Chapter 213: Ultra-Big Ball Rasengan
Now that he had extracted the coordinates of the Scarlet Eyes, the Fourth Prince was, in Ronin's view, no longer useful.
A useless item that attracts constant trouble is a liability that needs to be liquidated.
Ronin didn't care if killing the Prince triggered a "Death-Vow" or a soul-transfer Hatsu. Eliminating him before his Guardian Spirit Beast could fully stabilize was the most logical choice to end the variable.
THUD!
Ronin's fist connected with something, but the sensation wasn't that of a human skull.
Even with the Sharingan's elite insight, he hadn't seen the exact micro-second of the transition. In place of Tserriednich's face, a grotesque, half-formed Nen Beast now stood. The Prince himself had reappeared several meters to the side, stumbling but alive.
What happened? A time-slip? Or a spatial swap?
Ronin didn't hesitate to analyze the "How." He pivoted instantly, his eyes spinning into the Mangekyō pattern.
Amenotokotachi!
He locked the space around the Fourth Prince's new coordinates, freezing him in a bubble of stasis.
The Nen Beast Ronin had punched was a nightmare. Half its body had been pulverized by the impact of his reinforced fist, yet it didn't dissipate. Within heartbeats, the ethereal flesh began to knit back together. It looked nothing like a human; it resembled a massive, predatory manta ray, but from its edges, long, wood-like limbs sprouted like gnarled tree branches. At the tip of each "branch" was a twitching, unblinking eyeball.
While the stasis held the Prince, Ronin began to mold a colossal volume of Chakra.
The energy rotated in his palm, growing in density and scale until it became a humming, sapphire orb of destruction.
Ultra-Big Ball Rasengan.
Inside the stasis field, things were already moving. Kurapika's Chain Jail (Middle Finger) was tightening around the Prince's throat and limbs.
Kurapika wasn't waiting for the Rasengan; he was attempting to physically bisect the Prince with the silver links.
Blood began to leak from Tserriednich's mouth and nose as the chains bit into his skin. Simultaneously, the Guardian Spirit Beast reacted to its master's agony. Its branch-like tentacles lunged toward the stasis field, trying to "grasp" the frozen space. It wasn't attacking Ronin; it was trying to pull the Prince out of the trap.
Ronin felt a sharp throb in his left eye. The Ocular Power drain was massive.
One second... two seconds...
Ronin pushed the Ultra-Big Ball Rasengan forward.
He didn't drop the stasis. He suspected Tserriednich's earlier escape was related to a localized time-warp or a "future-sight" evasion. Within the non-Euclidean cage of Amenotokotachi, such concepts were rendered moot. There was no "future" to dodge into if space-time was a solid block.
The Rasengan's first point of contact was the Guardian Spirit Beast trying to breach the field.
The creature's body offered no resistance. It was pulverized instantly, the spinning Chakra grinding the Nen construct into nothingness.
As the Beast shattered, Ronin noticed the Rasengan shrink slightly—the creature was a massive "Aura Sink," absorbing energy even as it died.
A second later, the Rasengan hit the boundary of the stasis field and began to slowly grind its way into the frozen space.
Tserriednich's body was already breaking under the pressure of Kurapika's chains. His ribs were buckling, and his limbs were snapping.
As the blue orb reached the Prince's chest, the silver chains disintegrated. Kurapika had retracted his ability to avoid having his aura consumed by the Rasengan's rotation.
The Ultra-Big Ball Rasengan slammed into the Fourth Prince.
Just like the Beast, Tserriednich's physical form began to vanish, annihilated at the molecular level by the high-frequency friction of the Chakra.
But in that final heartbeat, a strange phenomenon occurred.
Complex, shimmering runes began to spread across the Prince's skin.
It wasn't a seal Ronin had placed.
Is this the King's failsafe?
Ronin scrutinized the patterns. They were different from the "Cursed Artifact" marks he had seen in his memories of Beyond Netero's children.
If he's not Beyond's son... then whose mark is this?
Ronin triggered his fallback plan. He hadn't just placed one seal on the Prince. Beneath the receptor-seal lay a secondary Four Symbols Seal, designed specifically to lock away high-density external Nen.
The runes appearing on the Prince were an "External Intrusion"—a foreign power trying to claim the soul. This triggered the Four Symbols formula perfectly.
Ronin completed a one-handed seal.
The black ink of the Four Symbols Seal flared with a brilliant blue light, physically dragging the mysterious runes back into the Prince's body, bottling the curse before it could manifest a final counter-attack.
The runes faded.
The Rasengan, unhindered, consumed the remainder of the Fourth Prince's body.
The manta-ray beast tried to reform one last time, its body expanding to an even greater size.
Energy absorption? Ronin thought, a cold smirk touching his lips.
Before he could act, a violent suction force erupted from beside him.
Shizuku had been waiting. She didn't charge in with a weapon; she simply pointed Blinky at the manifesting ghost.
To Shizuku, a Nen Beast wasn't a "living being"; it was just more clutter to be cleared.
The manta-beast's massive frame began to distort, its edges stretching toward the vacuum's nozzle. It was pulled away from the Prince's location, losing its tether to the physical world.
At the same moment, the Four Symbols Seal fully suppressed the Kakin Royal Curse, dragging the last of the runes into the Prince's core.
The Ultra-Big Ball Rasengan completed its arc, vaporizing Tserriednich's torso and head.
Ronin finally closed his left eye, a thin trail of blood following the curve of his cheek. He deactivated the stasis.
"Is it done?" Shizuku asked, dispelling Blinky.
"We'll know in a minute," Ronin said. He pulled a small glass vial from his pouch. Inside was a severed finger.
He had taken it from the Prince during the initial "capture" phase.
In Meteor City, Ronin had begun studying a Forbidden Art. He knew that in this world, some Nen users could cheat death or hide their souls in other bodies.
The only way to be 100% sure a high-tier threat was gone was the Reanimation Jutsu (Edo Tensei).
If he could successfully reanimate Tserriednich using this finger and a sacrifice, it proved the soul had departed the physical plane. It also meant he'd have a permanent, loyal puppet who could lead them straight to the eyes.
Reading a dead man's memory was much easier than fighting a living monster's mind.
Double insurance, Ronin thought, capping the vial. The Prince is a masterpiece of a specimen. It'd be a waste to let him just turn into ash.
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