"Annihilate. The extermination of all things. Sounds pretty powerful. Nice going, Ichigo," Tatsuki commented.
"Not at all, not at all."
Ichigo's grin had already stretched all the way to his ears.
Being praised by a childhood friend, especially the stubbornly sharp-tongued Tatsuki, felt far too good.
"All right, hurry up and help Tsunayoshi awaken that Schrift or whatever."
Ichigo's smile froze.
He had really thought Tatsuki was sincerely praising him. So the real benefit was still centered on Tsunayoshi after all.
As expected, close friends would never genuinely praise you without a catch.
"Fine, fine. I got it."
Fortunately, Ichigo had already prepared himself mentally and did not mind Tatsuki's attitude.
"You guys clear the area first. Tsunayoshi, stand farther away."
Everyone retreated back to the corner from earlier, leaving only Tsunayoshi and Ichigo in the center of the training ground.
"Ready, Tsunayoshi?" Ichigo asked, a devilish smile appearing on his face.
"You're not going to use this chance to settle a personal grudge, are you?"
"What are you talking about? What do you mean, settle a personal grudge? This is a necessary step!"
Ichigo pretended to point at Tsunayoshi angrily, but soon he could no longer hold back and gave him a sideways grin.
Tsunayoshi rolled his eyes.
He knew Ichigo was deliberately messing with him.
But there was nothing he could do. Ichigo was the one who held the power to activate a Schrift.
Ichigo raised his manji-shaped greatbow before him. Under his control, Reishi formed a red bowstring.
As he pulled the string back, a crimson arrow appeared upon it.
Ichigo's arrow looked exactly like a replica of his Bankai, Tensa Zangetsu. The blade, hilt, and even the chain extending from the end of the hilt were all present. The only difference was that it had turned red.
"Tsunayoshi, here I come~"
Ichigo drew the bowstring but delayed releasing the arrow. He acted like a nurse pretending to give an injection, constantly teasing Tsunayoshi.
There were not many chances to make Tsunayoshi obediently stand there and take a hit. Ichigo intended to enjoy this properly.
"That guy Ichigo… will this really be okay?"
Watching Ichigo draw his bow and aim, Uryū, as a fellow Quincy, could not help worrying for Tsunayoshi.
When he had first started training, Ryūken had specifically warned him never to point an arrow at a companion.
"It'll be fine. It'll definitely be fine!"
Tatsuki stood with her arms crossed.
However, her clenched fists betrayed her true feelings. Watching Ichigo point a bow and arrow at Tsunayoshi made her extremely nervous as well.
Seeing Tatsuki so tense, Uryū calmed down instead.
With a slightly mischievous thought, he asked, "What will you do if something happens to Tsunayoshi?"
"I'll beat Ichigo to death!"
Ichigo, who had still been teasing Tsunayoshi, suddenly shuddered.
Fortunately, his hand did not slip, and the arrow was not released.
He stiffly turned his head and saw Tatsuki glaring at him, surrounded by a dark aura for some reason.
No need to think too hard about it.
If Tatsuki had a problem, it was definitely related to Tsunayoshi.
Under the control of his survival instincts, Ichigo finally straightened his stance, aimed at Tsunayoshi properly, and released the arrow.
Whoosh!
Boom!
A flash of red light passed by.
Tsunayoshi vanished from where he stood.
A loud impact rang out from the wall of the underground space.
Ichigo's arrow had sent Tsunayoshi flying along with it.
In the next instant, Tatsuki used Shunpo and appeared in front of Ichigo.
Ichigo hurriedly explained, "Wait! This is a necessary part of the process! Tsunayoshi isn't hurt. Look!"
Tatsuki suspiciously lowered her raised leg and looked toward the site of impact.
Beneath the smoke, there was no sign of Tsunayoshi. Instead, a large cocoon woven from red chains had appeared.
Tatsuki quickly understood.
This was similar to what had happened to Ichigo earlier.
She glanced at Ichigo, signaling him to explain.
Ichigo gave a bitter smile.
Thankfully, he had stopped her quickly enough and avoided a beating.
"Tsunayoshi has to fully experience the power of a Schrift to awaken the one that belongs to him. The fastest method was to shoot him with an arrow."
"This process is a little like when Rukia turned me into a Shinigami back then."
"My arrow is extremely sharp. But wrapped in those chains, Tsunayoshi will enter a superimposed state between injured and uninjured. As long as he awakens his Schrift, he'll be able to crush my attack."
"What if Tsunayoshi fails?" Tatsuki asked, narrowing her eyes at Ichigo.
"How could that happen? It's Tsunayoshi!"
As expected, close friends were unreliable.
Ichigo had not considered the possibility of Tsunayoshi failing at all.
"Forget it. I can only trust you."
After saying that, Tatsuki rushed toward Tsunayoshi's direction.
Like Orihime, she wanted to be the first person Tsunayoshi saw when he came out.
Inside Tsunayoshi's inner world, a red cocoon identical to the one in the underground space stood on the grounds of Namimori Middle School.
"Yo, it's finally starting."
Byakuran flipped down directly from the rooftop and began circling the cocoon with great interest. He even walked up and knocked on it.
"Byakuran, be careful not to affect him," the Tenth said as he walked out of the school building.
