"Enough fooling around, Masaki," Ryūken said. "Tsuna, was it? Can you point out where the Still Silver is?"
Tsuna rubbed his already-reddened cheek, shot Masaki a look after seeing how pleased she was with herself, and then said, "Sure."
Demon Spade's Magic Mirror turned toward Kanae on the bed. At once, Kanae's figure seemed to become translucent. What appeared before Ryūken was the full outline of a human body's internal pathways, along with the three points of light within them.
Those were the Still Silver Tsuna had mentioned.
This was what Tsuna himself had seen through the Magic Mirror. Now, using one of the mirror's built-in abilities, he cast an illusion over Kanae and reproduced that same image for Ryūken to see.
Seeing the Still Silver with his own eyes, Ryūken's expression grew grave.
Those silver points were moving a little too fast. There was no way to remove them with a fixed-target procedure.
It would have to be dynamic surgery.
"Well, Ryūken? Can you do it?" Masaki asked. For once, she wasn't being playful.
Ryūken reached out, intending to touch where the Still Silver was—but his hand passed through empty air, as though there were nothing there at all.
He turned toward Tsuna.
Tsuna awkwardly scratched the side of his nose.
"Uh… strictly speaking, what you're seeing right now is my illusion. You can't actually touch Aunt Kanae through it."
Ryūken frowned.
"In that case, surgery is impossible in this state. Can you create a reference image beside her instead? As long as I have something to use as a guide, I'm confident I can complete the operation while watching the Still Silver's movement."
"Uh, no. My illusion has to be cast on a target to work."
Tsuna was helpless too. The Magic Mirror's true strength lay in seeing through things. Its illusion ability was only secondary, and it could only alter one target at a time.
"What if you use me as the target?" Masaki asked, pointing at herself. "I can lie next to her, and you can cast the illusion on me while Ryūken operates on Kanae."
Tsuna gave her a quick look from head to toe.
"That could work, but differences in build would create some margin of error. Can you accept that?"
"No." Ryūken answered immediately, pushing up his glasses with utter confidence. "The Still Silver is too small. I'm the only one in Karakura Town with the skill to remove it, and there absolutely cannot be any deviation."
"Unless," Tsuna said, "you can find someone with exactly the same height and build as the two aunts…"
While Tsuna and Ryūken were racking their brains, Masaki suddenly had a flash of inspiration.
"Something with exactly the same build? That actually is possible."
Masaki grinned.
"Ryūken, don't forget where my husband comes from. A body that can perfectly match a soul—wouldn't that be able to reproduce an identical body?"
Ryūken immediately understood.
Isshin Kurosaki's true body as a former Soul Reaper was just a soul. To live normally in the World of the Living, he had needed to wear a special artificial body called a Gigai.
And a Gigai could, of course, be made to look exactly like its user.
"Drop the illusion, Tsuna," Ryūken said.
Unlike Masaki, he wasn't nearly as casual about this, but Tsuna's displayed ability had already earned his attention.
Ryūken leaned over Kanae's bed and asked quietly,
"You heard all that, didn't you? Will you trust me?"
Kanae smiled faintly.
"You know I trust you. I always have."
While Ryūken and Kanae were exchanging that tender look, Masaki pulled Tsuna off to one side, grinned, and asked in a low voice,
"Little Tsuna, you don't mind spending the night at Auntie's place, do you?"
Tsuna immediately understood what she meant.
Masaki wanted to use that as an excuse to help cover for him with Sawada Nana.
Thankfully, Tsuna already spent plenty of time at the Kurosaki house, so the excuse wouldn't sound too forced.
Once Tsuna nodded, Masaki cheerfully called Nana and said that Tsuna had gotten tired playing with Ichigo and fallen asleep, and since the rain was so heavy, it would be better for him to stay the night.
"All set!" Masaki said, flashing Tsuna a victory sign.
Then she turned to the now-prepared Ryūken.
"Ryūken, let's head out now. Straight to the shop. I'll call Isshin and have him meet us there."
"Fine. Let's go."
As he spoke, Ryūken took out a packed bag, lifted Kanae onto his back, opened the window, and looked ready to jump straight out.
"We're not driving?" Tsuna couldn't help asking. "There are two patients here. We're really going out in this rain?"
"The rain makes visibility poor, and driving would be too slow," Ryūken replied. "You came flying here too, didn't you?"
He gathered Reishi and formed a thin membrane over himself and Kanae, causing every raindrop to slide off without touching them.
Tsuna had no response.
Masaki, on the other hand, poked his cheek and said,
"Look at Ryūken. Little Tsuna, do you really have the heart to let Aunt Masaki get soaked in the rain?"
When someone older than him started acting spoiled, Tsuna really had no good way to respond.
The Magic Mirror glowed green and transformed, draping itself over the two of them.
"Primo's Cloak."
"What a wonderful item, little Tsuna. You should've brought that out sooner," Masaki said from atop his back. "Auntie already got drenched for quite a while."
Tsuna silently apologized inwardly.
He truly hadn't imagined that the cloak of the Vongola Primo—the Sky that enveloped all things, dyed all things, devoured all things, and embraced all things, with overwhelming defensive power—would be used for the first time by him…
…as a raincoat.
"I'll call Isshin…"
At the Kurosaki household, the moment Isshin learned that Masaki's life might be in danger, he didn't hesitate. He grabbed his car keys and rushed for the door.
But just as he reached it, he suddenly turned back, went into the room, grabbed a large bag, and only then headed out.
---
Above Karakura Town, within the rain curtain, two groups moved at high speed.
The one farther behind flashed green light underfoot with every burst of movement, each advance marked by a brief pause—that was Tsuna using Fullbring Light to propel himself forward.
