"Waaah! Stupid Tsuna, this is so scary!"
It seemed that the earlier fall had frightened Lambo badly. With tears and snot streaming down his face, he rubbed everything onto Tsuna's clothes.
"It's okay. Trust Gokudera," Tsuna said while comforting him.
At the same time, he ran toward the staircase at the end of the corridor—the only available route. Carrying Lambo, he dashed up to the second floor.
The moment he reached the second floor, another classroom door suddenly opened.
Tsuna stared at it cautiously.
A tall black-haired man walked out while yawning.
"What's with all that noise?"
When he noticed Tsuna, his expression brightened.
"Ah, Tsuna?"
"Yamamoto Takeshi?"
By now Tsuna was already numb. Even if more people appeared here, he wouldn't be surprised anymore.
"Since when did you get so formal?" Yamamoto laughed casually.
"Um… Yamamoto, downstairs—"
Before Tsuna could finish speaking, Yamamoto's expression suddenly sharpened.
He pulled a bamboo sword from the baseball bag behind him. The moment it left the bag, the bamboo blade transformed into a sharp katana, slashing upward.
Shigure Sōen-ryū — Defensive Form, Second Style: Counterstrike Rain.
A curtain of blue rain-like slashes spread across the corridor.
Three impacts immediately struck the rain barrier.
Yamamoto calmly swung his blade and knocked the objects away.
Rolling into the corner were three small nautilus-like devices.
Yamamoto looked toward the other end of the corridor with a serious expression.
Floating there was a barefoot blue-haired girl, pouting angrily after her ambush failed.
Tsuna immediately recognized her.
Bell(Suzuran)adonna (Suzuran) — the Rain attribute member of the True Six Funeral Wreaths.
"Tsuna, go ahead. I've got something to take care of here."
Yamamoto flicked his long blade stylishly, leaving only his back facing Tsuna.
"I understand. Be careful."
"Go beat her up, Yamamoto!!!" Lambo cheered energetically, already recovered.
Holding Lambo, Tsuna continued climbing.
When he reached the third floor, everything was eerily quiet, as if nothing unusual had happened.
Even so, Tsuna stayed extremely cautious, afraid an enemy might suddenly appear from anywhere.
After carefully checking the entire floor, Tsuna relaxed slightly.
No one was there.
Maybe he finally had time to think about what was happening.
Why was his inner world so chaotic?
Just as he reached the stairway corner—
A ghostlike voice suddenly sounded beside him.
"I've been waiting for you… Vongola."
Tsuna turned his head.
Even though he was already used to ghosts and spirits, the figure still startled him.
A man with messy dark-green hair, a huge scar across his face, and a gloomy, lifeless aura stood there, holding a tattered rabbit doll like a walking corpse.
Lambo immediately hid behind Tsuna's neck and started crying loudly.
This was Daisy, the Sun attribute member of the True Six Funeral Wreaths.
A Sun Flame ignited in Daisy's chest as he slowly walked toward Tsuna.
Tsuna could only step backward.
He had no combat ability at the moment.
Could he only hope that someone else would appear to stop another Funeral Wreath?
"EXTREME!!!"
A nearby window exploded outward.
A bandage-wrapped fist smashed straight into Daisy's face, sending him flying.
The person who appeared was a gray-haired young man with a grass-cut hairstyle.
Sasagawa Ryohei.
"Big Brother Ryohei!" Tsuna shouted with joy.
As long as someone held the enemy back, things were manageable. Otherwise, he had no idea how he could fight while carrying Lambo.
"Run with EXTREME speed!" Ryohei shouted.
Tsuna understood immediately.
After cheering him on, Tsuna quickly left the floor.
Truthfully, he really wanted to stay and watch that battle. If he hadn't been carrying Lambo—and if he actually had his powers.
The clash between Ryohei's explosive burst fighting style and Daisy's endurance-based combat would surely have been spectacular.
But Tsuna had no choice but to move on.
He cast one last reluctant glance at Ryohei's back before heading upstairs.
The moment he stepped onto the next floor—
The entire world began to distort.
The straight corridor twisted into bizarre angles.
Illusions.
Tsuna realized it immediately.
Fortunately, due to his Fullbring, he had some resistance to illusion-type attacks, so the strange scenery didn't cause much mental pressure.
Lambo, however, had spirals in his eyes and was about to foam at the mouth.
Clink.
A metallic sound echoed through the space.
The distortion vanished.
Standing in the middle of the corridor was a one-eyed girl wearing a dark green uniform, holding a trident.
"B-Boss…" she said timidly.
"Chrome?"
Tsuna ran toward her quickly.
Seeing a familiar ally was reassuring.
It seemed Chrome Dokuro had used illusions to counter the enemy illusionist.
