When the Phantom Troupe members were discovered on the first floor, all of Luo Ning's shadow clones rushed toward them.
By the time the ground was torn open by Jupiter, one shadow clone had already reached the stairs leading to the lower level.
In Luo Ning's view, this was an opportunity.
Unfortunately, the battle had ended by the time the last shadow clone arrived. Otherwise, Luo Ning had planned to unleash a Water Style jutsu on the first floor, flooding the entire basement.
However, after the three shadow clones dispelled and returned their experiences to the main body, a fourth shadow clone remained hidden in the shadows, choosing not to reveal itself.
The battle on the first floor did not last long.
While the five people on the lower level were being stalled by Luo Ning, those outside the building broke in.
The two members of the Zoldyck family realized it was no longer possible to kill Isley in a two-on-five situation, so they chose to retreat.
Luo Ning watched coldly from the sidelines and saw the situation clearly.
The two Zoldycks didn't care at all about the other Troupe members besides Number 8; it was likely that their mission was specifically to assassinate Number 8.
Luo Ning had a suspicion.
Could the main reason the two Zoldycks joined this operation have been to take down Number 8 more easily through this mission?
They probably didn't expect things to take such a turn.
Because of Luo Ning's appearance, the remaining eleven members of the Phantom Troupe were now sticking together in a tight group.
In this state, the difficulty of assassination increased significantly.
However, given how professional those two were, since this assassination attempt failed, there would likely be follow-up attempts.
Unless someone could find the person who hired them and kill the client first—without a client, there would be no need for them to continue the mission.
Of course, they wouldn't refund the money they had already collected.
But who was the person who wanted Number 8 dead?
Luo Ning had no information in his mind. He only knew that in the original manga, Silva had mentioned to Killua not to touch the Troupe.
In Killua's understanding, for Silva—who rarely complained about work—to say such a thing was a compliment to the prey's strength.
Silva's warning to Killua at that time was because he felt the Troupe was a nuisance after completing the assassination of Number 8. Calculating the timeline, it matched up with the current events.
If Luo Ning didn't want to deal with the Phantom Troupe himself, he could directly hire the Zoldyck assassins. However, after today's events, the price for assassinating Troupe members would surely skyrocket.
Then again, if he coordinated with the Zoldycks, killing Troupe members should be relatively simple.
Forget it.
Luo Ning's head hurt from thinking about it. It was better to leave these complicated matters to Kurapika.
His move against the Phantom Troupe below today had also been part of Kurapika's arrangement.
According to Kurapika, he wanted the Troupe to understand that Luo Ning's strength had improved significantly in just a few short days.
Luo Ning felt that the attacks from his three shadow clones were enough to demonstrate his increased power.
As for why Kurapika made such an arrangement...
According to Kurapika, the goal was to accelerate the Troupe's realization that his increase in strength was related to the Scarlet Eyes.
Based on Kurapika's analysis, the Troupe would figure this out sooner or later.
After all, every time Luo Ning met the Troupe, his strength showed massive progress. During this period, Luo Ning hadn't made much effort to hide it—or rather, he hadn't hidden it at all. As long as the members of the Troupe weren't stupid, they could connect the dots and realize his power spikes always occurred shortly after obtaining Scarlet Eyes.
Luo Ning felt somewhat helpless. He really hadn't expected such deep calculation; he wasn't the type of wise man who could see N steps ahead.
However, Kurapika had already prepared a response. In Kurapika's view, the best outcome would be to force the Phantom Troupe to retrieve the Scarlet Eyes from Kakin for them.
Compared to the mysterious and unpredictable Kakin, Kurapika believed the Troupe was easier to deal with.
But how could they pressure the Phantom Troupe?
Weren't they afraid that the Phantom Troupe would simply destroy the Scarlet Eyes at the source to nip his growth in the bud?
Kurapika hadn't explained it to him at the time, only telling him not to worry.
Luo Ning sighed. The people in this world had far too many schemes.
'Damn that Hisoka, the weight of his evaluation of Enhancers seems to be rising. When will we Enhancers finally stand up?'
