The person below seemed to sense the danger. The chains wrapping around Ronin's legs suddenly reversed direction, spinning rapidly to form a shield.
At that exact moment, the Rock Fist crashed down.
BOOM!
A deafening impact shook the entire first floor. The spot where Ronin stood disintegrated.
Below, a tall, burly figure—Franklin—was dragging another figure back in a hasty retreat. It was Chrollo, holding his book in one hand and a chain in the other.
As Ronin fell through the crumbling floor, he noticed another figure hurling a spear at him. It was Bonolenov, his bandage-wrapped body whistling with eerie, beautiful music as he moved.
Ronin raised his Rock Fist to block the spear's trajectory.
But in an instant, the rock shattered. The spear pierced straight through Ronin's arm, inflicting damage far exceeding the limits of a Shadow Clone.
With a soft poof, the falling Ronin vanished into a puff of white smoke.
"It really was him," Chrollo muttered, closing his book. He had suspected it might be a clone, but seeing the enemy disappear into smoke was still irritating.
Before the Troupe could even process their annoyance, the ground beneath them began to change.
The solid concrete floor instantly liquefied, turning into a thick, muddy swamp.
All five Troupe members sank into the mud. A powerful suction pulled at their legs, threatening to drag them under.
Chrollo's gaze snapped toward the stairwell. There, he saw a white-haired young man with both palms pressed against the ground.
It was Ronin.
Earth Style: Swamp of the Underworld.
This was the technique Jiraiya used in the manga to trap Orochimaru's giant snake. Ronin's shadow clone was using it now to immobilize the Troupe.
Behind him, another figure flashed into view.
It was another "Kakashi." His hands flew through a sequence of seals, and his chest expanded as he gathered a massive amount of chakra.
Fire Style: Majestic Destroyer Flame.
A torrent of fire erupted from the clone's mouth, engulfing the chaotic scene below in a sea of flames.
But through the fire, a spear shot out.
Thud! Thud!
In an instant, both shadow clones were pierced and exploded into smoke.
However, it wasn't the spear that popped them. It was a rapier appearing behind them.
Feitan, having dodged Zeno's attacks on the upper floor, had appeared at the top of the stairs leading down. He drove his blade into the clones' backs.
The clones hadn't been unaware of Feitan. But the spear had restricted their movement, and executing two large-scale ninjutsu simultaneously had drained most of their chakra.
With the clones gone, the swamp and the flames quickly receded.
Down below, two tall walls now stood directly in front of the stairs. Chrollo and the others had taken cover behind them.
The walls had been created by Kortopi, whose single visible eye stared blankly ahead.
Furthermore, the ground where Chrollo's group stood was slightly elevated—another creation of Kortopi, providing a solid platform amidst the swamp.
"Three of them. His ability has evolved again," Pakunoda noted, maintaining her position near Chrollo.
"Maybe more than three," Chrollo said, his expression grave.
This cloning ability was a tactical nightmare. Based on their current intel, they had no reliable way to distinguish the clones from the original or locate the main body once the clones appeared.
Moreover, recent battles suggested these clones had a damage threshold. They didn't just vanish at the first touch; they could take a hit.
That made things even more troublesome.
Chrollo considered a terrifying possibility: If Ronin grew strong enough, would his clones eventually become capable of killing Troupe members on their own?
If it came to that, even three-man cells wouldn't be safe.
Ronin's combat power was growing at an abnormal, eerie rate. Something wasn't right.
Chrollo rubbed his forehead, his mind racing as he replayed every piece of intel they had on Ronin since their first encounter.
He focused specifically on the spikes in Ronin's strength.
Peeling back the layers of information, Chrollo's eyes suddenly snapped open.
"I see it now," he whispered. He had found the key.
According to Uvogin, when Ronin was first rescued, he was a novice who had just awakened his Nen. Uvogin was confident he could have killed him easily.
But a few days later in Yanshui City, Ronin had improved. He had countermeasures. He was still weak, but with the terrain on his side, he could annoy Uvogin.
The third meeting was a month later at Heaven's Arena.
Ronin's strength had jumped again. He could fight Uvogin head-on.
During that period, Chrollo had discovered that Ronin briefly left Heaven's Arena.
That trip was when he contacted the mercenaries. But the mercenaries weren't the point. The point was his objective: Scarlet Eyes.
During that trip, Ronin had recovered his father's eyes from Uvogin and acquired another pair.
Then came the fourth encounter.
Omokage was dead. Ronin's strength had skyrocketed again. He was able to brutally kill Uvogin in a direct confrontation.
By that point, Ronin didn't even need to rely on borrowed abilities; his raw aura output was nearly on par with Uvogin's.
His progress was too fast.
Abnormally fast.
Chrollo had previously theorized that Ronin was burning his life force to gain power. But now, connecting all the dots and linking them to Ronin's heritage, the truth became clear. Ronin wasn't burning his life. He was using the power of his clan for revenge.
"It's the eyes," Chrollo said quietly.
Omokage had possessed two pairs of Scarlet Eyes—he was a collector, after all.
Those eyes must have become Ronin's spoils of war after he killed Omokage.
Then, on September 1st, Ronin acquired another pair from the underground auction.
Looking at the timeline, every single massive leap in Ronin's power occurred immediately after he obtained one or more pairs of Scarlet Eyes.
" The Kurta Clan..." Chrollo's eyes shined with intellectual excitement. "Interesting. There must be a secret hidden within that bloodline.
"No wonder Ronin is so obsessed with the Scarlet Eyes. They are the source of his power!"
Chrollo was certain of it.
A word popped into his mind: Artifact.
Items rumored to grant the wielder unimaginable power. Originating from the Dark Continent.
It was a truth about the world that had slowly emerged during Chrollo's relentless pursuit of knowledge.
The world they lived in was just a small lake. Beyond it lay a vast, unexplored continent. Artifacts came from that place.
If Ronin possessed such an item, sacrificing the Scarlet Eyes to it could explain his rapid power growth.
That would explain why Ronin's eyes were different from other Kurtas.
Was it possible that Ronin's eyes were the Kurta Clan's artifact?
And was it possible that the Kurta Clan—the so-called "clan of the devil's apostles"—originally came from beyond the lake?
Chrollo's interest in the Kurta Clan, and in the survivor who held these secrets, deepened intensely.
But before he met Ronin again, he needed to collect some Scarlet Eyes for himself.
If he could limit the number of eyes Ronin acquired, he could cap Ronin's growth. A stagnant enemy was a predictable enemy. And a predictable enemy was one Chrollo could defeat with 100% certainty.