If Tsuna guessed correctly, the opponent on this floor must be the Mist attribute member of the True Six Funeral Wreaths:
Torikabuto.
Against an illusionist, the best counter was another illusionist.
That was why Tsuna wanted to reach Chrome as quickly as possible.
Tsuna ran up to her and was about to speak—
But suddenly, Chrome's face turned blurred.
Her delicate face twisted into a terrifying vertical eye.
The trident in her hand thrust forward—
Straight through Tsuna's chest.
Even Lambo froze in shock.
Blood dripped from Tsuna's chest.
The "Chrome" before him transformed into a dark brown oni mask, and the trident became Torikabuto's arm.
Torikabuto twisted his arm and pulled it out—
Along with it came Tsuna's beating heart.
Tilting his head disdainfully, he muttered,
"So this is the famous Vongola… Not that impressive."
But the moment he tilted his head—
His mask suddenly cracked.
A trident had pierced through it.
The Tsuna who had supposedly been stabbed also began to change.
His appearance shifted into a man wearing the same dark green uniform, with deep blue pineapple-shaped hair.
Rokudo Mukuro.
Like Chrome, he was also the Mist Guardian of the Vongola.
"Interesting," Mukuro said calmly.
"Seems you're not completely worthless after all."
Torikabuto's figure flickered and reappeared farther down the corridor.
His mask hadn't been completely destroyed by Mukuro's attack, but it was clearly cracked.
Since the mask was his true body, even that level of damage affected him severely.
Meanwhile, the real Tsuna had been watching everything unfold.
When he first ran toward Chrome, he suddenly noticed another version of himself running ahead.
So he stopped and observed.
First Torikabuto plotted against Tsuna.
Then Mukuro plotted against Torikabuto.
And finally Torikabuto narrowly escaped Mukuro's lethal strike.
"Sawada Tsunayoshi," Mukuro said.
"Now isn't the time to deal with you. Let me handle my current matters first."
Tsuna nodded.
He had no interest in arguing with Mukuro anyway.
Mukuro's meaning was simple:
Leave this floor.
So Tsuna carried Lambo and rushed upstairs again.
But as soon as he reached the next floor—
He encountered another enemy.
A man with long teal hair stood there.
This time there were no tricks or conversation.
The moment he saw Tsuna, he activated his ability.
This was Kikyo, the Cloud attribute member of the True Six Funeral Wreaths.
His long hair rapidly extended under the Cloud Flame's proliferation ability, covering the entire floor.
Then the hair transformed into dozens of small velociraptor-like creatures, rushing toward Tsuna.
Using his battle experience, Tsuna barely dodged the first two waves of attacks.
But the pressure was overwhelming.
Meanwhile, Lambo—still on his back—thought it was a game and kept cheering happily.
Only Tsuna knew how desperate the situation was.
Another two rounds and he would definitely collapse.
According to the story's development, the Cloud Guardian of the Vongola should appear to stop the Cloud-type Funeral Wreath.
But where was Hibari Kyoya?
After barely avoiding another velociraptor bite, Tsuna could no longer hold on.
"Hibari-senpai!!!"
BOOM!
The wall beside them exploded.
A sleepy Hibari Kyoya stepped out while yawning.
He glanced at Tsuna.
"You look rather pathetic… little herbivore."
Then Hibari looked around the corridor.
Velociraptors had completely wrecked the place.
As someone who took Namimori's discipline as his pride, Hibari's expression instantly darkened.
He gripped his tonfa tightly and smashed two attacking velociraptors in an instant.
"Don't get in my way, little herbivore."
Right now, Hibari only wanted to bite to death the person who had made such a mess of Namimori.
Spikes extended from his tonfa as Cloud Flames ignited.
He struck the wall beside him—
Another opening appeared.
Behind it was the staircase.
Tsuna stared at the destroyed wall and couldn't help twitching his mouth.
Hibari was angry about Namimori's discipline being ruined…
Yet he had absolutely no hesitation destroying the school building himself.
Still, Tsuna knew Hibari was helping him.
After hurriedly thanking him, he rushed upstairs.
This time, the seemingly endless staircase finally reached its end.
Before Tsuna stood a door.
Without hesitation, he pushed it open.
On the other side—
The rooftop.
The sky was vast and blue.
Everything looked peaceful.
It was completely different from the fierce battles happening inside the school building.
Tsuna scanned the rooftop.
There was only one lounge chair.
A white-haired man dressed in white was lying on it lazily.
The man turned his head.
Under his left eye was an inverted blue crown tattoo.
"I've been waiting for you for quite a while… young Vongola."
Byakuran Gesso.
The leader of the True Six Funeral Wreaths and one of the representatives of the Sky attribute.