(His second life was given by his friends.)

"Do you want to develop, through becoming a Hunter, the ability to traverse world barriers?" Kakashi softly asked, closely observing Chitose's reaction.

Unexpectedly, the boy was not surprised at all, only pausing for a second before saying, "As expected of Kakashi-sensei."

Kakashi fell silent.

The existence of other worlds, after that battle with Kaguya he already vaguely sensed it. And after Chitose revealed his alchemy, he had also thoroughly researched it but found no relevant records. Of course, what connected everything for him was Chitose's sudden appearance in Konoha.

This child had never been in contact with anything related to shinobi before, even deducing the use of chakra and the Sharingan by himself. But his breadth of knowledge and experience didn't seem like something that could be attained growing up in some remote area. Yet being raised in any of the major countries, it was impossible to not know of shinobi.

He had originally guessed the child grew up in the Hunter world, though from that Jin's appearance it did seem he had lived there before. But from his observations, it didn't appear to have "alchemy" here either.

So it really was another world? Then how did Chitose manage to travel between worlds? Kakashi's eyes slowly narrowed.

Or rather... why was he once able to cross worlds, but now, no longer could?

The answer almost slipped out, didn't it? It was because of his mother. That mysterious woman deduced from Jin and Chitose's interactions who had already passed away, possessing some astounding ability to manipulate memories.

Kakashi slowly let out a breath. Just then, Chitose's voice rang out again, "How much have you guessed, Kakashi-sensei?"

He turned his head, his cheek brushing past the soft silver fur of the little dog, unconsciously making him narrow his eyes slightly. A trace of a smile flashed through his dark eyes. "Knowing you, you must have already thought of quite a bit."

Kakashi quietly observed him before lazily lying down, eyes fixed intently on Chitose as he continued, "Well, I can roughly guess that by passing the Hunter Exam, some special ability can be obtained. I'm not wrong, am I?"

Chitose seemed not surprised at all. He averted his gaze to look straight ahead, not refuting him which let Kakashi continue speaking with certainty. "Your mother's ability probably allowed her to control her own memories, sending them over long distances into other people's minds. As for controlling other's memories... I wouldn't know. But an ability like this also requires extremely strong innate spatial manipulation talent..."

His voice gradually grew softer, the look in his eyes deepening somewhat as he met Chitose's gaze when the youth turned back to face him again. Still not catching any emotion besides calmness, he raised his brows to continue, "So from this point you deduced that you also have the innate talent to manipulate space. That's why you said your goal is to develop the ability to traverse world barriers."

This time, his tone did not hold the slightest uncertainty.

Chitose was silent for a while before closing his eyes to hide something. Then he opened them again to gaze ahead. "The medicine Jin obtained by chance really helped greatly."

Not getting any response, Kakashi knew his guesses were probably quite accurate, but still felt somewhat unsatisfied by Chitose changing the topic. He looked away with a deadpan. "Yeah, although there's been no reversion yet, at least I can speak now."

Just as he finished speaking, he sensed something off about the boy beside him. The air around Chitose darkened significantly. Puzzled, he turned to look at the other, only to meet a pair of deep, dark pupils head on. At this moment, what filled those eyes was utter seriousness as they stared fixedly at him.

"You becoming like this is because of me. I will definitely restore you back."

Kakashi blanked for a second before letting out a soft chuckle after a brief stunned silence.

"Then I'll be counting on you."

Recalling Chitose's guarantee, Kakashi, rather comforted and mollified, did not continue pondering why Chitose was so fixated on that other world.

***

The second half of the first phase exam grounds, Visca Forest Reserve, alias the Nest of Deception.

Chitose expressionlessly regarded the giant dark brown lizard blocking his path before glancing indifference at the dense fog around him. He got separated from Gon and the others. Oh well, they would meet up again at the second phase exam site.

He was still surveying his surroundings, pondering how to find the examiner while evading the corrosive saliva dripping from the lizard's tongue shooting towards him. Then without even a look, he flung a shuriken from his hand over his shoulder.

Bullseye through the forehead.

Having dodged the tongue and jumped into midair in the process of landing, Chitose's eyes suddenly flashed. The moment his toes touched the ground, he shifted his center of gravity while channeling chakra to his feet to jump again, narrowly avoiding the big snapping jaws of the ground below. Still in midair, his expression did not change as another shuriken precisely hit the giant man-eating toad's forehead.

After landing, he glanced around before heading towards the direction screams had sounded from earlier. But he had just taken a step when his previously tranquil expression abruptly stiffened for an instant. He immediately leapt backwards. Practically at the same time, several playing cards whizzed by, narrowly missing his bangs.

Kakashi's gaze sharpened. After becoming a little dog, not only was his chakra gone, even his sensory capabilities had weakened greatly. It was only now he sensed that bloodlust. But this didn't stop him from breaking out in cold sweat for Chitose.

A powerful enemy.

Chitose fixed his eyes on the man slowly emerging from the fog, warily tightening his grip on the shuriken in both hands while retreating.

