Book of the End

"So, have you already dealt with it, Tsuna?" Urahara Kisuke asked.

"More or less. I tied them all up, and I found something especially interesting." Tsuna tossed the book he had swiped from Tsukishima to Urahara Kisuke. "Shopkeeper, catch."

"Kisuke, careful!"

Yoruichi flashed directly in front of Tsuna and intercepted the book he had thrown. She remembered Tsuna mentioning the words Book of the End. She couldn't be sure whether Tsuna's past had been altered. If Kisuke was also controlled by the enemy, then they really would be finished.

Urahara Kisuke understood what Yoruichi meant as well. The instant Yoruichi appeared, he had already prepared to step back and leave. It was only because of that glance before he retreated that Urahara stopped in his tracks.

Urahara Kisuke actually saw a look of sudden realization spread across Yoruichi's face. Yoruichi casually tossed the book once and said to Urahara Kisuke, "Kisuke, touch it too. This ability is kind of interesting."

Urahara Kisuke extended one finger toward the Book of the End, while his other hand, tucked in his pocket, pressed down on a certain device. If these two in front of him really had been brainwashed in that single instant, then that would be far too terrifying.

The moment he touched the Book of the End, a special sensation appeared in Urahara's heart. The last time he had felt something like this was when he had just learned Bankai. It was like a special authority had opened itself to him. This was why Tsuna had Urahara and Yoruichi touch the book.

Shukuro Tsukishima's Fullbring ability was called Book of the End, but the medium he had always used to insert himself into a target's past was the blade transformed from that bookmark. In that case, it would have been more accurate to call his Fullbring ability End Bookmark.

The reason Tsukishima's ability was called Book of the End was because those who touched this book could choose on their own whether to end Tsukishima's ability. In other words, they changed from targets whose past Tsukishima had inserted himself into, into holders of the book.

Everyone who had touched the book could independently decide whether to insert a bookmark into their own past. That meant that after Tsukishima used his ability on Tsuna and the others, Tsuna could freely choose whether to let Tsukishima insert himself into his past, and could also remove the bookmark Tsukishima had inserted at any time.

In other words, those who had touched the Book of the End no longer needed to fear Tsukishima's ability. (The setting here was added by the author.)

"If that's the case, I can call someone over without worrying." Urahara took out a phone. "Moshi moshi, you can come over now."

A while later, someone with a yellow bowl cut appeared—Hirako Shinji, the backup Urahara had kept in reserve for this incident. "Kisuke, I told you you were overthinking it. I can't think of anyone in the World of the Living who can deal with Tsuna."

"Oh, so it's Hirako. Since you're here, touch it too."

Tsuna turned the Book of the End toward Hirako Shinji. After Hirako touched it, a surprised smile appeared on his face. "So that's what kind of ability it is. How terrifying."

"Yes. Originally, I planned to have Mr. Hirako use Sakanade's ability to confuse the opponent, then we would look for a chance to deal with him. Now it seems that won't be necessary," Urahara said.

The activation condition for Tsukishima's ability was that he had to cut someone with his blade. Then one solution was simply to not let Tsukishima land a hit. In that regard, Hirako's Sakanade could play a huge role. Just reversing vision alone would be enough for Urahara and the others to use Kido to destroy Tsukishima.

But now, that plan was no longer necessary. The few of them would not be affected by Tsukishima's ability. Even if Tsukishima forcibly altered the pasts of the people around them, with each of their strength, Tsuna and the others all had a chance to deal with Tsukishima alone.

"Ah, I need to hurry back. I have to shut off my backup plan." Just now, Urahara had activated his backup measure. Since Tsukishima was no longer a threat, he had to deal with that first.

"I'll head back first too. Brat Tsuna, you can handle things yourself, right?" Hirako said.

"Oh? You came all this way just to go back like that?" Tsuna asked.

"Yeah. It's all you and your wife's fault, brat. You've spoiled Hiyori's taste, and now she insists I bring back some gifts. What a pain." Hirako vanished with Flash Step, leaving only Tsuna behind.

