Complex Shikai

Beneath Urahara Shop, Tsuna came as usual to practice his Shikai. Many days had passed like this, and his opponent had never changed: Yoruichi.

"Kid, I've been waiting for you. Let's see what new little tricks you can pull today!" Yoruichi said through gritted teeth.

Yoruichi had agreed to be Tsuna's training partner because she had taken a liking to his Sun Gloves. At first, Tsuna was naturally no match for her, but when Yoruichi let her guard down, Tsuna switched to the X Gloves and struck her hard. That was how their grudge began.

After that, Yoruichi gradually adapted to Tsuna's fighting style of switching back and forth between two Shikai forms. Once she got used to it, Tsuna pulled out another new Shikai and gained the upper hand again.

It made Yoruichi's teeth itch with frustration. As a senior Bleach, she should have been effortlessly teaching the newcomer a lesson, yet she had somehow stumbled into defeat.

And today was the day Tsuna would finally use the last Shikai form he had yet to reveal, which was why Yoruichi came at him so aggressively from the start.

"Then I'll begin." Tsuna gave his warning, then recited his release command. "Misty Illusion, Mist!"

A long-handled trident appeared in Tsuna's hand. At a glance, Yoruichi saw through his fighting style and commented, "A mid-range weapon? I'm the natural enemy of weapons like that!"

The moment Yoruichi finished speaking, she had already appeared in front of Tsuna. Against an opponent like her who fought at close range, such a long-handled weapon was at a complete disadvantage.

Yoruichi threw a punch, but the expected feeling of impact never came. Her hand passed straight through Tsuna's body. Only then did she remember Tsuna's release command. Misty Illusion—it was an Illusion!

"Mr. Yoruichi's reactions really are fast."

Tsuna's voice came from behind Yoruichi. He swung the trident with all his strength and smashed it across her back, sending her flying.

Tsuna had not used the trident's blade. This was only training; there was no need to use Illusions for a sneak attack that could injure her. That was also why Tsuna had kept the power of the Mist Attribute hidden until now.

Yoruichi twisted through the air and recovered her balance. She could tell Tsuna was mocking her for acting without thinking. Just as she was about to show him what for, she saw a long blade wrapped in blue flames fly toward her.

Shigure Soen Ryu, Offensive Form Three: Leaving Rain.

Yoruichi punched the body of the blade and knocked it away, but after that single strike, her movements began to slow.

It was the effect of the blue Rain Flame coating the blade—Sedation.

Immediately afterward, Yoruichi saw a barrage of red shells rushing toward her. Tsuna had already switched to the Storm Attribute C.A.I. System. They were High-Mobility Homing Missiles, infused with both Storm and Sun Flames, and their attack speed was incredibly fast.

Yoruichi nearly ground her teeth to dust. This was not the first time she had been caught by Tsuna's combo. If this continued, she would once again be dragged into his endless, storm-like assault.

A massive Kido spiritual pressure erupted from her body. Flash Cry!

Sensing the spiritual pressure coming from Yoruichi, Tsuna immediately switched the C.A.I. System's ammunition. Red-and-purple Flame rail beams spread outward from the launchers, branching apart in an expanding pattern and covering the area where Yoruichi had just stood in an instant.

It was an attack combining the Cloud Attribute and Storm Attribute. The characteristic of Cloud was multiplication; combined with Storm, it became the Infinite Multiplication Rail Beams.

A string of explosions rang out. When the smoke cleared, Yoruichi was nowhere to be seen. Tsuna was not surprised in the slightest. If she could not evade attacks like these, how could she deserve the title of Flash God Yoruichi?

Tsuna could not even be bothered to look for Yoruichi's position. His Zanpakuto's attribute changed once more. "Powerful Strike, Lightning!"

Twin Short Horns appeared above Tsuna's ears, and dense green lightning covered his entire body. Then Yoruichi's fist slammed into the lightning.

That was the weakness of a close-combat fighter. Tsuna did not need to guess where Yoruichi was; she would inevitably appear beside him.

And the reason Tsuna had switched to the Lightning Attribute was because Lightning's characteristic was Hardening. There was no better ability for defense.

Only after seeing her attack blocked did Yoruichi realize how troublesome Tsuna was. This green lightning was simply disgusting to people like them who specialized in Hakuda.

Using the force of the lightning to block her, Tsuna quickly widened the distance. He did not use Lightning Attribute attacks against Yoruichi; the Electric Horn's small-area attack would be little more than a free opening before her.

His attribute changed again. A pair of Floating Cloud Tonfas appeared in his hands, and Tsuna took the initiative to attack Yoruichi.

Although Tsuna was nowhere near as fast as Yoruichi, she did not attack him. She stared warily at his tonfas. Once before, she had been injured by the Meteor Hammer hidden inside them. She had no idea what else Tsuna might be concealing within those tonfas.

"What is it? What is Mr. Yoruichi wary of?"

"Brat, you're still provoking me!"

Yoruichi immediately clashed with Tsuna. Empowered by Flash Cry, Tsuna instantly fell into a disadvantage. His Shikai still could not quite stand against Yoruichi in her Flash Cry state, where she could even contend with Bankai.

Yoruichi's attacks grew faster and faster, and she found a way to deal with Tsuna: use extremely rapid attacks to suppress him, preventing him from even reciting the release command needed to switch forms. Then she could suppress him from beginning to end.

