Chapter 185: Earth Style: Swamp of the Underworld
Ronin watched the approaching energy sphere and immediately understood the King's tactical pivot.
If you can't get close, you attack from range. It prevents the passive barrier from interfering with your own momentum.
Judging by the crudeness of the blast, it was an instinctive choice. The King was still in his biological "learning phase."
The stasis field dissolved. Ronin completed a seal instantly.
Water Style: Water Wall!
The Nen blast slammed into the summoned water and detonated, creating a mist that masked Ronin's silhouette.
The King's expression turned grave. He prepared to charge, but his footing suddenly betrayed him. The solid rock of the throne room floor liquefied into a churning, viscous bog.
Earth Style: Swamp of the Underworld.
This was the legendary technique Jiraiya used to ground Orochimaru's snakes. But Ronin wasn't using it to swallow the King; he was using it to test the logic of the "Interception" Hatsu.
It's an experiment, Ronin thought.
The King's "Limitless" barrier triggered upon detecting an "Attack."
But what counted as an attack?
If Ronin merely changed the environment beneath the King's feet without aiming a hostile projectile at him, would the barrier activate?
Through the Sharingan, Ronin saw the result.
As the swamp manifested, the mud around the King's feet began to shrink, caught in a momentary spatial compression. But the instant the King's foot actually sank into the sludge, the shrinking stopped. The mud remained normal size.
The realization made Ronin's eyes brighten.
The "Interception" aura was a perfect shield, but it was a double-edged sword. To maintain the paradox of infinite distance, the user had to maintain a state of total passivity.
It was a contract: "Nothing can reach me, but I can reach nothing."
The moment the King took an active step to navigate the swamp, he was interacting with the world. By exerting force outward to escape the mud, his internal logic shifted from "Protection" to "Movement," causing the passive barrier to flicker and fail.
The benefit of the Vow (invulnerability) was countered by the restriction of the Vow (immobility/non-aggression).
This was the state the King had existed in while in the womb: absolute safety through total isolation.
But as a newborn King, he needed more than safety. He needed to conquer. And the moment he tried to strike, the barrier that protected him became a cage he had to break out of.
Given time, a monster of his genius would likely find a way to toggle the two states seamlessly.
But Ronin wasn't giving him time.
The swamp didn't restrain the King for long. He exploded with aura, his Nen blasting out from his feet to propel him out of the muck. As he cleared the bog, his hands blurred, firing a volley of Nen spheres like automatic gunfire.
Ronin responded with a combination of Water and Earth Styles. Mud Walls rose to change the terrain, while Water Bullets intercepted the Nen spheres with surgical precision, detonating them in mid-air.
While Ronin kept the King occupied, the two Royal Guards launched their own assault.
They were met by the remnants of Benket's squad and Ronin's teammates.
Mashur's style mirrored the King's. He didn't bother with complex Hatsu; he simply released a relentless barrage of aura blasts from his palms, pinning the Lion-Ant in place.
As the Lion struggled against the bombardment, a shadow flickered behind him. Vanessa was closing in, hopping through the pools of darkness cast by the bioluminescent trees.
In the other corner, the Monkey-Ant was intercepted by a high-velocity spear.
Colin had been waiting for this. The moment Ronin gave the signal, he ignored Benket's caution and unleashed his full potential on the primate hybrid.
He owed Ronin a debt for the serpent kill. Stalling the Monkey was his way of balancing the books.
The Monkey was agile—terrifyingly so. It blurred through the air, dodging the spiders lunging from the shadows. With its powerful hands, it reached out and literally ripped the serrated legs off the giant arachnids.
It used the severed legs as improvised javelins, hurling them at Benket's squad with lethal force. It wasn't just a physical attack; it was a psychological probe, trying to identify the weakest links in the human team.
Benket snapped back to reality. He realized he couldn't play it safe anymore.
He threw two spheres onto the ground.
Poof!
A wall of thick white smoke filled the area, blinding the Monkey-Ant.
The creature tried to expand its sensory aura into the mist, but it found nothing—no heat, no heartbeat.
Its cunning eyes darted around, suspicious. Then, sensing a ripple in the air, it twisted mid-air and hurled a blood-slicked spider leg toward the source.
BANG!
A spear erupted from the smoke, meeting the leg mid-air and continuing its path toward the Monkey's chest.
The Monkey snarled, swiping its claws at the projectile.
The spear head was deflected, but the Monkey's eyes widened as it noticed a metallic disc attached to the shaft.
The moment the spear passed its shoulder, the disc detonated.
A burst of blue electricity raced down the spear and onto the Monkey's fur.
It screamed as its hair charred and its nervous system seized for a fraction of a second. But its rage overcame the shock. It grabbed the spear and prepared to hurl it back into the smoke.
In that same heartbeat, a different scream echoed through the hall.
It was the Lion.
The Monkey turned in shock. A dagger was buried deep in the Lion-Ant's throat, its hilt vibrating with residual aura.
Blood sprayed. The Lion-Ant lunged at the ground where the strike had come from.
But its claws hit only soft, mud-soaked earth. Under the influence of Ronin's earlier jutsu, the floor had become a trap, swallowing the Guard's lunge and leaving it exposed.
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