Hisoka's Past

Hisoka's Past (ヒソカの過去, Hisoka no Kako) is a oneshot of Hunter × Hunter written by Yoshihiro Togashi and Sui Ishida.

Synopsis
In Glam Gas Land, known for its shows, a young Hisoka is found on the ground by Moritonio, ringmaster of the Moritonio Troupe. Moritonio's stunts bewilder audiences, and now he has the opportunity to perform at the Princess Hotel. Moritonio asks Hisoka if he is able to perform any magic tricks. Hisoka shows Moritonio a card trick, astonishing him and noting that the boy had more talent than he. Moritonio encourage Hisoka to hone his talent. Moritonio's performer Abaki warns him that Hisoka could have an uncanny past, seeing how he was just found on the road.

Abaki and Moritonio are walking in the marketplace where they see a picture of John Doe, a serial killer who crushes his victims to death. While the manner of the killings is consistent, the one doing it seems to change, leading to his epithet "Hundred Face." Doe loves attention, which is why he allows himself to be recorded by surveillance. When they return, they find that a juggler has injured himself, rendering him incapable of performing. Hisoka volunteers to do the act for him, showcasing his extraordinary dexterity. A jealous co-performer, Yasuda, vows to get revenge on Hisoka. During the performance, Yasuda throws the batons in an odd manner in order to overwhlem him, but Hisoka successfully catches them. Yasuda leaves the circus, and the other performers begin rehearsing in secret to prevent Hisoka from learning their techniques.

Hisoka notices a film around Moritonio, and Moritonio explains to him that it is aura. He begins teaching Hisoka the basics of Nen. Abaki reveals that she is the only one of the troupe that managed to learn Nen. She divulges Moritonio's past: he attempted to become a Hunter, but failed the difficult exam, which was passed by only one person. After that, he was discouraged from taking the exam again, but she believes that he teaches Nen in order to have a pupil to be able pass the exam he couldn't. Abaki declares that she will become a Hunter. Hisoka displays his unbelievably quick learning of Nen principles, something that would typically take a year. Moritonio then has Hisoka determine his Nen type, which turns out to be Transmutation like Moritonio's.

Some time later, Abaki gets lost while on a shopping trip. She gets accosted by a man, whom she believes to be John Doe. She attempts to overpower him with Nen, but he is capable of using Nen too. He nearly kills Abaki, but Hisoka saves her by slicing his eye and manages to drive him off. Hisoka notes that he feels like he didn't truly hurt Doe. Hisoka takes a shower, where he begins to develop a hatsu.

A few days later, Hisoka performs at the Royal Glam Hotel, attended by the head of Glam Clan, authority of Glam Gas Land. The head applauds the act, giving the troupe worldwide eminence. Outside of the hotel, Hisoka confronts Moritonio alone, where he accuses Moritonio of being John Doe. He points out Moritonio's fake skin. Moritonio claims that he enjoys surprising people, to the point that he killed his younger sister to see the expression on her face. He created a circus to have his enjoyment in a humane way, but still couldn't resist the urge of hurting others. He confesses to being John Doe, but Hisoka merely wants to fight him. They get into a duel, with Moritonio revealing how he swapped faces. Hisoka feels as though he is being crushed, but uses Gyo, something Moritonio hadn't taught him, to find that two magnetic bars were crushing him, and escapes. Hisoka explains how he observed that audience members' things began floating whenever Moritonio performed his airwalk. Moritonio goes all out with his hatsu by using magnetic bars, but Hisoka manages to use his hatsu to deflect the bars and crush Moritonio. He reveals that he developed a Transmutation hatsu that takes on the properties of rubber and gum: Bungee Gum, and he used that hatsu to have the bars go right back to Moritonio, killing him.