'Whatever, I'll just trust Kurapika!'
Luo Ning gave up on thinking. He formed hand seals, activated Earth Style: Super Light-Weight Rock Jutsu, and his body quickly rose, disappearing into the night.
Gunfire continued to echo in the building below.
In the middle of the night, the Mafia released a piece of information: photos of the dead Troupe members.
They had allegedly cornered the Phantom Troupe in the suburbs and used rocket launchers combined with continuous machine-gun fire to turn several members into Swiss cheese.
Luo Ning, who was already lying on the sofa reading manga, saw the photos Kurapika had received on his computer nearby.
"Kortopi's masterpieces. They're all fakes," Luo Ning said, stating the truth directly. "What do you plan to do?"
"Any smart person who bought information on the Troupe should know this. So, we don't need to do anything. Since the Troupe wants to hide, let them hide. The key now is to collect the Scarlet Eyes scattered across different locations. As long as the Troupe discovers the secret I mentioned regarding your strength, they will definitely take action in the shadows. I don't believe they will keep acting as a group of eleven. Only by splitting up will they have a chance to get to the Scarlet Eyes before us. But once they split up, it means they are giving us an opportunity!"
Kurapika operated the computer, where chat logs between him and Milia flashed quickly.
Keywords like 'fake death,' 'hire,' and 'as soon as possible' flickered past before Kurapika inconspicuously switched pages.
"The ones who should be finding this difficult are them. Whether to let us continue collecting Scarlet Eyes to increase our strength, or to risk snatching them before we do—this is a dilemma for the Troupe. But I can guarantee their speed will not match ours. By then, they will have only one choice left if they want to collect Scarlet Eyes: go to Kakin and find Tserriednich!"
"Aren't you worried they'll destroy the eyes?" Luo Ning asked again.
He was still worried about this, as merging the Scarlet Eyes was the key step for his eyes to evolve.
"I won't gamble with my clan's eyes," Kurapika said with absolute seriousness. "That's why I've already woven the perfect reason for those people who love to plunder the treasures of others. Even if they do manage to get the Scarlet Eyes, they won't touch them until they completely lose hope of using them for themselves! Furthermore, even if we do nothing, the Phantom Troupe will eventually think of using the Scarlet Eyes to threaten and pressure us. So, it's better to set a trap and operate in reverse. This actually gives us a better chance of preserving all the eyes! What we should truly worry about is these bastards becoming desperate once we back them into a corner."
Luo Ning nodded. "What do you need me to do?"
"Wait," Kurapika said, taking a sip of the coffee on the table. "Wait for the Phantom Troupe to reveal a weakness, and then go kill them!"
"I like that plan." Luo Ning turned his attention back to his manga. "Can we get the Scarlet Eyes at the auction the day after tomorrow?"
"They're already in hand." As Kurapika spoke, he picked up a case from the side. "As long as you offer a price the Southern Piece side can't refuse, it's not hard to get the eyes in advance. Especially using Raymond's identity as one of the Ten Community Leaders—it makes it easy to investigate who put those eyes up for auction. That makes things even simpler."
At this point, Kurapika's tone suddenly shifted as he brought up an entirely unrelated matter.
"Luo Ning, if you were forced to recall that day, would you be able to break through the bottleneck you mentioned?"
"Hmm?" Luo Ning didn't react for a moment, but he quickly understood the meaning behind Kurapika's words. "I don't know. Probably! But even if these eyes don't undergo a qualitative change, it's fine. My abilities are strong enough even with my current eyes!"
Kurapika nodded and did not pursue the topic further.
Luo Ning also didn't continue. He only had guesses about what circumstances were required for the Sharingan to transform into the Mangekyo.
He told Kurapika because, through these months of being together, he had already come to view Kurapika as family in this world.
Secondly, it allowed Kurapika to have a clearer understanding of his strength, which would help Kurapika make better arrangements in subsequent plans.
Moreover, in Luo Ning's view, this information wasn't so important that it couldn't be shared with Kurapika.
He wasn't revealing everything, only informing him that there was a bottleneck in his ability's growth and the general direction for breaking through it.
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