When Ronin's shadow clones discovered the Troupe members on the first floor, they all rushed down.
By the time "Jupiter" tore through the floor, one clone had already reached the stairwell leading to the basement.
To Ronin, it was an opportunity.
Unfortunately, by the time the last clone arrived, the fight was already over—otherwise Ronin would've liked to add a Water Style jutsu and flood the entire underground level.
After three clones dispersed and their experiences returned to the main body, the fourth clone stayed hidden and never revealed itself.
The fight on the first floor didn't last long.
While Ronin held the five underground, the Troupe members outside stormed into the building.
The two Zoldycks could no longer kill Isri in a two-versus-five situation, so they chose to retreat.
Ronin watched coldly and understood.
The Zoldycks didn't care about any Troupe members besides No. 8—meaning their job was likely only to assassinate No. 8.
Ronin formed a guess.
Could it be that the real reason the two Zoldycks joined this operation was precisely because it made it easier to eliminate No. 8?
They probably didn't expect variables.
Because Ronin's appearance forced the Troupe's remaining eleven members into a tightly grouped formation.
That formation greatly increased assassination difficulty.
Still, given their professionalism, failing today likely meant follow-up attempts—unless someone found the employer who hired them and killed that employer, ending the contract.
Of course, the money already paid wouldn't be refunded.
So who hired them to kill No. 8?
Ronin had no information. He only remembered that in the manga, Silva once told Killua not to get involved with the Troupe.
Killua understood that Silva rarely complained about work; for Silva to speak like that meant he was acknowledging the prey's strength.
Silva's warning came after he completed the assassination of No. 8—he'd found the Troupe troublesome. The timing matched the present.
If Ronin didn't want to fight the Troupe himself, he could also hire the Zoldycks—but after today, the price for killing Troupe members would definitely skyrocket.
That said, if he coordinated with the Zoldycks, killing Troupe members might become much easier.
…Forget it.
Ronin's head started to ache. He decided this kind of complex decision-making should be left to Kurapika.
Tonight's strike against the Troupe underground had also been part of Kurapika's plan.
Kurapika's intent was to show the Troupe that Ronin's strength had improved again in only a few days.
Ronin felt that three shadow clones' attacks were already enough to demonstrate that growth.
As for why Kurapika wanted it arranged that way—
Kurapika's reasoning was to accelerate the Troupe's realization that Ronin's growth was tied to Scarlet Eyes.
By Kurapika's analysis, the Troupe would figure it out sooner or later.
Because every time Ronin encountered the Troupe, his strength jumped massively—and in between, Ronin didn't hide it at all. If the Troupe weren't stupid, once they connected the chain of events, they'd notice that Ronin's leaps happened shortly after obtaining Scarlet Eyes.
Ronin could only feel helpless. This kind of deep plotting was far beyond him. He wasn't the type who saw N steps ahead from one step.
But Kurapika already had a response.
In Kurapika's view, the best possible situation would be forcing the Troupe into retrieving Scarlet Eyes from Kakin on their behalf.
Compared to the mysterious Kakin, Kurapika believed the Troupe were easier to handle.
But how do you force the Phantom Troupe into that?
Wasn't there a risk the Troupe would simply destroy Scarlet Eyes at the source to choke off Ronin's growth?
Kurapika hadn't explained back then—he'd only told Ronin not to worry.
Ronin felt helpless. People in this world had far too many "extra hearts" and schemes.
Damn Hisoka—Hisoka's "Enhancer stereotype" rating kept getting more credible. When would Enhancers finally rise up?
…Fine. He'd trust Kurapika.
Ronin stopped thinking. He formed seals, activated Earth Style: Ultralight-Weight Rock, rose quickly, and vanished into the night.
Gunfire continued inside the building below.
Around midnight, the mafia released "news": photos of dead Troupe members.
They claimed to have surrounded the Troupe in the suburbs and riddled several members with rocket launchers and nonstop machine-gun fire, turning them into sieves.
Ronin was already sprawled on the couch reading manga when he saw the photos on Kurapika's computer.
"Kortopi's work. All fake," Ronin stated immediately. "What do you plan to do?"
"Smart people who bought Troupe intel will know it's fake, so we don't need to do anything," Kurapika said calmly. "If the Troupe wants to hide, let them hide.
What matters now is collecting Scarlet Eyes scattered everywhere. Once the Troupe discovers what I said—that your growth is tied to Scarlet Eyes—they will act in secret.
And I don't believe they'll keep moving as all eleven together. If they want to beat us to Scarlet Eyes, they'll have to split up.
But splitting up gives us opportunities.
The real dilemma is theirs: do they let us keep collecting Scarlet Eyes and growing stronger, or do they take risks to collect them first? For the Troupe, it's a hard choice."
Kurapika worked at the computer; his chats with Milia flashed by—words like "fake death," "hire," and "as soon as possible" appearing briefly before he switched tabs smoothly.
"But I'm certain they'll be slower than us," Kurapika continued. "In the end, if they want Scarlet Eyes, they'll be left with only one option: go to Kakin and find Tserriednich."
"And you're not worried they'll destroy the Scarlet Eyes?" Ronin asked again.
That was still his biggest worry. Fusing Scarlet Eyes was the key step for his eye evolution.
"I won't gamble with our people's eyes," Kurapika said with absolute seriousness. "So I already wove the best possible reason for these thieves.
Even if they get Scarlet Eyes, before they truly believe they've lost all hope of using them, they won't dare destroy them.
And even if we did nothing, the Troupe would eventually think of collecting Scarlet Eyes to threaten and force us.
So we might as well set a trap and reverse the situation—there's a better chance of preserving all the Scarlet Eyes that way.
The real danger is when we corner them and those bastards start thrashing like dogs."
Ronin nodded. "What do you need me to do?"
"Wait," Kurapika said, sipping his coffee. "Wait for the Phantom Troupe to expose a flaw—then kill them."
"I like that plan." Ronin's gaze returned to his manga. "The auction the day after tomorrow—can we get that Scarlet Eyes pair?"
"Already in hand," Kurapika said, picking up a box beside him. "As long as you offer a price Numpis can't refuse, getting the Scarlet Eyes early isn't hard.
And with Raymond's Ten Don identity, it's easy to investigate who's selling that pair—making it even simpler."
Then Kurapika suddenly shifted topics, bringing up something that seemed unrelated.
"nii-san Ronin… if you relive that day, do you think you could break through the bottleneck you mentioned?"
"Hm?" Ronin didn't react at first, but quickly understood. "No idea. Probably. But even if it doesn't cause a qualitative change in my eyes, it's fine—my abilities are already strong enough with the eyes I have now."
Kurapika nodded and didn't press further.
Ronin also didn't continue. What it truly took to go from Sharingan to Mangekyō was still only his guess.
He'd told Kurapika for two reasons:
First, in these months together, Ronin had come to treat Kurapika as family in this world.
Second, he wanted Kurapika to have a clear understanding of his power, so Kurapika could plan and arrange better in the future.
And to Ronin, this wasn't the kind of information that had to be kept secret.
He wasn't revealing everything—only that his growth had a bottleneck and the rough direction for overcoming it.
~~~
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