The group in front, however, had blue light constantly beneath their feet. Their path formed an almost perfectly straight line, and their speed was astonishing.
The distance between the two groups steadily widened.
"So that's Hirenkyaku…" Tsuna muttered while hurrying along. "No wonder it has such a reputation."
He was already going all out, yet he still couldn't catch up to Ryūken Ishida ahead of him.
Part of that was naturally because Ryūken was stronger than he was.
But the advantages of Hirenkyaku were undeniable.
Hirenkyaku was the Quincy's advanced movement technique. By concentrating Reishi beneath the feet, the user could control it to propel themselves at high speed—as though wearing a pair of shoes built for rapid movement.
Put simply, compared to Fullbring Light, Hirenkyaku was like gliding, while Fullbring Light was like springing.
All else being equal, Hirenkyaku really was faster.
"What's wrong? Jealous, little Tsuna?" Masaki teased from his back, still relaxed enough to joke around. "Then when the time comes, have Ryūken teach you."
"Of course I want to learn it. It's practically the Quincy trademark technique," Tsuna said with obvious tone.
"…Aren't you afraid of Auswählen?" Masaki's tone suddenly fell.
The emptiness of losing her power wasn't something she could just shrug off.
"Auswählen isn't all-powerful," Tsuna said. "Look at that uncle's son. He's mixed-blood too, isn't he? And he's completely fine."
"Uryū?" Masaki said in surprise. "He's already started training as a Quincy?"
"Just because his father didn't teach him doesn't mean nobody else did," Tsuna replied. Then he added, "Speaking of that, Aunt Masaki… do you plan to let Ichigo become a Quincy?"
Masaki puffed out her cheeks slightly before answering.
"Of course not. What's so great about all that fighting and killing? I'd rather Ichigo live an ordinary person's life. If he becomes a Quincy, then he'd have to worry about things like Auswählen too."
Masaki really had been affected by what happened. In her mind, as long as Ichigo never gained power, Auswählen would never target him.
What she didn't know was that with Aizen already keeping an eye on Ichigo, there was no way Ichigo was ever going to live as a mere ordinary person.
And what she knew even less was that Ichigo belonged to the category of people who didn't need to fear Auswählen in the first place.
Tsuna said nothing more.
He respected a parent's right to choose.
He made up his mind:
Unless Ichigo himself came to him and actively asked for power, Tsuna would not guide him ahead of time in learning how to use the abilities inside him.
In any case, in the original story Ichigo still awakened his strength and went on to cut down Yhwach three years later.
There was no need to rush.
...
Before long, Tsuna caught sight of their destination.
In the middle of a small open lot stood an unassuming little shop.
This was the place Masaki had brought them to—
Urahara Shop.
It was the refuge Kisuke Urahara, former captain of the Twelfth Division of the Gotei 13, had established in the World of the Living after being forced to leave Soul Society.
And Urahara himself was one of the core sources of Bleach-world black tech; it could be said that if there was some strange or unknown gadget in existence, Kisuke Urahara could probably pull it out from somewhere.
Tsuna had only just landed when a small light truck pulled up beside them.
A middle-aged man in a floral shirt got out—
Isshin Kurosaki.
Because the Kurosaki house was closer, he had managed to arrive just in time to meet up with them.
Isshin hadn't even had time to check on Masaki before the door of that shabby-looking old store swung open.
Standing at the entrance was a man in a green-and-white striped bucket hat, wearing a dark green coat and trousers, holding a folding fan. He covered half his mouth with the fan and spoke in an exaggerated, slippery tone:
"Ohoho… I thought the sky had brightened up just a little. So it turns out honored guests have come to visit."
This man was naturally Urahara.
The heavy rain pouring down all around them proved that he was talking complete nonsense and simply making light of the situation.
"Urahara, cut the nonsense," Isshin said.
"We need your help."
Scooping Masaki into a princess carry, he charged straight into Urahara Shop.
That reckless move startled Urahara badly enough that he hurried to step aside. But the moment he saw the pale-faced Kanae on Ryūken's back, he immediately realized how serious the situation was.
...
In the Urahara Shop reception room, a muscular middle-aged man with a braided ponytail was serving hot tea to Tsuna and the others.
Standing beside Tsuna were a boy and a girl around his age.
The braided man was Tessai Tsukabishi, former Chief of the Kidō Corps of Soul Society. His mastery of Kidō was mysterious and unfathomable.
The girl was Ururu Tsumugiya, wearing her hair in twin tails and looking quiet and gentle.
The boy was the complete opposite—a red-haired, more outgoing-looking kid named Jinta Hanakari, who had already slapped Tsuna with the nickname "Porcupine Head" the moment they met.
Urahara, Isshin, and Ryūken returned from the side room.
Masaki and Kanae had been settled there.
Masaki had fiercely opposed being treated like an invalid, but once Isshin saw through the fact that her energetic state had only been forced bravado, he firmly ordered her to lie down and rest.
"Yo, so you're the young man who's been awfully active around here for the past year, huh?" Urahara said the instant he entered, his tone exaggerated as always.
A sharp glint flickered beneath his gaze.
As someone who had been stationed in Karakura Town for years, Urahara had obviously noticed Tsuna's Reiatsu long ago.
And just like Isshin and the others, because Tsuna hadn't done anything dangerous—instead, he'd been exterminating Hollows—Urahara had taken no action against him.
"First time meeting you. I'm Sawada Tsunayoshi," Tsuna introduced himself.
"Then, Mr. Tsunayoshi," Urahara said, "could you explain the exact situation in detail, along with what it is you need?"
The fragments Ryūken and Isshin had told him about Auswählen had only given him a vague outline.
The best course now was clearly to hear it directly from Tsuna—
the one person here who actually knew what was going on.
=====================
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