The moment Uvogin saw "Franklin," his aura practically boiled over.
When they came tonight, they were already certain they'd find leads about Ronin here.
Because Ronin couldn't possibly give up the Scarlet Eyes.
What they hadn't expected was that Ronin would be bold enough to target the entire auction's inventory—and, from the looks of it, even frame the robbery on the Troupe.
How he disguised himself didn't matter anymore. What mattered was that now it was like mud on their pants—impossible to explain.
Of course, Uvogin had never planned to explain anything anyway.
He burst through the hail of bullets. In a blink he was in front of Ronin's clone.
A massive fist fell with overwhelming force.
Boom!
A deep crater appeared in the floor, but Ronin had already slipped backward.
And in the flicker of the clone's moving lips, a place name reached Uvogin's ears.
The shadow clone raised one hand. He didn't use any signature ninjutsu—instead, aura gathered at his fingertips and fired off Nen bullets repeatedly.
It really did look a bit like Franklin.
Except the Nen bullets were weak. Hitting Uvogin did nothing but make him angrier—no damage at all.
Ronin's "Nen bullets" were just a crude imitation, copied from the last time he'd seen Franklin. Their power was naturally limited.
He'd never intended to develop an Emitter ability in the first place.
The mafia's bullets fired only at Uvogin's trio and completely avoided Ronin's shadow clone—not because they wanted to spare him, but because Ronin still had important lots strapped to him.
Orders had come down from above: don't damage the high-value items.
So confident, muscular mafiosi stepped forward, fists clenched. They couldn't even see the Nen bullets, yet they advanced toward the fight as if they were about to beat both men to death.
But before they got close, those "harmless" Nen bullets that did nothing to Uvogin struck them instead.
Flesh burst. These men didn't even understand what happened before they screamed and collapsed.
The sudden bloodbath made the surrounding mafia recoil in fear.
Machi and Nobunaga used the opening to move in and attempt to surround-kill Ronin.
After what happened in the arena last time, they weren't going to give Ronin a chance to fight Uvogin one-on-one again.
Even if Ronin hadn't borrowed aura from Milia this time, they wouldn't risk it.
At the same time, several other Troupe members were moving inside the building, sprinting upward to find Ronin's real body—who might still be hiding somewhere inside.
Some were also searching outside the building, based on Shalnark's judgment that Ronin's real body couldn't be too far from his clone.
But Ronin's real body had already risen into the air above the Cemetery Building and was steadily flying away from it.
As for the shadow clone: unless it took a hit beyond its tolerance, it would remain until its internal energy was exhausted.
The clone had used Transformation Jutsu to disguise itself, but its eyes remained in Sharingan state the entire time.
A three-tomoe Sharingan let it see every attack trajectory clearly.
The clone suddenly hurled the backpack upward. The valuables inside burst outward in midair.
With the burden gone, Ronin's shadow clone finally displayed its true taijutsu ability.
Its punch collided with Uvogin's Big Bang Impact. The nearly equal force sent both of them staggering backward.
That retreat also conveniently let the clone slip past Nobunaga's slash, and twist like boneless silk to evade Machi's thread pull.
Once it stabilized its footing, the clone made a "gun" gesture with its hand.
"Bang!"
A Nen bullet truly fired from its fingertip—Sidney's classic move from their Heavens Arena fight.
The shot was aimed at Machi.
But before it could reach her, thin threads sliced it apart in midair.
The clone kicked off and surged forward. While Machi was dealing with the shot, it closed in on her.
A fist wrapped in aura unleashed the Big Bang Impact compression.
Boom!
Machi crossed her arms to block. The impact sent her flying, and her arms went numb with tingling pain.
Monster.
But as she was blown back, she also saw a katana and an iron fist closing in on Ronin's clone.
The Sharingan's perception let the clone choose its response instantly.
One hand flicked to its waist and drew a dagger, barely catching Nobunaga's katana.
At the same time, it lifted a foot and kicked straight into Uvogin's chest as Uvogin's punch came in.
The instant the dagger met the katana, it snapped—and the katana's edge continued through, cutting into the clone's body.
The kick landed squarely on Uvogin's chest—
But Uvogin's punch also smashed into the clone.
The shadow clone finally couldn't endure it and burst apart into white smoke.
Uvogin stumbled back several steps, face dark—especially at the shoeprint stamped into the chest of his suit. The humiliation was unbearable.
"He slipped away again." Nobunaga sheathed his sword.
Ronin's taijutsu had clearly improved by leaps and bounds—nothing like the Ronin from months ago at Heavens Arena.
"Ask the boss." Machi rubbed her arms; they were already reddening.
It was Big Bang Impact—but the fact that Ronin could reproduce it at near-Uvogin level proved his Enhancement proficiency was extremely high.
It seemed Ronin's Specialist ability really did lean toward the "upper three" types—a rare case.
"I didn't find him." Chrollo's voice came through the phone. "But witnesses saw someone go upstairs and jump out a window. I found an open window on the fifth floor. Feitan, Phinks, and Bonolenov have already chased after him."
…
Meanwhile, Ronin had already landed atop another high-rise nearby.
Kurapika and Neon were there.
"I saw Troupe members inside the Cemetery Building—looks like they've basically mobilized everyone," Kurapika said quickly as he took Ronin's huge pack.
They'd rented a room on the 15th floor; binoculars from there gave them a clear view of the Cemetery Building.
"And at the spot where you jumped out, there were others who jumped out too and started searching the ground. The traces we left on purpose should come in handy," Neon added, describing what she'd observed.
"I told Uvogin the location. But whether he comes—and how many come with him—I don't know," Ronin said, sharing his own update.
When the shadow clone vanished, all its experiences returned to the main body.
But after Uvogin had eaten so many losses, would he really fall for a "solo meeting" again?
"Let's try." Kurapika spoke with confidence. "If that idiot comes alone, or if the Troupe thinks it's a chance and sends him as bait, we can take him out first."
~~~
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