Beneath Urahara Shop, Tsuna came to train his Shikai as usual. Days like this had already gone on for quite some time. His opponent had never changed—Yoruichi.
"Brat, I've been waiting a while. Let's see what new tricks you've got today!" Yoruichi said through gritted teeth.
The reason Yoruichi had agreed to become Tsuna's sparring partner was simple: she had taken a strong interest in Tsuna's Sun Gloves.
At first, Tsuna was naturally no match for her. But during one careless moment from Yoruichi, Tsuna suddenly switched to the X-Gloves and landed a solid blow on her. From that moment on, the two had been at odds.
After that, Yoruichi gradually adapted to Tsuna's combat style—constantly switching between two different Shikai forms.
Once she finally got used to that, Tsuna pulled out yet another new Shikai and turned the tables again.
This left Yoruichi grinding her teeth. As a senior Shinigami, she should have been easily teaching a rookie a lesson—but instead she had stumbled badly.
And today was the last day Tsuna still hadn't revealed his final Shikai form. That was why Yoruichi started the fight so aggressively.
"Then I'll begin."
After the brief warning, Tsuna spoke the release command.
"Ethereal Illusion… Mist!"
A long-handled trident appeared in Tsuna's hand.
Yoruichi immediately judged the weapon and scoffed.
"A mid-range weapon? I'm the worst possible opponent for something like that."
The moment she finished speaking, she had already appeared in front of Tsuna.
Against someone who specialized in close-quarters Hakuda combat, long weapons like that were at a disadvantage.
Yoruichi threw a punch—
—but the expected impact never came.
Her fist passed straight through Tsuna's body.
Only then did she remember the release command.
Ethereal Illusion.
It was an illusion technique.
"Mr. Yoruichi's reflexes really are fast."
Tsuna's voice came from behind her.
Swinging the trident in a full arc, he slammed it into Yoruichi's back, sending her flying.
Tsuna hadn't used the trident's blade tip. This was only training—there was no need to seriously injure someone with a sneak attack via illusion.
That was also why Tsuna had saved the Mist attribute until now.
Yoruichi flipped in midair and regained her footing.
She could hear the implication in Tsuna's tone—he was mocking her for acting before thinking.
Just as she was about to retaliate, she suddenly saw a long sword wrapped in blue flames flying toward her.
Shigure Sōen-ryū — Offensive Form Three: "Keeping-Guest Rain."
Yoruichi punched the blade aside.
But the moment she made contact, her body suddenly felt sluggish.
It was the effect of the blue Rain Flame surrounding the sword.
Tranquility.
Immediately afterward, a series of red projectiles shot toward her.
Tsuna had already switched to the Storm-attribute C.A.I. System.
These were high-mobility guided missiles, capable of rapid directional changes. Inside them burned a mixture of Storm Flame and Sun Flame, making their attack speed extremely fast.
Yoruichi nearly crushed her teeth.
This wasn't the first time she'd been caught in Tsuna's combo. If this continued, she'd once again be dragged into Tsuna's relentless storm of attacks.
A massive surge of Kidō-like Reiatsu erupted from her body.
Shunkō.
The moment Tsuna sensed Yoruichi's Reiatsu spike, he switched the ammunition of the C.A.I. System.
From the launcher, red-purple flame rails began to spread and split outward, instantly covering the area where Yoruichi had been standing.
This attack combined the Cloud attribute and Storm attribute.
The characteristic of Cloud was propagation.
When combined with Storm, it created infinitely multiplying rail blasts.
A chain of explosions erupted.
When the smoke cleared—
Yoruichi was nowhere to be seen.
Tsuna wasn't surprised in the slightest.
If she couldn't dodge attacks like that, she wouldn't deserve the title "Flash Goddess" Yoruichi.
Tsuna didn't even bother searching for her.
His Zanpakutō attribute shifted again.
"Powerful Strike… Lightning!"
A pair of twin horns appeared on Tsuna's head, while fine green lightning wrapped around his body.
At that moment—
Yoruichi's fist slammed straight into the lightning.
This was the disadvantage of being a close-combat fighter.
Tsuna didn't need to guess where Yoruichi was.
She would inevitably appear right beside him.
The reason Tsuna switched to the Lightning attribute was because Lightning's characteristic was hardening—making it ideal for defense.
Seeing her attack blocked, Yoruichi finally found Tsuna troublesome.
This strange green lightning was extremely annoying for someone who specialized in Hakuda.
Taking advantage of the momentary clash, Tsuna quickly widened the distance.
He didn't attempt to attack with Lightning. The electric horn's limited attack range was meaningless against someone like Yoruichi.
The attribute changed again.
A pair of tonfa appeared in Tsuna's hands.
This time, Tsuna took the initiative and charged.
Even though Tsuna's speed was far slower than Yoruichi's, she didn't rush forward immediately.
She stared cautiously at the tonfa.
After all, she had already been injured once by the hidden meteor hammer inside those tonfa. Who knew what else Tsuna had hidden in them?
"What's wrong? Mr. Yoruichi feeling cautious?"
"Brat, stop provoking me!"
Yoruichi immediately engaged him.
With Shunkō enhancing her power, Tsuna quickly fell into a disadvantage.
After all, even in Shikai, it was difficult to contend with someone like Yoruichi—who could fight Bankai-level opponents while using Shunkō.
Yoruichi's attacks grew faster and faster.
She had figured out Tsuna's weakness.
