The streets of Moldin City were swarming with police. Suspicious characters were being rounded up left and right.
Many of them had prior records, mostly related to the illegal organ trade.
The sudden influx of such shady individuals had stretched the small city's police force to its limit.
Ronin drew the curtains closed. "Looks like someone tracked us down. They're resourceful, I'll give them that."
"No, I think it's just that Millia's marketing was too successful," Kurapika said, sounding a bit resigned.
Even though they had traveled all the way to the Yorbian continent, Ronin's status as a popular fighter from Heaven's Arena made him easily recognizable.
Especially to paparazzi, whose observational skills far exceeded the average person's.
Unless Ronin used his Transformation Jutsu, his standard disguises were practically invisible to those professionals.
However, the fact that most of the people arriving here were criminals suggested a different motive: Ronin's Sharingan, which he had revealed in the ring.
In his fight videos, that flash of crimson had already sparked greed in many hearts.
Anything unique is either worshipped or treated as heresy to be eliminated.
Ronin's Sharingan was clearly being coveted. The only question was whether those eyeing his eyes had the strength to take them.
He had already decided how to handle Omokage.
Running away wasn't Ronin's style; he preferred to strike first.
Of course, evasion also carried a higher risk of being cornered. By taking the initiative, he could set traps and use his Shadow Clones to scout the situation.
The puppet master's ability to steal eyes required eye contact with the original person. As long as Ronin himself didn't go, even if a Shadow Clone encountered a puppet and something went wrong, it wouldn't affect him.
The key to the prophecy lay with Ronin himself.
If his eyes were stolen, it was all over.
---
Inside a church in Moldin City, a tall, thin man with long, silver-gray hair sat in a pew. His right hand was wrapped in bandages.
This was Omokage, member number 4 of the Phantom Troupe.
He liked churches. Maybe it was because he used to get food from them as a child, or maybe he simply saw them as a resting place for souls.
Here, it felt as if he could reach out and touch a soul just by lifting his hand.
Chrollo had taken an interest in Ronin, but Omokage didn't intend to feed on Chrollo's leftovers this time.
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 tied to the transformation of his eyes.
If Chrollo, that thief, confirmed this first, Omokage wasn't sure if the Boss would decide he wanted those special eyes for himself.
Omokage had visited Uvogin.
The brute was either roaring in pain from his burns or cursing Ronin, vowing to skin him alive.
To Omokage, Uvogin was just a pure lunatic.
But lunatics had their uses.
With a little guidance, he got the madman to recall Ronin in his mind.
Extracting those memories, Omokage created a puppet in Ronin's likeness.
But without the eyes, the Ronin puppet couldn't display even a fraction of the power Uvogin described. In Omokage's eyes, the puppet was just a useless, pint-sized Uvogin.
Why couldn't Ronin just burn Uvogin to death? Omokage mused.
If he had, Omokage could have at least taken Uvogin's eyes, making the Uvogin puppet far more powerful.
Now, he had to come here alone to collect those eyes.
As for Shalnark's analysis of Ronin's danger level, Omokage didn't care.
He had collected puppets of several Troupe members. He was confident that even alone, his combat power rivaled that of three members combined.
Add his eye-stealing ability to the mix, and Ronin was nothing to worry about.
Besides, Shalnark had theorized that Ronin was only able to fight Uvogin to a draw because he had borrowed Nen from someone else.
And that lender was likely his manager, Millia.
Millia was still back at Heaven's Arena. If Omokage couldn't handle a Ronin who couldn't borrow Nen, he might as well gouge his own eyes out.
Sitting in the front pew, two jars appeared in Omokage's hands.
Both were filled with Scarlet Eyes.
Trophies he had selected during the massacre of the Kurta Clan.
Unfortunately, he hadn't found any difference between Scarlet Eyes and normal eyes—at least, they didn't do anything special when installed in his puppets.
But as bait? He didn't believe a Kurta survivor like Ronin could resist.
Though, it'll probably be a clone that shows up, he thought.
According to Shalnark, Ronin's real body usually stayed close to his clones. So, once a clone appeared, Omokage just had to search the vicinity to find the real Ronin.
Then, he would use an eyeless puppet to make eye contact. The rest wouldn't be his problem.
He figured Uvogin wouldn't care if the Ronin brought to him had eyes or not.
Two puppets he had prepared earlier appeared beside him.
One was Nobunaga, the samurai of the Troupe, complete with a katana at his waist. The other was a boy with black hair and a gentle demeanor, specially crafted by Omokage.
If Kurapika were here, he would scream the name instantly: Pairo!
Kurapika's best friend.
Pairo was the only Kurta whose head had been severed and taken. Omokage still remembered those breathtakingly beautiful eyes.
A pity they didn't belong to him.
Omokage handed a pair of Scarlet Eyes to the Pairo puppet and another to the Nobunaga puppet.
The Nobunaga puppet walked out of the church first. The Pairo puppet climbed to a high point within the church. He didn't need to do anything; just sitting there was enough.
Now, Omokage just had to wait.
He probably didn't have much time. By the time he found a lead, Chrollo was likely wrapping up his own business.
Once the Boss arrived, Omokage might not get his turn.
Puppet after puppet appeared and quickly hid in various corners of the church. If anyone entered, they were ready to coordinate with Omokage to encircle and kill the target.
As for the priest and others who were originally in the church? Their eyes had been stolen, and they had died silently long ago.
---
The Nobunaga puppet, eyes glowing scarlet, walked brazenly onto the streets of Moldin City.
The hunters flooding the city swarmed toward him like sharks smelling blood.
The price of Scarlet Eyes had been bid up to over a billion jenny. That was no small sum.
But every time Nobunaga walked away unscathed, leaving bodies in his wake, those eyeing the prize had to re-evaluate if they were capable of taking those eyes—and living to tell the tale.
Ronin's Shadow Clone spotted the Nobunaga puppet as well.
The Scarlet Eyes in the puppet's sockets made Ronin's own eyes light up.
If he could get his hands on that pair, his strength would skyrocket.
Not only would his Sharingan evolve from two tomoe to three, but his aura capacity would also increase significantly.
With that upgrade, even if Omokage had help, Ronin felt he would have a fighting chance.
Alright, let's do this.
To ensure he secured those Scarlet Eyes, he decided to bring his main body along. It was the best way to guarantee success.