Sawada Tsunayoshi used Fullbring Light to leap swiftly to Masa's side. "Aunt Masa, are you all right?"
"We're fine. Thanks, Little Tsuna." With the threat of death gone, Masa had regained her usual liveliness. "Ichigo was just scared unconscious."
Tsuna crouched down and poked Ichigo's q-bouncy little cheek. Though Ichigo was normally kind, if he caught someone doing this, he would definitely fly into a kick and start brawling with Tsuna.
Masa looked at the enormous bow in Tsuna's hand, seeming as though she wanted to say something but hesitated. Observing it up close, she finally saw its appearance clearly. Amid the red decoration on the bow's grip was a strange pattern, marked with a large Roman numeral I.
The weapon was obviously a bow, but no matter how she looked at it, it did not resemble the bows used by Quincy. The Spirit Bows used by Quincy all had more or less blue Reishi decorations. What was with the red flames on this longbow?
"Little Tsuna, are you a Quincy?" After hesitating for a while, Masa finally voiced the question in her heart.
"Oh? You mean this?" Tsuna stopped his little antics and recalled the bow into his chest. "This is my Fullbring ability."
What Masa could not see was the red gemstone on the Sky Ring beneath Tsuna's clothes flashing with light.
"Fullbring?" Masa had no idea what kind of ability that was. "So the spiritual pressure that's been active around Karakura Town lately was yours? That's wonderful."
Masa completely relaxed and plopped down onto the ground. She and Isshin had long noticed an unfamiliar spiritual pressure that had appeared in Karakura Town over the past year. However, since it had not done anything harmful and had instead been destroying Hollows and protecting Karakura Town, the couple had assumed it belonged to a new Bleach stationed in town.
They just had not expected the owner of that spiritual pressure to be Tsuna. That was good. Tsuna had often visited the Kurosaki Residence, and Masa trusted him.
As for Sawada Tsunayoshi's Fullbring, this bow was only one of his abilities. The bow was called G's Bow and Arrow, the weapon of the Vongola First Generation Storm Guardian. Sawada Tsunayoshi's Fullbring ability was to replicate the weapons of the Vongola First Generation and the Guardians.
Thanks to the six differently colored gemstones on the unsealed Sky Ring, as long as Tsuna called out the name of the corresponding weapon, he could obtain that Guardian's weapon. As for the Vongola Family Emblem in the center of the Sky Ring, it could transform into the equipment of the Vongola First Generation.
Fortunately, Tsuna's Fullbring granted him the experience needed to use each corresponding weapon. Otherwise, no matter how talented he was, he could not have mastered the weapons and equipment of seven people in just over a year.
Especially those bizarre weapons. Yes, I mean you, Arnold's Handcuffs!
"Aunt Masa, should I take you and Ichigo home first? The rain's getting heavier and heavier." Tsuna hoisted Ichigo onto his back as he spoke to Masa.
"All right. Let's go home first."
Masa struggled to stand and reached out to take Ichigo, but she could not muster any strength in either hand and nearly dropped him instead.
"I'll do it, Aunt Masa. It's nothing." Tsuna took Ichigo onto his back himself. With his current physical abilities, carrying one person was no difficult task.
"Thank you, Little Tsuna."
Wave after wave of emptiness rose from deep within Masa's body. Now, not only could she not control Reishi, she could barely summon any strength. With Tsuna's help, she made her way toward the Kurosaki Residence step by step.
With a click, the Kurosaki Residence's front door opened. Kurosaki Isshin, who had been anxiously waiting at home, rushed toward the entrance. Before him stood the three drenched figures: Ichigo was on Tsuna's back, while Masa was also half leaning against him.
"Masa?" Kurosaki Isshin called out, hurrying over to help Tsuna free himself and support the three of them into the living room to rest.
Kurosaki Isshin bustled about in a flurry. He first dried Ichigo off and changed him into clean clothes, then tended to his wife. As he helped Masa, Isshin had already keenly noticed that her body was unusually weak.
Fortunately, their two young daughters were already asleep, and Ichigo was unconscious. It did not take Isshin long to settle his family.
Tsuna, meanwhile, was much simpler. Thanks to the raincoat Mom had prepared for him, all he needed to do was take it off. He was currently helping himself to milk from the Kurosaki Residence's refrigerator.
"Thank you so much, Little Tsuna." Once he was done, Isshin solemnly grasped Tsuna's hands. Masa had just told him what had happened, and lingering fear filled his heart. He had nearly lost his wife.
And because Isshin had lost his Bleach powers, even though he had sensed the spiritual pressures of the Hollow and Masa, there was nothing he could do. He could only trust that Masa would easily deal with that Hollow.
"It's fine. We're friends, aren't we?" Tsuna said with a bright smile.
"That's right. Little Tsuna will always be the Kurosaki Residence's best friend." Isshin rubbed Tsuna's head.
"Oh, right, Uncle Isshin. Could you call my mom and tell her I'll be home late?"