"Affect him? How could the two of us possibly affect the awakening of a Schrift?"
Byakuran looked toward the shadows of the school building and called out loudly.
"If we're talking about someone who can determine how this Schrift awakens, wouldn't it be him?"
Since his whereabouts had been discovered, the person hiding in the shadows no longer concealed himself.
He walked onto the field and greeted them with a smile.
"Long time no see, Tsunayoshi, Byakuran."
"Yo. You really are carved from the same mold as the Vongola. No wonder your families have been close allies since ancient times," Byakuran mocked.
He had noticed that the newcomer's appearance naturally placed him on the Vongola side.
Did that not mean his own position in Tsunayoshi's inner world had become a little weaker again?
"Long time no see. Being able to meet you in this world is truly wonderful, Enma Kozato," the Tenth said with a smile.
His face was filled with the relief of reuniting with a friend.
The newly appeared red-haired boy had bandages on his face and an expression that was eighty percent similar to the Tenth's.
He was Enma Kozato, the tenth-generation boss of the Simon Family, a famiglia allied with the Vongola.
Enma Kozato's past experiences were almost identical to Tsunayoshi's.
He had also been considered a hopeless loser. However, because of his own weakness, he had suffered bullying from his classmates.
Later, after a series of events, Enma Kozato and Tsunayoshi became the closest of friends. The Simon Family also once again became one of the Vongola Family's most inseparable companions.
"I feel the same. It really is good to see you again, Tsunayoshi. Oh, no—in this world, I should call you the Tenth," Enma Kozato said with a smile.
"Hey, wait. Were you able to come out a long time ago? Why did you keep hiding until now?"
Byakuran had found a suspicious point.
"The Tenth" was what this Bleach-world Tsunayoshi called Vongola Decimo. Since Enma knew that, it meant he had already been observing Sawada Tsunayoshi of this world for quite some time.
"Actually, I woke up even earlier than both of you," Enma Kozato said, looking at the red cocoon. "Because the first power little Tsunayoshi awakened was his Quincy power."
"It's just that, at the time, I was buried deep within the earth. Little Tsunayoshi couldn't hear my call and instead turned toward Shinigami transformation."
Enma Kozato sounded somewhat helpless.
He had clearly arrived first, yet he was the last to appear.
"After that, little Tsunayoshi seemed to keep thinking that he had no talent as a Quincy, so he never dug deeper into his Quincy power. His attention kept circling around the two of you, so things were delayed until now."
"Oh? Then why are you willing to come out now?" Byakuran continued to needle him.
"Because of this."
Enma Kozato pointed at the red cocoon.
"The power of Schrift A broke the seal of the earth for me. That is why I was able to appear."
"What's happening inside?" Byakuran asked.
When it involved Quincy power, neither he nor the Tenth could sense the details.
"Little Tsunayoshi is inside accepting our power," Enma Kozato said, pinching his fingers together to indicate a tiny gap. "Of course, before that, he has to undergo a small test."
Enma Kozato smiled at the Tenth.
"This is the sin and punishment of the Simon and Vongola."
The Tenth raised an eyebrow.
He could already guess what Tsunayoshi would experience.
The memories obtained after the battle with the Simon Family were something that could never be forgotten.
Inside the cocoon, Sawada Tsunayoshi opened his eyes.
He found himself inside a town.
The town looked old-fashioned, with a strong Western architectural style.
Where was this?
Was he not supposed to be inside his own inner world?
Where was Namimori Middle School?
Where was the castle?
None of the familiar scenes appeared.
Tsunayoshi could only wander aimlessly through the streets.
The clothing worn by the pedestrians was also very Western, with no Japanese elements at all.
What kind of world had he come to?
"Ciao…"
Tsunayoshi realized that he could understand what the passersby were saying.
Ciao.
What a familiar way of speaking.
Wait.
Was that not Reborn's catchphrase in Katekyo Hitman Reborn!?
Ciao was the Italian way of greeting someone, roughly equivalent to "hello."
This was not Namimori.
It was not Japan either.
Was this an old Italian town?
Seriously, where had Ichigo's arrow sent him?
Just as Tsunayoshi was beginning to feel a headache, gunshots suddenly rang out through the town.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
In an instant, the street fell into chaos.
Some people fled for their lives. Some hid. Those whose homes were nearby immediately locked their doors.
After all, no one was willing to gamble their life against the sharpness of a bullet.
Having only just arrived, Tsunayoshi had nowhere to go.
He could only follow the crowd and hide in an alley, quietly observing the situation.
Soon, a group of men wearing uniform-style trench coats and cowboy hats rushed into the town.
Each of them held a rifle, and their faces looked fierce.
The moment these people entered the town, they began smashing things.
They were not stealing anything.
They looked more like they had come to wreck the place.
From time to time, they fired a couple of shots into the air, as if trying to draw someone out.
"Stop!"
From the other end of the town, a group of people dressed in work clothes walked out.
The leader had red hair, wore a blue beret, and had a furious expression.
This other group was the town's self-defense force.
They were also the predecessors of the Italian mafia organizations. They survived by collecting protection fees from the town, and in exchange, they had to ensure the normal lives of the town's residents.
"Who sent you here to wreck the Simon Family's territory?!" the red-haired man in the beret shouted.
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