The capital of Kakin looked every bit as polished and alive as any major city Ronin had seen in the V5 nations. Gleaming towers, carefully designed landmarks, and streets that pulsed with movement gave the place a real sense of energy.
It felt completely disconnected from the rest of the country.
The reason was simple. Every other city existed to bleed resources into the capital. The entire nation had been stripped to create this one glittering, international-looking metropolis.
Ronin and the others figured that out on their second day. Underneath the shine, Kakin was cut off from the outside world. Sky Arena fights never aired. The internet was a heavily filtered shell. Getting real news from beyond the borders meant hacking, and hacking was monitored. Locals caught doing it faced life in prison. Foreigners got deported on the spot.
The music blasting from speakers on the busy streets still came from the sixties and seventies. People's clothes were modern enough—fashion in this world had never lagged—but step into a restaurant and the TVs on the walls were old boxy sets playing strictly local programming.
Ronin ordered a few Kakin specialties. The flavors leaned closer to the Western food he remembered than anything else. His own preferences still ran toward Chinese dishes, so after a few bites he set his fork down. Neon and Shizuku seemed to enjoy the meal just fine.
Kurapika and Abachi had gone off to dig into a few leads, so Ronin took the other two for a loose walk through the city. The restaurant they chose sat only about five hundred meters from the Fourth Prince's hotel.
Ronin's plan was simpler than Kurapika's careful investigation. Once night fell he would send a shadow clone into the hotel. The clone's only job was to find Tserriednich and attack without hesitation. Kurapika focused on whether the Fourth Prince had played any part in the Kurta massacre. Buying that many pairs of Scarlet Eyes was too unusual to ignore.
Neon's fortune-telling hadn't given them anything useful, so Ronin wasn't counting on the assault to succeed. He just wanted to see what information it could shake loose.
After dinner they moved to a nearby café that offered a clear view of the hotel entrance. As the sky darkened, luxury cars began pulling up one after another, dropping off guests in expensive clothes.
That was when Ronin actually spotted the Fourth Prince.
Tserriednich stepped out of a car dressed like some Middle Eastern oil tycoon, gold jewelry catching the light. He carried himself with the easy arrogance of someone born into power, though his expression stayed sour.
Ronin's gaze only lingered on him for a second before shifting to the entourage. One figure stood out immediately—an unremarkable man walking a half-step behind the prince, his entire body wrapped in Ten.
To anyone without Nen he would have looked like just another bodyguard. Neon spoke quietly.
"That look… it's more like a warning to other Nen users."
The moment the words left her mouth, the plain-looking man snapped his head toward their café.
Whatever he said next made several black-suited guards peel away from the prince's side and start walking straight toward them. One hand on each man hovered near the pistol at his waist. They had already decided the three of them were threats.
"Interesting," Ronin muttered.
He understood almost at once. The man had some kind of detection ability tied to Ten. Anyone who could see the aura around him got flagged in return. Not much use in a straight fight, but as an early-warning system it was excellent.
Neon's eyes lit up. "How do you want to handle this?"
Ronin watched Tserriednich pause mid-step, clearly noticing the shift behind him.
"I've got it."
He formed the cross seal with both hands right there in the private room. A shadow clone appeared, immediately transformed itself into Deidara, and walked out the door.
Tserriednich's mood had already been foul. Climbing out of the car only to sense his bodyguards reacting made his brow tighten further.
"We picked up something unusual," the Ten-user said, stepping forward. To the prince he was just another clean, competent guard named Eagle. In reality he belonged to the royal army's special operations unit, assigned for one purpose only: keep the Fourth Prince alive no matter what.
His ability—releasing Ten to detect anyone who could perceive it—was one the royal army specifically cultivated. He had a second support-type ability as well. Both existed for the same two goals: protect the prince and eliminate threats.
"Deal with it quickly," Tserriednich said, already turning back toward the hotel entrance.
Then a flash of lightning caught the edge of his vision.
Before he could process it, a heavy impact cracked through the air. Eagle's body flew backward, smashing through the front glass of the hotel in a spray of blood that was far too much for a normal strike.
In the space where Eagle had stood a moment earlier, a figure crackling with electricity now stood. The shadow clone wearing Deidara's face.