Chapter 25: Uvogin: The Damned Thief
While Ronin was heading to the arena for his next match, a 13-year-old blonde boy arrived outside Heavens Arena.
He wore the traditional garb of the Kurta Clan, the same style Ronin had once worn. In his hand, he clutched a poster featuring Ronin's face.
The Ronin on the poster wore a brilliant, confident smile.
The Kurapika holding the poster, however, looked like a walking corpse who had lost all hope. His face was ashen.
Even now, looking up at the giant billboards and advertisements featuring Ronin, Kurapika struggled to connect the dazzling celebrity in the images to the "Brother Ronin" he knew.
His heart was torn between hope and doubt. He desperately hoped this star was his brother, yet he doubted that anyone who knew about the massacre could smile so brightly.
But the news reports and the information he gathered after returning to the Kurta village all pointed to one fact: Out of 129 clan members, only 127 bodies were found.
The two missing were him and Ronin.
Kurapika's gaze hardened. He had to find out the truth.
As Kurapika registered for matches to enter the arena, another group arrived on the 227th Floor of Heavens Arena.
"I thought him dragging his thumb across his throat was arrogant enough. I didn't expect him to be so lazy he wouldn't even hide his identity! Should I call this brazen, ignorant, or just hopelessly stupid?"
The speaker was Uvogin. After finishing the Troupe's main mission, he had asked Shalnark to track Ronin down.
Shalnark hadn't expected the investigation to be this easy. A simple internet search brought up a flood of promotional material: "Heavens Arena Supernova," "Red Meteor," "Violent Ronin."
The list of flashy nicknames was blinding.
Shalnark easily downloaded the video of Ronin's match against Gareg.
When Uvogin watched the footage, he laughed out of sheer anger. He recognized the finishing move Ronin used to defeat Gareg immediately.
It was Big Bang Impact.
The extreme concentration of aura, the rapid gathering method—it was identical to his own signature technique.
This meant the brat wasn't just standing in the open; he had blatantly plagiarized Uvogin's move and used it to win matches!
If Uvogin swallowed this insult, he might as well go back to Meteor City and rot in a garbage pile.
So, he came.
Accompanying him were Shalnark, who was here for the show, and Nobunaga, who was curious about the boy and wanted to mince him into fine paste.
"I think he's doing it on purpose," Shalnark offered a different perspective.
"What? You think he has the ability to fight me now?" Uvogin glared at him, dissatisfied.
At that moment, two figures walked into the ring. One was Ronin. The other was his opponent, Sydney, a martial artist with a record of 3 wins and 1 loss on the 200th floor.
Sydney was an Emitter. As soon as the match started, he opened up the distance between him and Ronin. He raised his right hand, miming a gun, and aimed at Ronin.
"Bang!"
Sydney mimicked the sound of a gunshot.
Ronin, using Gyo on his eyes, clearly saw aura gathering at Sydney's fingertip before shooting out like a bullet with the "Bang."
"Fighting at a distance in a confined space... these rules favor me perfectly. Give up. You won't get close!" Sydney taunted as Ronin dodged the first Nen bullet. He wasn't panicked; in fact, he spoke with a tone of condescending charity.
Ronin had to admit, Sydney had a point.
The ring gave Emitters a distinct advantage. But telling him to surrender was just arrogant.
Even without the Sharingan, the trajectory of every bullet was crystal clear to Ronin.
However, Ronin didn't plan to win by dodging.
After fusing with the second pair of Scarlet Eyes, his physical strength and aura capacity had increased.
And after ten days of intense training, he hadn't been idle. He had mastered the essence of Uvogin's Big Bang Impact.
Now, even without the Sharingan, he could unleash the technique.
Let's see what happens when a powerful body meets high-level technique.
Ronin used Ryu (Flow), maintaining Ken (Fortify) while shifting a larger portion of his aura to his hands.
When Sydney fired again, Ronin didn't dodge. He moved his hand faster than the bullet, intercepting it mid-air.
Catch!
With just three fingers, Ronin snatched the bullet out of the air with terrifying force.
Then, under Sydney's shocked gaze, Ronin applied the crushing grip strength of the Big Bang Impact technique and squeezed.
Pop.
The Nen bullet exploded harmlessly between his fingers.
"Now, who needs to surrender?" Ronin asked, walking steadily toward Sydney.
Sydney felt an immense pressure crashing down on him. His gun-hand began to tremble.
He had watched the video of Ronin vs. Gareg. Although Ronin showed great destructive power, Sydney believed he could outmaneuver him.
But now, he realized he was wrong.
This guy definitely held back against Gareg!
Sydney fired rapidly. "Bang! Bang! Bang!"
The Nen bullets exploded one after another, but Ronin simply caught and crushed them as he advanced.
When Ronin was only three meters away, Sydney couldn't handle the pressure. He dropped his arm.
But he didn't surrender. Instead, he lunged forward, swinging a desperate uppercut at Ronin.
The finger-gun stance allowed for range and accuracy, but a fist allowed him to channel maximum power into his emission!
His fist packed the force of a cannon. It was a double-edged sword that hurt him to use, which was why he preferred keeping distance.
But if you force my hand... take this!
Sydney thought he had a chance. Then he found his fist blocked by a larger, stronger hand.
The massive Emitter blast gathering on his fist didn't even detonate. It was smothered instantly by Ronin's palm slap, fizzling out like a wet firecracker.
"Impossible!"
Sydney looked up and saw two crimson lights.
In the next second, agonizing pain exploded in his abdomen. Sydney was launched into the air like a football.
He flew out of the ring, crashing through the barrier of the front-row seats, sending the nearby audience into a panic.
But Sydney didn't hear the screams. He was already unconscious, eyes rolled back in his head, blood trickling from his mouth as he slumped amidst the rubble.
The panic in the audience lasted only a second before it was drowned out by the passionate roar of the commentator and the referee's declaration.
The entire arena erupted in cheers, chanting Ronin's name!