The shadow clone activated Lightning Release the moment it stepped out of the café, entering Lightning Release Chakra Mode.
It paid no attention whatsoever to the bodyguards approaching it. It had only one target: eliminate the Fourth Prince right here, as quickly as possible.
So with a flash of lightning, the shadow clone burst forward at extreme speed, passed the bodyguards, and appeared beside the Fourth Prince.
It immediately unleashed the Four-Finger Nukite, stabbing straight toward the Fourth Prince.
But what surprised the shadow clone was that the sensory-type Nen user was actually able to explode with tremendous speed and block the Four-Finger Nukite.
The powerful thrusting force of the Four-Finger Nukite erupted, but the result left the shadow clone somewhat confused.
Normally, that strike should have been enough to pierce straight through the man's body. Instead, the other party was sent flying backward.
With his aura capacity, there was no way he should have been able to withstand that blow!
Since the first strike failed to achieve the desired result, the shadow clone changed from the Four-Finger Nukite posture and formed hand seals in front of its chest.
Chakra gathered in its mouth.
But before the shadow clone could unleash its ninjutsu, the Fourth Prince's figure in front of it began to fade. At the same time, the clone noticed that the Fourth Prince's eyelids were growing heavy.
Wind Release: Vacuum Sphere!
Chakra shot out of the shadow clone's mouth like bullets, but by then, the Fourth Prince's eyes had already fully closed.
The Vacuum Sphere passed through the Fourth Prince's body and struck the ground.
Something clicked in the shadow clone's mind, and it immediately understood what had happened.
But gunshots rang out at that moment. The bodyguards, finally reacting, had begun drawing their guns and firing.
The shadow clone did not attack again. Instead, it simply dispersed under the barrage of bullets.
And the instant it vanished, a strange, massive hand appeared behind where it had been. The hand swiped downward, leaving five clear gouges in the ground, but it failed to catch the shadow clone.
However, in that brief moment, Ingley—the man who had been sent flying by the shadow clone's first strike—collapsed toward the ground like a blood-soaked figure.
Inside the café, Ronin's main body had clearly seen everything that happened in the distance.
There were two Nen users in the team protecting the Fourth Prince.
One was the sensory type—the one directly sent flying by the shadow clone. The other had activated an ability at the critical moment, knocking the Fourth Prince unconscious and transferring him away.
Although the sensory-type Nen user had not been killed outright by the shadow clone's first attack, he must have used some special ability to survive.
And Ronin judged that this special method was probably some kind of vow and restriction.
It was more or less like burning one's life away.
A brief period of immortality in exchange for one chance to attack.
That should also be why the man collapsed immediately after completing that one action. And judging from the amount of blood loss, he was almost certainly dead.
Were these bodyguards sent by Kakin's king, Nasubi Hui Guo Rou, to protect the prince?
Or were they both subordinates of the Fourth Prince?
Ronin barely had to think before confirming that they were probably not the Fourth Prince's people, but personnel sent by King Nasubi to preserve the prince's life.
If they really were the Fourth Prince's own men, then there would have been no need to waste time and effort knocking the Fourth Prince unconscious at the last moment.
"Let's go."
For now, he couldn't determine the Fourth Prince's exact location after being transferred away, so there was no point staying here.
After all, the Fourth Prince's bodyguards weren't fools. Once the shadow clone disappeared, they started heading back toward the café.
By then, the café had already fallen into chaos.
"Record what happened here first. Once we meet Kurapika, we'll discuss it with him," Ronin thought, forming an idea.
Were those Nen users guarding only the Fourth Prince, or did the other princes have similar protectors too?
To test that, all they needed to do was find another prince and observe them from a distance.
There were two people they didn't need to test: the First Prince and the Second Prince.
According to the manga, both of them had already mastered Nen. Judging by their development of Nen abilities, they didn't seem like people who had only just learned it.
That made it extremely difficult to disguise oneself near them.
On top of that, both of those princes had their own private troops.
The First Prince was part of the military, and there was no telling exactly how many Nen-using soldiers he had around him.
As for the Second Prince, her own territory had a large number of Nen-using Untouchables.
These were people who could completely entrust their lives to her, and they were likewise heavily valued by the Second Prince.
She had even selected specific people from among them as weapons meant to target the other princes.
It might still be possible to disguise oneself and join the military, then deceive the First Prince's people enough to gain his trust. But joining the Untouchables was utterly impossible.
Besides, this was only a test. Finding any prince would be enough.
Shizuku was holding a phone and had recorded what had happened from a distance.
Although the phone's camera quality was honestly poor, it was still enough to give Kurapika a general idea.
"Should we find the person who used the transfer ability and deal with them?" Neon asked.
If they allowed that person to remain, then even if Ronin found the Fourth Prince's location and launched another attack, there was a decent chance the Fourth Prince would escape again.
"Yeah." Ronin nodded.
At that moment, the café door was kicked open. Armed bodyguards entered, and without saying another word, immediately began emptying their magazines.
They didn't even bother figuring out whether the people inside the café had anything to do with the assassination attempt.
But the gunfire only lasted for a few shots before abruptly stopping.
The bodyguards who had stormed into the café quickly collapsed.
A new shadow clone had made its move.
By early the next morning, Kakin's television and newspapers were already filled with reports about the Fourth Prince being attacked the previous day.
However, the only footage captured showed the ruined café and the shattered windows and doors of the hotel. The attacker had not been recorded on camera at all.
Even so, a simple sketch of Deidara still appeared on the front page of the news.
Especially notable was the official Kakin bounty listed beneath it: as much as 100 million Jenny. For a while, almost every detective in Kakin's capital sprang into action.
At eight o'clock that morning, the Fourth Prince, Tserriednich, also woke up in his large bed.
He saw the newspaper report about the attack on him, but as he rubbed his aching head, he couldn't remember anything about the assassination attempt at all.
His memory cut off after he entered the hotel.
Was that the assassin's doing?
~~~
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