Omokage waited quietly inside the church.
He knew Luo Ning would definitely come.
He had placed the bait in the most conspicuous spot. As long as the other party followed the tracks of the Nobunaga doll, they would eventually find the church. When that happened, the Pairo doll would serve as Luo Ning's death warrant.
Based on what he had learned about Luo Ning from Uvogin, even if the boy knew the church was a trap, he would certainly leap into it for the sake of the Scarlet Eyes. After all, what Kurta wouldn't react that way to the eyes of their own kin?
The only thing that surprised Omokage was how Luo Ning had managed to remove Nobunaga's head so quickly. Everything must have happened in an instant. From the moment the Nobunaga doll was attacked to the moment its head disappeared, the dolls responsible for secret surveillance nearby failed to transmit any useful information.
It would have been better if he could find the head of the Nobunaga doll, even if the eyes were missing. But according to his perception, when the dolls he dispatched arrived at the location where the head vanished, they only found a patch of scorched earth. Clearly, the head had been burned to ashes immediately after the eyes were taken.
A text message arrived on Omokage's phone. It was from Isley, informing him that the members were already on their way to Mordin City.
Besides the members who had participated in Uvogin's previous reckless antics, the team this time included the leader, Chrollo, as well as Pakunoda, who always circled around him, and Isley, the #8 member of the Troupe. In other words, in two days, there would be eight members of the Phantom Troupe in Mordin City. No, excluding Uvogin—that useless waste currently struggling in agony from his burns—there would be at least seven members launching a coordinated hunt against Luo Ning.
Omokage frowned slightly. 'Luo Ning, you better not disappoint me!'
The car stopped less than a kilometer from the church. Luo Ning did not get out. Instead, he took out a crystal ball inside the vehicle and activated the Telescope Technique.
Following that faint sensation of Omokage's Nen, he continuously injected chakra into the crystal ball. Soon, the image within the sphere stabilized and began moving toward the church's location. When the image of the church appeared, the young boy sitting atop the roof became clear!
"Pairo!" Kurapika recognized him at a single glance.
That was his best friend, the partner for whom he was willing to give his life! Kurapika never expected to see him again, let alone see him sitting so perfectly intact on the roof of a church.
With almost no other thought in his mind, Kurapika pushed the door open and stepped out, about to rush toward the church. That was Pairo!
But before he could take more than a few steps, someone grabbed him.
"Kurapika, calm down! Pairo is already dead. I saw it with my own eyes—the Phantom Troupe cut off his head!" Luo Ning shouted this cruel reality to Kurapika.
"But..." Kurapika's eyes turned a brilliant, vivid crimson.
As he opened his mouth to speak, tears uncontrollably streamed down his face first, and then he slumped down. He knew. He knew that the person on the roof was not Pairo. It was a doll created by Omokage using Pairo as a template, only Omokage had fitted the Pairo doll with Scarlet Eyes!
Damn it!
Thump!
Kurapika slammed his fist heavily against the ground. Blood stained the earth, but he seemed oblivious to the pain. When he looked up at Luo Ning, his gaze held nothing but a plea.
Luo Ning sighed and patted Kurapika's shoulder. "Leave it to me."
Returning to the car, the Telescope Technique was activated again. The image moved quickly from the most prominent spot on the roof to the interior of the church. Omokage's face appeared clearly in the crystal ball. At this moment, he had no idea he was being observed from a distance and was busy working on a doll.
Broadening his vision and following the unique resonance of Nen, Luo Ning saw every single doll hidden throughout the church appear in the crystal ball. This surveillance ninjutsu from Hiruzen was even more useful than Luo Ning had imagined.
"It would be best if we can force him out of the church."
Counting the number of dolls, Kurapika felt the situation was becoming difficult. Luo Ning felt the same. Omokage had prepared over twenty dolls inside the church. Among them were many faces Luo Ning recognized—Machi, Uvogin, Phinks, and Franklin. It was essentially the entire Troupe.
Even if these dolls couldn't exert even half the combat power of the originals, one couldn't forget Omokage's ability to fuse dolls together. However, since they were all inside the church, Luo Ning had thought of a perfect ninjutsu combination.
He stopped observing and cancelled the Telescope Technique. Luo Ning began to adjust his state, and once it reached perfection, he formed the cross-shaped seal and cast the Shadow Clone Technique. Then, he entered a state of [ZETSU] to speed up his recovery.
When he opened his eyes again, he and his shadow clone crept toward the church together. Only the worried Kurapika and the carefree, spoiled Neon remained in the car.
The B-rank ninjutsu, Earth Style: Lightweight Rock Technique, wasn't enough to make a person fly, but the A-rank version improved by Onoki, Earth Style: Ultra-Lightweight Rock Technique, could allow flight. However, Luo Ning had experimented with it and found that the chakra consumption for the Ultra-Lightweight version was a bit too high. It wasn't suitable for the battle ahead.
Moreover, since Omokage had pulled his dolls inside, the number of dolls outside the church was quite sparse.
When he was about a hundred meters from the church, Luo Ning stopped and climbed a large tree. The shadow clone mirrored his movements. The two were not far apart, and with their minds synchronized, they both began to weave hand seals rapidly.
However, the original's casting speed was faster, and he still performed the full 44 seals to maximize the power of the technique. This time, the jutsu Luo Ning selected was Earth Style: Clay from Heaven.
As a massive amount of chakra gathered and the seals were completed, a rift appeared in the space above the church! A huge volume of clay crashed down instantly. The first to be hit was Pairo, who was standing in that conspicuous position.
But Luo Ning didn't care. As the clay covered the entire main structure of the church, the shadow clone released its prepared ninjutsu. A small fireball shot from the clone's mouth, striking the ground in front of the church.
In the next second, with a thunderous roar, the condensed chakra exploded, turning that tiny spark into a raging inferno in an instant. The flames spread and surged, covering the entire front of the church.
Fire Style: Searing Migraine.
Under the roasting heat of the fire, the clay falling from above quickly hardened and solidified. Between the high temperature and the crashing clay, constant explosive bangs echoed from the church's location. Figures began leaping from the upper floors—the dolls.
However, the moment they broke through the windows, they were coated in clay and roasted by the flames below. By the time they hit the ground, these dolls had already shattered into hardened chunks.
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