Hey guys!

I'll be uploading 3 chapters in one shot this week. Take it as a present for 2014 from me^^

I hope that you will keep on supporting this fanfic.

Some news for you all to take note of:

I used to update on a weekly basis, but now I'm not so sure. I've started school (already), so I will be updating irregularly - so please bear with me.

Happy 2014 and enjoy! :)

~Lychee115

Upon completion of his fifth phase of training, the elder announced that he would get a break of 2 days before his seikuken training would start.

"How long will the seikuken training last for?" Tsuna asked curiously.

"As long as it takes - about a week." The elder replied, a dangerous gleam in his eye.

Tsuna backed away slightly, "Alright, I'll be in my room." He said, before returning to his room.

After 2 days of rest, it was finally time to set off.

Tsuna, the elder, Reborn and Kenichi stood at the gate, the rest of the masters and Miu wished them luck and saw them off.

"Ganbatte, Tsuna-kun, Kenichi!"

The rest of the masters just stayed silent. They remembered the time when Kenichi went for training there, his bowl, cup and even his chopsticks split nicely into 2 halves!

Tsuna was quite puzzled about why they seemed so gloomy, but decided not to question it.

"Elder, where are we going?" He asked.

"We're going to the mountains. A place called the 'Dark Valley'." The elder replied.

Tsuna saw that Kenichi visibly shivered. He raised an eyebrow.

"Oh yeah, Kenichi, why are you coming too? Didn't you go training with the elder in the mountains before as well?" Tsuna was quite curious of Kenichi tagging along.

"Eh...I didn't really complete my training there. I had to rush back because my friends were in danger." Kenichi explained, albeit sheepishly.

"Ah...I see." Tsuna commented.

The rest of the trip remained in silence. They took a long train ride and were now going deep into the mountains.

"Hold on to me, we'll be jumping on tree branches to reach there." The elder instructed.

"Eh? Um...ok." Tsuna was quite hesitant.

"Wait. Tsuna, you should learn how to do it, that's how the Varia moves around in forests." Reborn interrupted.

"EH?" Tsuna exclaimed in shock.

[A/N: Refer to future arc of KHR, when Bel and Fran were moving South, through the forest.]

"Then Tsuna-kun should try it out, once you get used to it, you'll get faster." The elder suggested.

"Ah...ok then." Tsuna hesitantly climbed up the tree and jumped from one branch to another.

However, he missed and fell down. Tsuna went into HDWM and used his flames to prevent himself from falling down.

"Give me a few minutes; I'll try to figure it out." Tsuna said, flying back to the first tree.

After 15 minutes, Tsuna finally got the hang of it. Kenichi tried as well, but still wasn't successful, and gave up on his third try. After all, he couldn't stop himself from falling.

After 4 hours, they reached a clearing in the forest.

"This is the Dark Valley." The elder introduced.

Kenichi was flung off the elder's back when they reached, and lay panting (due to excessive shock) on the forest floor.

"Kenichi! Daijoubu deska (are you alright)?" Tsuna asked, crouching over the motionless body of Kenichi.

"Ah, yeah." Kenichi replied weakly, getting up.

Tsuna had jumped down from the branch as well, but Reborn had held on till the end. Thus, Reborn still remained on his shoulder.

"The forest air is thicker, your wounds will heal better and you also will be more focused on training." The elder mentioned.

"Ah, it's afternoon already. What do we do now?" Tsuna asked inquisitively.

"Nothing, really." The elder replied.

"Eh? Ok then." Tsuna was quite shocked, weren't they supposed to train in the mountains right?

They set up camp and then they went to the river to catch fish, bare-handed.

As they were setting up the tents, Tsuna felt something weird - as though someone was attacking him.

Tsuna ducked and looked around. There was absolutely no one. 'Someone's trying to attack me...I wonder who?' Tsuna thought. In the end, he just shrugged it off.

The elder aced at it, but Kenichi and Tsuna had a lot of trouble with it.

"Kenichi, I expected better of you." The elder chided him, staring at Kenichi.

"Eh?" Kenichi was quite shocked; he then remembered to use his seikuken.

In the end, Kenichi caught a lot of fish as well. Tsuna gave up, and went to eat walnuts instead.

While on his way to find walnuts, he felt it again. 'Just who is it?' He shook off the thought again and went to get food.

As he collected some walnuts, he felt it again. He dodged and whipped around; throwing a kick at the same time, but no one was there.

'Ah, I should go back soon.' Tsuna proceeded to go back to the camp.

Kenichi felt like laughing at him, but the elder stole his fish from him - that directed his attention away.

Tsuna wasn't very full, so he went around the forest in search of more food.

Reborn had managed to catch enough fish for himself, so only he was starving.

"Ah, if only they shared food." Tsuna complained. The other 3 had already gone to sleep.

Tsuna walked around aimlessly, looking for food. In the end, he fainted on the forest floor due to hunger.

"Ugh...hungry." He mumbled before passing out.

Back the dojo:

"Tsuna's bowl broke into two! And it even split so nicely in half!" Apachai exclaimed.

"Ah...I hope Tsuna-kun is alright. Kenichi's chopsticks broke into half again - something must have happened to him!" Miu said worriedly.

"If it's Tsuna, he should be able to make the right choice - he's the type that is calm and relies on talent and skill instead of going over the limit. As for Kenichi, he should be able to survive it." Akisame commented.

However, everyone still felt quite troubled.

Back in the mountains, a mysterious pair of red eyes shone from a bush near where Tsuna collapsed.