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Chapter 46: Omokage
The number of patrol officers on the streets of Mordin City had increased, and many suspicious individuals had been arrested.
Most of them had criminal records, largely involving organ trafficking.
The sudden influx of such characters strained the security forces of this small city.
Ronin drew the curtains. "It seems people have tracked us down. They're quite resourceful."
"No, it's just that Milia's promotion was too successful," Kurapika said helplessly.
Even though they had arrived on the Yorbian Continent, Ronin's identity as a popular Heaven's Arena fighter was easily recognized.
Especially by the paparazzi, whose keen observation skills far exceeded those of ordinary people.
Unless Ronin used the Transformation Technique, his disguises were practically nonexistent to those professionals.
However, the reason so many criminals flocked here was undoubtedly the Sharingan Ronin had exposed in the ring.
Even in previous fight videos, that crimson glint had attracted covetous eyes.
Unique things were either worshipped or persecuted as heresy.
Ronin's Sharingan was clearly being targeted. Whether these covetous people had the ability to deal with him remained to be seen.
The decision regarding Omokage had been made.
Running away wasn't Ronin's style; he preferred to strike first.
While fleeing had a higher chance of being intercepted, attacking allowed him to set traps and use his Shadow Clone to test the waters.
The doll's ability to steal eyes required eye contact with the original body. As long as Ronin himself didn't go, accidents involving the Shadow Clone wouldn't affect him.
The key to the prophecy lay with Ronin's main body.
Once his eyes were stolen, everything would be over.
...
Inside a church in Mordin City, a tall, thin man with long silver-grey hair and bandages wrapped around his right hand sat in the pews.
He was Omokage, member number 4 of the Phantom Troupe.
He liked churches. Perhaps it was because he often got food from them during his childhood, or perhaps because, to him, a church was where souls returned.
Here, it felt like he could touch a soul just by raising his hand.
Chrollo had taken an interest in Ronin, but Omokage didn't plan on eating leftovers.
He wanted to steal Ronin's eyes first.
He had seen the videos Shalnark sent to Chrollo. He was certain that Ronin's abilities were heavily linked to the changes in his eyes.
If Chrollo, the bandit, confirmed this first, Omokage wasn't sure if the Boss would covet those special eyes for himself.
Omokage had visited Uvogin.
The irritable Uvogin spent every day roaring about the pain of his burns or cursing Ronin, wishing to eat him alive.
To Omokage, Uvogin was a pure madman.
But madmen had their uses.
With a little guidance, Omokage had Uvogin recall Ronin in his mind.
Extracting those memories, Omokage created a doll in Ronin's likeness.
However, the eyeless Ronin doll couldn't display even a fraction of the power Uvogin described. To Omokage, the doll was just a stupid, miniature Uvogin.
Why couldn't Ronin just burn Uvogin to death?
At least then he could have gouged out Uvogin's eyes and installed them in the Uvogin doll to boost its power.
Now, he had to come alone to collect Ronin's eyes.
As for Shalnark's analysis of Ronin's danger level, Omokage didn't care.
He had collected dolls of several Troupe members. He was confident that even alone, he possessed the combat power of more than three Spiders.
Combined with his eye-stealing ability, Ronin was nothing to worry about.
Moreover, Shalnark analyzed that Ronin's ability to fight Uvogin on equal footing was likely due to borrowing aura from someone else.
That lender was likely the Gold Medal Agent, Milia.
Now that Milia was still at Heaven's Arena, if he couldn't handle a Ronin who couldn't borrow aura, he might as well gouge out his own eyes.
Sitting in the front row of the church, Omokage held two jars.
Inside were Scarlet Eyes.
These were the trophies he selected when the Kurta Clan was massacred.
Unfortunately, he didn't see much difference between Scarlet Eyes and normal eyes. At least, they didn't show any special performance when installed in dolls.
But using them as bait? He didn't believe Ronin, a Kurta survivor, wouldn't bite.
Though, it will probably be a clone that comes.
According to Shalnark's analysis, Ronin's real body wouldn't be far from the clone. Once the clone appeared, finding Ronin by searching the perimeter would be easy.
Then, using an eyeless doll to make eye contact would settle it.
Uvogin probably wouldn't care if the Ronin he caught had eyes or not.
Two pre-made dolls appeared beside Omokage.
One was the doll of Nobunaga, carrying a katana. The other was a black-haired boy who looked gentle and kind—a doll Omokage had made specially.
If Kurapika were here, he would scream the name: Pairo!
Kurapika's best friend.
The only Kurta whose head was severed and taken. Omokage still remembered those exquisitely beautiful eyes.
A pity they didn't belong to him!
Omokage handed the two pairs of Scarlet Eyes to the Pairo doll and the Nobunaga doll.
The Nobunaga doll walked out of the church first. The Pairo doll climbed to the top of the church roof. It didn't need to do anything; just sitting there was enough!
Now, all Omokage had to do was wait.
But he didn't have much time. When he found the lead, Chrollo's business was already wrapping up.
Once the Boss arrived, Omokage's turn might be over.
Dolls quickly appeared in the vicinity, hiding in every corner of the church. The moment someone entered, they would coordinate with Omokage to ambush the target.
As for the priest and others in the church, their eyes had already been stolen, and they had died silently.
The Nobunaga doll, sporting glowing Scarlet Eyes, walked brazenly onto the streets of Mordin City.
The hunters flooding the city smelled blood like sharks and rushed toward the doll.
Scarlet Eyes were now priced at over a billion Jenny. Not a small sum.
But when the one walking away unscathed every time was "Nobunaga," those plotting for the eyes had to reassess their ability to survive the attempt.
Ronin's Shadow Clone also spotted the Nobunaga doll.
Specifically, the pair of Scarlet Eyes in the doll's sockets made Ronin's eyes light up.
If he could get that pair, his strength would improve further.
Not only would his eyes evolve from Two-Tomoe to Three-Tomoe, but his aura capacity would also increase drastically.
Even if Omokage had help, Ronin felt he would have a fighting chance!
Let's do it!
To ensure he secured the eyes, he decided his main body would join the operation.
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