Chapter 68: How to Handle an Owl
Owl woke up tied to a chair in a hotel room.
In front of him stood a pink-haired girl, eyeing him up and down like she was inspecting a piece of meat at the market.
Her gaze made Owl shudder. He felt like she was debating which organ to harvest first.
"He's awake!" Neon called out to the other room.
Ronin and Kurapika walked in. Ronin was casually eating a sandwich, while Kurapika's conjured chains floated menacingly around him.
Since he hadn't returned Owl's ability or transferred it to anyone else, Kurapika couldn't deactivate his Steal Chain (Index Finger) yet.
They had been discussing how to deal with Owl.
Owl's ability, Fun Fun Cloth, was incredibly useful. But Kurapika's Emperor Time—required to maintain the stolen ability—drained his life force. He couldn't keep Owl's ability indefinitely.
To utilize Owl properly, they had two choices: Make him serve willingly, or force him.
Ronin had suggested a third option, but Kurapika found it too cruel. It made them look like the villains, so he vetoed it—for now.
Owl didn't know what Kurapika was thinking, but he saw a flicker of pity in the boy's eyes.
Ronin's idea was simple.
He didn't trust Owl.
Since he didn't have the Rinnegan to turn Owl into a Path of Pain, the next best thing was to learn from Sasori of the Red Sand and use Puppet Technique.
With the fifth pair of Scarlet Eyes absorbed, Ronin was essentially a walking Jutsu encyclopedia.
Since he could use S-Rank Jutsu, he had access to almost everything.
Excluding bloodline limits (non-ocular), summons (no contract), body-mod techniques, and forbidden arts requiring specific materials, he could cast most techniques.
Even those requiring materials could be prepared.
Unfortunately, making Human Puppets was Sasori's unique genius. Even in the Ninja World, Sasori was the only one who could turn a corpse into a puppet that retained its chakra.
So Ronin had to settle for second best: Puppet Performance: Skillful Achievement with a Human Body.
This was the technique Sasori used during the Fourth Great Ninja War to control living alliance shinobi as disposable puppets.
Ronin could turn Owl into a literal puppet on strings without his consent.
This reminded him of Neferpitou. If Pitou were here, she could turn Owl into a corpse-puppet that retained some Nen ability, which would be even easier.
But Ronin also had a logistical plan for carrying Owl.
Use Owl's own ability. Wrap Owl inside his Fun Fun Cloth, shrink him down, and carry him in a pocket. Just toss some food in there occasionally like a pet, and let him out when needed.
Ronin thought it was a perfect plan.
Kurapika thought it was inhumane.
But do we really need to treat a Mafia enforcer like a human?
Ronin had zero affection for the Mafia. If Kurapika's interrogation failed, Owl would become Ronin's "puppet toy."
He could even test out some Fuinjutsu (Sealing Jutsu) or Cursed Seals on him. Maybe Danzo's Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal? Or the Hyuga's Caged Bird? Or Orochimaru's Cursed Seal?
Though he doubted Orochimaru's seal would work without... well, Orochimaru.
While Ronin brainstormed, Kurapika began his interrogation.
"Do you know where the Ten Dons are?" Kurapika asked directly.
His Dowsing Chain (Ring Finger) hung down, the ball at the end swaying gently.
Owl guessed what Kurapika was doing, but he decided to gamble. "I don't know."
Thwack!
Kurapika punched him hard in the stomach.
"Wow." Neon looked surprised. She didn't expect the gentle-looking Kurapika to be so ruthless.
"You'd better tell the truth and cooperate. Otherwise, what comes next will make you wish you were dead," Kurapika warned.
Behind him, Ronin coughed softly. A subtle reminder not to go too far with the threats if he wasn't going to back them up.
Owl sneered through the pain. "Is that all you've got?"
Arrogant bastard.
Ronin smirked. In the manga, Owl was interrogated by Feitan. Under Feitan's torture, Owl likely spilled everything he knew and didn't know.
Whether he died or not was debatable. Since Chrollo stopped using Owl's ability after Yorknew, Owl was either dead or useless.
But based on Feitan's success, this guy wasn't as tough as he acted.
Ronin didn't interfere. He let Kurapika try his way.
If Kurapika failed, Ronin would step in.
Ninja Art: Mind Reading Technique.
A jutsu used by Inoichi Yamanaka to extract intel without machines. Aoba Yamashiro also used it, though he failed against Kisame.
It was a powerful ability to read memories directly—similar to Pakunoda's Memory Bomb.
The interrogation lasted over an hour. Kurapika got very little.
Finally, Ronin stepped forward.
He formed the necessary seals. He placed one hand on Owl's forehead and the other on his own.
Instantly, his vision shifted. He was viewing Owl's memories from a third-person perspective.
He saw the Shadow Beasts assembling. He saw faces he didn't recognize.
He rewound further. He saw Owl meeting a man with a scar on his face in a hotel room.
Raymond. One of the Ten Dons. Owl's direct boss.
The memory rewound further. The name of the hotel appeared in Ronin's vision.
The floor number, the room number, even the number of guards stationed along the route—all revealed in Owl's memory.
Ronin opened his eyes. There was a fine layer of sweat on his forehead, but the Chakra consumption wasn't too bad.
"Let's go. Yadan Hotel, Room 1801," Ronin said.
As he spoke, Chakra threads shot from his fingertips, piercing into Owl's body.
Chakra Threads.
For the first time, terror filled Owl's eyes.
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