I am the protagonist

Sasagawa himself never expected that he would date Kyoko's friend.

What should I do?!

Just thinking about things ten years from now, Sasakawa doesn't even know how to face the people from ten years ago anymore.

[Should I go see that girl when I get back?]

But, in what capacity should I approach her?

"Ugh! This is an absolute headache!"

Sasagawa, clutching his head, rushed out of the kitchen.

"Brother, what's wrong with him?"

Kyoko, who was unaware of the situation, was a little confused about what was going on with her brother.

"I think the guy with the lawn must be thinking about how he won't be able to face that girl from ten years ago in the future, which is why he's acting like this."

It's understandable that they were startled.

After all, knowing what kind of future one will have ten years from now is unsettling for anyone.

Of course, Sasakawa's anxiety wasn't the main issue; he was probably just unable to face the girl's nervousness and shyness.

"...Ah, I was quite surprised when my brother first introduced me to my future sister-in-law. I never expected that my future sister-in-law would be my classmate and my best friend from junior high school."

Looking back now, the atmosphere was incredibly awkward. Kyoko never imagined that her brother would date her friend.

"Suddenly, my former best friend became my sister-in-law. I was so embarrassed that I didn't know whether to call her Xiaohua or sister-in-law."

"Sister-in-law... Miss Kyoko, isn't she my girlfriend? Why are you called sister-in-law?"

Gokudera immediately noticed the inappropriateness of the way he addressed him.

"Huh? Didn't I mention that when my brother brought Xiaohua home for me to meet, it seemed like they had already decided to get married."

"Get married!?"

This news startled both Gokudera and Yamamoto.

Previously, they thought that Sasakawa would at most have a girlfriend ten years later, but unexpectedly, Sasakawa didn't find a girlfriend, but a marriage partner.

"If Sasagawa-senpai knew that Kurokawa was his fiancée, I think Sasagawa-senpai would be even more shocked."

"It's not just big, that lawn-headed guy will probably be too excited to leave today."

Chapter Sixty-Six: The Surprise Attack at Dawn

Around three in the morning, Tsuna sat up in bed.

"It's begun."

Even inside the base, Tsunayoshi could sense that a force of several hundred men was approaching the vicinity of the base.

Tsuna wasn't in a hurry after realizing this. He simply put on his clothes and coat and left the room.

"The lark has already gone out to greet the guests; it seems this is an entertainment activity they had planned in advance."

Tsunayoshi wasn't stupid; he could naturally see through such an obvious tactic.

"Several hundred well-trained troops, no, nearly a thousand. Do we still need to retain about 20% of them at the base? Have about 80% of them been assigned to missions?"

"It seems our spies are quite special, as they've mobilized 80% of our troops for this surprise attack."

The enemy has deployed almost all their personnel in this operation, all to ensure its complete success.

If those people knew that the person above them was a Vongola spy, I wonder if they would die with their eyes wide open in disbelief.

Ah, they'll never know this even if they die.

Tsuna chuckled and headed straight for the rooms of the guardians.

"Knock knock knock!"

"Boss."

Chrome was already fully prepared and waiting in the room to take action.

"Have you rested?"

"Yes, I took a nap after dinner."

Tsuna observed Chrome's condition and then nodded.

"Chrome, go and wake up Reborn and Johnny II. The people outside have arrived, and Hibari has gone to greet them."

"I see."

Chrome's eyes narrowed instantly, and he immediately understood the situation. He then went to inform the two people.

Tsuna continued knocking on the Guardians' doors.

"Knock knock knock!"

Gokudera opened the door quickly.

"Is the Tenth Boss about to take action?"

"Ah, Hibari has already gone to prepare to welcome the guests, and we need to get started quickly as well."

"Tenth Generation, I'll go wake up the lawn-headed guy and the baseball idiot."

"Ah."

Tsuna noticed the change in Gokudera; he was no longer as boisterous as before, but had begun to become reliable.

"You only need to calm down when you're angry; anger is the reason you need to calm down."

"I was originally going to tell you these things, but now it seems I was overthinking it."

"Judaime."

Gokudera took a deep breath and firmly memorized these words.

"If you're a man, don't cry."

"But there are some things you must remember: among the six guardians, there is also a commander."

"Yamamoto is a natural type, Sasagawa is too impulsive, Hibari is both strong and intelligent, but he acts independently, Lambo is still a child, and Chrome... that child is actually too dependent on me."

"What they need is someone with a broad perspective to lead them, and the person they can trust must surpass them in both ability and intellect."

"What they can't do, only you can do."

"So, hone your mind and skills, and become someone they can trust."

Gokudera heard the Tenth Boss say the same words again, but this time the content was even more direct than before.

