Special Training No. 13: The Demon Fox Method

Strictly speaking, it should be Kurama and Basil, the two of them.

“Kurama, why are you here?! And Ba... Basil? Is your body all right now?”

To come across two people who absolutely shouldn’t be here, at such a place, without any warning—Tsuna, who had been so exhausted by days of special training that he’d collapsed to the ground, was startled into leaping to his feet in an instant.

Kurama couldn't help but smile at his adorable reaction.

“Hey there, Tsuna! Looks like you’ve adapted fairly well these past few days?”

Kurama greeted Tsuna with a bright, smiling face, and in just a few seconds, he’d already observed the changes in Tsuna’s body.

Since he had to frequently enter and maintain the Dying Will State, Tsuna was currently wearing nothing but a pair of slightly oversized underwear. Through the exposed skin, Kurama could clearly sense the powerful strength now contained within that seemingly frail body—an utterly different power from just a few days ago.

—It seems Reborn really has an exceptional talent for training his students.

Thinking this, Kurama cast his gaze toward the demonic infant standing calmly at Tsuna’s side.

Sensing his gaze, Reborn glanced at him briefly but said nothing more.

He turned slightly, beginning to explain to Tsuna why Kurama and Basil were here.

“I called them to help,” the infant said coolly. “The second stage is free combat. Your opponent is Basil. The reason will become clear to you later. For now, just focus on defeating him with all your strength.”

With that, the dark-haired infant stepped aside, preparing to give the field to Tsuna and Basil for their match. At the same time, Basil took out a Dying Will Pill, ready to swallow it.

But just then, Tsuna shouted out:

“Wait, wait, wait! Reborn! Hold on a second!”

“What now? You do realize time is precious, don’t you? We can’t afford to waste even a minute,” Reborn said impatiently, turning his head, his dark gaze fiercely locking onto Tsuna.

The future boss shuddered under his stare, but since it concerned his friend, mustered his courage and pressed on:

“If you’re saying I only need to defeat Basil, then why did you bring Kurama here? He’s just...”

Tsuna wanted to say, “He’s just an ordinary person, not a member of my family, so don’t drag unrelated people into this!” But remembering Kurama’s identity as a demon fox, the brown-haired boy found himself unable to say it aloud.

“Kurama is just my friend. There’s no need to get him involved too!”

—In the end, his face flushed, and he blurted this out loudly.

Reborn glanced at him coolly.

“There are other matters later where I’ll need Kurama’s help. Just focus on your training for now. Once you finish the second stage, you’ll know why he’s here.”

Tsuna frowned in distress.

Kurama, seeing this, smiled gently and took the initiative to walk over and pat Tsuna’s shoulder. “Tsuna, don’t worry about me. I know what I’m doing. Reborn is right—I’m here to help.”

Seeing Tsuna about to protest again, Kurama pressed a finger to his lips.

“Shh. I know what you want to say, but as you said before, we’re friends, aren’t we? I’ve already heard everything from Reborn. This will be a very dangerous experience for you, won’t it? In that case, do you think I could just stand by and do nothing?”

“So,” the fox spirit concluded with a gentle, smiling expression, “don’t say anything silly about being dragged in. I just don’t want to see my friend get hurt, so I came to help.”

Tsuna, face red, fell silent.

Seeing this, Reborn gave a cold snort. Taking advantage of Tsuna’s flustered state, he silently fired a Dying Will Bullet!

At the same time, Basil, having already swallowed the Dying Will Pill and entered Hyper Dying Will Mode, dashed swiftly toward Tsuna to attack.

Kurama leisurely took two steps back.

His movements were slight but carried an indescribable rhythm. He seemed to retreat only a couple of steps, yet in the blink of an eye, he was already outside the battlefield, only a few paces from Reborn.

“You’re really impatient, Reborn,” the fox spirit teased with a smile. “Is a few minutes really so precious? Can’t you let me finish my words with Tsuna?”

Reborn didn’t even look at him, focusing all his attention on the clash between Tsuna and Basil.

“I told you, we can’t afford to waste time,” he said in a businesslike tone.

Kurama shrugged.

“Why do I get the feeling someone’s jealous? What do you think, Mokona?”

He reached out, picked up the little white ball from his shoulder, and fondly squeezed it in his palm.

Mokona giggled, letting Kurama roll and squish him.

“Mokona thinks so too! Reborn is never honest!”

With that, he turned to provoke Reborn: “Reborn, you care about Tsuna so much—”

“...Shut up.”

Facing his “best buddy,” even if Reborn was furious, there was nothing excessive he could do; he could only pull his hat brim down and, for once, responded irritably.

Kurama almost burst out laughing.

The demonic infant actually got a taste of his own medicine! Nothing could be more delightful for the spectators.

My Mokona really is amazing!

Kurama thought with satisfaction.

But soon, he could no longer smile.

Because the battle between Tsuna and Basil was so brutal it was hard to watch.

—Calling it a fight was generous; to Kurama, it was a one-sided beating. Tsuna barely managed to touch Basil, being sent flying again and again with ease!

It looked painful—painful enough that, even in Dying Will Mode, Tsuna...

Kurama shook his head with a wry smile, quickly casting out these untimely thoughts and emotions from his mind.

He’d seen this kind of training plenty of times before, especially with Yusuke. Compared to Tsuna—this soft, gentle little bunny—Yusuke was absolutely ruthless with himself, never holding back. The suffering he endured was far worse than what Tsuna faced now, but Kurama had only ever felt sorry for Tsuna.

