Feeling the pressure of Tatsumaki's power lift off him, Tsuna twisted his body midair and landed with a solid thud.
The ground beneath him vibrated slightly as he looked at the thick cloud of smoke from the aftermath of the explosion, a sharp metallic scent hung in the air, slowly starting to fade.
Seeing the impact of those missiles, Tsuna knew Geryuganshoop couldn't have survived. It was nearly impossible. The ugly octopus had been hit directly by those missiles.
Tsuna turned to Tatsumaki, who was eyeing him curiously. As their eyes met, with a huff, she looked away as he said, "Well, thanks to you, I'm still in one piece."
"Hmph, of course," she replied sharply.
Tsuna chuckled softly at her reaction. He caught the faint curve of her lips, and noticed the slight flush on her cheeks. She reminded him of someone back in his world.
With a shake of his head, he muttered to himself, "Yeah, definitely the same type of tsundere."
"You brat! What the hell was that?!" a loud voice interrupted.
Tsuna turned to see Metal Bat, brushing dust off his clothes and glaring, his bat resting on his shoulder. "You sent me fucking crashing through the ground!"
"Calm down, Metal Bat. His muscles might not be as big as mine, but I'm sure Ito-kun aimed those missiles to hit that alien in the air," Superalloy said, casually flexing his muscles despite the chaos around him.
Tsuna blinked, a bit speechless that Superalloy still had the mood to be posing. His eyes flickered to the side as Bang and Atomic Samurai emerged from the wreckage, shaking off debris.
"Hahaha, S-Class Hero, Tsunayoshi Ito, you're surprisingly strong!"
Atomic Samurai called out, but Tsuna's attention was elsewhere. His eyes were on the samurai's disciple, cradled in his arms.
'He saved his disciple so quickly,' Tsuna thought. 'What a dedicated master.'
"We're all still fighting this alien together and haven't won yet, but you've already taken one down," Bang added with a smile.
The old martial artist glanced toward the thick smoke, where the silhouette of Melzargard was becoming clearer.
The alien's face twisted with shock, and Bang continued, "And judging by that look, the alien you killed must have been one of the stronger ones."
"Well, I barely survived," Tsuna chuckled, turning to face Melzargard.
His energy was nearly gone. His chi was almost completely drained, leaving just enough to keep him on his feet. His chakra was in better shape, but it made him feel like he had downed a few bottles of whiskey—the imbalance in energy made him nauseous and dizzy.
As he watched Melzargard, Tsuna suddenly felt a strange tingling sensation that made his eyes widen in surprise.
"Besides," he added, "it was thanks to Tatsumaki and those missiles she sent flying back to the alien ship. That's what let me take out that annoying alien."
Tatsumaki seemed pleased by his acknowledgment, though the others didn't pay her much attention.
"Uh, wait a minute," Metal Bat said, his brow furrowing, "where's that... uh, the prisoner guy?"
"Puri-Puri Prisoner?" Bang blinked, looking around.
The realization hit them all at once—Puri-Puri Prisoner was nowhere to be seen.
"Did he get blown too far away?"
"Hmm... let me see."
"Let you what? My muscles are bigger," Superalloy boomed.
Tsuna ignored Superalloy's remark and closed his eyes, getting into his seismic sense.
The ruined city filled his mind—crumbling buildings, scattered debris, and the survivors on the outskirts. Then he found him: Puri-Puri Prisoner, lying flat under a collapsed building. He was fine, just lying there as if he didn't want to get up. Tsuna chuckled to himself, realizing the prisoner was likely avoiding him.
Opening his eyes, Tsuna said, "He's fine."
"How did you even know that?" Metal Bat asked, sounding skeptical.
Before Tsuna could answer, a voice roared, "You puny apes dared to kill Geryuuganshoop!"
Heavy footsteps echoed as Tsuna turned to see Melzargard approaching, his face twisted with rage.
With a calm smile, Tsuna replied, "Why don't we handle this first?"
"Oh, right. I almost forgot about that," Metal Bat muttered, scratching his head. His expression quickly darkened with frustration as he pointed his bat at Melzargard. "Argh, so annoying! I gotta finish this quick or my little sister's gonna be mad! You gonna take responsibility for that, you bastard?!"
"Hmph, that ugly alien isn't worth my time," Tatsumaki scoffed, floating away into the distance without a second glance.
"Guys, he has a core inside his body. Destroy that, and he's done," Tsuna said, feeling the tingly sensation from his seismic sense again, he finally confirmed it was coming from within Melzargard.
"Y-You... How did you—?!"
Melzargard's furious face shifted to one of alarm. Bang smirked at the alien's reaction. "Looks like Ito-kun hit the mark."
If Tsuna could sense that core from so far away, it meant it was something he could manipulate with his bending. It was probably made of some kind of mineral, maybe metal. But right now, he was too exhausted to even move.
Shaking his head, he turned to Bang and said, "I'm going to rest for a bit."
"A little rest? Are you planning to fight again?" Bang asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Yeah, I need to check on what's happening up there first," Tsuna replied, glancing up at the battleship hovering above. He could feel the ship trembling slightly and narrowed his eyes.
'Is Saitama already fighting Boros?' he wondered.
"Well then, we should be finishing our part down here," Bang said, unsure of what Tsuna was planning but deciding he was too old to be curious about it.
The martial artist refocused on Melzargard, watching as Atomic Samurai approached Tsuna, who had sat down to meditate. The samurai gently placed his unconscious disciple beside the young S-Class hero and said, "Ito-kun, take care of my disciple for a while. I'll handle that bastard."
"I'm not sure I'm ready to fight again just yet, but I trust you guys to finish him off." Tsuna gave a nod.
Atomic Samurai gave him a firm nod before joining the others in facing Melzargard. Tsuna closed his eyes, focusing on recovering his chi. Melzargard was just one strike away from death, but Tsuna didn't have enough energy to land that blow. Tsuna's lips curled into a faint smile as he looked up at the sky, "I suppose Saitama won't be messing around too much. Not after I told him I want Boros' core."
"My people doubted the prophecy, but here I stand before you."
In the throne room of the battleship, Boros' footsteps echoed across the metallic floor as he approached the bald hero. Saitama looked at the alien pirate captain with a bored expression, but Boros continued, his voice growing louder, "Now, I'm certain. The prophecy is true! Come! Give meaning to my existence!"
"That's why I'm he—"
Before Boros could finish, Saitama had already grown impatient.
Without letting the alien pirate king complete his sentence, Saitama punched him, sending Boros flying across the room.
Boros crashed through the metallic floor, smashing into one of the pillars with a deafening impact.
"Are you stupid—oh, wait."
Saitama furrowed his brows, realizing what he'd just done. His tone quickly shifted to panic as he remembered Tsuna's instructions.
Tsuna had told him to bring the heart, which was supposed to be in Boros' chest. "Dammit, he should still be alive, right?"