High above the city, the two murderers—one tall, one short—who had wiped out the entire auction hall were now riding inside a hot-air balloon.
They were members of the Phantom Troupe.
Uvogin was holding a phone, speaking with their leader, Chrollo.
"The vault was completely empty. There was nothing inside," Uvogin said with a grim expression.
"According to the only host who knew the details, several hours before the auction began, someone had already transferred all the items elsewhere."
"It's like they knew from the very beginning that something would happen."
Kurapika sat in the back seat of a car.
The Mafia had already confirmed the Phantom Troupe's position—they were moving by hot-air balloon.
Their vehicles were on the way.
Just as Hyuga Arin had said, the Troupe had attacked the auction.
"Capture one person…" Kurapika murmured with a tense expression.
If he could capture even one member, he might obtain more information about the Phantom Troupe.
Perhaps—just perhaps—this time they could truly wipe them out.
When they arrived, the battle had already begun.
One Phantom Troupe member was slaughtering Mafia soldiers single-handedly.
As everyone was shocked by Uvogin's overwhelming combat power and terrifying presence—
The ground suddenly bulged and moved rapidly in front of them.
A non-human figure burst out of the earth.
It was the Shadow Beast, Worm.
As the first Shadow Beast appeared, more Shadow Beast members emerged from behind the crowd.
"We'll handle those guys," several of them said confidently as they stepped forward.
They never once considered the possibility of failure.
Although the Phantom Troupe were national-level wanted criminals, the Shadow Beasts were the Mafia's elite.
They didn't fear a few "spiders."
Kurapika's eyes flickered, but he didn't stop them.
If the Shadow Beasts could at least probe the Troupe's abilities, that would still be useful.
Clearly, Kurapika had underestimated them.
A single Phantom Troupe member slaughtered several Shadow Beasts—though not without paying a price.
Uvogin was seriously injured and temporarily unable to move.
"Was this also part of his calculation…?" Kurapika's chains trembled slightly.
Hyuga Arin had told him to capture one person.
That person was obviously Uvogin.
Could that man… also see the future?
Taking advantage of the moment when the Troupe briefly relaxed, Kurapika acted.
His chains shot out, instantly binding the immobilized Uvogin and pulling him away.
By the time the Phantom Troupe reacted, Uvogin was already gone.
The Nostrade bodyguards, seeing Kurapika bring back that monster, didn't dare ask questions.
They quickly escorted the bound Uvogin away.
The Phantom Troupe immediately gave chase.
Inside the cramped vehicle, Nobunaga complained irritably,
"This space is way too tight. Can't you think of something?"
Feitan, sitting beside him, replied coldly,
"Just endure it."
At that moment, a figure jumped onto the hood of the car.
A massive cloth instantly wrapped around the entire vehicle.
Fun Fun Cloth!
The car was completely wrapped, rapidly shrinking until it fit into the hands of a man wearing sunglasses.
The Shadow Beast Owl stared ahead in shock.
His ability had only captured one person—
yet four people were now calmly standing in front of him.
"You guys really aren't ordinary," Owl said grimly.
"This can't be handled easily."
As they spoke, everyone sensed something and turned their heads.
A group of grotesque figures stood on high ground, looking down at them.
Shalnark couldn't help but comment,
"There sure are a lot of them."
One Shadow Beast member muttered,
"Who are these guys? Are they really the Phantom Troupe? They look pretty weak."
No one answered him.
Instead, a soft chuckle sounded.
"What are you laughing at, Spider?" the Shadow Beast snapped at the man who laughed.
"Nothing," Spider shook his head. "Just thought of something funny."
"Since we've found our targets—everyone, charge."
"Stop giving orders!" someone complained, but the Shadow Beasts still rushed forward together.
Owl's face changed drastically.
"Calm down! Don't underestimate their strength!"
His warning was completely ignored.
Only Spider wore a strange, twisted smile.
"Such impatient people," Shalnark sighed.
"We haven't even divided the targets yet."
At that moment, Spider suddenly charged straight at him.
Shalnark pulled out an antenna, preparing to stab it into the attacker.
Once the antenna connected, he could control the target's actions.
But Spider threw three shuriken.
One knocked the antenna out of Shalnark's hand.
The other two flew straight at him.
"A ninja?" Shalnark said curiously, looking at the approaching man.
"But he doesn't really look like the legendary kind."
"Careful, Shalnark!" Feitan suddenly shouted.
In that instant, Spider vanished right in front of Shalnark.
Shalnark spun around—
The enemy had already appeared at his side, taking a deep breath.
"Fire Release: Great Fire Dragon Technique!"
Point-blank fire.
No one could withstand that.
A massive blaze erupted from Spider's—no, from Hyuga Arin's mouth.
Shalnark had no time to react.
The aura Hyuga Arin had been suppressing with Zetsu was fully exposed at that moment—
which was exactly why Feitan had sensed something wrong earlier.
From the very beginning, Hyuga Arin had concealed most of his presence, causing the Phantom Troupe to overlook him.
Everything had been for this single instant of explosive execution.
Shalnark, as a Manipulator, didn't possess outstanding physical combat ability.
He was far stronger than an ordinary person, but among the Troupe, he ranked low in direct combat.
That gave Hyuga Arin the perfect chance to kill him instantly.
Flames swallowed Shalnark whole.
[Experience +5845]
Hyuga Arin grabbed the dropped item, and his figure vanished in an instant.
Silence fell over the battlefield.
"So that Spider guy…" the Shadow Beasts finally realized something was wrong.
But the enraged Phantom Troupe didn't care what the Shadow Beasts thought.
"Leave one alive," Machi—the most clear-headed among them—said coldly.
"We'll interrogate them for information about the one who killed Shalnark."
The battle ended even faster than expected.
Except for Owl, who became the sole survivor, everyone else lay dead.
Feitan walked up to Owl and asked coldly,
"Who was that man?"
One of their own had been killed right under their noses—
and it was Shalnark, their brain.
Most of the Troupe's intelligence analysis had come from him.
"That person…" Owl began.
Thump.
Before he could finish, a kunai pierced straight through his skull, silencing him forever.
Far above, at a great distance, Hyuga Arin observed the Troupe with his Byakugan.
"The Mafia and the Troupe… now it's truly kill-on-sight between you."
"The hunting game has begun."
"Are you ready?"
The first casualty—Phantom Troupe member: Shalnark.
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