I am the protagonist

"So, this is our last game in this world. Maybe we could have sat down and had a good talk ten years from now."

"...Sigh~ It's still possible to go back to ten years ago."

"Then we'll see how you help that child rediscover his soul. I'll handle the rest."

"It really is that child..."

Chapter 82 The sudden change left Irie bewildered.

"Then the game will be held in two weeks, the location will be decided by us, and the game content will be selected as [Choose]."

"Alright, let's use that game as the prelude to our game."

"wait wait wait!"

Irie, who had been keeping quiet all along, couldn't hold back any longer.

"Mr. Bai Lan, why have you been watching from the side the whole time? Hasn't the base's communications been jammed?"

"Xiao Zheng, do you really think I don't know what you've been doing?"

Bai Lan genuinely wanted to laugh at that moment.

"Only you think you're keeping your actions a secret, and only you think you can keep things from me and keep doing things that make me unhappy."

Irie's expression gradually turned ugly.

Does this mean Mr. Bai Lan knew what I was doing from the very beginning?

【how so? 】

Irie was certain that he had never once shown his rebellious attitude on his face, so when exactly did Byakuran become aware of his betrayal?

"Mr. Bai Lan, when exactly did you find out?"

"Of course, we'll start from the very beginning."

Bai Lan gradually became lost in memories of the past.

“When we first met, I already knew that Xiao Zheng would betray me one day, but I didn’t want to say it. Instead, I wanted to see if Xiao Zheng would betray me as I thought.”

"I really didn't expect... that you are exactly as I imagined."

Bai Lan was really in a bad mood for a while because of this.

After all, Xiao Zheng was one of the few friends he could trust, but this one friend had betrayed him.

Even if I know I'm wrong, I still hope Xiaozheng can support me.

A bitter expression appeared on Bai Lan's face.

[As I knew, I hadn't misjudged him at all. Xiao Zheng is just as I imagined; he's the same as everyone else.]

But only this time was the bitterness replaced by other flavors.

Sawada Tsunayoshi...

As expected, you're the only one who's extraordinary.

There was no bewildered look in their eyes, no dodging or avoidance, no pity whatsoever, but rather an aura of kinship.

As expected, you are the only one like me.

As expected, only you are worthy to stand before me.

"Why, how could this happen..."

Irie never expected that all her schemes were being carried out right under Byakuran's nose.

"See you in two weeks."

"Ah, see you in two weeks."

The screen lost its light.

"Gokudera, Yamamoto, Sasagawa, how do you feel about this operation?"

"The gains were enormous."

Gokudera recalled the lessons he had learned from the battle with the Phantom Knight.

"Warlocks are indeed the most difficult to deal with among all of them. If the Phantom Knight were to unleash his full power, we would still be no match for him."

If the Phantom Knights hadn't been restricted from using their full strength this time, they wouldn't have been able to fight them for so long and gain a lot of combat experience from the battle.

"It's good to have this understanding, but even for the Phantom Knight, defeating one of you won't be an easy task."

If it's a life-or-death struggle, then you can't compare things in a normal way.

The reason why the Phantom Knight is stronger than Gokudera and the others is because the Phantom Knight has rich combat experience. The combat experience accumulated over time cannot be compared with that of Gokudera and the others who have only trained for a few days.

However, in a life-or-death struggle, it is not an easy task for the Phantom Knight to easily kill Gokudera and his companions.

"For you, surpassing the Phantom Knight is now your goal."

"Don't think about anything else, just focus on surpassing the goal at hand."

"Yes!"

Gokudera has already figured this out very well.

The reason we can't catch up now is because that gap still exists.

The gap is now visible to the naked eye, so next time we won't be so embarrassed when facing the Phantom Knight.

Gokudera still had images of the battles between Phantom Knight and Sasagawa, as well as between Phantom Knight and Yamamoto, in his mind. He just needed to study Phantom Knight's fighting style and tactics, and he would be able to face Phantom Knight more easily next time.

"Tsuna, is it alright that Chrome hasn't fought before?"

Tsuna chuckled and shook his head.

"Chrome has already participated in the battle. The moment you met her, your five senses were already controlled by her, and the fact that you haven't realized it yet is a testament to her power."

[We were under an illusion from the very beginning!?]

The three of them stared blankly at the seemingly harmless Chrome.

