Chapter 203: Standardized Hatsu
This was no longer a scattered volley, but a concentrated, explosive burst.
Wind Style: Giant Vacuum Blast. It was a technique feared as the "Human Rocket Launcher."
The colossal sphere of high-pressure air, no longer hindered by the Nen Beast, roared toward the Third Prince's luxury sedan like a physical act of God.
But at that exact moment, the space around the car shimmered with a subtle, watery ripple.
A second hidden specialist had triggered their ability. They intended to warp Zhang Lei away, mirroring the "extraction" that had saved the Fourth Prince the day before.
Ronin, however, was not about to be outplayed by the same trick twice.
His main body was perched directly above his Shadow Clone. His Mangekyō Sharingan had been active since the start of the convoy's arrival. He had already identified the Nen fluctuations within the sea of bodyguards.
Amenotokotachi!
The spatial stasis triggered instantly, locking the coordinates of the sedan and the surrounding air into a rigid, non-Euclidean cage.
All teleportation abilities rely on the fluidity of space. Celestial Stasis rendered that space immovable. It was the ultimate hard-counter to a warp.
The Giant Vacuum Blast slammed into the stasis zone. The top of the sedan buckled, though the compression slowed as it hit the "hard" space.
But the "slowing" lasted only a microsecond before Ronin deactivated the eye.
The built-up kinetic energy of the wind blast released all at once. The floor of the car was shredded, and the interior was transformed into a gruesome tableau of mangled metal and human remains.
"NO!"
A scream of pure, unadulterated terror erupted from a nearby guard—the hidden teleporter.
As his shout faded, his body underwent a rapid, horrifying transformation. He stiffened, falling backward, but before his heels could touch the pavement, his entire physical form vanished into thin air.
The Shadow Clone raised an eyebrow. He blurred forward, appearing beside the remains of the Prince's sedan.
He peered into the blood-soaked wreckage. A look of genuine confusion crossed his face.
Is there a Hatsu that transfers 'The State of Death' itself?
If so, Kakin's "Royal Safety Unit" was even more sophisticated than Ronin had feared.
Gunfire finally erupted. Adaptability was a slow process for the ordinary human guards. Seeing a boy fly, release "Ki blasts," and summon a demonic hound's head was a sequence of events their training hadn't covered.
The Shadow Clone didn't waste Chakra on a shootout. As the first rounds impacted his Lightning Armor, he dispelled, vanishing in a puff of smoke.
"快去救王子!" (Save the Prince!)
Someone screamed the order, but the guards who reached the car simply stood there in a daze. The "Third Prince" inside the vehicle was a slurry of meat and bone. There was nothing left to save.
Sirens wailed in the distance. The Kakin Royal Police were arriving, but they were already too late.
The scene was cordoned off. Witnesses were detained. Pedestrians were swept up in a dragnet of state-sponsored paranoia.
But Ronin was already blocks away.
"Your theory was right," Ronin said as the call connected.
"Any other data points?" Kurapika asked. His voice was calm, accepting the news as if it were a weather report.
Ronin organized his thoughts. He detailed the sequence of the "Gory Car" versus the "Vanishing Guard."
"Interesting," Kurapika analyzed. "It seems these specialists are 'Direct Cultivation' units. They follow extreme, standardized paths. Even within the same training manual, there are variations, but the core logic is the same."
"To kill a Prince, you have to eliminate the 'Safety Net' first. Assassination is impossible while the guards are active."
"So you think Zhang Lei is actually still alive?" Ronin asked. He had a hunch, but the visual evidence of the "Meat-Mash Prince" was hard to ignore.
"Brother, do you believe in souls?" Kurapika asked.
Ronin fell silent. In his past life, it was a philosophical debate. In this world?
There was proof.
In the game of Greed Island, there was a Restricted Slot card: [The Ghost Pillow]. If you slept on it, your soul could leave your body. If you stayed out for more than 24 hours, you became a permanent spirit.
If that wasn't enough, there was [The Postcard to the Dead]. Write a name, send a letter, and receive a reply from the afterlife the next day.
Even the Chimera Ant arc—with its themes of reincarnated memories and biological destiny—pointed toward a tangible soul.
"I see your point," Ronin said.
"If the guard's ability targets the soul rather than the body," Kurapika explained, "they can trigger a 'Life for a Life' exchange. The moment the Prince dies, his soul is transferred into the guard's healthy body. The guard's soul is sacrificed to satisfy the 'Death' condition of the Prince."
"Then, the body shifts to match the soul. The 'Prince' is reborn in the guard's skin, while the guard's original body—now housing a 'Dead' soul—simply ceases to exist or manifests as the corpse in the car."
It was a total-sacrifice contract.
It was the ultimate expression of the Empire's legacy. Just like the Second Prince's Untouchables, these guards were likely trained from birth to serve as biological "extra lives" for the heirs.
Ronin sighed. Great power indeed.
"So the rule is simple," Ronin summarized. "Kill the Shadow Guard, then kill the Prince."
"Precisely. Though I suspect these 'Guardian Spirits' are only active until the Succession Contest officially begins. Once the ceremony starts, the Princes must face their own destinies."
"Two attempts, two failures," Kurapika noted. "Kakin is going to be on high alert. We need to lay low for a few days."
"Agreed," Ronin said. "What about the Phantom Troupe? Any movement?"
If the Princes were too much of a headache for now, it was time to find the Spiders. He wondered just how many eyes Chrollo had managed to scrape together while Ronin was busy playing "assassin."
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