offer. "No. Teach me how to make it. I'll do it myself."

"Given how picky they are, if you make it, they'll definitely declare you unqualified." Su Wu's eyelids drooped, his expression saying he found it all obvious and uninteresting.

"As expected of you, sir. You've thought of everything." Maro was a natural cheerleader, always good at making people feel appreciated.

"I'm sure it'll be easy for you, sir!" Maro said with complete confidence.

Probably...

Su Wu wasn't so sure. Whether he had any talent for cooking was still a mystery.

"Just cut along the grain of the meat, sprinkle on some chopped herbs when the heat is right, and coat it with honey..." Maro explained carefully.

Su Wu was serious as he followed each step, working with great care.

Suddenly, he turned to look over his left shoulder.

A fat examinee appeared in view, followed by a flying birdlike creature with a wingspan of over two meters and five claws.

This guy looked kind of familiar...

"Help!"

When the fat examinee saw Su Wu and Maro, his face lit up with the joy of someone who'd just found his real parents.

"Run! This magical beast is terrifying!" His expression changed, and he shouted urgently, while secretly gloating inside.

Go on, run. He'd already made a deal with two other examinees and set a trap up ahead. As long as those two ran forward, they'd be caught.

Then the treasure on them—and that blond kid—would all be theirs.

But as he ran, his expression gradually stiffened.

Why were those two still sitting there, completely at ease, watching him like he was a clown?

"Ah, I remember now." Su Wu suddenly looked enlightened.

It was Tonpa, the so-called Newbie Killer who had taken the Hunter Exam countless times—the one in the original story who gave Killua or Gon juice laced with laxatives.

Judging by the way he was acting, he'd set his sights on Su Wu and Maro this time?

"Why aren't you running?!" Tonpa shouted.

The next moment, he saw the white-haired boy raise a finger and make a small slicing motion. In the blink of an eye, scorching liquid and solid chunks poured down on him from above.

Red... blood. And... entrails.

A heavy thud sounded beside him. Tonpa stiffly turned his head and saw that the magical beast he'd worked so hard to lure over had been sliced apart by some unknown means. Its wings, claws, and head were gone, and its belly had even been ripped open.

The entrails that had landed on him along with the blood had come from the beast.

Damn, he'd picked a fight with someone terrifying.

Tonpa crumpled to the ground at once. Stammering, he couldn't manage a single word, so he immediately lay down and pretended to faint.

"As expected of you, sir! Amazing! We've got a new ingredient! They say this magical beast tastes pretty good, too..." Maro happily ran over to pick up the dismembered bird.

"Is that so? Then let's give it a try," Su Wu replied indifferently.

Tonpa tried to make himself as inconspicuous as possible, inching away like a twisted, crawling bug in the corner.

He clearly heard a snort of laughter nearby, but didn't dare open his eyes to look.

Only after he felt he'd crawled far enough did he get up and flee the area in terror.

"Continue." Su Wu casually poked at the firewood, signaling Maro to resume the lesson.

Time flew by, and soon it was noon.

The familiar location, the familiar examiners, the familiar dining table.

And... the familiar picky tone.

"This smells much better than what you made this morning." The three examiners wore odd expressions.

"That's because I stuffed it with tart berries, then seasoned the skin with herbs and honey..." Su Wu recited his lines expressionlessly. What he'd brought up was the roasted bird he'd made.

Yes, the very bird Tonpa had lured over.

With Maro's guidance, Su Wu had done every step himself. In the end, Maro had declared the result a great success.

"Can you pass me already?" he pressed impatiently, his already scant patience on the verge of running out.

"Of course... you fail." Bindo deliberately drew out the words, then announced his verdict without mercy.

"Huh?" Su Wu heard the warning that his patience had completely run out.

"You didn't take the exam seriously at all. You didn't make this yourself; another examinee did it, didn't they?" Hutori said in a low voice.

What a bunch of arrogant idiots who thought too highly of themselves!

"No! I watched Sir Hill make it with my own eyes! No one else was involved!" Maro hurried forward and shouted in defense.

"...I've been annoyed from the very beginning..." Su Wu slowly raised his head. The angrier he got, the brighter and more cheerful his smile became.

"I've had enough of being judged by a bunch of weaklings." Dark blue energy poured out of him in every direction, and the grass blades stood upright.

Even those who couldn't see Nen felt a strange, terrifying aura.

BANG—

He appeared behind one of the examiners, pressed a hand against the man's head, and slammed it into the dining table, splitting the table in two.

Hutori hurriedly drew the twin blades on his back. Rogov stood at a distance, warily reaching out a hand.

The white-haired, blue-eyed boy smiled like a devil. One hand gripped Bindo's head so tightly that his fingers seemed about to break through the Nen protecting it and crush his skull.

"I made this with my own hands. Waste even a little of it, and I'll kill you." He bent down, grabbed a handful of food that had fallen to the ground, mixed with dirt and grass roots, and forced it into Bindo's mouth. Then he clamped a hand over Bindo's mouth, smiling brightly.

Only after Bindo reluctantly swallowed the food did Su Wu let go of his mouth.

"Know your own strength, idiot." He grabbed Bindo by the head, lifted him up, and casually flung him aside, his voice full of impatience.

In the blink of an eye, he appeared in front of Rogov and kicked him hard without hesitation. Rogov's body flew away, crashing through three trees.

A moment later, Su Wu appeared behind Hutori. He stepped down, pinning him to the ground without easing up, then pressed harder, stamping a man-shaped pit into the earth.

"Examinee, attacking an examiner is against the rules!" Rogov warned as he stood up, holding his chest.

With Nen protecting him, he wasn't seriously injured.

But the whole exchange had been enough to prove that they were weaker than the boy in front of them and could only take a beating.

The white-haired, blue-eyed boy simply kept one hand on the back of Hutori's neck and pressed down a little harder with his foot. Tilting his head, he asked, "So what? Are you going to announce that I'm expelled from the exam now?"

"If you do, then I can just kill you all." His smile was radiant, but his murderous malice was overwhelming.

"Cough... Calm down first and get your foot off him." Bindo reappeared, rubbing his head.

He wasn't badly hurt either, but...

Being treated like that by an examinee who wasn't even that old, while being utterly unable to fight back, was a serious blow to his pride.

"Hey, I can also confirm that he made it himself. I happened to pass by and saw him doing it." Tonpa suddenly appeared with two other examinees, loudly speaking up for Su Wu.

He hoped that, after all his effort to testify, Su Wu wouldn't come after him later.

"Do you understand now who made this food?" Su Wu asked, his expression and eyes full of annoyance.

It was like working hard to make a whole table of food, only for someone to ask if you'd been lazy and ordered takeout.

"You made it..." Bindo nodded, admitting that his earlier prejudice had led him to make a mistake.

"Then apologize." The white-haired boy stood there, stomping again and again on the back of Hutori's head as if it were a soccer ball.

Each time Hutori managed to lift his head, Su Wu stamped him back into the pit.

"Apologize to me for your arrogance, your conceit, and your stupidity." His tone was casual, dripping with malice.

"Make sure I'm satisfied, examiner." The corners of his raised mouth and eyes revealed undisguised mockery.

Looks like the trial-promotion push is on. Bosses, please give me a hand and tap through to the last page to read!

May everyone get rich in the new year!