She would overwhelm him with continuous high-speed attacks, preventing him from even speaking the release commands needed to switch Shikai forms.
If she succeeded, she could suppress him completely.
Tsuna obviously noticed this as well.
And that was exactly when the hidden weapon inside the tonfa came into play.
A row of spikes suddenly extended from the shaft of the tonfa.
Under the propagation effect of Cloud Flame, the spikes rapidly lengthened into a wall of sharp lances blocking Yoruichi's fist.
The moment fist met spike—
the two separated instantly.
A bloody hole appeared on the back of Yoruichi's hand, forcing her offensive to halt.
"You sneaky brat!" Yoruichi spat as she jumped back.
Taking advantage of the opening, Tsuna switched Shikai again.
A long blade appeared in his hand.
He stepped forward and slashed.
Shigure Sōen-ryū — Offensive Form Eight: "Shino Tsuki Ame!"
A powerful slash erupted, raising four columns of water around Tsuna.
Yoruichi still dodged it using her masterful Shunpo.
But once the distance widened, attacking again became troublesome.
Because what might follow next was Tsuna's endless barrage of long-range attacks.
"Yoruichi, hold on a moment. It's time to eat~"
Urahara Kisuke suddenly appeared, holding a steaming bowl of noodles.
"Kisuke? What's going on? Eating this early today?"
Yoruichi walked over, puzzled.
But when she looked at the bowl—
she sensed something wrong.
Urahara wasn't someone who did things carelessly.
There were two people here, yet he only brought one bowl?
"Who exactly are you?"
Yoruichi immediately became alert.
The "Urahara" in front of her didn't answer.
Instead, he revealed a sinister grin and shouted the name of a move.
"Extreme Sun!"
The disguise vanished.
It was Tsuna wearing boxing gear.
His straight punch unleashed sun-like energy toward Yoruichi.
Yoruichi had no choice but to gather her Reiatsu and meet the attack head-on.
BOOM!
A huge cloud of dust engulfed the battlefield.
"Damn brat—so many dirty tricks!" Yoruichi cursed.
If Tsuna's previous fighting style could be described as varied, then today's Tsuna—with illusions added into the mix—was downright unpredictable.
Just inserting a single illusion at the right moment made his attacks almost impossible to guard against.
Now Yoruichi understood why Tsuna had used an illusion at the very beginning.
If she had been unprepared earlier and mistaken that illusionary Urahara for the real one—
Tsuna's punch just now could have seriously injured her.
Better to retreat from the smoke and reassess.
That was Yoruichi's decision.
But before she could move—
a powerful gust of a punch rushed toward her.
Years of Hakuda combat experience made Yoruichi instinctively block.
Only then did she see clearly—
It was the flame-covered X-Gloves.
Using the smoke as cover, Tsuna had already launched a close-range assault.
Blows were exchanged rapidly.
For the moment, Yoruichi could only rely on experience to withstand Tsuna's attacks.
How dare he?
This was the first time she had been pressured in Hakuda—even if Tsuna had the advantage of obscured vision.
Vision… advantage…
As the smoke gradually dispersed—
Yoruichi suddenly saw Tsuna fighting with his eyes closed.
Tsuna had been attacking her in the smoke without relying on sight, locating her position purely by instinct.
This was the Vongola Hyper Intuition.
As visibility returned, Yoruichi's expression calmed again.
Once she could see clearly, Tsuna's attacks posed no threat to a Hakuda master like her.
Tsuna understood that just as well.
How could he give up the advantageous terrain he had just created?
After a spinning kick, Tsuna twisted his body and fired Sky Flames from both hands.
His body spun rapidly, using the airflow to stir up the dust once again.
X-Stream!
The dust gathered once more.
Seeing Tsuna push his luck again, Yoruichi finally stopped holding back.
A terrifying surge of Reiatsu exploded across the battlefield, instantly blowing away all the smoke.
Then—
she punched Tsuna straight into the distance.
Tsuna crashed through several mountain-like rock formations before finally stopping.
His Shihakushō had become completely tattered.
Fortunately, Yoruichi had held back at the last moment—otherwise he would have been seriously injured.
"That's going too far, Mr. Yoruichi," Tsuna protested as he flew back over.
They had agreed beforehand that Yoruichi wouldn't use overwhelming captain-class Reiatsu.
The purpose was to help Tsuna practice his Shikai, but she had suddenly exploded with power and sent him flying.
Yoruichi looked slightly embarrassed.
It really did feel like she had gotten annoyed and cheated.
Still, she stubbornly defended herself.
"That's because you're too slippery! Your abilities were already complicated, and now you've added illusions on top of them!"
"Go ask around—whose Zanpakutō has as many abilities as yours?!"
Yoruichi slapped Tsuna's shoulder irritably.
Seriously—if she had a Zanpakutō like that, why would she have struggled so much to create Shunkō by combining Hakuda and Kidō?
"But the shopkeeper's Zanpakutō also has multiple abilities," Tsuna replied immediately.
"Depending on the release command, it can use different powers."
"Can Kisuke even count?" Yoruichi snorted.
"His Zanpakutō has probably been modified by him who knows how many times—"
She suddenly stopped mid-sentence.
Yoruichi looked at Tsuna with a complicated expression.
Urahara had never told Tsuna anything about his Zanpakutō's abilities.
And she didn't believe Tsuna could still retain his consciousness during Hollowfication and remember Urahara's powers.
That left only one conclusion.
This brat…
Tsuna already knew Kisuke's power from the start.