Perhaps it was because Tsuna really was too gentle.

This soft, adorable boy evoked in Kurama a sense of regret and frustration—he had only just gained a little brother, yet, due to this bizarre twist of fate, could not be by his side to fulfill his duties. That lingering sense of loss seemed to find a new home in Tsuna.

That, perhaps, was why someone like Kurama—who rarely let emotions override reason—so easily accepted and became close to Tsuna.

But Kurama also knew that what Tsuna needed now was not his pity or softness.

—No one can protect another forever. The only way to truly help is like Reborn, by letting Tsuna gain true strength himself.

Casting a complicated sidelong glance at the black-haired infant beside him, Kurama simply closed his eyes, not wanting to see any more.

Fortunately, Tsuna had a solid foundation, so the second stage of training didn’t last long.

When Kurama saw Tsuna finally defeat Basil, he let out a small sigh of relief, but quickly composed himself and followed Reborn over to stand before Tsuna, who was lying flat on his back.

It was clear Tsuna had truly given his all; after achieving victory, he slipped into a deep sleep, unlikely to wake for some time.

But, “That’s perfect,” Kurama said, producing a seed from who-knows-where.

“Are you ready?” he asked, turning to Reborn.

The black-haired infant nodded solemnly.

“Then I’ll begin.”

Kurama closed his hand around the seed, and, channeling his demonic energy, it began to grow rapidly.

The plant that formed looked very strange—like a tree yet not a tree, like a vine yet not a vine. Countless verdant tendrils hung from its crown, while its trunk was marked with unusual patterns. Kurama stroked its branches, and the plant responded with a delighted caress.

Kurama’s expression softened considerably.

“Reborn?” he confirmed one last time.

“Go ahead,” replied the infant, his tone still utterly calm.

Kurama said no more. He gently patted the plant’s trunk, and as if understanding his intention, it sent out two tendrils, winding themselves around both Reborn and Tsuna.

Basil, already awake, watched with a mixture of curiosity and nervousness.

Kurama didn’t explain, merely stroked the plant as if praising it.

“From here on... it’s up to Reborn,” he murmured.

The plant Kurama summoned was called Heartlock. Originally, it was used to forcibly invade an enemy’s mind and extract their memories.

—In essence, it was a formidable tool for interrogation and intelligence gathering.

It was one of the few plants Kurama rarely used, partly because he disliked knowing exactly what others were thinking.

Now, however, he summoned it to link the spiritual worlds of Reborn and Tsuna together—not to invade or extract memories, but for another purpose.

Reborn and Kurama’s plan was to make use of the difference in the flow of time between the real world and the spiritual realm, giving Tsuna more time to master his ultimate technique—the Zero Point Breakthrough of the Dying Will.

Strictly speaking, this was no longer part of the second stage of training, but should be considered the third. However, as Reborn insisted, training is best done as swiftly as possible. With only ten days, they couldn’t afford to finish their plans too slowly.

By linking their minds through Heartlock, Tsuna could continue learning the Zero Point Breakthrough under Reborn’s guidance in the spiritual world, even while his body recovered through sleep. Of course, this was no substitute for hands-on practice in reality, but the most difficult part of any skill is understanding its principles.

If Tsuna had more time to grasp the fundamentals, he would find it easier to succeed once he awoke and began practicing for real.

In short, with his remaining strength, this was all Kurama could do. Otherwise, Heartlock could have created powerful illusions while linking minds, making people believe they were truly in the real world. Training under such conditions could yield results not much worse than reality itself. But now... Kurama had lost most of his power.

So, all he could do was to give Tsuna as much extra time as possible to understand the technique.

Still, according to Reborn, even this was far better than they had originally hoped. The time left to them was truly scarce.

Kurama pressed his lips together silently and looked up at the clear, endless blue sky—

It seemed that everything was about to change tonight.

As he absentmindedly recalled the story, Mokona suddenly jumped into his arms.

“Kurama!” he whispered.

“What is it?” Kurama rubbed his face against him. “Got bored?”

“No!” Mokona’s voice dropped lower. “Mokona just found something Yuko might be interested in!”

“...Eh?”

Author’s note: Happy Dragon Boat Festival, everyone! *pounces and smooches you all one by one* Did you eat zongzi today? What flavor did you have? I just got up and plan to eat some after I finish updating—jujube, pork, and salted egg yolk zongzi! Here I come~(≧▽≦)/~ [Just ignore my foodie rambling _(:3∠)_ ]

Also, Reborn is so untruthful! He really does care about Tsuna but always insists on tough love. See, I let his best buddy Mokona ruthlessly expose him! Teasing the demon king feels so good I can’t help myself! [r-Demon King (sinister face): So you did it on purpose...]

…Ahem! Anyway, with Kurama involved, I’m sure Tsuna’s special training will yield new results! The coming Ring Battle will be even more exciting, don’t you think? [Quickly runs away]

The bonus image for this chapter is a festive zongzi—wait, you’re saying you’re not a zongzi, you’re a panda? Hahaha, no wonder this zongzi has ears... [Stop being silly now ==+ ]

As always, a preview of the next chapter: Encounter! What is the second thing Mokona senses, and will Kurama succeed in obtaining it this time? After finishing the second stage of special training, Tsuna barely has time to catch his breath before he’s forced to confront the early arrival of the Varia...?

Stay tuned for the next chapter of The Fox Spirit Kurama: Encounter!

PS: Thanks to Piggy for the landmine! I’ll squish your piggy ears =w=