Ronin shook his head. This kind of ability—leaning more toward Transmutation—could be copied with the Sharingan, but it wasn't really suited to him. Still, it counted as adding to his "ability reserves," at least.
With that thought, Ronin's eyes shifted into Mangekyō.
Last time, when he used it on Isri, the immobilized area had been too large. This time, Ronin wanted to test whether he could shrink Amenomahitotsu no Kami and lock only part of the opponent's body.
His left Mangekyō flared.
In that instant, the space around the hawk-nosed man's extended arm was sealed.
No matter how the hawk-nosed man tried to drive his Nen, his arm became "soft" in that moment.
And no matter how he strained, his arm wouldn't move at all—like it had been frozen in midair.
Ronin stepped forward, not attacking the sealed space itself.
Because even if Ronin entered that immobilized space, he would be immobilized too.
But he didn't need to enter it.
He only needed to attack the hawk-nosed man's main body—now that his movement was restricted.
Unless the hawk-nosed man made a lizard-tail decision and sacrificed his own arm instantly, Ronin's strikes would land easily.
The hawk-nosed man realized it too.
This ability was unbelievably bizarre.
"I surrender!" he shouted immediately. He didn't want to lose his arm, and he didn't want to die—so he tried to surrender.
But he shouted too late.
By the time the words left his mouth, Ronin's fist had already slipped past his defense and smashed into his chest.
Arms could go boneless—what about the body?
With a cracking snap, Ronin's punch smashed straight through his ribs.
Blood spilled from the hawk-nosed man's mouth. He stared down at his chest in disbelief.
"You… I—"
A wet choking sound followed.
His lung had been pierced. Blood flooded up through his airway into his mouth, leaving him no chance to even speak a last line.
Ronin yanked his fist back, retreated a few steps, and canceled Amenomahitotsu no Kami.
With his arm no longer "anchored" by the sealed space, the hawk-nosed man stumbled backward, eyes full of unwillingness—then misstepped and fell off the tank.
Ronin's attention was already on the tank's hatch.
He ignored the surrender completely. Shouldn't have shouted so slowly.
He reached out and grabbed the tank hatch. The soldiers below finally reacted and raised their guns—
too late.
Ronin burst with strength and ripped the hatch apart. Gunfire erupted, but Ronin had already thrown the hatch aside and leapt into the tank.
Bullets hitting the tank couldn't pierce the thick metal shell.
Inside, Ronin simply flicked his hand—the incoming rounds reversed direction and pierced two cleanup squad members inside the tank.
Unfortunately, Ronin didn't know how to drive a tank. Otherwise, he would've happily used this steel beast to crush everyone nearby.
And firing the cannon wasn't an option anyway—the barrel was bent from his earlier punch.
The cleanup squad weren't suicidal. When they saw Ronin climb back out of the tank, they all took a step back.
Their guns stopped firing too—because someone had realized bullets didn't hurt him at all.
He was a monster.
And the last monster who treated bullets like nothing… was the famous Phantom Troupe member Uvogin.
A top-tier threat even among the elders.
Now another monster had appeared, and they were just fodder. The instant Ronin stepped forward, the cleanup squad scattered like startled birds.
A rabble.
That was the word that surfaced in Ronin's mind.
Shizuku, holding her vacuum cleaner, stared blankly at Ronin standing atop the tank like a hero.
In that moment, Shizuku felt as if she saw light in him.
Ronin.
That was his name.
Shizuku repeated it to herself as Blinky disappeared. If it was Ronin, maybe he really could help her find Spence.
The street was left with only a few cars stuck and unable to move. The cleanup squad had fled. Even the onlookers had hurried away.
"The council won't let this go," Shizuku warned, stepping closer.
"So where's Spence?" Ronin didn't answer her warning—he asked instead.
If Shizuku could give Spence's location, things would become much simpler.
If not…
Ronin's gaze slid toward the car in the alley. He could see Damian slowly lifting himself upright.
Even through the window glass, Ronin could see the shock in Damian's eyes.
"He's probably at his manor," Shizuku gave a concrete answer. "If it's only me, I'm not fully confident."
For a girl who looked absent-minded, she was surprisingly careful.
Ronin nodded. "With me and my companions, it should be enough. Let's leave here first."
Shizuku glanced back at the clinic she'd lived in for a long time. "This place probably can't be kept. Once we leave, it won't take long before someone tries to use the same method to force me to show myself."
"And what do you want to do?" Ronin already had an idea.
"Can you help me move the whole building?" Shizuku turned back with bright eyes behind her lenses—like a puppy begging for food. "With your strength, you should be able to, right?"
It made refusing feel strangely difficult.
"I'll try," Ronin didn't promise.
Lifting the entire building wasn't just about strength—it was about whether he could use Shu to wrap the foundation itself.
Only then would "lifting" be possible.
Otherwise, no matter where he grabbed, he'd only tear the clinic apart.
But what if he used Amenomahitotsu no Kami instead?
If he immobilized the entire space containing the clinic, then grabbing and lifting would be like grabbing a single solid object.
The problem was: a large-scale Amenomahitotsu no Kami would cost vastly more than freezing just one arm, like he did with the hawk-nosed man.
After weighing it—between burning Nen and burning ocular power—Ronin chose the former.
Until he achieved the Eternal Mangekyō, he didn't want to use Mangekyō recklessly. If irreversible damage happened, his only way to repair it would be by fusing more Scarlet Eyes.
And right now, he only had two pairs left unfused—kept deliberately after he discovered that fusing Scarlet Eyes could restore his ocular power and alleviate Mangekyō fatigue.
~~~
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