"So, Tsuna-kun… you've already resolved everything?" Urahara Kisuke asked.
"More or less. I tied them all up. And I also found something rather interesting."
Tsuna tossed the book he had taken from Tsukishima toward Urahara.
"Shopkeeper, catch."
"Kisuke, careful!"
Yoruichi instantly flashed in front of Urahara and intercepted the book.
She clearly remembered Tsuna mentioning Book of the End earlier. She couldn't be sure whether Tsuna himself had already had his past altered. If Urahara were also controlled, then they would truly be finished.
Urahara understood Yoruichi's concern. The moment she appeared, he had already prepared to step back and retreat.
But just as he was about to move, he caught a glimpse of Yoruichi's face.
She was smiling—like someone who had suddenly understood something.
Yoruichi casually tossed the book in her hand and said,
"Kisuke, try touching it too. This ability is actually quite interesting."
Urahara stretched out one finger and tapped the Book of the End.
At the same time, his other hand remained in his pocket, quietly pressing a device. If these two had been brainwashed in that instant, the situation would be far too dangerous.
The moment he touched the book, a peculiar sensation appeared in Urahara's mind.
The last time he felt something like this… was when he had just learned Bankai.
It felt like a special kind of authorization had suddenly been opened to him.
That was precisely why Tsuna had asked both Urahara and Yoruichi to touch the book.
Tsukishima Shūkurō's Fullbring ability was called Book of the End. However, the medium he usually used to insert himself into a target's past was the blade formed from his bookmark.
If that were the case, calling the ability Bookmark of the End would almost be more accurate.
The reason the ability was named Book of the End was because anyone who touched the book could choose whether or not to end Tsukishima's ability.
In other words, the target of Tsukishima's past-insertion could instead become the holder of the book.
Anyone who had touched the book could freely decide whether a bookmark would be inserted into their past.
That meant that even if Tsukishima used his ability on Tsuna and the others, Tsuna could choose whether to allow it—and could also remove any bookmark inserted by Tsukishima at any time.
In other words—
Anyone who had touched Book of the End would no longer fear Tsukishima's ability.
(This particular setting is an original addition by the author.)
"If that's the case," Urahara said, taking out his phone, "then I can safely call someone over."
"Moshi moshi… you can come now."
A short while later, a man with a yellow bowl-cut hairstyle appeared.
Hirako Shinji.
He was the backup Urahara had prepared for this incident.
"Kisuke, I told you that you were overthinking it. In the Human World, I can't think of anyone who could deal with Tsuna anyway."
"Oh, it's Hirako. Since you're here, go ahead and touch this as well."
Tsuna held the Book of the End toward Shinji.
After touching it, Shinji revealed a surprised smile.
"So that's how the ability works… how terrifying."
"Indeed," Urahara said. "Originally, the plan was to have Hirako-san use Sakanade to disorient the opponent while we seized the opportunity to eliminate them. But it seems that won't be necessary now."
Tsukishima's ability required his target to be cut by his blade.
One way to counter it was simply to prevent him from landing a hit.
In that regard, Shinji's Sakanade, which reversed a target's senses, would have been extremely effective. Just reversing vision alone would have been enough for Urahara and the others to destroy Tsukishima with Kidō.
But now such a plan was unnecessary.
None of them would be affected by Tsukishima's power.
Even if Tsukishima forcibly altered the past of someone around them, each of them possessed enough strength to deal with him individually.
"Oh dear, I should hurry back," Urahara said suddenly. "I need to shut down a certain contingency."
He had already activated one of his backup plans earlier.
Now that Tsukishima was no longer a threat, it needed to be dealt with immediately.
"I'll head back too," Shinji said. "Tsuna, you can handle the rest yourself, right?"
"Oh? You came all this way just to leave again?" Tsuna asked.
"Blame you and your wife. Hiyori's taste has become way too picky now. She insisted I bring back souvenirs. What a pain."
With that, Shinji vanished using Shunpo, leaving Tsuna behind.
Urahara and Shinji could leave freely, but Tsuna still had to deal with Xcution.
When he pushed open the door to the old building, he immediately heard Ginjō shouting angrily at the empty space near the bar counter.
Tsuna sighed.
He withdrew his illusion.
"Alright, that's enough. All you can do is yell, yet you couldn't even tell whether it was real or not. No wonder you got fooled so badly."
The illusion Tsuna had placed at the bar earlier had actually been very crude.
He had been drinking milk the entire time—and the milk level in the bottle hadn't even changed.
Yet Ginjō had failed to notice something that obvious.
"Damn it! Who exactly are you?! Back then—"
Tsuna ignored Ginjō entirely and walked straight over to Tsukishima, placing the Book of the End in front of him.
Tsukishima's pupils contracted.
The secret of Book of the End was known only to him.
Because Ginjō was prone to revealing too much—and because Tsukishima himself would never betray Ginjō—even Ginjō did not know the book's true secret.
Tsuna's action made one thing unmistakably clear:
The Book of the End could no longer affect him.
Tsukishima finally stopped struggling.
He accepted the fact that he had been captured.
"You should be grateful you got to keep your life… big cousin."
Tsuna deliberately teased him with Tsukishima's most commonly used fake identity from the original story.
To be honest, if this weakness of Book of the End didn't exist, Tsuna would have seriously considered killing Tsukishima. He had no desire to keep someone around who could stab him in the back at any moment.
Tsukishima looked stunned.
"Big cousin" was indeed the identity he most frequently inserted into his targets' memories.
But how could this person possibly know that?
"Alright, stop yelling. One at a time."
Tsuna snapped his fingers.