Is that really how it is?

The Tenth Boss really wants me to be his right-hand man.

Perhaps it wasn't clear enough before, but this time it was different; this time Gokudera heard it clearly enough.

"You don't need to answer me. Just do these things yourself."

"When your abilities are trusted, they will naturally act in your way, rather than having an identity forcibly given to you by me."

When Gokudera turned around, the Tenth Boss was already far away.

I was truly pathetic in the past.

The Tenth Generation Boss actually understood everything, but he had never said it aloud in the past.

A position earned through one's own efforts is more valuable than one bestowed upon one by others.

At this moment, Gokudera still hoped that his position was bestowed upon him personally by the Tenth Boss, as that was what he truly desired.

Strong skills, a calm mind, and a clear overall perspective—these are what I need right now.

Gokudera knew that these were not his own inherent traits, but they were the traits he needed to become the Tenth Boss's right-hand man.

Keep trying!

I still have time for the Tenth Boss to see my abilities.

Gokudera is very much looking forward to his future.

However, it is precisely because of this that Gokudera understands even more clearly that this operation requires a resounding success, not a failure.

[If I haven't achieved this despite the Vongola spies and your efforts here, then it can only be said that my abilities are not yet sufficient to become the Tenth Boss's right-hand man.]

Gokudera was now fully committed to his mission.

Even though he had managed to control his temper, Gokudera had never once controlled his desires.

Become the Tenth Boss's right-hand man!

This is his wish, his desire, and also the greatest driving force behind all his actions and efforts.

The others were also called up and gathered in the conference room. Everyone saw a large number of Milfiore soldiers appear on the surveillance cameras near the base.

"Nearly a thousand Milfiore soldiers have gathered here, which is 80% of the entire Milfiore base. There are no elite soldiers among them, so these soldiers will be placed under Hibari's command."

"Milfiore's base now only has 20% of its original strength, including the elites, left. They are no longer a threat to us."

Tsuna briefly described the current situation.

"The next step will proceed as previously agreed. Gokudera, Sasagawa, and Yamamoto will follow the planned route together, with Gokudera leading the team."

"Krom and I entered the Milfiore base in another way."

"The objective of the operation is simple: to annihilate everyone at the Milfiore base."

"Act according to the instructions of our Vongola spies."

The operation plan to infiltrate Milfiore was actually quite simple; with an inside agent providing cover, it would be easy to achieve the initial objective.

"Tsuna, who exactly is our spy?"

Yamamoto still doesn't know who the Vongola spy is.

"...Baseball idiot, the person who could have orchestrated this operation is none other than a spy for the Vongola."

Gokudera had already guessed the identity of the spy hidden in Milfiore, and he personally believed that the Tenth Boss had warned him many times.

"They even gave us the route to invade, sent us a map of the base, and even arranged this surprise attack. We, the Vongola, only have one spy."

"Irie Shoichi."

"That technician who has no power is actually a spy for the Vongola."

Chapter Sixty-Seven: The Three Were Prepared to Get Their Hands Stained with Blood

The two sides split up and began their operations.

Gokudera led Yamamoto and Sasagawa to the previously planned route. Their main objective now was to completely disable the surveillance system of the Milfiore underground base.

"Gokudera, is Irie Shoichi really our spy?"

"Yes, although I had some doubts at first, all the circumstances indicate that this spy is Irie Shoichi."

Initially, Gokudera didn't believe that someone in charge of the Milfiore base could be a Vongola spy, but given the many supporting factors, he had no choice but to believe it.

“Milfiore’s power is now extremely strong, encompassing almost the entire world. Even if there are spies within the organization, they would never be at such a high level.”

“Normally, that should be the case, but the intelligence transmitted from over there is all key information from inside the base, information that even the insiders don’t know.”

"It's practically unrealistic to expect to obtain this kind of information under normal circumstances."

Gokudera knew that Milfiore had a very strict hierarchical system, and that as long as Byakuran Gesso was present, it would be almost impossible for the organization to disintegrate from within.

Under such circumstances, a normal spy would have been identified long ago, so Gokudera initially did not consider Irie Shoichi as a suspect.

However, as Gokudera obtained more and more classified information, he began to feel increasingly uneasy.

"There's too much classified information."

"The internal structure of the base is an absolute secret. Even we ourselves don't know the exact layout of the Vongola base, so how did the people who passed on the information to us know?"

Yamamoto and Sasagawa also understood why Gokudera was thinking this way.

"But even so, we can't be sure it's Irie Shoichi, can we?"

Gokudera nodded slightly.

"The intelligence we had before may not have been sufficient, but this surprise attack was more than enough."