As for the bounty, although neither of them lowered their guard, they weren't overly worried either.
Because there was one point that meant they didn't need to worry about the bounty hunters being too strong: anyone who could accept this mission on the Hunter website could not be a professional Hunter. They could only be amateur types.
And Ronin knew exactly what level those people were at.
Among them, the number of Nen users could probably be counted on one hand. After all, once someone truly became a Nen user, passing the Hunter Exam wasn't all that difficult.
For ordinary people, completing this mission was no different from a fantasy.
"The objective is to capture the Fourth Prince," Kurapika confirmed again before the operation began.
"I know," Ronin replied, while handing the four prepared scrolls to Kurapika.
The people they could mobilize in Kakin were all trustworthy members from the mafia, and they were people Kurapika personally managed.
Their goal was not to kill the Fourth Prince directly. On one hand, they needed to find out from him exactly where the Scarlet Eyes were hidden.
On the other hand, no one could be sure whether killing the Fourth Prince would trigger the same kind of transfer ability as killing the Third Prince had.
Even though they already had some understanding of that transfer ability, they still couldn't be certain Kakin hadn't left behind some other backup plan.
As for whether capturing the Fourth Prince would trigger that ability too, they weren't sure. But as long as they could catch him, Ronin could directly invade his mind and obtain everything he wanted to know.
Once everything was confirmed, Kurapika directly distributed the scrolls to the four people who had long since taken their positions.
…
Saiyu was feeling a little numb.
He did want to make a move against Ronin, but some idiot had gone and posted a bounty mission on the Hunter website to attack Ronin.
That person definitely didn't know Ronin had already become a professional Hunter.
Otherwise, they never would have posted that mission.
After all, once Saiyu accepted the mission, no matter what reason he used to approach Ronin and complete it, he would be triggering one of the Hunter Association's Ten Rules.
Hunters must not target fellow Hunters as prey. However, Hunters who commit heinous crimes are not protected by this rule.
Then what if he didn't accept the mission and went after Ronin anyway?
Saiyu felt a headache coming on. Even if he didn't accept the job, going to meet Ronin during this sensitive period when such a mission was posted on the Hunter website would push the situation in a direction he didn't want.
Had he been exposed?
Saiyu even began to suspect that, but quickly dismissed the thought.
Because there was no reason he should have been exposed.
"Switch me out," Saiyu said, choosing to contact Beyond. "I can't do this mission."
"Other than you, no one's ability is more suitable," Beyond replied. He also hadn't expected things to develop in such a troublesome direction.
Saiyu was someone who was quite sensitive about rules. Expecting him to turn a blind eye and muddle through was impossible.
Unless Beyond offered him a price he couldn't refuse, only then might Saiyu ignore the rules.
But that would exceed Beyond's budget.
"Not my problem," Saiyu said, choosing to stop cooperating.
He wasn't exactly a good-tempered person. Coming here at all was already giving Beyond enough face.
Now that the mission no longer suited him, he naturally had no intention of wasting his valuable time in Kakin.
"I understand. Wait for now. I'll give you an answer tomorrow morning," Beyond said.
Saiyu was silent for a while before finally replying, "Fine."
…
Shalnark received an anonymous email.
The email contained only two pieces of information.
The first was an investigation report on Ronin's personal information, including one fact Shalnark had never considered before: Ronin had become a professional Hunter.
The second was the name of the hotel where Saiyu was currently staying, along with his room number.
Ever since the Greed Island incident, they hadn't been able to uncover any information about Ronin for quite some time.
They only knew that he had gone to the Kingdom of Aite and was investigating something at the Mahawi ruins.
As for what else had happened during that period, they had found nothing.
Now, it seemed that kid had actually found time to obtain a Hunter License. That meant their plan to use a mission to trick Saiyu into attacking Ronin had fallen apart.
But as Shalnark looked at the email in his inbox, he felt a strange sense of dissonance.
"Something's off about this."
At the moment, Shalnark was with Chrollo, so after receiving the information, he immediately shared it with him.
"Saiyu appearing here is no coincidence," Chrollo said, also sensing something wrong.
"What is the other party's goal?" Shalnark rubbed his temples.
He couldn't quite figure it out.
Could the other party have known about Chrollo's ability in advance? Otherwise, there would be no reason to deliberately send Saiyu over.
If they looked at it from that angle, then Saiyu was a test aimed at Chrollo.
A test to see whether Chrollo could defeat Saiyu and obtain his ability.
But that didn't make sense either.
If Saiyu had been sent to test Chrollo, then there would be no need to remind them that Ronin was already a professional Hunter.
That reminder was basically telling Shalnark he had outsmarted himself.
Did that mean that if he hadn't posted the bounty, Saiyu might have taken the initiative to probe Ronin, while they only needed to sit behind them and wait to reap the benefits?
But now, the other party had sent them Saiyu's address.
That was practically telling them: the chance to profit from the sidelines was gone. The only thing they could do now was find Saiyu and steal his ability.
But if they did that, would Ronin become the new fisherman waiting behind them?
Shalnark felt the situation had become complicated.
Chrollo, however, had already picked up his coat.
"Let's go. We'll meet Saiyu."
He was certain that the person who had sent them this information was absolutely not Ronin, because he didn't believe Ronin could have investigated Saiyu's ability.
The reason he had obtained some information about Saiyu's ability had been due to coincidence.
No.
Looking at it now, perhaps that had not been a coincidence at all, but something deliberately arranged by someone.
But precisely because of that, he became even more certain that Saiyu's appearance had nothing to do with Ronin. If Ronin could reveal Saiyu's information to him, then the two sides would already have been fighting each other.
There would have been no need to reach Kakin and continue all this scheming.
Instead, Saiyu's appearance now, along with the existence of the person behind the scenes, had piqued Chrollo's interest.
"We should've done this from the start," Nobunaga said, tightening his grip on his sword.
Chrollo alone might not be Saiyu's match, but right now Chrollo wasn't alone. All seven remaining members of the Troupe were gathered.
Seven against one.
The advantage was completely on the Troupe's side.
Unless Saiyu possessed some powerful escape ability like Ronin, Nobunaga was worried about only one thing:
whether they could capture Saiyu alive.
After all, Chrollo was after Saiyu's ability, which meant the Troupe could not let Saiyu die.
If Saiyu died, there was more than a ninety percent chance his ability would disappear outright.
As for the remaining ten percent, that would mean it transformed into even stronger post-mortem Nen. If it really came to that, no one could say what would happen.
But post-mortem Nen wasn't something that appeared so easily.
So there was no need to worry too much about such a small possibility.