The registration area on the 200th floor was like it had some kind of strange magic—there were always a few disabled people waiting there.
They were like hyenas. The moment Ronin arrived, their greenish eyes locked onto him.
But after seeing the steady Ten wrapped around Ronin's body, two of them turned their wheelchairs and left.
Clearly, these losers only targeted newcomers who hadn't learned Nen yet. They didn't even have the courage to challenge someone who was also new but did have Nen.
In Ronin's eyes, they might as well leave Heavens Arena early and find some other job.
The remaining two, however, studied Ronin carefully and actually followed him—obviously treating him like an easy mark.
The clerk handling registration handed Ronin a form.
It listed, in detail, the time slots available for declaring matches. Ronin had already discussed this with Milia: she wouldn't interfere with his match choices, but he had to give her enough time to promote him and build hype.
Only that way could they maximize the profits generated by each match.
The men approaching him were all described in the data Milia had given him. Ronin didn't believe he would lose to either of them.
So he filled in April 25th on the declaration form.
Five days from now.
He didn't hide anything. Under the watch of those ill-intentioned men, he submitted the form.
When he turned around, sure enough, the two who had followed him also filled out forms—choosing the exact same date: April 25th.
One wore a cloak, but when he lifted his arm, it was obvious he was missing one.
The other had a torn, grotesque gash splitting his entire mouth. Half his head was a mangled mess—honestly, it was a miracle he was still alive.
Ronin knew exactly how they'd gotten those injuries.
They'd reached the 200th floor and rashly challenged Nen users—or got set up by veterans.
Then they suffered a malicious Nen "baptism" on the ring. They survived and awakened Nen… but were left with irreversible damage.
"What are you looking at, kid?" Greg—whose face was only a quarter intact—glared at Ronin, his single eye full of anger and viciousness.
"Ever consider wearing a mask? You're really ugly. And you stink."
Since the guy showed him hostility first, Ronin wasn't going to indulge him.
Ronin's calm Ten instantly shifted into flaring Ren.
Greg's anger surged. He stepped forward with his thick body and reached for Ronin's collar, moving like a street thug starting a fight.
Ronin looked disgusted. He stepped back, dodging the grab, and waved one hand in front of his face as if trying to fan away a smell.
"Save your strength for the ring. I don't want my first win to die under the ring." Ronin brushed past the slightly stunned Greg, tossing that line over his shoulder with clear contempt.
Greg didn't press the attack.
Or rather—his provocation had been a disguise.
He'd only wanted an opening to test Ronin's strength. Now that Ronin had dodged the sudden grab, Greg had a rough read on him.
Escalating further would only blow things up.
Greg could tell Ronin had avoided the strike, but he didn't look completely effortless doing it. Greg had caught that flicker of panic in Ronin's eyes.
A cruel smile spread on Greg's face. He felt victory was already in hand.
He would make this sharp-tongued brat pay on the ring.
A rookie should look like a rookie—getting "baptized" was the correct way to climb past the 200th floor.
Not strutting in here like you owned the place just because you learned Nen early.
With that, Greg ignored the departing Ronin and submitted his declaration form.
The one-armed Jared beside him submitted his as well.
When Ronin stepped into the elevator, he reviewed his "acting" in his head.
Not great.
Only the hurried way he left at the end felt like it added a few points. Greg's movement had been far too slow—dodging it was pure instinct.
If Greg hadn't submitted his form, Ronin felt he would've taken a loss on this setup.
Also, when Ronin left the registration area, he received a keycard—Room 2333, a single room he'd be living in for a while.
The room was luxuriously furnished, with attendants on standby outside at all times.
From the window, he could see most of the city below—enough to make the mind feel wide open and refreshed.
There was an LCD screen in the room.
Not long after Ronin returned, a notification appeared:
"Match Date Confirmed:
Arena, Floor 227
April 25th, 3:00 PM!"
And the opponent didn't disappoint him.
It was Greg.
That guy really had submitted the form.
Ronin didn't get cocky. Even if he believed Greg wasn't his match, a lion still uses full strength to hunt a rabbit—especially since Ronin wasn't prepared to reveal the Sharingan as a trump card yet.
Compared to that, Ronin had some ideas about Uvogin's Big Bang Impact. He wanted to use this match to try replicating it.
His fight with Uvogin had been brief, but every time Uvogin used Big Bang Impact, the Sharingan had captured it completely.
But copying and reproducing it wasn't easy.
The difficulty wasn't the technique itself—it was that once Ronin entered Sharingan state, all of his Nen converted into chakra.
And chakra and Nen were fundamentally different in how they functioned.
Chakra was energy circulated inside the body.
Nen was an energy use that erupted outward.
Meaning: if his Nen became chakra, Ronin couldn't use the "Big Bang Impact" he'd copied.
So was there a way to enter Sharingan state while still keeping Nen?
If he could fuse Nen and ninjutsu into one explosive power… wouldn't that become even stronger?
Ronin's idea was to layer monstrous strength—Cherry Blossom Impact—on top of Big Bang Impact: one was outward Nen explosion, the other was internal chakra amplification.
One inside, one outside—supporting each other to create an effect where one plus one became greater than two.
After all, the ninjutsu he could currently use was capped at C-rank or below. If he wanted to become stronger, there wasn't much point grinding ninjutsu. The only place left to grow was Nen.
And enhancing ninjutsu through Nen… fit perfectly with the nature of Enhancement Nen.
After informing Milia about the match, Ronin began experimenting.
The simplest method was to repeatedly enter Sharingan state, then control the conversion process when his eyes "opened," creating a "retention" effect.
He only needed to intercept part of his Nen—prevent it from converting into chakra—so he could achieve what he wanted.
It wasn't easy.
But as Ronin repeatedly tried activating the Sharingan, he could sense it was possible.
He just needed to find the balance point.
~~~
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