"Don't be surprised. Even the Phantom Knight fell for it without realizing it. He seemed even more surprised than you were just now."

[Even the Phantom Knight has fallen victim!?]

[That illusion knight who's skilled in illusion magic!?]

They fell for it because they don't have much resistance to illusions.

However, if even the Phantom Knights, who have a strong grasp of illusion magic, fell for Chrome's illusion magic, then they would have to acknowledge Chrome's strength.

"Wow, Chrome is amazing!"

Yamamoto looked at Chrome in surprise, though his face betrayed his astonishment.

"This was only possible with the Boss's help."

Chrome doesn't believe this is something she's capable of doing. If it weren't for Boss helping her train and guiding her in the direction of illusion magic, she probably wouldn't be able to do this yet.

"If it weren't for the Boss's guidance, I wouldn't have been able to hone my illusion skills to this extent."

That adoration was evident in the light shining in Chrome's eyes.

"Let's leave that issue aside for now."

These days, Tsunayoshi has gradually gotten used to Chrome's gaze.

“Irie, you shouldn’t just stand there motionless.”

"Ah...ah, sorry."

Irie shook his head, trying his best to calm himself down.

Regardless of whether Mr. Bai Lan had already noticed his actions.

Regardless of whether Mr. Bai Lan already knew about what he had done, there is still a lot to be done.

"The current situation is slightly beyond my expectations."

Not only has Mr. Bai Lan's situation exceeded my expectations, but even the current developments have surpassed my predictions.

Because he had already chosen the path of betrayal, Irie had made many preparations for this path.

Predictions regarding Mr. Byakuran's victory, the parallel world scenario, and the possibility of defeating Mr. Byakuran in this timeline.

Irie had already done these things long ago.

However, Irie did not make the prediction ten years ago that Tsunayoshi would become super strong.

It wasn't just Tsuna who got stronger.

[Gokudera, Yamamoto, Sasagawa, and even Chrome have all become stronger.]

Irie was really confused about the current situation.

But think about it carefully.

"...Yes, this should be a good thing."

As long as we can defeat Mr. Byakuran of this era and end his rule over the future, that's a good thing.

Chapter 83 White Gesso's Eternal Game

Although the current situation has far exceeded their initial predictions, such changes are not necessarily a bad thing.

After all, Mr. Byakuran had already discovered my undercover identity from the very beginning.

I am the least qualified person to say these things.

Irie always thought he had hidden himself well enough, but now it seems that his self-concealment was a joke.

[Tsunayoshi of this era thinks more deeply.]

The current situation has exceeded his expectations, but it hasn't reached the worst point yet.

He made his guesses without Mr. Bai Lan's knowledge, and even took a series of actions.

However, Tsunayoshi of this era uses Byakuran's discovery of his identity to predict the future.

"Mr. Bai Lan knew my identity from the very beginning, which was beyond my expectations. This rendered many of my previous preparations useless."

"However, Tsunayoshi of this era has already made the only preparation."

"Initially I thought we wouldn't need them, but I didn't expect to need them so soon."

This is the fundamental reason why Irie believes that only this era can defeat Mr. Byakuran.

It was precisely because of this thing that Irie understood that only this era could defeat Mr. Byakuran.

"This is a miracle belonging to the Vongola, and it is a special box weapon that only this space has created among all the parallel universes."

Irie placed her hand on the wall, and a door opened in the laboratory wall, revealing a miracle unique to this era.

The Vongola Box!

"This is a miracle that only exists in this world, created by Tsunayoshi of this era using all of the Vongola's technologies."

"Because it was specifically designed for the Vongola, this weapon is also the most suitable for the Vongola."

"This is also the strongest weapon left behind by Tsunayoshi of this era."

Although Mr. Byakuran saw through me, at this point in time, it doesn't really matter.

[Gokudera and his group have gained even greater power; perhaps this is the best outcome.]

Seven boxes, each enveloped in different flames, flew out from the inside of the wall.

"I have done a lot in this era."

Tsuna took the large empty box that was floating in the air.

The moment the fingers touched the box, it began to shake incessantly, as if in anticipation.

Are you looking forward to it?

"But now is not the time for you to come out. Be quiet for a while."

The box, which had been shaking violently, immediately stopped shaking.

"Gokudera, Yamamoto, Sasagawa, Chrome, you should also put your boxes away."

"Gokudera, you hold Lambo and Hibari's boxes."