The restraints binding all the members of Xcution were instantly released.
But now that the truth seemed within reach, the once furious Kūgo Ginjō suddenly became hesitant.
"Is… is it real?" he asked uneasily.
"You mean the illusion I showed you?" Tsuna thought for a moment. "Part of it was real. Part of it was speculation. There was a mastermind—but there's no evidence."
Evidence had long since been erased.
Ginjō thought about the final scene he had seen—the moment when the mastermind had transformed into his own appearance.
"Who was it?" Ginjō demanded harshly. "The one who set everything up, killed my companions, and framed me—who was it?!"
At that moment, he had already prepared himself for mutual destruction.
"I know who it was," Tsuna said calmly. "But without evidence, how do you know whether what I say is true or false?"
Those words instantly extinguished the anger that had just ignited inside Ginjō.
Evidence…
Even for a private judgment, there still needed to be proof.
"I… believe you."
Ginjō slowly lifted his head.
His eyes were filled with pleading, almost as if he were hypnotizing himself.
"For all these years, I've found nothing. You're the only one who has ever brought this up voluntarily. I believe you… I have to believe you!"
Tsuna sighed.
He almost felt sorry for continuing to toy with such a stubborn fool.
"The Tsunayashiro Clan—one of the Four Great Noble Houses of Soul Society."
Ginjō clenched his fists tightly.
At that moment, he wanted nothing more than to charge straight into Soul Society.
But…
He still had companions to consider.
He looked toward Tsukishima.
"Tsukishima… I'll leave Xcution to you."
Those words sounded like a final entrustment.
Tsukishima immediately panicked.
"What are you saying?! Ginjō, I'm going too! Those companions who died were my companions as well!"
Before the Tsunayashiro Clan attacked the Fullbringers, Ginjō had already taken Tsukishima in.
Because Tsukishima had been young at the time, he had not participated in that experiment and survived the massacre.
Those Fullbringers who died had been like elders to him.
"Wait—Ginjō, what are you planning to do?" Riruka asked, sensing something wrong.
"They're planning to risk their lives. Or, more accurately—go die," Tsuna said casually, looking at Ginjō as if he were already a corpse.
"You couldn't even beat me. Do you really think you could break into Seireitei, which is protected by the entire Gotei 13? You probably wouldn't even get close to the Tsunayashiro Clan."
"So what else am I supposed to do?" Ginjō laughed bitterly. "I can't just ignore my companions' deaths."
When he heard that the mastermind was one of Soul Society's great nobles, the despair he felt was even worse than before.
Originally, Ginjō thought his enemy might be Ukitake Jūshirō, who had monitored him.
If he fought desperately, maybe he could take down that sickly captain.
But now his opponent was one of the highest noble families.
His enemy had gone from one captain and one division to the entire Gotei 13.
"You've endured this long already. Waiting two more years shouldn't be a problem, right?" Tsuna said.
"Two years? What's your goal? And who exactly are you?" Ginjō asked.
This person possessed Shinigami Reiatsu yet could also use Fullbring—and Ginjō had never heard of him before.
"My name is Sawada Tsunayoshi," Tsuna said confidently with his arms crossed.
"My wish is world peace. You seem pretty strong, so I'll reluctantly accept you as my subordinate."
"…Huh?"
Ginjō stared at him.
He never expected someone half his height to say something like that.
But the problem was—
he truly wasn't Tsuna's opponent.
Grinding his teeth, Ginjō tried one last resistance.
"If I become your subordinate… what's the benefit?"
"The benefit?" Tsuna smiled.
"Don't you want to find the truth yourself?"
That single sentence struck Ginjō's greatest weakness.
"In about two years, we'll go to Soul Society. You can come with me. Become my subordinate, and I'll guarantee your safety."
"You're planning to attack Seireitei?" Ginjō's eyes lit up.
With a boss whose illusion powers were this terrifying, maybe they could actually destroy that damned Tsunayashiro Clan.
"You're thinking too much," Tsuna shrugged.
"They haven't provoked me, so I have no reason to attack them."
"Besides… don't you want to personally gather evidence of their crimes and clear your own name?"
Ginjō fell silent.
Of course he wanted to.
But the mere existence of the Gotei 13 terrified him.
All he had hoped for was quick revenge for his friends.
Restoring his reputation was something he never even dared to dream about.
"Your fear comes from the Gotei 13," Tsuna continued.
"But have you ever considered that the Gotei 13 might not necessarily stand with the nobles?"
"That's impossible! I have proof!"
Ginjō pulled out a small badge marked with a skull.
"Ah, the Substitute Shinigami Badge," Tsuna said.
"You think the Gotei 13 used it to monitor you?"
"So you really do know!" Ginjō's eyes flashed with hatred.
"Then why didn't you throw it away?" Tsuna asked softly. "All these years."
Those words pierced Ginjō's heart like a blade.
"Were you still holding onto a sliver of hope? Hoping that someone like Ukitake Jūshirō, a genuinely kind person, wouldn't do something so despicable?"
Ginjō collapsed to the floor.
The Substitute Shinigami Badge slipped from his hand.
He stared blankly at it.
Perhaps…
he really had been holding onto that hope.
Ukitake's gentle smile appeared in his mind.
Could someone like that truly betray him from the shadows?
"If you're not sure," Tsuna said, patting Ginjō on the shoulder,
"then go see for yourself."
"See whether Ukitake is really the kind of person you believe him to be."
"Verify your suspicions. Find the evidence you want."
"Become my subordinate."
"I'll give you that opportunity."
"And I'll make sure you come back alive."
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