Machi couldn't possibly let Luo Ning escape like that, especially since four of them had taken action from the start.
The rhythmic rat-tat-tat of gunfire erupted in the stands.
A dense hail of rifle bullets poured down frantically toward Luo Ning's position. The shooter was an ordinary-looking man; even his movements while firing seemed unnaturally calm. With a single glance, Luo Ning could tell the man was being controlled by Shalnark.
His hand brushed the customized ninja tool pouch at his waist, and a kunai appeared in his grip, which he threw rapidly with a flick of his wrist. As for the bullets flying toward him, under the super-powered dynamic vision of the Sharingan, they couldn't even graze him. Even for trajectories that were difficult to dodge, the Earth Style: Earth Shore Return used by his Shadow Clone would create stone slabs to block them.
One could say that Luo Ning's movement toward the tunnel was virtually unimpeded.
The flames on the stage were gradually dying out. An arm suddenly burst through the ground at the center of the arena, followed by Uvogin crawling out from beneath the wreckage in a pathetic state. At this moment, half of his body was charred. One arm dragged across the ground as he emerged, leaving a black streak behind.
That was proof of carbonization!
"Luo Ning!"
A roar filled with infinite killing intent and rage erupted from Uvogin's mouth as he forced himself to stand upright on the stage. At this moment, Uvogin looked like a demon crawling out of hell!
Luo Ning's heart stirred. When he turned to look at Uvogin, their eyes happened to meet in mid-air!
In that instant, Uvogin could no longer hear any noise. He only felt a searing heat coming from his legs. Looking down, he saw that flames had somehow started burning from his legs upward. Intense pain spread from his lower limbs. In that moment, the usually fearless Uvogin felt fear for the first time in his life!
By then, Luo Ning had already turned away, no longer looking at Uvogin as he slowly collapsed on the stage. He moved quickly into the competitor passage.
The Great Fire Annihilation failed to kill Uvogin, which both surprised Luo Ning and felt expected. The only feeling he had was perhaps that it was a pity. That guy's reaction time was truly fast; the only way to avoid the killing blow of Great Fire Annihilation was to dive underground quickly. But even so, he had to endure the scorching heat brought to the arena by the flames while underground.
The fact that Uvogin hadn't been roasted through was a testament to his strength. However, even though he had survived the roasting, he was at his wit's end when he crawled out. If Luo Ning hadn't been concerned about the other Troupe members surrounding and killing him, he wouldn't have minded finishing off Uvogin in such a state.
But he hadn't expected Uvogin to actually dare to make eye contact with him in that condition! While Uvogin was in the state of 'Ken', the impact of Genjutsu would be obstructed. But now!
So Luo Ning unhesitatingly activated the Sharingan Genjutsu: Shiranui!
This was a visual-type Genjutsu that Itachi Uchiha had once used on Kakashi. However, back then, the one hit by the Genjutsu was Kakashi's clone, so the power of the technique hadn't fully erupted. But the Uvogin hit by it now was the real body!
'I hope he likes it!'
Luo Ning thought to himself as he slowly came to a halt. Someone was already waiting for him in the passage. The person had short, pale-gold hair and was fiddling with a mobile phone. It was the intellectual representative of the Phantom Troupe besides Chrollo—Shalnark!
But seeing only Shalnark made Luo Ning breathe a sigh of relief. What truly worried him was never Shalnark, but the Troupe Leader, Chrollo, who might show up at any moment out of interest in his abilities. Now that Shalnark appeared here alone, there was a high probability that Chrollo had not come.
Furthermore, Luo Ning had provided descriptions of Chrollo and his associates; if he really showed up, he shouldn't be able to escape the observation of the intelligence personnel Milia had networked. Since Chrollo hadn't appeared, he probably wouldn't have to spend his largest sum of money.
Gunfire rang out again outside the passage. Only this time, the gunfire was no longer directed at Luo Ning's Shadow Clone blocking the entrance. Instead, other people with guns were firing at Machi, who was rushing toward the passage where Luo Ning was.
As for the gunman previously controlled by Shalnark, he had long since fallen under the attack of the kunai Luo Ning threw. These newly appeared gunmen shared a common characteristic: they were all wearing combat uniforms. It was as if they had been waiting from the very beginning for Machi and the others to jump out and launch an attack.
And these people were the mercenaries Luo Ning had hired!
The bullets fired from the submachine guns were all Nen-bullets. They didn't aim to kill Machi, but merely used the bullets to blockade her path. Machi was infuriated. Just as she wanted to deviate her path toward the mercenaries, a bullet grazed her thigh and struck the ground.
That was a warning!
Machi looked up and saw a tall figure holding a sniper rifle standing at the very top of the spectator stands. The opponent had a pair of very special, elf-like pointed ears. When Machi looked over, the other party even lifted the sniper rifle slightly in a greeting-like gesture.
But Machi knew that was still a warning. Machi came to a halt. She didn't care about those small-fry with rifles; if she could get closer, she could kill them in a minute. But the person with the sniper rifle gave her a full sense of threat. If she acted rashly, she would likely be the one to die!
While Machi was hesitating, Nobunaga had also broken free from the entanglement of the Earth Flow River. However, he didn't run toward the passage. Instead, he jumped onto the stage, which was still radiating high heat, and rushed toward Uvogin.
Uvogin was still alive, but his condition was at its absolute worst. Nobunaga hoisted him up directly and, with a few quick strides, jumped off the stage to Machi's side.
"Take Uvogin for treatment first!" Nobunaga's expression was incredibly grim.
Machi didn't move. Instead, she stared intently toward the passage. She was worried about whether Shalnark could handle Luo Ning alone. This Kurta boy's methods truly made her feel troubled and threatened.
"You go first," Machi added. "Take Franklin with you. I don't think the enemy will pay attention to those who want to leave."
Nobunaga didn't say much more and carried Uvogin toward Franklin's position.
Meanwhile, in the passage, Luo Ning kept his hands ready to form seals at any moment, his steps constantly closing in on Shalnark. Shalnark was not a combat specialist. As a Manipulator, his strongest move was to insert an antenna into his own body to enter 'Auto Mode'.
This mode was extremely dangerous and could cause him to burst with combat power comparable to an Enhancer, and it was a life-and-death fighting style. To Luo Ning, this was a massive headache.
Moreover, the chakra he had left was not much. Continuously using ninjutsu and even performing a Shadow Clone had long since exhausted the Nen he had leased. Even his own Nen was nearly half-depleted.
Therefore, his next choice was simple: run. He couldn't afford to be trapped in the passage after Shalnark entered Auto Mode!
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