The Shadow Clones began a rapid sweep of the area.
Meanwhile, the real Ronin wasn't idling either.
His En training hadn't reached a level where it was useful for tactical reconnaissance yet. Right now, Ronin's En could only expand to a radius of about two or three meters.
This was mostly because he hadn't made it a priority in his training schedule.
The size of one's En didn't necessarily dictate a Nen user's strength, but it was a safe bet that anyone with a massive En was a powerhouse.
That said, within the realm of Ninjutsu, there were plenty of sensory techniques.
For Ronin right now, the most practical tool was the Sharingan.
Yes, the Sharingan. The other sensory-type Jutsu he knew of were all at least A-rank difficulty to learn.
There was the Third Hokage's Telescope Technique, which was A-rank. Pain's—or rather, Nagato's—Rain Tiger at Will Technique was also A-rank difficulty.
As for Karin's Mind's Eye of the Kagura or the Byakugan, those were Kekkei Genkai—bloodline limits he couldn't replicate. The ability to sense negative emotions was specific to the Nine-Tails.
Then there were the Aburame clan's bugs, the Inuzuka clan's hounds and sense of smell, Gaara's sand, and so on.
Basically, everything else was either restricted by insane difficulty or required specific secret techniques and catalysts.
Bottom line? Ronin had to rely on his own eyes.
The dolls were all imbued with Nen. As long as his Sharingan was active, no Nen source within range could hide from his sight. The Sharingan's insight might be slightly inferior to the Byakugan's x-ray vision, but compared to a normal human, it was practically Superman-level vision.
At this moment, his Shadow Clones were using that insight to hunt for ability users nearby.
Sure enough, the Nobunaga doll wasn't alone. There were more dolls hiding in the shadows—eyeless, faceless figures that looked remarkably generic, like mass-produced factory rejects.
---
Ronin marked every doll his clones detected on a map, along with the Nobunaga doll's projected path.
Kurapika stared at the map intently. He was cross-referencing Ronin's intel on Omokage—the "Soul Doll" user—with the markings to pinpoint a hideout.
His gaze quickly locked onto a church on the outskirts of the city.
"Here. He's barely even hiding it," Kurapika said solemnly, pointing at the church.
"It's a trap," Ronin agreed, his voice serious. Then, his tone shifted. "But whether he's laid a trap in the church or not, the priority remains the same: recover the Scarlet Eyes carried by that Nobunaga doll!"
"Are you confident?" Kurapika asked, worried.
The existence of the prophecy poem hung over them like a Sword of Damocles; no one knew when it might fall.
"Yeah." Ronin gave a simple reply and vanished from the room.
The Shadow Clones' targets were the hidden ambush dolls. The real Ronin's target was the Nobunaga doll.
In a long alleyway, a tall, lanky doll hiding behind the Nobunaga doll tensed, ready for combat.
But as it passed a graffiti-covered wall, a streak of lightning crashed down from above!
Lightning Oppression Horizontal Chop.
It was one of the Raikage's signature moves. With a single strike, the sheer power decapitated the doll before it could even turn its head.
The doll's hollow-eyed head flew through the air. Before it could hit the ground, a volley of fireballs chased it down, incinerating it in mid-air!
Fire Style: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique.
As the headless body collapsed, more dolls surged toward the location where Ronin's Shadow Clone had appeared.
Meanwhile, the real Ronin was perched on a rooftop five stories up. His eyes, fully shifted into the Sharingan, scanned the perimeter. He glanced down, then took a step forward, plummeting straight off the building.
A five-story drop was nothing to him now.
He landed at the entrance of the alley. Walking slowly toward him from the other end was the Nobunaga doll, the Scarlet Eyes visible in its sockets.
There was no need for trash talk. The moment Ronin touched the ground, arcs of electricity began to dance across his skin.
Omokage was controlling way more dolls than Ronin had anticipated.
Judging by the fights his clones were having with the generic, cookie-cutter dolls, Ronin realized something: aside from the special "named" dolls based on the Phantom Troupe, the rest were only slightly stronger than an average athletic human.
However, they had a nasty gimmick—if you looked them in the eye at close range, they would steal your eyes.
His Shadow Clones had found that out the hard way, paying with their "lives."
Specialist Nen abilities really defied common sense.
But now that he knew the mechanic, Ronin—standing at the alley entrance—had a simple plan. If he was fast enough, the hidden dolls couldn't catch him, and they certainly couldn't lock eyes with him.
Lightning Style Chakra Mode!
The chakra in Ronin's body rapidly converted into lightning nature as he wove the signs.
This was the secret technique passed down through the Cloud Village. The Third Raikage had used it to go toe-to-toe with the Eight-Tails; the Fourth Raikage used it to achieve speeds second only to the Flying Raijin.
Only the Fifth Raikage (Darui) hadn't mastered it due to insufficient chakra reserves.
Ronin had the chakra to pull it off, but he couldn't maintain it for long.
One minute.
After several tests, Ronin had calculated that was his optimal operating window.
After one minute, he would drop the mode. He'd still have some chakra left, and his body wouldn't suffer severe backlash.
But for someone in Lightning Style Chakra Mode, one minute was an eternity.
This was, after all, known as the "Ultimate Lightning Armor."
The moment Ronin landed, the Nobunaga doll sensed danger. It crouched low, mimicking the real Nobunaga's Iai quick-draw stance.
But a split second later, the figure wrapped in lightning at the alley entrance vanished.
Without an active En, the doll had no sphere of awareness. It didn't know which of the real Nobunaga's abilities it possessed, but without En, it was an imperfect copy.
To Ronin, the doll was moving in slow motion.
Ronin's hand, crackling with electricity, reached out and grabbed the doll's face.
Rip.
With a flash of light, Ronin effortlessly tore the doll's head right off its shoulders.
The powerful Lightning Style Chakra Mode didn't just boost his speed; the lightning chakra stimulated his cells, enhancing his physical strength and durability to monstrous levels.
The doll felt as fragile as wet paper in his hands.
Ronin skidded to a halt deep in the alley. Only then did the Nobunaga doll's katana slash out toward the empty space at the alley entrance where Ronin had been a moment ago.
Thud.
The headless body hit the floor. Ronin glanced back at it, then disappeared again in a flash of lightning.
On the nearby rooftops, dozens of dolls suddenly appeared. But seeing the headless Nobunaga doll on the ground below, they all froze in place, as if their operating system had just crashed.