As he ran, the memories of Luo Ning's predecessor became increasingly clear. He began to realize that before his 'resurrection,' he hadn't mastered Nen at all. In other words, he must have awakened his Nen as a result of a Nen-based attack.
However, that very attack was also what had sent his predecessor straight to heaven. Unfortunately, Luo Ning could feel that the power he now possessed wasn't the kind of post-mortem Nen that grew stronger after death. Even if he had mastered post-mortem Nen, Luo Ning knew that facing Uvogin was a death sentence with no chance of survival.
The current date was April 1st, 1995. There were still over three years—nearly four—before the main story began, yet the Uvogin of this era had already mastered Nen. Combined with the fact that Uvogin had spent his childhood fighting and his adulthood living as a bandit, the gap between them in experience, strength, and even mental fortitude was an unbridgeable chasm.
Fleeing was Luo Ning's only option. But he knew all too well that if he simply ran blindly through the woods, he would never escape. He didn't know how much time his predecessor's father could buy him; what he needed to do now was find a way to evade pursuit within that window of time.
Luo Ning's mind raced, but the more he thought, the more desperate he became. This truly was a hellish start.
The sound of rushing water drifted from nearby. Luo Ning stopped by a small stream just as a thunderous roar echoed from the sky, followed by a bolt of lightning that streaked across the heavens like a soaring dragon. Leaning over the stream, Luo Ning finally used the brief flash of light to see his reflection and his own eyes.
Beneath his pale blonde hair was a handsome, pallid face, but his eyes had turned a deep, blood-crimson color. That crimson should have been the Scarlet Eyes, but Luo Ning sensed something was wrong. According to the records, the Scarlet Eyes were supposed to be a brilliant scarlet, not this dark, gory crimson.
'Is it because I'm not angry enough that they aren't beautiful?'
As this thought crossed his mind, he leaned closer to the water. Another jagged bolt of lightning arched across the sky. In the midst of the rumbling thunder, Luo Ning saw his eyes clearly. They weren't the Scarlet Eyes he remembered; they were eyes that didn't belong to this world.
Deep within those crimson pupils, he saw a single tomoe.
Luo Ning was shocked. In the manga he had read, there was a specific type of crimson eye that also possessed tomoe. Those eyes were known as the Sharingan!
Though he currently only had a single tomoe in each eye, Luo Ning was certain. These were absolutely the newly awakened Sharingan, not the Scarlet Eyes!
'Is this my cheat?'
Luo Ning accepted this reality instantly. The change brought about by his soul's migration was the transformation of the Kurta Scarlet Eyes into the Sharingan. No wonder he had been able to clearly see the movements of Uvogin and the other man from over a hundred meters away, even perceiving the flow of 'Aura' on their bodies.
It was all thanks to the Sharingan.
It made sense. In Hunter x Hunter, the Scarlet Eyes didn't actually grant Kurapika any specific ocular techniques. The gifts they gave the Kurta clan were twofold: first, access to a different Nen category upon activation, and second, a massive boost to physical strength and defense.
As Luo Ning pondered this, he saw the crimson reflection in the water fade, returning to a pitch-black color. Simultaneously, a wave of exhaustion rapidly spread through his body. While it wasn't enough to make him collapse, he felt a significant drain on his physical stamina.
This was the side effect of using the eyes.
However, Luo Ning couldn't afford to worry about that now. He stepped across the stream and continued running forward, his mind churning over one question: could he perform Ninjutsu? If he could, he might actually find a way to save his life or, at the very least, escape.
---
By the time Luo Ning crossed the stream, Uvogin had already finished his battle. He was currently holding a severed head. He had already gouged out the eyes and stuffed them into a bottle of nutrient solution that Chrollo had specifically given him before they left.
He didn't throw the eyeless head away. Instead, he hung it from his waist alongside the cloth-wrapped bottle containing the Scarlet Eyes.
Uvogin looked down at the torn clothing on his chest and the large bruise forming on the skin beneath. When he looked up again, a cruel smile played across his face. He wasn't about to let that other boy with the Scarlet Eyes get away.
'With this fresh head in hand, I should be able to make that brat's eyes turn the most beautiful color before he dies.'
With that thought, Uvogin took a large stride and began heading in the direction Luo Ning had fled.
---
Luo Ning was a hardcore anime fan. He had watched both Hunter x Hunter and Naruto multiple times. He had even done professional cosplay; after all, 'Amaterasu' was incredibly popular.
To stand out among cosplayers, aside from being naturally handsome, one needed skills—like being able to perform hand signs fluently. This was especially true if one had slender, fair hands that looked like a hand model's, which amplified the effect.
Because of this, Luo Ning had specifically studied various hand signs and practiced them repeatedly. He never imagined that one day, he would be using these signs in reality.
Luo Ning remembered the signs for the Clone Jutsu perfectly: RAM — SNAKE — TIGER.
As he ran, he began to form the signs from memory. But when the sequence was complete, nothing happened.
He frowned slightly but wasn't too surprised. Performing Ninjutsu was never supposed to be easy. If it were that simple, there would have been no need for Ninja Academies in Naruto.
But therein lay the problem. Being hunted as he was, he didn't have the luxury of time to slowly learn Ninjutsu. He had to find a way to cast them immediately.
He already had a few ideas. If he couldn't find the answer through experimentation, he would have to resort to a double-edged sword: using 'Vows and Limitations' to force the ability to manifest.
In short, from the moment he discovered he had the Sharingan, he had gambled everything on Ninjutsu.
Luo Ning first considered the key to performing Ninjutsu. One had to mold Chakra and then complete the hand signs. He had done the signs, but as for the Chakra...
Luo Ning knit his brows and looked down at his hands. He could clearly see his hands wrapped in a layer of energy. He knew this energy was 'Nen.'
Suddenly, he thought back to the image of himself when he had activated the Sharingan. In that instant, he understood.
When the Sharingan wasn't active, what he possessed was Nen. According to his knowledge, Nen was life energy, whereas Chakra was a mixture of mental and physical energy.
Then he thought about his eyes again. If those truly were the Sharingan, then they must be driven by Chakra. This meant that whenever he entered the 'Scarlet Eye'—or more accurately, the 'Sharingan'—state, his body would produce Chakra.
Connecting this to Kurapika's situation, Luo Ning reached a conclusion.
Perhaps the transformation of Nen into Chakra, and the Scarlet Eyes into the Sharingan, was the 'Specialist' ability of his Scarlet Eye state!
In other words, only when he switched to the Specialization category did he become a true Ninja. Only then was he a being capable of wielding Ninjutsu!