Urahara and Hirako could both wash their hands of it and run, but Tsuna could only go back and handle Xcution's matters first. The moment he pushed open the door of the old house, Tsuna heard Ginjo roaring helplessly at the empty seat by the bar.

Tsuna felt a little sorry for him and withdrew his ability. "All right, all you can do is bark. You couldn't even tell whether it was real or not. No wonder you were tricked so badly."

Tsuna stated that the Illusion at the bar earlier had been extremely low-level. He had been drinking milk nonstop, and even the amount of milk had never changed, yet Ginjo had failed to notice even that.

"Damn it! Who exactly are you? Back then..."

Tsuna directly ignored Ginjo, walked up to Tsukishima, and placed the Book of the End in front of him.

Tsukishima's pupils couldn't help contracting. Only he himself knew the secret of the Book of the End. Because that idiot Ginjo was relatively easy to expose, and because he himself would never betray Ginjo, even Ginjo did not know the secret of the Book of the End.

And Tsuna's action was undoubtedly telling Tsukishima one fact: the ability of the Book of the End could no longer affect him. Tsukishima could only stop struggling and accept the fact that he had been captured.

"Be thankful you got your life back, big cousin~" Tsuna joked with Tsukishima using the meme from the original plot. To be honest, if not for the weakness of the Book of the End, Tsuna really would have had to consider whether to leave Shukuro Tsukishima alive. He did not want to be at risk of being stabbed at any time.

Tsukishima's expression turned somewhat stunned. When he inserted himself into other people's memories, the identity of big cousin was the one he used most often. Why would this person know that?

"All right, stop shouting. One at a time."

Tsuna snapped his fingers, and the restraints on everyone in Xcution were undone. Kugo Ginjo, who had originally been shouting nonstop, couldn't help becoming somewhat afraid again when faced with the truth he was about to learn. Was the truth really within reach just like this?

"Is it... true?" Kugo Ginjo asked uneasily.

"What are you referring to? The illusion I constructed for you?" Tsuna thought for a moment and said, "Part of it was true, part of it was conjecture. There is indeed a mastermind behind the scenes, but, well, there's no evidence."

The evidence had all been erased. Ginjo thought of that final scene, where that mastermind had actually turned into his appearance.

"Who is it? Tell me. Who exactly was the bastard who arranged everything, killed my companions, and framed me?" Ginjo asked sharply. At that moment, he had already prepared himself to take the enemy down with him.

"I know who it is, but without evidence, how would you know whether what I said is true or false?" Tsuna's words doused the anger Ginjo had just ignited completely.

Evidence. Even if it was a private trial, he still needed evidence confirming the other party was the murderer...

"I believe you..." Ginjo raised his lowered head, a pleading light in his eyes, as if he were hypnotizing himself. "All these years, I couldn't find anything. You're the only one who has brought this matter up on your own. I believe you, and I have to believe you!"

Tsuna sighed. He couldn't quite bring himself to keep toying with this foolish idiot. "Soul Society, one of the Four Great Noble Clans, the Tsunayashiro Clan."

Ginjo's fists clenched tightly. Right now, he already wished he could charge straight into Soul Society and kill his way in, but there were still these companions...

Ginjo's gaze fell on Tsukishima. "Tsukishima, Xcution is in your hands..."

Those words, like entrusting his last wishes, immediately threw Tsukishima into a panic. "What are you saying? Ginjo, I'm going too. Those dead companions were my companions too!"

Before the Tsunayashiro Clan attacked the Fullbringers, Ginjo had already taken Tsukishima in. Because Tsukishima was still young at the time, he had not participated in that experiment, which was why he survived that massacre. Those dead Fullbringers were also Tsukishima's elders.

"Wait, Ginjo, what are you going to do?" Riruka asked. She sensed that something was wrong.

"They want to risk their lives. Or rather, go get themselves killed," Tsuna explained casually, looking at Ginjo as if he were looking at a corpse. "You can't even beat me. Do you really think you can break into Seireitei, protected layer upon layer by the Gotei 13? You probably wouldn't even get to see the Tsunayashiro Clan."