"Understood."
Having learned that Tsuna was no ordinary child, Isshin did not ask too many questions. Instead, he called Sawada Nana and assured Nana that Tsuna was playing at their house and would be sent home later.
With that settled, the Kurosaki couple and Tsuna sat in the living room while Tsuna drank his milk in small sips.
"Masa, how did you suddenly lose your strength?" Isshin asked with concern. He had nearly lost his wife because of this.
"I don't know." Masa shook her head. If she had possessed even a trace of strength, that Hollow would not have been able to swagger around in front of her.
"It was The Auswählen." Tsuna set down his milk. "The Auswählen is an ability activated by the Progenitor of the Quincy. He reclaims the power of every Quincy with impure blood."
"How is that possible?" Isshin said with a frown.
"I've never heard of that either, and I'm one of the rare pure-blood Quincy." Masa came from a pure-blood Quincy family, so it was not as if she knew nothing about certain Quincy secrets.
"Aunt Masa, you were injured before, right? With that fighting style of yours." Tsuna was referring to Masa's tactic of luring enemies deep in. "A Hollow's power is deadly poison to a Quincy. From the moment you were wounded by a Hollow, Aunt Masa, you were no longer a pure-blood Quincy."
"Even if everything you said is true, Little Tsuna, why do you know so much?" This was something even Masa, once a pure-blood Quincy herself, did not know.
"We're friends, aren't we? Because of Ichigo, I've spent plenty of time wearing a raincoat and wandering around." Tsuna pointed at the raincoat hanging by the door.
Isshin gave Tsuna a grave look. Did people who were born knowing things truly exist?
Isshin did not dwell on it and instead asked, "Little Tsuna, tell us more. What information do you know?"
"Apparently, all Quincy carry the blood of the Progenitor of the Quincy. The Progenitor of the Quincy possesses the ability to share and plunder. He shares power with all Quincy, but he can also take away the power they possess."
"Put simply, it's like usury. He gives you a seed of power, then takes it back once that power has matured."
"And this method of taking it back is called The Auswählen. This time, the Progenitor of the Quincy activated The Auswählen against all Mixed-blood Quincy in order to reclaim his own power. Aunt Masa, you just happened to fall within its range."
"As for the Mixed-blood Quincy affected by The Auswählen, the outcome differs depending on their physical condition. Those with strong bodies lose their powers, like you, Auntie. Some weaker Quincy might even die outright."
After finishing, Tsuna let out a long breath, picked up his milk again, and began gulping it down.
The news Tsuna had brought was too shocking. It took the Kurosaki couple quite a while to react.
"Wait? Little Tsuna, you said Mixed-blood Quincy can die from The Auswählen?" Masa braced both hands on the table and leaned forward as she asked.
"Mm. If nothing unexpected happens, after this wave of The Auswählen, only pure-blood Quincy should remain." Except for one guy with absurd potential.
"Isshin, I need to go out." Masa suddenly said.
"With your condition, what are you going out for?" Isshin naturally would not agree so easily.
"Before I met you, I lived at the Ishida Residence. There are many Mixed-blood Quincy in the Ishida Residence. Maybe I can't help them, but at the very least, I want to see my friends off on their final journey." Masa's mood sank. She could already roughly imagine what a terrible state the Ishida Residence would be in after this The Auswählen.
"I'll go with you..."
"No. The children are still young, and Ichigo needs you too." Masa crouched in front of Tsuna. "Little Tsuna, can I trouble you once more? Use your Fullbring power to take me there."
Masa still remembered how Tsuna had used Fullbring Light to leap directly to her side. It was only because he had been carrying both her and Ichigo on the way home, and his current size made it difficult to carry two people, that he had not used it.
"The Ishida Residence? Are there a lot of Quincy there?" Tsuna deliberately asked.
"Yes. You might even get to meet a pure-blood Quincy."
"Then can I make one request? I want to become the apprentice of a pure-blood Quincy." Tsuna had thought it through clearly. Of his four status slots, only Fullbring had been unlocked so far. To unlock other powers, he needed to come into contact with the corresponding people.
At present, the person connected to Bleach was Uncle Isshin in front of him. However, Isshin had completely lost his Bleach powers. He could barely even see a soul, much less guide Tsuna into becoming a Bleach.
In contrast, Ishida Ryūken, known as the last pure-blood Quincy, was a good candidate. On top of that, Masa knew Ryūken, so asking her for help should not be a problem.
"A Quincy? That's not something just anyone can learn. Still, I can talk to A Long about it. Whether he agrees or not isn't something I can guarantee." Masa said.
"That'll do. Let's go."
Tsuna turned and walked toward the door, standing on tiptoe to take down his hanging raincoat. Only when Isshin saw Tsuna's raincoat did he hurriedly pull one from the storage room and help Masa put it on.
Tsuna stepped onto Fullbring Light, carried Masa on his back, and, under her guidance, leaped toward the Ishida Residence.
Before you continue