Toshiro's Defection?

Three days later, after seeing off Nana's reluctant Mom onto the plane, Tsuna was just about to return to Karakura Town when he received Ichigo.

"Tsuna, something's happened! I just sensed an unusual spiritual pressure in Karakura Town, and Uryū and I went to investigate. We ran into Captain Soi Fon from the Squad 2!" Ichigo said quickly.

"What happened?" Tsuna asked as he hurried toward Karakura Town.

"Captain Soi Fon said that Toshiro has defected, and the entire Karakura Town is teeming with Seireitei Bleach searching for Toshiro's whereabouts," Ichigo said.

"Toshiro has defected?"

Tsuna was stunned, his mind racing through the plot, but he couldn't recall ever hearing about Toshiro's defection.

Furthermore, Aizen and the others had only recently defected, and Toshiro's actions were practically dancing in Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto's minefield; it would be strange if they didn't launch a full-scale manhunt.

Unless Toshiro follows Aizen and defectes to Hueco Mundo, but that seems impossible, how could Toshiro possibly go and seek refuge with Sosuke Aizen be more likely to go and kill Aizen.

"Anything else?" Tsuna asked.

"No, we're helping the Gotei 13 search for someone right now. Hopefully, it's just a misunderstanding," Ichigo said.

"I understand. I'm on my way back. Toshiro definitely won't defect. If Soi Fon and the others resort to extreme measures, keep an eye on them a bit," Tsuna instructed.

As night fell, a torrential downpour began in Karakura Town.

Tsuna frowned as he got out of the taxi. How was he supposed to find someone in this weather? If Toshiro Hitsugaya, as a captain, wanted to hide, he wouldn't be so easy to find.

Tsuna stretched his stiff back. Anyway, he should go home for dinner first. Nana's Mom had prepared a big meal for him before leaving, and it was all in the refrigerator.

As he approached his house, Tsuna suddenly felt something was off. Everything seemed normal, from the entrance to the yard, but his intuition told him that someone had been to their house when he took his Mom to the airport.

Arnold's Handcuffs appeared and hung on Tsuna's fingers. He calmly turned the doorknob and opened his house without making a sound.

The house was dark and looked exactly the same as when they left, but Tsuna's gaze still sharpened.

He sprinted into the entryway and then swung the handcuffs around the corner.

With a clang, the handcuffs seemed to have hit some metal object, but Tsuna was familiar with combat, knew that it was not ordinary metal, but a blade!

Good heavens, someone actually dared to break into his house with a knife! If Nana's Mom had walked any slower today, wouldn't this little thief have succeeded?

Purple flames instantly engulfed the Chains in the handcuffs, and a series of clicking sounds rang out rapidly. Cloud Attribute multiplied, and the handcuffs were directly placed on the blade, splitting and imprisoning it, and quickly spreading towards the enemy.

"Wait! It's Sawada Tsunayoshi!"

A familiar boyish voice rang out. Tsuna snapped his fingers, the room lit up, and the curtains closed automatically, all controlled by Fullbring.

Just as Tsuna had guessed, at this point, only Captain-level individual could infiltrate his house without him noticing.

The only one who would do something so clandestine is Toshiro Hitsugaya has been branded a traitor.

Now, Toshiro was soaking wet, with an exaggerated diagonal knife wound on his chest. He was pale and weak, huddled in a corner of Tsuna's house.

"What's going on? I heard you defected?" Tsuna asked knowingly; this Toshiro clearly had a story to tell.

Toshiro didn't speak, but bit his lip, slowly shook his head twice, and pleaded, "Let me stay here for one night, I'll leave tomorrow."

Tsuna probably guessed why Toshiro was at his house, since no one else was there except for himself.

Tsuna scratched his head, switched to his Sun Attribute power, and dried Toshiro's injuries along with his wet clothes.

As he recovered, Toshiro reverted to his cold demeanor and said stiffly, "Thank you."

"You've come at the perfect time; you're in for a treat!"

Tsuna opened the refrigerator, heated up all the dishes that Nana's Mom had prepared, and brought them to the table. "Let's talk after we eat."

There was silence during the meal until both sides had finished eating. While using his Fullbring to wash the dishes, Tsuna asked, "Let's talk. You're not the kind of irresponsible person who would just defect like that."

"I have some personal matters to attend to, so I'm leaving."

"That's it? You've dragged the entire squad into the Seireitei's surveillance, do you know that? How can you do this to Isshin- san's haori?"

Tsuna could tell from the somewhat tattered clothes on Toshiro that it was Isshin from Toshiro. Given Toshiro's personality, he wouldn't have left such a valuable item like a haori in such a state; only Isshin unreliable guy like Isshin could have done that.

Toshiro remained silent for a moment, then quietly took off his haori, carefully folded it neatly, and handed it to Tsuna.

"Please return it to Senior Isshin?"

Seeing Toshiro's expression, Tsuna became interested. "What's wrong? You're quitting as captain? You think you can just wash your hands of things because Isshin is here?"

"No, after I've taken care of my own affairs, I will personally apologize to Isshin -senpai and the Captain-Commander!" Toshiro's tone was full of determination.

