Boom!
The three fire dragons blew apart every remaining shard of glass around the shattered window. Even after they burst out of the room, they didn't disperse—instead, they turned and chased Nobunaga, who was dropping rapidly through the air.
But the pursuit only lasted a dozen or so meters before it ended.
The fire dragons collapsed, leaving only blistering heat lingering in the air.
Midair, Nobunaga yanked off his belt and wrapped it around his sword hilt—completely unconcerned that his open clothes exposed blue boxer briefs with a cartoon elephant printed on them. He snapped his arm and hurled the katana.
The blade pierced the wall. The long white cloth belt went taut—reinforced by Nobunaga's Shu, it didn't snap. Instead it yanked his entire body into a hard swing, slamming him back toward the wall.
Meanwhile, inside the room, an antenna silently crept close to Ronin and stabbed toward his lower back.
The Ronin who was pierced turned around. In his pitch-black eyes was Shalnark's face—expressionless, impossible to read.
But before Shalnark could press buttons on his phone to control Ronin through the antenna, with a puff—Ronin exploded into a wisp of white smoke and vanished from the room.
Shalnark's hand, gripping the phone, froze.
In the next instant, he jumped back and retreated from the room, which was still thick with residual heat.
A second antenna appeared in his hand, ready to be stabbed into himself at any moment.
Only when his first antenna clattered to the floor—and still no attack came, no aura remained in the room—did Shalnark frown and edge back closer.
Just then, chaotic footsteps sounded in the corridor—people were coming this way.
Shalnark swept his gaze across the room. He only saw Nobunaga climbing back in through the broken window.
Ronin was nowhere to be seen.
Shalnark shook his head at Nobunaga, then turned and left quickly.
Nobunaga looked stunned.
Shalnark failed? How was that possible?
With that thought, he hurried after Shalnark.
At the moment the Ronin who'd been stabbed by the antenna burst into smoke, the real Ronin—maintaining Ken in Room 188—snapped his eyes open.
Sweat ran down his chin and dripped onto the floor.
But his mind was filled with everything his shadow clone had just experienced in Room 2333.
He didn't release Ken.
Right now, Ronin could maintain Ken for seven minutes—though that was with only half his aura, since he'd already created a shadow clone.
Milia's method of "calculating aura" felt to Ronin like the method Knuckle used in the manga.
By that logic, based on his level of control, maintaining Ken cost him about ten aura units per second.
If half his aura let him hold Ken for seven minutes, then his precise aura pool should be around 8,400.
Milia's estimate had been pretty accurate.
And this calculation also proved something else: Ronin's aura output and aura control were still extremely crude.
According to Knuckle's explanation in the manga, during the "pre-fight" period, aura consumption could be as low as one unit.
But once you entered actual combat—using techniques like Ryu, Ken, and Gyo—the consumption multiplied, roughly to six to ten units.
Six was what a master with extremely refined aura control could achieve.
Ten was what someone like Ronin—rough, inefficient control—would burn.
It looked like only a four-unit difference, but that was four units per second. Over time, the gap became enormous.
So Ronin didn't just need a bigger aura pool—he also had to steadily improve his control.
The clone's dispersal had been exactly as Ronin expected.
That was the "surprise" he'd prepared for the Phantom Troupe in Room 2333.
During the exchange, the shadow clone had also field-tested the B-rank ninjutsu Fire Style: Fire Dragon Flame Bullet. It was a pity it hadn't killed Nobunaga, but forcing him into such a desperate situation was more than enough for Ronin.
The chakra cost of B-rank jutsu was still brutal, though.
Creating a shadow clone split his chakra evenly. Even though that clone had been out for a while, just casting Great Fireball and Fire Dragon Flame Bullet nearly drained it dry—proof of how expensive B-rank techniques were.
Ronin estimated that in peak condition, he might only be able to use a B-rank technique at that level three or four times.
That's the downside of not having a tailed beast inside you, Ronin couldn't help thinking.
So… could he artificially create a tailed beast?
That thought popped up—though he suspected it would be extremely difficult, and would almost certainly involve Vows and Limitations.
For now, Ronin set the idea aside.
At this stage, his priority was still: strengthen the basics, increase his aura pool, and develop his own Hatsu—his finishing move.
When the seven minutes were up, Ronin—soaked in sweat—collapsed onto the floor.
After resting and recovering for a while, he didn't rush to cast Shadow Clone again. Instead, Milia called to ask whether something had happened.
Ronin gave a brief explanation and hung up.
How to handle the fallout next—Milia would understand better than he did.
The attack in the 200th-floor residential area caused a significant stir across Heavens Arena.
Everyone knew fighters pulled dirty tricks in private—but causing a scene this big was rare.
The victim's identity was quickly exposed: the recently blazing-hot supernova, Ronin.
Not long after Uvogin stepped off the ring, he received the same news.
He looked at Nobunaga with open disdain. "If someone's going to make a move, can't they do it cleanly? You didn't kill him, and you made a huge mess. That's embarrassing."
Nobunaga was already furious about being ambushed. Now Uvogin was rubbing salt in the wound, and his expression turned ugly.
"Ronin's growth rate is too fast," Nobunaga could only reply. "Don't be the one who trips up on the ring."
Even he could hear how weak that sounded.
Shalnark, meanwhile, had been thinking the entire way back. Now he had a clearer picture.
"The target we attacked was probably a clone—a clone mainly produced through Conjuration."
"Transmuted flames, conjured clones… his Specialist ability really is something," Nobunaga said, half-agreeing.
"Yeah." Shalnark nodded. "But that clone's weakness is obvious: once it takes a hit, it pops."
After all, the antenna's stab hardly did any damage—it was mostly just a condition to activate his ability.
But even that minimal "attack" had made Ronin burst into smoke, which made Shalnark doubt the clone's durability.
And since that clone fought mostly with ranged attacks, it made sense that once it was caught in close combat, it would be easy to pop.
A practical auxiliary Nen ability created under Vows and Limitations.
And it fit Ronin perfectly—endless escape tricks and disguises.
The only thing that had changed was that now he'd added more offensive options too.
~~~
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