After school one day, Tsuna finally had the rare chance to walk home with his friends again. Meanwhile, Kurosaki Ichigo disappeared the moment class ended—as usual.
"Uryū, wasn't Ichigo supposed to be with you? Why is he acting alone now?" Tsuna asked.
Because Ichigo had a strict three-shot limit on his attacks, Tsuna usually made sure Ishida Uryū accompanied him.
"How should I know?" Uryū adjusted his glasses. "It's been months since we started operating separately. Don't worry—he's not that fragile. His Bringer Light speed isn't even slower than my Hirenkyaku."
Even so, Uryū was slightly bothered by the fact.
Hirenkyaku was supposed to be the most efficient and fastest movement technique. Yet Ichigo somehow managed to keep up simply by brute-forcing his way across the ground using Bringer Light.
It made Uryū wonder just how much Reiatsu Ichigo had to waste like that.
"Oh right, Sawada Tsunayoshi," Uryū continued. "Once you finish your training, how about we exchange patrol duties in Karakura Town? My Spirit Bow is about due for an upgrade."
Under Ishida Ryūken's careful guidance, Uryū's Spirit Bow—Kojaku—had reached the stage where it could evolve.
He had even already chosen its upgraded name:
Ginrei Kojaku (Silver Ridge Kojaku).
Now he only needed the right time to upgrade his equipment.
"Uh… give me three more days," Tsuna said awkwardly. "After that, I'll take over patrol again. I've got something to handle first."
"Fine. I'll start today's patrol then."
Uryū agreed easily. It was only an equipment upgrade—he could wait.
"What do you think Ichigo's doing lately?" Tsuna said casually. "He wouldn't happen to be meeting some other girl, right?"
As he spoke, however, he deliberately glanced at Inoue Orihime.
Sure enough—
Orihime's face instantly turned bright red.
"Kurosaki-kun isn't that kind of person!" she protested weakly.
"Tsuna, stop teasing Orihime," Tatsuki said, stepping in.
Tsuna snapped his fingers.
Immediately, countless Reishi threads appeared around him like an invisible network. Among the spiritual lines, he quickly located the one that belonged to Ichigo's Reiatsu.
"There's still plenty of time," Tsuna said with a grin, gripping the thread. "How about we go see what Ichigo's secretly up to?"
Orihime didn't say a word.
But the determined look in her eyes revealed her answer.
"Let's go!" Tatsuki said excitedly. She clearly loved stirring up trouble.
Soon, they found Ichigo near a small riverside.
He was lying on the embankment—and beside him sat a large, dark-skinned, muscular man even taller than Ichigo.
The three immediately crouched inside some roadside bushes.
Tsuna said with a serious expression:
"Orihime… your love rival is a man."
"Eh?!"
Orihime accidentally shouted.
Realizing they were spying on someone, she immediately covered her mouth and crouched down again, teary-eyed as she looked to Tatsuki for comfort.
"There there," Tatsuki said, patting her back. "Ichigo isn't like that."
Then she glared at Tsuna.
"Stop scaring her."
"Hm?" Ichigo suddenly sat up. "I thought I heard Orihime's voice."
Since Orihime now lived at the Kurosaki residence, Ichigo had already dropped the formal honorifics when addressing her.
He looked around, but saw nothing unusual.
"Well, that's enough chatting for today," Ichigo said. "Chad, it's time for patrol."
"Patrol?" the large man asked. "Are you working a part-time job?"
The man speaking with Ichigo was Sado Yasutora—Chad.
In the original story, he would become one of Ichigo's closest companions.
But to Chad, the word "patrol" sounded like security work. Naturally, he assumed Ichigo had taken a part-time job.
"Uh… it's complicated," Ichigo scratched his head. "You'll understand later."
Explaining supernatural events wasn't easy.
Fortunately, Chad didn't press further.
After chatting a bit more, Ichigo stood up to leave.
Tsuna had already recognized Chad the moment he saw him.
Chad was practically a legend.
By the later stages of the story, even Yhwach had to raise a hand to block one of his punches.
And in the early days, Chad had already been absurdly strong.
Before even awakening Fullbring, he had:
Tanked falling steel beams with his bare body
Punched Hollows to death with his fists
If Tsuna remembered correctly, after the Thousand-Year Blood War, Chad even became a professional boxer.
Putting aside Fullbring powers, with the body that could withstand steel beams, Tsuna couldn't imagine many ordinary humans who could beat Chad.
Ichigo and Chad walked away from the riverbank.
When they passed the bushes where Tsuna and the others were hiding, Ichigo suddenly sniffed the air.
"…Why does it smell like my house's body wash?"
His eyes suddenly sharpened.
"Orihime?!"
"I'm here!"
Orihime instantly jumped out of the bushes.
Leaves stuck to her hair, and she held two branches in front of her like makeshift camouflage.
The moment she stood up, she realized she had been tricked into revealing herself.
