It could be said that what truly slowed down An Xora and the others in obtaining the Stand Arrow was never Polnareff's strength, nor Diavolo's, but rather the speed at which they could locate their opponent's hiding place.
Because the Passione organization's sphere of influence covered all of Italy, Polnareff in the original storyline had been extremely cautious while hiding in order to protect the Stand Arrow.
He completely avoided contacting the outside world through normal means. Most likely, he holed up in his room day after day without even stepping outside. Under such circumstances, even if Tokisaki Kurumi dispatched a large number of clones, all they could do was conduct a door-to-door, carpet-style search.
Of course, it wasn't as though there were no faster methods. If An Xora went to Rome and released his perception, he could immediately locate Polnareff's hiding place. However, as mentioned before, An Xora had no intention of doing that, instead planning to let Kurumi and Sakuya—acting as his clones—freely show what they could do.
That said, Kurumi had no intention of relying entirely on such a foolish carpet search to obtain the Stand Arrow. While dispatching her clones, she also made another set of preparations.
In the JoJo world, Stands possess all manner of miraculous abilities. One could say there are Stand powers for virtually every field, naturally including intelligence-gathering and reconnaissance-type Stands.
Tokisaki Kurumi's plan was very simple: since her side couldn't find the target for the time being, she would have someone else help her search.
As it happened, in the original story there was someone who cared deeply about Polnareff and who also happened to have an information-type Stand by his side.
That person was the protagonist of Part 3 of JoJo, and an important supporting character in Parts 4 and 6—Jotaro Kujo.
Of course, the one who possessed the intelligence ability was not Jotaro himself, but Joseph Joestar. His Stand, Hermit Purple, could produce spirit photographs revealing a target's approximate location based on the user's intent.
Even though one still had to search manually after obtaining the photos to determine the exact location, it was, at the very least, far more efficient than having Kurumi's clones infiltrate houses one by one.
"As long as you've got a plan, that's fine. In that case, I'll just sit back and enjoy the show."
Unless the influence of fate caused Tokisaki Kurumi and Izayoi Sakuya to fail due to irresistible factors, An Xora had no intention of making a move in this world.
To him, Stand users were simply far too fragile. If he wasn't careful, a single sneeze could wipe out a whole group.
If the current An Xora went all out in this world, one punch would be enough to sink an entire continental plate. Using that level of power against Stand users was nothing but a nuclear bomb to kill a mosquito.
Thus, staying in the manor and watching his clones stir up trouble suited him just fine. Tokisaki Kurumi clearly understood An Xora's intentions as well. Aside from arranging clones to serve his entertainment, she had no intention of asking him for help at all.
As the master, An Xora only needed to enjoy himself. All other problems should naturally be handled by clones like them. Even if the master were still, as at the moment he first transmigrated, nothing more than an ordinary person without any power, this principle would not change.
No matter how weak the master might be, he was still the master. No matter how powerful the clones became, they existed to serve him, to offer up everything to him. This was the absolute loyalty of a clone.
It could be said that An Xora's current state—staying at home in the manor, caring about nothing, and only demanding enjoyment—actually made Tokisaki Kurumi and Izayoi Sakuya feel delighted, because this was precisely the way they could demonstrate their value to An Xora as their master.
Clones like Mobius, who would ask An Xora to help collect research materials, were the true odd ones out—though their ultimate goal was still to produce better results to aid An Xora.
As an aside, the manor they were currently staying in also belonged to Tokisaki Kurumi. When clones were manifested, the system would automatically assign them a reasonable identity at random. Most identities were unremarkable and provided no real benefits, but occasionally, rarer identities would appear.
In this world, Tokisaki Kurumi had been assigned the identity of a wealthy young lady from a rich family—her parents deceased, but with considerable assets remaining. This manor was property under Kurumi's name. However, it had already been given to An Xora, and Kurumi herself, the manor's nominal former owner, now both dispatched clones to carry out An Xora's orders and stayed in the manor to attend to him.
...
The JoJo world, SPW Foundation headquarters.
In an office somewhere, the sound of a telephone ringing broke the silence.
Jotaro Kujo, who had been sitting in an office chair flipping through a magazine about marine animals, stood up and picked up the phone.
"May I ask if this is Mr. Jotaro Kujo speaking?"
"Yes. Who is this?"
Hearing the unfamiliar voice of a young woman on the other end of the line, Jotaro—after confirming repeatedly that he had no recollection of such a voice—asked calmly.
"My, finding your number really wasn't easy. But it seems I finally found the right person."
"Then I'll get straight to the point. I have some information regarding one of your companions. Are you interested?"
Information about a companion?
Hearing this, Jotaro's brows furrowed slightly.
"Go on."
On the other end of the line, Tokisaki Kurumi—now changed back into casual clothing, standing beside a public phone booth somewhere in Italy—curved her lips into a smile.
"Do you remember Polnareff, who split up with you back then to investigate the whereabouts of the Arrows, heading to Europe and Africa while you went elsewhere? Right now, in order to protect a special Arrow, he's trapped in Italy and being brutally persecuted by a local gang organization known as Passione."
"What did you say?!"
In the SPW Foundation office, Jotaro's grip on the phone tightened instantly.
Several years ago, in order to retrieve the Stand Arrows scattered across the world, Jotaro and Polnareff split up to track them down. Jotaro was responsible for the Americas and Asia, while Polnareff handled Europe and Africa.
At first, the two remained in contact. But one day, Polnareff suddenly went silent. Realizing that his former comrade might be in trouble, Jotaro tried to investigate, yet had no idea where Polnareff had gone missing.
To think… it was Italy?
Jotaro did not suspect that the person on the other end of the line was deceiving him. After all, merely knowing of the Arrows' existence, accurately naming his companion, and clearly stating the purpose behind their past separation was already enough to prove that the caller truly possessed clues regarding Polnareff.
Of course, that didn't mean Jotaro let down his guard. On the contrary, his vigilance was now at its peak.
"You deliberately leaked this information to me. What's your objective?"
"The objective is quite simple. I also want that special Arrow in your companion's possession. But the situation here is very complicated. The organization persecuting your companion is extremely powerful and has many Stand users. So I need to introduce new variables—to throw the situation into chaos."
"Oh, and by the way, there is a descendant of DIO currently in Italy as well."
At present, the JoJo world's timeline was August 1999. Only a few months had passed since the events of Part 4, and it was still over a year before the beginning of Part 5. At this point, Jotaro had not yet investigated DIO's descendants, so this information was undoubtedly another shocking revelation to him.
"A descendant of DIO…"
Jotaro murmured to himself.
"That's right—and the most outstanding descendant of DIO, at that."
Tokisaki Kurumi replied with certainty.
As for why she was so sure…
At the very instant her words fell, the entire world abruptly plunged into stillness.
Clocks stopped ticking. Thoughts froze in place. And yet, at the SPW Foundation headquarters, although Jotaro Kujo was also frozen mid-motion with the phone raised to his ear, his pupils trembled violently at the sight before him.
There was only one reason.
This ability was something he was far too familiar with.
And precisely because of that familiarity, Jotaro found the situation all the more unbelievable.
"This Stand ability is… time manipulation?!!"
Passione, DIO's descendant, control over time, a companion in dire straits—countless thoughts flashed through Jotaro's mind in that single instant.
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