Ronin's pace wasn't fast; it was a stop-and-go journey toward Yanshui City.
He used the time to familiarize himself with his Nen and explore the capabilities of the Two-Tomoe Sharingan.
The increase in Chakra from the fusion allowed him to use more Ninjutsu.
He could now perform Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu and Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu immediately after forming the seals.
The more Chakra he poured into the technique, the greater its power.
He started by spitting out a small fireball, but soon he could exhale a sphere the size of a house. The progress was terrifying.
Of course, the massive fireball consumed a huge amount of Nen. In actual combat, he felt the Phoenix Flower Jutsu might be more practical.
During his practice, Ronin discovered that for the same Chakra cost, Ninjutsu performed with simplified seals had significantly less power than those performed with the full sequence.
The reduction was about fifty percent.
Also, the accuracy of the seals mattered less than the quantity.
The number 44 seemed to be the cap. If he completed 44 seals—regardless of what they were—he could maximize the power of the Jutsu.
Simplified to seven seals, the power output was seventy percent.
The choice was obvious. Most of the time, Ronin would choose the single-seal simplification for fifty percent power. If he needed more punch, he would use seven seals.
Or he could use seven seals to feint, confusing the opponent, then unleash a Jutsu with a single seal to catch them off guard.
As for 44 seals? Whoever wanted to use that was welcome to it.
Even with his practiced fingers and superhuman speed, 44 seals took six to seven seconds.
By the time he finished, the enemy would have already turned him into mincemeat.
Ronin estimated that with the Two-Tomoe Sharingan, the highest level of Ninjutsu he could perform was C-Rank.
It felt like a restriction placed upon him.
Every evolution of his eyes seemed to unlock a tier of Ninjutsu.
To use B-Rank Jutsu, he would need the Three-Tomoe Sharingan.
Following this logic, to use S-Rank Jutsu, he would likely need the Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan.
Ronin couldn't remember exactly which Jutsu were C-Rank, so he would have to experiment.
Another concern was his Nen category.
The Sharingan state was special. As a Kurta, when his eyes weren't active, he shouldn't be a Specialist.
To determine his natural affinity, he needed to perform Water Divination.
It was a standard method used by the Shingen-Ryu school. By injecting Nen into a glass of water, the resulting change revealed the user's aura type.
Ronin wanted the same result as Kurapika: Enhancer.
Since he could use Ninjutsu and had the Sharingan, he didn't need to develop a complex Hatsu. He just needed to accumulate more Nen and strengthen his body. A stronger body meant more Chakra in Sharingan Mode, allowing for more powerful Ninjutsu.
So, when Ronin saw the water in his bamboo cup overflow as he poured his Nen into it, he couldn't help but feel excited.
An increase in water volume was the mark of an Enhancer.
However, thinking of Hisoka's personality test for Nen users, Ronin felt a bit conflicted.
He didn't think he was simple-minded or naive.
Thinking about it, Hisoka isn't always right.
Ronin had a rough plan for developing his Enhancer abilities: increase his aura capacity and physical toughness.
His first small goal was to surpass Uvogin.
He wanted to be able to tank a bazooka shell with just his body and Nen, emerging unscathed.
But how?
He recalled scenes of Biscuit Krueger training Killua and Gon. If he followed those steps, he should improve quickly.
Unfortunately, he had no way to find Biscuit or get her to teach him.
With her guidance, he could have saved a lot of time.
Traveling in this intermittent fashion, Ronin arrived at Yanshui City five days after escaping Uvogin.
He exchanged his dried, crinkled money for fresh clothes at a shop and had a full meal at a restaurant before heading to the airship terminal.
To avoid complications, he planned to leave Yanshui immediately.
Passing a newsstand, he saw the headline about the Kurta Clan massacre.
News travels fast.
It had only been a few days, and it was already the talk of the town.
The report matched the manga: a woman lost in the forest had discovered the slaughtered village.
Only one clue pointing to the culprit remained in the village.
"We reject no one, so take nothing from us."
Ronin didn't know how Kurapika connected this phrase to the Phantom Troupe. Perhaps there were more obvious clues left behind.
Ronin suspected the "lost woman" might be a setup by the Troupe.
It could be a ploy to drive up the price of the Scarlet Eyes.
With the clan exterminated, the number of Scarlet Eyes in the world was capped at 36 pairs.
Subtracting Ronin, his father, and Kurapika, that left 33 pairs.
If one pair could evolve his eyes from one tomoe to two... Ronin wondered what level he would reach if he acquired all of them.
The Kurta Clan had 129 members, including him and Kurapika.
However, over half of them weren't actually ethnic Kurta; they were outsiders who had married in. The clan wasn't completely closed off.
But most members believed the outside world was evil, preferring to stay in the village. This isolation allowed the Troupe to wipe them out so effectively.
Among the victims, only 27 possessed the Scarlet Eyes. That meant the Phantom Troupe currently held 25 pairs.