Tsuna naturally noticed this as well. This was the moment for the weapon hidden within the Floating Cloud Tonfas to shine.

A row of spikes sprang from the tonfas' shafts. Enhanced by the multiplication of Cloud Attribute Flames, the spikes rapidly extended into a row of long thorns that blocked Yoruichi's fist.

Fist and thorns touched and separated in an instant. A bloody hole appeared on the back of Yoruichi's hand, and her offensive had no choice but to stop.

"You sneaky little brat!" Yoruichi spat as she pulled back.

With the advantage in hand, Tsuna changed his Shikai again. A long blade appeared in his hand, and he stepped forward with a horizontal slash. Shigure Soen Ryu, Offensive Form Eight: Bamboo Shoot Rain!

The powerful slash raised four columns of water around Tsuna. Yoruichi still evaded them with her godlike Flash Step, but once she widened the distance, continuing her attack became troublesome. Next, she might have to face Tsuna's barrage of long-range attacks.

"Yoruichi, stop for a moment. It's time to eat~" Urahara Kisuke appeared, holding a steaming bowl of noodles in his hands.

"Kisuke? What's going on? Why are we eating so early today?"

Yoruichi walked over in confusion. Looking at the food in Urahara Kisuke's hands, she sensed something strange. Urahara Kisuke would not be so careless—there were two people here, yet he had only brought one serving?

"Who are you?"

Yoruichi's expression turned wary. The Urahara before her did not answer. He merely wore a sinister grin as he called out the name of a move.

"Maximum Sun!"

Urahara's figure faded away, revealing Tsuna in Boxing Gear. His straight punch fired an energy blast like the sun toward Yoruichi, forcing her to gather her spiritual pressure and meet his punch head-on.

Bang! Thick smoke and dust engulfed the entire field, and Yoruichi could not help cursing, "That brat has even more tricks now!"

If Tsuna before had merely been versatile, then Tsuna with Illusions added to his arsenal today could be called downright unpredictable. Just one Illusion woven into the fight made him impossible to guard against.

At that moment, Yoruichi understood why Tsuna had hit her with an Illusion right from the start. If an unprepared Yoruichi had been approached by that fake Urahara just now, she would definitely have been heavily injured by Tsuna.

I should retreat from the smoke before responding. Yoruichi made her decision, but before she could move, she felt a gust of fist wind approaching.

The experience granted by years of Hakuda made Yoruichi block instinctively. Only then did she see clearly that it was the flame-burning X Gloves.

Using the cover of the smoke, Tsuna had already launched an attack on Yoruichi. As fists and kicks flew, Yoruichi could only rely on her experience to endure Tsuna's assault.

How did he dare? Yoruichi could not understand. This was the first time she had suffered a disadvantage in Hakuda, even if her opponent had used the advantage of limited visibility.

Visibility? An advantage?

As the smoke gradually dispersed, Yoruichi saw Sawada Tsunayoshi with his eyes closed. Tsuna had attacked Yoruichi in the smoke with his eyes shut, finding her position through instinct without needing to see.

This was Vongola's Hyper Intuition!

As the smoke cleared, Yoruichi's expression gradually returned to calm. Once she regained her vision, Tsuna's attacks posed no danger whatsoever before a Hakuda master like her.

What Yoruichi could think of, Tsuna understood as well. How could he simply abandon the advantageous terrain he had created through so much effort by trading moves with Yoruichi?

Tsuna followed with a kick, twisting his body into a spin. Sky Flames erupted from both hands, and his whole body began rotating, using the powerful airflow created by his spin to stir up the dust and smoke again.

X Airflow! The smoke and dust gathered once more.

Seeing Tsuna about to push his luck again, Yoruichi stopped holding back entirely. Overwhelming spiritual pressure burst across the entire field in an instant, blowing away every trace of smoke and dust, before she followed up by punching Tsuna away.

Tsuna crashed through several rocky peaks before finally stopping. His Shinigami Uniform had become tattered, but fortunately, Yoruichi had held back at the end, so he had not suffered any serious injuries.

"That was too much, Mr. Yoruichi." Tsuna propelled himself over and protested in front of her.

They had agreed that Yoruichi would not excessively use her overwhelming spiritual pressure; she was mainly supposed to help Tsuna familiarize himself with his Shikai. Yet Yoruichi had lost her composure, instantly unleashed Captain-level spiritual pressure, and sent Tsuna flying.

Faced with Tsuna's protest, Yoruichi was somewhat embarrassed. Her behavior just now had been a little like a sore loser's, but she still stubbornly said, "That's because you're too slippery, brat. Your abilities were already complicated enough, and adding Illusions has made them even more variable."

"Go ask around—whose Zanpakuto has as many abilities as yours?"

Yoruichi patted Tsuna's shoulder in dissatisfaction. As she had said before, if she had a Zanpakuto like this, why would she have needed to painstakingly combine Hakuda and Kido to create Flash Cry?

"Doesn't the shopkeeper's Zanpakuto have many abilities too? Its powers change depending on the release command," Tsuna immediately gave an example.

"Does Kisuke even count? Who knows how many times his Zanpakuto has been modified by him..."

Yoruichi suddenly stopped speaking. She looked at Tsuna with a complicated expression. Urahara's Zanpakuto abilities had never been explained to Tsuna, and she did not believe Tsuna could have retained his sanity during Hollowfication and remembered Urahara's powers. That left only one conclusion: this little Tsuna brat had known Kisuke's power from the beginning.