No longer a scattered barrage. This was a single, fully concentrated blast of overwhelming force.
Wind Style: Vacuum Great Sphere—often called the ninjutsu that turned a mouth into a rocket launcher.
The massive high-pressure wind sphere, free of any Nen-beast interference, tore straight toward the luxury sedan carrying the Third Prince.
In that same instant, a faint spatial ripple appeared around the car.
A second hidden ability user had activated their power, trying to transfer Jolai the same way the Fourth Prince had been extracted before.
Last time the clone had been caught off-guard because no one knew a transfer specialist stood at Tserriednich's side. This time was different.
Ronin's true body remained concealed directly above the shadow clone.
His Sharingan had already shifted into the Mangekyō state. The moment the transfer user moved, he isolated the telltale fluctuation of Nen among the dense crowd of bodyguards.
Amenotokotachi activated at once, sealing the exact space occupied by the sedan.
Every transfer ability was spatial in nature. Amenotokotachi was the natural counter to spatial techniques.
The Vacuum Great Sphere slammed down. The roof of the car dented inward immediately, yet the rate of collapse slowed for a fraction of a second—
Then accelerated again with brutal speed.
The floor of the vehicle tore open. Inside, a scene of pure carnage unfolded in a single heartbeat.
An incredulous, fear-choked scream rose from nearby: "No!"
It came from the hidden transfer specialist who had tried to relocate the Third Prince at the critical moment.
The instant the word left his mouth, his body began to change. He toppled stiffly backward—
But before he struck the ground, he vanished completely.
The shadow clone's eyebrow lifted. It accelerated at full speed toward the wrecked sedan and the remains of the Third Prince.
Its gaze swept the blood-soaked interior, and a quiet question formed.
Could the ability transfer even a state of certain death?
If so, then the batch-produced specialists Kakin trained specifically to protect the princes were genuinely formidable.
Gunfire finally erupted as the bodyguards remembered they carried weapons.
A man who could fly, launch concentrated aura attacks, and summon a massive beast resembling a savage dog's head—the entire sequence had been too overwhelming.
Even well-trained professionals needed a moment to process such an unconventional assault.
The shadow clone wasted no time trading bullets. The instant the first rounds struck, it dispersed into smoke and vanished from the street.
"Save the prince!" someone shouted.
The approaching bodyguards only stared at one another. The Third Prince inside the car had been reduced to pulp. How exactly were they supposed to save him?
Sirens wailed in the distance—Kakin's police, arriving late as usual.
The attack site was rapidly sealed. Everyone involved was taken away; even bystanders on the surrounding streets were pulled in for questioning.
By then Ronin was already long gone from the street where the assault had taken place.
"You guessed right," he said the moment the call connected.
"Any other findings?" Kurapika's voice carried no emotional fluctuation, as if everything had unfolded exactly as expected.
"Yes." Ronin organized the sequence of events and relayed every detail, only then offering his own theories.
The first part gave Kurapika the raw information to form an independent judgment. The second was meant to refine their understanding of the enemy abilities through discussion.
"More or less what I expected," Kurapika agreed. "These specialized individuals almost certainly walk an extreme path. Even under identical training methods, individual differences will appear.
Either way, the next time we strike, those two types of protectors have to be eliminated first. Otherwise assassination seems fundamentally impossible."
"You think Jolai is still alive?" Ronin had considered the possibility, but certainty eluded him.
Transferring someone in advance was something certain abilities could achieve.
Transferring after the target was already dead felt like pure hindsight.
"Do you know about souls?" Kurapika asked.
Ronin fell silent, mind racing. Did souls truly exist in this world?
The answer was yes.
And there was proof.
On Greed Island, among the designated cards, existed one called the Soul Pillow.
Sleeping on it allowed the user's soul to leave the body. If the soul failed to return within twenty-four hours, it became a true ghost.
If that was not enough, there was another card: the Return Postcard for the Dead.
Write a letter on a postcard addressed to a deceased person and mail it; the next day a reply appeared on the return postcard.
Even the Chimera Ant arc left room for discussion of souls and fate.
The moment Kurapika mentioned the word "soul," Ronin understood exactly what he meant.
Death of the body did not necessarily scatter the soul.
At least none of their attacks so far had targeted the soul directly.
If the ability was set to act on the soul, it could trigger after the target's death and transfer the deceased's soul.
As for the physical body, altering it with Nen was comparatively straightforward. Plenty of methods existed.
In other words, the ability activated only after the prince died. It transferred the prince's soul into the user's own body while the user's soul took the prince's place in death.
Then the physical form transformed to match the transferred soul, effectively resurrecting the dead prince.
A life-for-a-life exchange.
There had to be additional costs, of course. Otherwise it would not qualify as equivalent exchange.
The transfer specialist must have imposed extremely harsh vows and limitations on himself long in advance. Only then could such an ability function.
True specialized training.
Similar to the Untouchables under the Second Prince—abilities that required training from early childhood to complete.
This was the depth of a major power.
Ronin felt a touch of reluctant admiration.
Kurapika was right. Before eliminating any prince, the guardians at their side had to be dealt with first.
Those guardians were probably only assigned until the Succession Contest. Once the Contest began, a prince's death would carry different meaning.
"Two consecutive assassination attempts. Kakin's side will have noticed something by now. We should keep a lower profile for a while," Kurapika said.
"Any intelligence on the Troupe?" Since they could not push too hard on the princes for the moment, better to shift focus to another target.
He wondered how many pairs of Scarlet Eyes the Phantom Troupe had collected by now.