Chapter 193: Summoning Jutsu: Giant Serpent
Once Ronin finished writing his name in blood, the atmosphere in the cavern shifted.
He felt a distinct, psychic weight settle into his mind—a permanent tether to the beast before him. He knew that as long as he formed the correct sequence of seals, he could summon the serpent to his side from anywhere in the world.
Whether the beast would actually be his ally upon arrival was still a gamble.
The serpent, currently pinned beneath the massive hand of the Susanoo, stared up at him. Its vertical pupils were clouded with a mix of primal hatred and seething fury.
Ronin dispelled the Golem that had been helping with the suppression.
Free from the stone weight, the serpent immediately coiled, preparing for a second lunge. But the Susanoo's hand didn't move; it simply increased the pressure, driving the beast's skull back into the mud before it could strike.
The serpent thrashed, but the logic of the struggle was becoming clear to it. No matter how much it flared its aura, it couldn't breach the crimson armor.
"I don't know if you understand human speech," Ronin said, looking down at the creature from within the ribcage. He sounded like a true villain—arrogant, cold, and absolute. "But I'm not here to kill you. I'm here to own you."
"Submit. Or I'll keep you pinned in the dirt until you rot."
Ronin had no intention of killing the snake. It was the first creature to sign a contract with him, and its utility as a combat summon was too high to waste.
The anger in the serpent's eyes didn't vanish, but its body went limp.
It had been suppressed twice in under a minute. It was a predator, and it recognized a superior apex.
More importantly, it did understand the options. It was a Magical Beast of the deep earth; while its linguistics were telepathic and alien, the concept of "Life vs. Death" was universal.
Neither choice was ideal, but one allowed for continued existence.
The Susanoo's hand increased its torque, pressing the serpent's neck into the bedrock with enough force to make the scales groan.
Ronin pondered whether he should use a Cursed Seal or a Fuinjutsu mark to ensure obedience.
Sensing the shift from simple dominance to active malice, the serpent finally broke.
It stopped moving and slowly lowered its head, pressing its snout into the mud.
It was a total surrender. It chose life.
Ronin was pleasantly surprised. He had expected a longer war of wills, but it seemed the beast was as pragmatic as any human mercenary.
"Can you understand me?" Ronin asked, testing the telepathic link.
He slightly relaxed the Susanoo's grip, giving the snake room to breathe but keeping the fist raised and ready. One wrong twitch, and he'd deliver a point-blank Big Bang Impact to its skull.
The serpent scrutinized Ronin for a long moment. Then, it gave a slow, deliberate nod.
"Can you leave this cavern?" Ronin asked, gesturing to the surrounding walls.
This was a major logistical concern. If the snake could travel on its own, Ronin would have to find a way to house it. Keeping a thirty-meter apex predator in a hotel parking lot was a recipe for a 5-star wanted level.
The serpent shook its head.
It turned its gaze toward the Great Trees. Ronin followed the look but saw only bark and glowing leaves.
Only when the Susanoo fully dissipated did the serpent move. It slowly slithered back up the trunk of its home. It reached out, plucked a ripened pod from a branch, and swallowed it whole.
Ronin understood.
The fruit of the Great Trees was the serpent's primary food source.
It was a closed-loop symbiotic relationship. The trees produced "Food" for the snakes, and the snakes acted as the "Immune System," defending the trees from the spider swarm.
The rest of the chain was equally morbid. The giant spiders provided the "Mulch"—high-protein fertilizer for the trees. Under normal circumstances, the raptors born from the pods were enough to cull the spiders and feed the soil.
The only anomaly was the Chimera Ant colony.
Ronin suspected that the ants had been a deliberate introduction by an outside force—likely Beyond Netero—to act as a balancing agent, ensuring the spiders didn't eventually overwhelm the trees.
If that was the case, Ronin's intervention had restored the original balance. The ants were gone, but as long as he ensured the trees were fed and the spiders culled, the cycle would continue.
The fact that the snake couldn't leave was actually a benefit. It saved Ronin the trouble of feeding it. He had a biological super-weapon on standby that required zero maintenance.
As Ronin used the Mystical Palm to heal the acid burns and lacerations on the serpent, he explained his plan.
The snake's worries were simple: its life and its food source.
Ronin guaranteed both.
The serpent looked at him with a trace of what felt like... annoyance. If the boy had just said that in the first place, they could have avoided the whole "crushing its skull" part of the negotiation.
But the annoyance vanished the moment Ronin tested the Summoning Jutsu.
The experience of being yanked through a spatial fold and materializing in a different coordinate in the blink of an eye left the beast dazed. It finally understood what the contract really was.
It wasn't a cage; it was a doorway.
Once the man and beast reached a functional understanding, Kurapika and the others entered the chamber.
They didn't mention the Golden Throne.
The chair was too valuable to be left in a hole in the ground. It was currently sitting inside Shizuku's vacuum.
According to Mashur's rough estimate, the gold and gems alone were worth tens of billions. But Kurapika and Neon saw much more.
"Ten billion is the scrap value," Neon noted. "If we frame this as the 'Throne of the Sun King' from an undiscovered prehistoric civilization and auction it in Yorknew, the price will hit the triple digits."
The "Ancient City" beneath them provided the perfect provenance for the story.
"Benket won't be happy," Kurapika added. "He knows we have it. If he talks to the Aitli Royal Family, it could cause a diplomatic incident."
"Then we'll play a game of 'The Golden Cicada Sheds Its Skin,'" Ronin decided.
He had no intention of slaughtering the Royal Family, even if he could. Mass murder was bad for long-term branding.
The trick was to make the throne "disappear." A well-placed Shadow Clone and a fake "robbery" during the extraction would leave the King with a list of dead suspects and zero leads on the actual treasure.
Ronin knew he wasn't invincible yet. Staying off the V5's "Most Wanted" list while he grew in power was a core rule of his survival.
He was a master of combat, but he was still a student of the world. And in this world, being a ghost was often more powerful than being a god.
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