"Then what else can I do? I can't just leave my companions' deaths unavenged, can I?"

Ginjo gave a bitter smile. When he heard that the mastermind behind the scenes was one of the Four Great Noble Clans of Soul Society, that feeling was even more despairing than before.

Ginjo had originally thought the enemy was Jūshirō Ukitake, the man watching him. If he went all out, maybe it wasn't completely impossible to take that sickly bastard down with him. But now his opponent had changed into a highest-ranking noble, and his enemy had gone from one squad and one captain to the entire Gotei 13.

"You've already endured it for this long. Enduring another two years shouldn't be a problem, right?" Tsunayoshi said.

"Two years? What's your goal? And who exactly are you?" Ginjo asked. How had he never heard of a guy who possessed a Shinigami's Reiatsu and could use Fullbring too?

"My name is Sawada Tsunayoshi. My wish is world peace. You seem pretty strong, so I'll reluctantly let you become my underling," Tsunayoshi said with his arms crossed, his face full of confidence.

"Huh?" Ginjo had not expected this brat, who was only half his height, to say something like that. But he really was no match for Tsunayoshi.

Ginjo gritted his teeth and decided to struggle a little more. "If I become your underling, what's in it for me?"

"What's in it for you? Don't you want to search for the truth yourself?" Tsunayoshi's single sentence struck Ginjo right where it hurt. "In about two years, we'll be making a trip to Soul Society. You can come with us. Become my underling, and I'll guarantee your safety."

"You're going to attack the Seireitei?" Ginjo's eyes lit up. With a boss this powerful in Illusion, maybe they really could take out that damn Tsunayashiro Clan.

"You're overthinking it. They haven't provoked me, so I have no reason to attack them." Tsunayoshi spread his hands and said, "Besides, don't you want to go find evidence of their crimes yourself and clear your name?"

Ginjo fell silent. Of course he wanted to. It was just that, out of fear of an organization like the Gotei 13, he could only beg for a swift, decisive end. As long as he could avenge his friends, that was enough. As for restoring his reputation, he did not even dare think about it.

"The source of your fear is the Gotei 13. But have you ever thought that the Gotei 13 might not necessarily be standing with the nobles?" Tsunayoshi asked.

"How is that possible? This is the proof!" Ginjo took out a small badge engraved with a skull and said.

"The Substitute Shinigami Badge? You think the Gotei 13 is monitoring you?"

"So you really do know!" A trace of hatred flashed through Ginjo's eyes.

"Then why haven't you thrown it away? After all these years." Tsunayoshi's words stabbed into Ginjo's heart like knives. "Do you still have a tiny bit of hope in your heart? Hoping that a nice guy like Jūshirō Ukitake wouldn't do something this outrageous?"

Ginjo went weak all over and collapsed onto the ground. The Substitute Shinigami Badge fell in front of him. He stared at it in a daze. Maybe he really did still have some hope left...

Ukitake's gentle smile appeared in Ginjo's mind. Would a guy like that really stab him in the back?

"If you're not sure, then go see for yourself. See whether Ukitake is really the way you think he is. Verify your guess. Search for the evidence you want." Tsunayoshi walked over to Ginjo and patted his shoulder. "Become my underling, and I'll give you that chance. I'll make sure you come back safely~"

(P.S. The content of this chapter was entirely to add a weakness to the Book of the End. Like Kyoka Suigetsu, once the main body is touched, the ability will be nullified.

Also, I think the concept of a book holder matches Tsukishima's Book of the End ability too. The person who manages a book can freely insert or remove bookmarks.

As for why I added such a weakness, the main reason is that the Book of the End's ability is way too bugged. Given the protagonist's personality, he would only choose to kill off an existence that could threaten his friends and family. But the Book of the End's ability is quite interesting, and I was a little reluctant to write Tsukishima to death, so I added this part.

As for whether I deliberately kept Tsukishima around until the end to use him to repair Tensa Zangetsu, there's really no need to worry. Since this is already fanfiction, the fight against Yhwach can't possibly be exactly the same as the original. Otherwise, what meaning would the extra protagonist even have?)