A million voices in his head screamed that it was impossible.
But the corpse was undeniably real.
He lay there quietly, blood still oozing from his body. The internal rupture from the high fall had been fatal.
Ronin pushed past the police line, walking step by heavy step toward the body.
The nearby officers noticed something was wrong. They tried to stop him, but before they could even get close, their faces twisted in terror.
An intense, suffocating killing intent, carried by Ronin's flaring aura, washed over the area.
It was pure, unadulterated malice.
He had only known Kurapika for a few months, but in that time, he had truly come to see him as a younger brother.
He felt Kurapika's reliance on him. He saw the genuine effort Kurapika put into helping him develop his abilities.
Kurapika had given his all.
He had genuinely treated Ronin—his "Big Brother"—as his last clansman, his last partner, his last family.
And now...
Ronin, the person Kurapika was closest to, had failed to protect him. He had let him die right in front of his eyes.
A terrible thought crossed Ronin's mind: If I hadn't appeared, Kurapika would have lived a better life! At least he wouldn't be dead right now.
Ronin activated the Mystical Palm Technique, pressing his glowing hands onto Kurapika's chest, desperately trying to revive him.
But it was useless.
The moment his chakra entered the body, Ronin knew. Kurapika was gone.
And when he saw the empty, bloody sockets where Kurapika's eyes should have been, Ronin knew exactly who had done this.
The Phantom Troupe!
It had to be them!
As if sensing something, Ronin suddenly looked up. At that exact moment, someone plummeted from the sky directly toward him.
A bizarre, beautiful battle hymn filled the air as the figure fell.
A massive planet—Jupiter—formed in the air, crashing down to crush him.
But rising to meet Jupiter was a giant, spectral red skeletal hand!
Ronin looked up. His contact lenses were gone. The three tomoe in his Sharingan spun wildly, their tails stretching and connecting until the tomoe expanded into a single, pitch-black circle.
It was a new eye. It looked like an abyss. Three spheres seemed to float out from the central pupil, connected by curved lines that had strange, human-like bumps along them.
Around Ronin's body, red chakra materialized, forming a massive ribcage and a skeletal arm!
The ultimate dōjutsu of the Mangekyō Sharingan: Susanoo!
The giant spectral hand caught the falling Jupiter.
Violent force exploded from the impact.
BOOM!
The shockwave shattered every window in the vicinity. The ground cracked and buckled. Cars and people were blown away like toys.
But inside the protective shell of the Susanoo, Ronin stood unharmed. He stared up at the Jupiter sphere. Dark energy surged in his eyes, and black flames ignited on the surface of the planet!
Bonolenov, falling with his attack, landed on top of Jupiter.
But before he could add his weight to crush Ronin, the black flames spread rapidly, racing toward him.
Bonolenov felt a chill down his spine. His instincts screamed that this fire was dangerous.
Suddenly, three fire dragons burst from the hotel windows above, roaring toward him.
It was Ronin's shadow clone, who had entered the hotel ahead of the main body.
The clone hadn't made it to the 18th floor. From the 15th floor, it had launched a surprise Fire Style attack to intercept Bonolenov.
But simultaneously, a barrage of tables flew out from the broken windows on the 18th floor, smashing into the fire dragons.
Down below, a hail of Nen bullets rained down on Ronin's Susanoo as a hulking figure appeared.
On the 18th floor stood Kortopi, Chrollo, and Pakunoda.
On the ground stood Franklin and Isori.
Franklin unleashed a storm of bullets to suppress Ronin, who was pinned under Jupiter. Isori flanked Ronin from behind, raising his revolver and pulling the trigger.
A large caliber bullet shot from the barrel. The moment it neared Ronin, it detonated!
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Explosions and Nen bullets engulfed Ronin, kicking up a massive cloud of dust and debris.
High above, Chrollo held Skill Hunter in one hand. As the pages stopped flipping, a toy airplane appeared in his other hand.
Conjuration ability: Super Fortress!
The toy plane zoomed into the air. Its bay doors opened, dropping a round bomb that guided itself precisely toward the 15th floor.
BOOM!
The explosion rocked the 15th floor just as the fire dragons were about to reach Bonolenov.
A small mushroom cloud rose from the window. Down below, Ronin felt a sudden return of chakra—his shadow clone had been destroyed.
As for the attacks raining down on him? They didn't even scratch him.
Wrapped in the Susanoo, he was invincible. Even in its skeletal stage, the ultimate defense of the Uchiha was impenetrable.
The red skeletal arm flexed. With a sickening crunch, it crushed the burning Jupiter sphere mid-air.
Amidst the scattering black flames, Ronin's Sharingan locked onto Bonolenov.
His eye power flared again. Amaterasu!
Black flames ignited on the ground right where Bonolenov was about to land, spreading instantly into a sea of fire.
Bonolenov, his body whistling in the wind, was clad in his conjured battle gear, holding a double-headed spear.
He threw the spear into the ground and landed with one foot perched on its tip, avoiding the sea of black fire below.
But the flames began to climb the spear. In an instant, the metal started to melt. A stray lick of black fire caught the edge of his clothing.
The fire spread from the cloth, threatening to consume him in seconds.
Meanwhile, the tables falling from above smashed through the fading remnants of the fire dragons.
Crash! Crash!
They slammed harmlessly against the Susanoo's ribs.
Ronin ignored the debris. His attention was fixed on the toy plane circling above, its bay doors opening again.
He sensed danger from that toy.
He also noticed that Bonolenov wasn't attacking him. Instead, the bandaged warrior leaped from his melting spear, desperately rushing toward Franklin.
But Ronin saw it—the black fire was spreading fast on Bonolenov's body.
Feel the power of Amaterasu, you trash!
Ronin glanced at the 15th floor, noting the melted slag around the window where the bomb had hit.
Conjured plane. Transmuted explosion with extreme heat.
Having analyzed Chrollo's stolen ability, Ronin's hands flew into a seal. Chakra surged from his gut to his throat.
Water Style: Exploding Water Shock Wave!
A massive volume of water erupted from Ronin's mouth. In seconds, a tidal wave engulfed the street, swallowing the Arden Hotel's lower levels and everything within a fifty-meter radius in a giant, churning water prison!