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Chapter 38: Bodyguards and Mercenaries
Machi wasn't going to let Ronin escape so easily. After all, four of them had mobilized for this.
Rat-a-tat-tat!
Gunfire erupted from the stands.
A dense hail of rifle bullets poured down on Ronin's position.
The shooter was a nondescript man, firing with eerie calmness.
Ronin knew at a glance that the man was being controlled by Shalnark.
Reaching into his custom pouch, Ronin pulled out a kunai. He spun and threw it in one fluid motion.
As for the bullets? With the Sharingan's dynamic vision, they couldn't touch him.
Any tricky trajectories were blocked by stone slabs raised by his Shadow Clone's Earth Shore Return.
Ronin reached the tunnel entrance almost unimpeded.
On the ring, the flames finally died down. An arm punched out of the ground in the center of the arena.
Uvogin clawed his way out of the ruined floor, looking incredibly wretched.
Half his body was charred black. One arm dragged on the ground, leaving a blackened trail of carbonized flesh.
"RONIN!"
A roar filled with infinite killing intent and rage erupted from Uvogin, who could barely stand.
He looked like a demon crawling out of hell.
Ronin felt a stirring in his heart. He turned to look at Uvogin, their eyes meeting in mid-air.
In that instant, Uvogin went deaf to the noise around him. He felt a scorching heat rising from his legs.
Looking down, he saw flames igniting on his legs.
Intense pain spread upward. For the first time, the fearless Uvogin felt fear.
Ronin turned away, ignoring the falling Uvogin, and disappeared into the tunnel.
The Majestic Destroyer Flame failed to kill Uvogin. It was surprising, yet expected.
A pity.
The guy's reaction speed was insane. The only way to survive that firestorm was to dig underground instantly.
But even underground, he had to endure the extreme heat baking the arena.
That Uvogin survived without being cooked through proved his toughness.
But he was a spent force.
If Ronin didn't have to worry about the other Spiders, he would have finished him off.
However, he didn't expect Uvogin to dare look him in the eye in that state!
When Uvogin was in full Ken, his aura protected him from Genjutsu to an extent.
But now? He was defenseless.
So Ronin didn't hesitate to cast Genjutsu: Shiranui!
A visual Genjutsu Itachi once used on Kakashi.
Hope he likes it.
Ronin slowed down. Someone was waiting for him in the tunnel.
A blonde young man playing with a phone. Shalnark, the brain of the Troupe alongside Chrollo.
Seeing only Shalnark, Ronin relaxed.
His biggest worry was Chrollo showing up.
Now, with Shalnark alone, it meant Chrollo likely wasn't here.
And if he was, Milia's intel network would have spotted him based on Ronin's description.
Since Chrollo wasn't here, Ronin saved a lot of money.
Gunfire echoed outside the tunnel again.
This time, it wasn't aimed at Ronin's clone guarding the entrance.
Someone was sweeping the corridor with fire to stop Machi, who was rushing toward Ronin.
The man controlled by Shalnark had already fallen to Ronin's kunai.
These new shooters wore tactical gear.
They seemed to have been waiting for Machi to make her move.
The Mercenaries.
The bullets from their submachine guns were Nen bullets. They didn't expect to kill Machi, just to lock down her movement.
Annoyed, Machi tried to change direction toward the mercenaries, but a bullet struck the ground right next to her leg.
A warning.
Machi looked up and saw a tall figure holding a sniper rifle at the top of the stands.
The sniper had distinctive pointed ears—like an elf.
Seeing Machi look, he raised his rifle in a mock greeting.
But Machi knew it was a threat.
She stopped.
She didn't care about the riflemen; she could kill them easily if she got close.
But the sniper was a massive threat.
Acting rashly could get her killed.
While Machi hesitated, Nobunaga broke free from the mud river.
He didn't chase Ronin. He jumped onto the scorching ring and rushed to Uvogin.
Uvogin was alive.
But his condition was critical. Nobunaga hoisted him up and leaped off the ring, landing next to Machi.
"We need to get him treatment!" Nobunaga's face was grim.
Machi didn't move. She stared intently at the tunnel.
She worried if Shalnark could handle Ronin alone. The Kurta kid's abilities were genuinely tricky.
"You go first," Machi added. "Take Franklin with you. They probably won't stop you if you're leaving."
Nobunaga didn't argue. He carried Uvogin and rushed toward Franklin.
Meanwhile, in the tunnel, Ronin kept his hands ready to form seals, closing in on Shalnark.
Shalnark wasn't a combatant type.
As a Manipulator, his trump card was Autopilot—sticking the antenna in himself.
That mode was dangerous, giving him Enhancer-level stats and a fight-to-the-death programming.
It was a huge hassle.
And Ronin was running low on Chakra.
The continuous Ninjutsu and the Shadow Clone had drained the rented aura long ago.
Even his own reserves were half gone.
So his choice was simple: Run.
He couldn't let Shalnark block the tunnel with Autopilot!
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