The man was fiddling with a deck of cards, dressed like a jester. His smile was twisted yet dangerous, terrifying bloodlust exuding from him.

"A boring exam... I'll take over the examiner's judgement then~"

Chitose's eyes instantly turned icy cold. Then his pupils abruptly constricted, only to discover in the next blink the man was already before him. He took a step back with his left leg, his body naturally shifting with the movement as his right hand thrust the shuriken straight towards the man's temple now by his side! However, his extremely fast attack was easily caught by the man who grasped his wrist to block the blow. But Chitose had already adjusted his mentality the moment he witnessed the other's speed. Without any surprise or hesitation, his left hand holding the other shuriken ruthlessly stabbed forward, forcing his opponent to release him while retreating from the blow aimed at his chest. Not lingering, he immediately backflipped away and discarded the shuriken in his hands. Forming hand seals, dozens of slender yet sharp spikes burst out from the ground, ruthlessly shooting at the man who seemed faintly astonished!

Chitose landed back on his feet, eyes still fixed unwaveringly on that spot. But the next second, a cold hand clamped around his throat. It was dry yet calloused, easily able to crush his trachea with a little force.

In that moment, Kakashi saw Chitose's pitch-black pupils violently shrink. His heart seemed to stop beating for an instant. But his body reacted on instinct, just turning to attack when Chitose's flustered voice rang out, "Don't attack, Kakashi!"

The beautiful evil smile on the man's face deepened. Sensing the vibrations from the throat in his hand, for a moment he truly felt like crushing it. However, the sharp stab of a blade through his clothes to rest against his heart also made him return to his senses at the same time. Relaxing the strength in his hand, he spoke, "How very interesting fruit~"

Retracting the hand that had been clutching Chitose's throat, the smile remained at the corner of his lips. "Hm~ You pass~ Become a good Hunter alright~"

Finishing, he turned around with seeming delight as he gazed at the other Chitose holding a shuriken behind him. Using that strange yet happy-sounding tone that gave people the impression he was really cheerful, he looked back at Chitose. "Can you make your own way back?"

Chitose gave an almost imperceptible nod.

"Good boy~" The man's face was still filled with satisfaction as he turned and walked off, slowly disappearing into the fog. Chitose watched his retreating back before raising his right hand to stare at his own trembling fair fingertips.

"That man is very interested in you. Don't be scared, he won't kill you," Kakashi said vigilantly as he watched the man's back until he disappeared. Seeing Chitose's reaction, he instinctively thought the other was afraid and spoke to comfort him.

Chitose curled his trembling right hand into a fist, the faintest trace of a smile flashing through his eyes. "No, I'm excited."

His heartbeat seemed to still for an instant. But this child's actions were already deeply ingrained habits. He silently watched Chitose who had activated his Sharingan to locate their path.

***

Noon, 11:50.

The sign "Second Phase Exam Beginning Today at Noon" hung on the door of the building amidst the forest.

Chitose was boredly leaning against a tree, listening to Killua exclaim in surprise at Gon finding this place through his nose. His eyes smiled thinking how that ability was truly exactly the same as Jin's. Because they both grew up in forests?

Thinking of this interesting father-son pair, Chitose was suddenly reminded of the awkward Boruto. The smile in his eyes faded, turning into gentler emotions instead.

Boruto probably wouldn't want to hear others say he resembled the Seventh Hokage. Looks like he would need to be more careful about that in the future.

After joking around noisily for a while, the building's doors suddenly opened. Chitose looked over with the other passing examinees. The glint in his dark eyes instantly disappeared at that moment, replaced by unshakeable determination.

Come then. No matter what lies ahead, I will definitely pass this Hunter Exam.

***

I did decide this, that's right.

Chitose expressionlessly watched the woman with her head tied up in numerous little braids gushing enthusiastically at him. He wouldn't even bat an eyelash if she suddenly knelt down and started worshipping him.

"...So please, you must teach me how to make nigiri sushi!!!" Finally, the woman pressed her palms together and bowed deeply again, looking at Chitose reverently.

Chitose felt rather helpless looking at her.

He would never have imagined the second phase exam content to actually be cooking. But he did not let his guard down because of this. He and Gon's team were the first to take down a wild boar to complete roasting it over a spit in the first half, smoothly passing. The sushi nigiri in the second half was comparatively more difficult since most people did not even know of this dish's existence. But this posed no trouble for Chitose who had eaten his mother's delicious Japanese cuisine and inherited her superb cooking skills since young. Besides, didn't sushi seem to be a traditional shinobi world food? Hanzo could also make it.

And even if he didn't know how, he could roughly guess the method and appearance from Examiner Menchi's hints.

Chitose thought this way. And because Hanzo's blunder — making everyone realize how to make sushi nigiri — gave him a sense that time was tight, after all, the exam would end once the examiner was full even if he had confidence in his own culinary skills.

But he would never have expected... of all the examinees, not a single person could produce a dish that met Menchi's standards.

