That hesitation didn't last long before it crumbled under Ronin's insistence.
Muherr believed Ronin wasn't a reckless person. If he dared to take the initiative and explore the place, then he must have something to rely on.
And sending Vanessa in alone to investigate really wasn't that safe either.
So, with the rest of the squad standing by outside the building, ready to reinforce them at any time, Ronin and Vanessa began heading into the building together.
Vanessa's ability was exactly as Ronin had guessed: she could move through the world of shadows.
Vanessa could control her own shadow, and when her shadow came into contact with another shadow, the shadow it touched would become a special space where she could hide herself.
In Ronin's judgment, Vanessa's ability was most likely an Emission type leaning toward Manipulation.
Unlike Vanessa, who moved silently through the shadows, Ronin's strategy was to use the Shadow Clone Technique to lure away every monster they encountered, creating a path his real body could easily pass through.
When necessary, he would also take action and kill some of the monsters himself.
Rather than infiltration, it was more accurate to say he was carrying out a solo assault.
Muherr's guess had been right. Ronin wasn't especially suited to stealth-type abilities to begin with. In fact, among the ninjutsu Ronin had mastered, there weren't any that were particularly suited for infiltration.
But the Shadow Clone Technique worked extremely well.
The monsters only attacked the first living target they detected. They had no ability to distinguish between Ronin's clones and his real body.
Moving through the shadows, Vanessa noticed Ronin's strategy. Although she was surprised that he could create clones, she didn't stop heading toward the lower levels.
Ronin kept releasing shadow clones, and once the monsters were lured away, his real body continued forward.
After he advanced a certain distance, the chakra that scattered from the destroyed shadow clones quickly returned, but the monsters did not pursue him from behind.
That allowed Ronin to confirm two things.
First, the monsters living inside the building had a limited range of movement. They wouldn't chase intruders through the entire structure.
Second, there were no organized monsters inside the building like scouts or units with specific functional roles, which had been one of Ronin's concerns.
After passing through a long corridor, he found the entrance leading to the lower level.
Vanessa's figure had already vanished. Ronin guessed she must have infiltrated the lower level ahead of him.
He had to admit, an ability that allowed movement through shadows really was well-suited to exploration missions.
But Ronin was curious about one thing. In Beyond's team from the manga, he hadn't seen Vanessa.
Was Vanessa simply uninterested in exploring the Dark Continent? Had she left the team early to pursue her dream of becoming a Hunter? Or had she simply not survived long enough to reach the Dark Continent?
If it was the last possibility, then Ronin felt the most likely place Vanessa would fall was here, in the Mahawi Ruins.
Based on his contact with Muherr, even without Ronin's appearance, Muherr's next major focus would likely have been the Mahawi Ruins.
As for the other possibilities, from his brief contact with Vanessa, Ronin's instincts told him she didn't seem like the kind of person who would leave the mercenary group and act alone.
Following that line of thought, it meant there was something inside the Mahawi Ruins powerful enough that even the mercenary group couldn't easily deal with it.
A shadow clone stepped onto the stairs leading down first.
Below the stairs, there was a light stone. Vanessa had probably thrown it there in order to create shadows even in such a dark place.
The shadow clone could use En as well. Combined with the Sharingan, even the dim light from the light stone was enough for him to take in everything within the passage beneath the stairs.
It looked safe on the surface, but under the Sharingan's observation, in the areas the light stone couldn't reach, faint energy fluctuations could be seen.
Through the perception of En, he could also detect the monsters hidden in the darkness, watching the place where the light had appeared.
It seemed that if anything rushed toward the light like a moth to a flame, it would trigger a collective attack from the monsters hiding below.
"Hey!"
The shadow clone shouted from the staircase.
The shout carried down below, then echoed through the somewhat open space.
But one thing was certain: after that shout rang out, the entire underground area seemed to fall into an eerie silence.
"Come catch me!"
An even louder shout rang out underground.
Even Vanessa, who was hiding in the shadows, observing everything and waiting for a chance to throw out another light stone, showed a flash of astonishment on her face.
Was this Ronin's tactic?
It really was reckless.
And at that moment, the first underground level near the stairs erupted into chaos. Rumbling footsteps and roars from unknown monsters followed right after Ronin's shadow clone's shouting.
Then monster after monster surged out from the shadows, charging straight toward the staircase and rushing upward without hesitation.
Ronin's shadow clone didn't immediately turn and leave. Instead, from the moment he had started shouting, he had already begun forming hand seals.
As large numbers of monsters poured out from below and charged toward the stairs, he unleashed the ninjutsu he had prepared.
Fire Release: Fire Dragon Flame Bullet!
Three fire dragons emerged on the staircase at the same time and, with silent roars, crashed into the monsters charging up from below.
The blazing firelight completely illuminated the entrance to the lower stairway, also revealing the large swarm of monsters rushing toward it from the darkness.
Vanessa, already on the lower level, quickly adjusted her position within the shadows. Even so, her eyes were filled with shock at the sheer number of monsters hidden underground.
But that same question arose again.
What were these monsters surviving on?
The fire dragons struck the monsters without the slightest pause, engulfing them completely in flames.
The monsters continued charging, but their bodies also began burning. Their forward momentum finally stopped less than ten meters from Ronin, and then they collapsed onto the stairs.
Ronin's gaze fell on the fallen corpse, a trace of doubt flashing through his eyes.
Then he stopped paying attention to the fire dragons he had already released and quickly began preparing a second ninjutsu with both hands. This time, what he was preparing was the full version of a jutsu requiring forty-four hand seals.
But before releasing it, he shouted down into the underground level first:
"Get over here, or run farther away!"
The monsters below seemed to have no idea what fear was. They kept charging into the fire dragons without stopping.
After using the bodies of dozens of monsters to smother the flames, there was almost nowhere left to stand on the staircase. Near the lower-level entrance, scorching heat had gathered thickly in the air.
Even so, the monsters still roared and slammed forward, surging toward the stairs.
It was as if Ronin, standing on the staircase, was either some unforgivable enemy—
or some rare delicacy that drew them in.
Only this time, what greeted them was still blazing heat.
Fire Release: Searing Migraine!