"Orihime? Why are you here alone?" Ichigo asked.
Then he paused.
"Wait… Tsuna and the others are here too, aren't they?"
When Ichigo actually used his brain, he caught on surprisingly quickly.
"Yo, Ichigo," Tsuna said casually, climbing out of the bushes. "Made a new friend?"
"Oh—right!" Ichigo said quickly. "This is Sado Yasutora. And they're—"
Ichigo didn't bother scolding them for spying. Instead, he introduced everyone to Chad.
"Nice to meet you," Chad said quietly.
"Hmm… impressive physique," Tsuna said, circling Chad once.
Then he extended his hand.
"Hello. I'm Sawada Tsunayoshi. Let's be friends."
Soon, the group successfully befriended Chad.
Ichigo, however, turned to glare at them.
"So what exactly were you all doing here?"
"Us?" Tsuna said casually. "Just enjoying the scenery."
Orihime and Tatsuki immediately began pretending to admire the surroundings.
Ichigo stared at them for a moment.
"…Forget it."
He clearly saw through their terrible acting.
"Tsuna, you should be able to resume normal patrol duty soon, right?"
"Hm?" Tsuna said. "But you seem to be enjoying yourself. Want to keep doing it?"
"Are you kidding me?!"
Ichigo exploded.
"I only have three attacks per day! One time I nearly got killed, you know?!"
"And you still separated from Uryū even though your attacks are limited?" Tsuna shot back. "Your wings have grown, huh?"
Ichigo shrank back slightly.
He didn't argue.
Because Tsuna was right.
Recently, Ichigo had grown a little overconfident. Most Hollows died in a single arrow.
But a few days ago, he encountered a highly agile Hollow.
By luck and agility, it dodged two of his arrows.
Ichigo had barely survived by luring it into a dead-end corner before killing it.
It was the first time since his training began that he had truly felt danger.
While Ichigo and Tsuna argued, Chad silently listened and memorized their conversation.
Even though he didn't understand the details, he realized Ichigo was fighting something dangerous.
Tsuna noticed Chad paying attention.
If things went as expected, Chad would still become Ichigo's reliable partner.
Perhaps it wouldn't be bad to introduce him to Fullbring earlier.
"Chad," Tsuna suddenly said warmly, grabbing his hand. "Please take good care of Ichigo in the future."
"Hey—!" Ichigo protested.
But Tsuna interrupted him.
"Oh right, I've got an appointment. Gotta go. See you!"
Before anyone could react—
Tsuna stepped forward using Shunpo and vanished instantly.
Everyone present froze in shock.
Ichigo, Orihime, and Tatsuki all turned toward Chad.
Tsuna had just used a supernatural ability right in front of a normal human.
Wasn't he worried about being exposed?
Chad's eyes widened beneath his hair.
He couldn't believe a living person had simply disappeared before his eyes.
Slowly, he looked toward Ichigo and the others.
At that moment, Tatsuki's expression turned thoughtful.
If Tsuna hadn't bothered hiding his powers from Chad…
There could only be one reason.
He already considered Chad one of them.
Another potential Fullbringer, perhaps?
As for how Ichigo explained Tsuna's disappearance, Tsuna himself had no idea.
At that moment, he had already arrived at the entrance of Urahara Shop.
After nearly a year away, he actually felt a bit nostalgic.
"A rare guest, Tsuna-kun. Congratulations."
Before Tsuna even knocked, Urahara Kisuke opened the door.
He had sensed Tsuna's Reiatsu approaching.
"Let's talk business," Tsuna said. "You said you found information about them?"
Originally, Tsuna had planned to rest for a few days after finishing training.
But yesterday he received a message from Urahara—the matter Tsuna had asked him to investigate finally had results.
"Actually, Yoruichi did most of the investigating," Urahara said. "She'll explain."
Suddenly—
Thump.
Something landed on Tsuna's head.
A black cat.
With Tsuna's current strength, he could easily react—but Yoruichi loved sitting on his head. Resisting her usually led to a long cat-chasing battle, and catching her Shunpo in such close quarters was nearly impossible.
"Kid," Yoruichi said, tapping his head lightly. "What's your relationship with the first Substitute Shinigami?"
"This organization called Xcution was founded by him. It mainly gathers Fullbringers."
"Let me warn you—don't get too close to that Substitute Shinigami. He's on Soul Society's wanted list."
"They say he killed a fellow Shinigami and then betrayed Soul Society."
"Yoruichi," Tsuna replied calmly, "weren't you and the shopkeeper also forced out of Soul Society?"
"And Shinji and the others too."
"You can't judge things only by appearances."
"Maybe from the first Substitute Shinigami's perspective… it was Soul Society that betrayed him."
"Now that sounds interesting," Urahara said, sliding a cup of tea toward Tsuna.
He had already caught the scent of conspiracy.
"To be precise," Tsuna said,
"Kūgo Ginjō—the first Substitute Shinigami—was simply a pitiful man…"
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