Until he served up his own sushi.

And thus —— it became like now, he was the only one approved to pass the exam.

After easily settling Menchi's pestering in just a few sentences, Chitose returned to his newly acquainted companions. He realized Kurapika and Leorio both wore expressions of frustration and dejection. On the other hand, Gon and Killua were exactly the opposite, surrounding his work station while happily feasting on the remaining sushi.

At that moment, he also couldn't think of a good way to comfort the other two. Snatching back a piece of sushi each from the mouths of the two children still shouting indistinctly at him, "Wowhhh, Chitose your culinary skills are seriously awesome!" he placed them in front of Kakashi instead.

Meeting Kakashi's dark eyes, Chitose's smile was gentle, replacing the coldness as his eyes glittered brightly as stars. "Want to try some?"

The little white dog lowered his head seemingly unconsciously to sniff the exquisite sushi on the small white plate before biting off half of one. Then in just two or three bites, he swallowed up the rest into his belly.

Well, it had been quite a long time since the exam started, so he was pretty hungry too.

Chitose was not surprised at all by Kakashi's reaction. Luckily his appetite had also shrunk after becoming smaller. This little bit was just the right amount. The corners of his lips curled up slightly as he raised his head to look at the examinees disputing the exam results. His expression chilled.

Expressionlessly picking up Kakashi who was still chewing and placing him in the worried Gon's hands not far away, he then turned and delivered a roundhouse kick. The brawny man over two meters tall immediately crashed into a nearby tree, the thick trunk easily snapping from the impact.

Seeing the man spit out blood, clearly unconscious as his chest unnaturally caved in, obviously several ribs broken, even the meek shut their mouths. Those with some ability had extremely ugly expressions.

Just now, only a few people managed to see that boy's movement.

Chitose silently stood there before sweeping his icy cold yet bloodthirsty gaze past the surrounding people one by one, ignoring Hisoka's entertained smile and a few others who still seemed rather powerful. His penetrating eyes caused everyone else to unconsciously avoid his sight before he withdrew his attention.

What's with this, getting so easily worked up.

Kakashi slowly swallowed the food in his mouth while calmly analyzing. The upper echelons in charge of this exam phase definitely wouldn't just let it end so messily.

As expected, because Menchi had let her personal preferences as a Gourmet Hunter influence her judgement, Chairman Netero of the Hunter Association personally announced the second half of the second phase exam would be redone. Menchi also realized she had been somewhat rash and made the new exam content hard boil eggs.

However, obtaining the eggs was not so easy.

As someone who had already passed, Chitose naturally did not need to retake the exam. Standing by the cliff edge, he lowered his head to peer at the pitch darkness below before scanning the eggs wrapped in spider webs on either side of the chasm walls. He suddenly heard Killua's playfully mocking voice by his ear, "Don't tell me you're afraid of heights?"

Chitose's actions stilled at the question and he turned to regard the white-haired boy. At this moment, ridicule swirled in those blue cat-like eyes, making the other seem extremely cunning like a cat. This inexplicably gave Chitose an odd sense of being provoked by a mere child.

The next second, he watched the boy nonchalantly tuck both hands into his pockets. Meeting his eyes full of showing off, the youth lifted a leg to tilt his body forward... Already shooting down swiftly into the ravine in a blur!

Chitose lowered his head to watch the boy's figure. Seeing him still leisurely wave a hand pulled out from his pocket at himself halfway down before grabbing the spider webs on both sides of the cliff with one hand, spinning twice before coming to a stop. Then after taking two eggs, Killua nimbly climbed back up. Holding an egg in his left hand, he extended it towards Chitose. "Here."

His head was still awkwardly turned away, refusing to look at Chitose. Just as Chitose's eyes flashed with amusement and he was about to reach out to take it, Gon's loud voice suddenly rang out from behind. "Ah! Killua! You thought of going together too!"

The two boys turned at his voice to see Gon also holding two eggs, cheerily raising one towards Chitose as he ran over to them. "Chitose, I got one for you too! Let's eat them together!"

Gazing at Gon's dazzling smile, Chitose's lips also softened into a smile he couldn't resist.

Killua made a disgruntled noise at the side as if dissatisfied about something but ultimately said nothing. He started walking towards Gon instead. Seeing Chitose still standing there, his eyes showed a hint of impatience. "Yo, Chitose. What're you standing there dazed for—"

He paused to stare blankly for an instant at the extremely faint smile on Chitose's face.

What's there to be surprised about, Killua?

Chitose only cherished his friends very-very much, that's all.

His second life was given to him by friends after all. He valued them. So for their sake, no cost was too great, even his life.

 

I don't know why, but I just can't get the poker symbols right when Hisoka speaks.

Regarding the Kakashi and Chitose CP issue before, a little angel seriously gave me some advice. To be honest, I was really touched, such a serious and adorable little angel, thank you again.

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But don't worry, Chitose’s CP is only with Boruto, the rest are just one-way crushes or simply ambiguous.