"Alright, I'll ask you another way." Tsuna Flash Step, found a comfortable position, and asked, "As the one who treated you, I should know how you got your injuries, right?"

Toshiro sighed silently. He should have known this before coming here; Sawada Tsunayoshi was not someone to be fooled.

"Today, our 10th Division is on a secret mission to escort the King's Seal..."

"King's Seal? What's that?" Wang Jian Tsuna had heard of it before, but now there's this King's Seal.

"I don't know either, but every hundred years, the King's Seal must go to the west, transported by the King's Seal's exclusive guard team, with our 10th Division serving as the secret protection team."

"While the King's Seal was being transported, the exclusive guard was attacked. Rangiku and I went to investigate and found that two humanoid creatures that looked like they were emanating a phantom aura had attacked the guard."

"Arrancar? Doesn't Aizen have the Hogyoku?" The only Arrancar that Tsuna could think of was Aizen. Logically speaking, Aizen shouldn't have time to deal with trivial matters like the King's Seal's Seal right now; he should be focusing all his efforts on fusing with the Hogyoku.

"No, it's not Aizen!" Toshiro answered decisively.

"You know the attacker? So you left the squad without a word, wanting to hunt him down yourself? Your relationship with that person must be complicated, right?" Tsuna immediately pieced together a melodramatic love triangle.

Toshiro was speechless; he didn't know how Tsuna could analyze the events so accurately.

Tsuna, meanwhile, looked at Toshiro with a gossipy expression and asked, "Who is it? Male or female? Are they closer than your childhood friend?"

Toshiro was exasperated. After much deliberation, he decided to tell Tsuna the truth, lest this guy spread his melodramatic love story throughout the Soul Society, just like he spread his nickname.

Toshiro let out a long sigh and said, "It was Hyōrinmaru who injured me..."

"Hyōrinmaru ..." Tsuna chuckled, and just as he was about to say that this wasn't the first time Toshiro had been injured by Hyōrinmaru, he suddenly blurted out, "Another Hyōrinmaru?!"

Toshiro's expression changed, and he asked in confusion, "How did you know there was another Hyōrinmaru?"

Tsuna stared blankly at the ceiling. So this was the movie's story. Another Hyōrinmaru. No wonder he didn't remember what happened with Toshiro. The only thing he remembered about the whole movie was that there was another guy using Hyōrinmaru's power.

"So you're planning to settle scores with that person? Or what?"

"That person's name is Sojiro Kusaka, and he was my best friend when I was at the Shino Academy." Toshiro recounted his past in detail. "When I first went to the academy, I was very introverted and didn't adapt well. He helped me, and we studied and grew together until we were about to graduate."

"Sojiro and I went together to call out the true names of our Zanpakuto, and we both received Hyōrinmaru's approval."

"At the time, the Central 46 demanded that we fight each other, arguing that Soul Society did not allow two identical Zanpakuto to exist, and only the survivor would be qualified to use Hyōrinmaru."

"Of course I didn't want to, but I was eventually forced onto the stage to fight Sojiro. In the end, I defeated Sojiro, and Sojiro disappeared after that."

"The day you started instructing me, I thought of Hyōrinmaru in Sojiro's possession, so I went to look up the files on the former Central 46."

"It turns out that after his defeat, Sojiro was secretly executed on the orders of the Central 46. No matter the outcome, Sojiro and I can never be friends..."

Looking at the dejected Toshiro, Tsuna concluded, "So the one who attacked the King's Seal this time was that guy named Sojiro Kusaka. Do you think he's still alive?"

"To atone for the guilt you felt for defeating him in the past, you decide to go find him alone."

"And considering you gave up the haori, you're even prepared to give your life for him?"

"How... how did you know?" Toshiro, his face full of astonishment.

"Nonsense! Those guys couldn't even hurt your Vice-Captain, yet you got stabbed yourself. What else could it be but you holding back?" Tsuna said irritably.

"I..."

Toshiro was speechless. As a captain who always used Bankai in battle, the fact that he didn't use Bankai against Sojiro Kusaka revealed his ulterior motives.

"Alright, there are guest rooms at the end of the corridor. Go and rest. Finish your business as soon as possible; there are still tough battles to fight ahead," Tsuna said, waving his hand.

"Aren't you going to stop me?"

"You're only willing to go and die because of your guilt. You're always asking me to correct other people's titles of captain. I don't believe that Captain Hitsugaya is someone who has absolutely no sense of responsibility."

Tsuna had no interest in trying to enlighten someone whose thinking had temporarily reached a dead end. Toshiro's mind was in such a daze that a couple of slaps would be enough to wake him up.

"Thank you," Toshiro said, bowing.

"I'll be going to Seireitei tomorrow. If you have any problems in the World of the Living, just ask Ichigo for help." Tsuna complained a little, "Honestly, he didn't even leave a letter. He's acting like a grown-up with his childish temper. He could have just talked things out with Old Man Yamamoto and nothing would have happened."

Toshiro forcefully pressed down his hand, which was about to draw its sword, and walked towards the guest room.