As Ronin headed to the arena for his match, a thirteen-year-old blond boy arrived outside Heavens Arena.
He was wearing the traditional Kurta clothing—an outfit Ronin himself had once worn. In his hand, he clutched a poster printed with Ronin's photo.
On the poster, Ronin wore a brilliant, sunny smile.
But the one holding the poster—Kurapika—looked ashen and hollow, like a walking corpse that had lost all hope.
Even now, even though he could look up and see promotional posters and endorsement ads featuring Ronin everywhere, Kurapika still couldn't connect the "star" in those images with the Ronin he knew.
Part of him hoped that shining celebrity was the nii-san Ronin he remembered.
But part of him doubted it—because the Ronin who knew about the clan's annihilation shouldn't be wearing that kind of bright smile.
Yet the news reports—and the information Kurapika gathered after returning to the Kurta lands—kept telling him one fact:
Out of the Kurta village's 129 people, only 127 bodies had been found.
The two missing should be him… and Ronin.
Kurapika's gaze gradually hardened.
He had to find out what was really going on.
And while Kurapika entered Heavens Arena by registering for matches, a group of people also arrived on the 227th floor.
"I thought him making a throat-slitting gesture at me back then was arrogant enough. Turns out he can't even be bothered to hide his identity. Is he just contemptuous of everyone, or fearless because he's ignorant… or is he just stupid beyond saving?"
The speaker was Uvogin—who, after finishing the Troupe's "main business," had asked Shalnark to track down Ronin's whereabouts.
Even Shalnark hadn't expected the search to be so easy. He'd barely typed a query online before he was hit with a flood of results:
'Heavens Arena Supernova'
'Crimson Meteor'
'Violent Ronin'
The string of titles was practically blinding.
Shalnark even downloaded Ronin's match video against Greg with ease.
When Uvogin watched the footage of the final exchange on the ring, he actually laughed in anger—because he recognized the finishing move Ronin used to defeat Greg.
It was Uvogin's own Big Bang Impact.
That extreme aura control, that rapid, explosive condensing method—it was exactly the same as when he unleashed his Big Bang Impact.
In other words, this brat not only stepped into the open with zero shame, he also brazenly stole Uvogin's signature move!
If Uvogin swallowed this insult, he might as well crawl back to the garbage mountain of his hometown and become trash.
So he came.
With him came Shalnark, eager to watch the fun, and Nobunaga—also curious about Ronin and eager to chop him into minced meat.
"I think he's doing it on purpose," Shalnark offered a different view.
"What, you think he can fight me?" Uvogin shot him an annoyed look.
At that moment, two figures stepped onto the ring—Ronin, and his opponent: Sidney, a fighter with a 3–1 record on the 200+ floors.
Sidney was an Emitter. The instant the fight began, he widened the distance between them. He raised his right hand like a pistol, bracing it with his left, and aimed at Ronin.
"Bang!"
Sidney mimicked a gunshot and fired.
With Nen gathered in his eyes, Ronin clearly saw aura condense at Sidney's fingertips, then shoot out with the "bang."
"In a limited space, fighting while keeping distance is the rule that benefits me most. Give up—you'll never get close to me!" Sidney watched Ronin dodge the first Nen bullet without panicking at all, even trying to persuade Ronin to surrender early.
But his tone carried a condescending, "charitable" superiority.
Ronin had to admit Sidney wasn't wrong.
On a ring like this, Emitters did have a certain advantage.
But telling him to surrender? That was arrogance.
Even without entering Sharingan state, every Nen shot Sidney fired was crystal clear to Ronin.
Still, Ronin didn't plan to win by simply dodging.
After fusing his second pair of Scarlet Eyes, both his physical strength and aura reserves had improved.
And nearly ten days of training hadn't been wasted—he'd already grasped the essence of Uvogin's Big Bang Impact.
Right now, even without the Sharingan, he could still reproduce it.
So what would happen when a powerful body and refined technique were combined?
Ronin used the advanced Nen application Ryu. While maintaining Ken, he channeled more aura into his hands.
When Sidney's Nen bullet shot toward him again, Ronin moved even faster—intercepting that bullet-speed projectile in midair!
Crack!
Using only three fingers, Ronin seized the Nen bullet with terrifying force.
And under Sidney's stunned gaze, Ronin triggered the explosive mechanics of Big Bang Impact and crushed the Nen bullet right between his fingertips.
"Now who was talking about surrender?" Ronin stepped forward, pressing toward Sidney.
A massive pressure slammed into Sidney again and again. His "pistol hand" trembled slightly.
He'd watched Ronin's fight with Greg. Ronin had shown huge destructive power, but Sidney hadn't believed he would lose.
Now he realized he'd been wrong.
Ronin had definitely been holding back against Greg.
Sidney kept firing, shouting "bang" over and over. Nen bullets burst out one after another—only to be casually caught and crushed as Ronin closed in.
When Ronin was within three meters, Sidney finally couldn't endure it. He lowered his arm.
But he didn't say "I forfeit."
Instead, he suddenly stepped in and swung a rising punch at Ronin.
The "gun stance" gave him range and accuracy.
But his fist could unleash the Nen bullet's true power.
His punch hit like a cannon. If this move weren't so costly—hurting himself almost as much as the enemy—he wouldn't have needed to play keep-away in the first place.
But forcing Ronin to bring out his trump card was something to be proud of!
That thought flashed through Sidney's mind—
Then he saw his punch blocked by a stronger hand.
The larger, more powerful Emitter blast he'd condensed on his fist didn't even get the chance to explode; it was slapped dead before it could fire.
"No way!" Sidney looked up—and saw two points of crimson.
In the next second, a stabbing pain erupted in his abdomen. Sidney was kicked into the air like a ball.
He flew off the ring and smashed into the front-row wall, causing nearby spectators to cry out in panic.
But Sidney couldn't hear them anymore.
Blood spilled from his mouth. As he slumped along the broken wall, his eyes rolled back and he fell unconscious.
The crowd's panic lasted only an instant before it was drowned out by the commentator's ecstatic yelling and the referee's declaration of victory.
And the next moment, the entire arena erupted in roaring cheers.
Everyone was screaming Ronin's name at the top of their lungs.