Chapter 146: No Screen Time

Tsuna heard the familiar ding of a mission completion. But he dismissed it for now as the battleship shook violently. It seemed the ship had lost all its functions after its master's defeat, and it was slowly descending toward the ruined city below.

He watched as Saitama went somewhere, his gaze followed before falling on Boros' dying form. The alien king's upper body was barely intact, yet his eye still flickered with life.

Tsuna could hear Saitama's voice in the distance, "You're still conscious after all that? As expected, you're strong..."

"The prophecy... held true," Boros muttered, his voice weak and fading. The vibrant energy in his tone was gone, replaced with the cold realization of death creeping closer. "The battle... was hard fought."

Saitama glanced back as Tsuna approached, replying calmly, "Yeah, it sure was. You even made me ask for help."

Tsuna looked down at Boros, now silent. There wasn't much emotion in him for the alien king. Boros had slaughtered many, but Tsuna—someone who had seen far worse, the Second Coming of Baba Yaga—only cared about his own interests.

"...You lied," Boros croaked, forcing out his last words. "You had strength to spare. You could have killed me at any moment, without needing that cook's help. I... never stood a chance."

Boros continued, "It wasn't even a battle."

Tsuna glanced at Saitama's face. He could see it—Saitama had been hoping for a real fight. The only reason he had held back and helped with the core was because he knew from the start that Boros didn't stand a chance.

That's why he the chose the food over the usual boring fight,' Tsuna thought.

"So much for the prophecies... You were too strong, Saitama..."

Tsuna watched as Boros spoke his final words. The alien pirate king's energy faded completely. He had passed away, satisfied to have fought at full strength, yet disappointed that he couldn't give his opponent the same excitement he felt.

There was a long silence.

Saitama stared up at the now clear sky, a result of their earlier battle. He was uncharacteristically quiet.

"Saitama..." Tsuna sighed, walking over and patting his shoulder.

Saitama's gaze stayed on the sky for a moment longer as the battleship continued to descend. When he finally looked at Tsuna, he saw the cook standing on his metal hoverboard, ready to leave.

Saitama met his eyes and asked, "What is it, Tsuna?"

"No need to be so down. It's not like you," Tsuna said, a smirk tugging at his lips. "Come on, cheer up a little. I'll cook you something good today..."

Saitama felt a bit of warmth in his chest as he smiled. But that quickly faded when Tsuna added, "Oh, and don't worry—I know a great place for hair transplants."

"Aw, fuck off..." Saitama muttered under his breath.

He should've expected something like that from Tsuna. He watched as Tsuna hovered higher into the air, getting smaller and smaller, then blinked, realizing something.

"Wait, where's my ride?"

"Your ride?"

Tsuna grinned, looking down at Saitama growing tinier in the distance. He raised his middle finger and yelled, "Get lost!"

"Tsuna, you motherfucker!!"

Saitama's face twisted with rage.

He was ready to leap up and give Tsuna a good smack, but before he could, the battleship crashed to the ground. The whole structure trembled, and Saitama's footing gave way.

He got sucked into the wreckage, roaring, "Just you wait, you little bastard!"

Above, Tsuna chuckled, watching the chaos below as the battleship hit the earth with a deafening thud, sending thick smoke billowing into the sky.

"Now, let's get down..." Tsuna muttered as he hovered on a floating piece of metal, his eyes scanning the wreckage below. He held the metal ball tightly in his hand—it was the key ingredient for his mission.

At first, he didn't quite understand how it could help. But after seeing Boros' insane regenerative ability, it started to make sense. Tsuna started to thing that maybe it could stop Korosensei from exploding and destroying the Earth.

And if it could do that...

Tsuna whispered to himself, "Maybe I could use it too, to break my own limit..." 

On the ground below, Metal Bat whistled as he looked up at the battleship, now a massive ruin pinned to the earth.

"Whoa... it's down," he wondered aloud,"Is it because of that kid?"

"Could be," Superalloy Darkshine replied, squatting down with a chunk of rubble in his hands, using it for his workout. He took a deep breath as he added, "He's the only one up there."

Atomic Samurai, after placing his unconscious disciple on the ground, chimed in, "Looks like he's that strong, huh?"

Bang sighed, crossing his arms.

"He'd be even stronger if he learned my martial arts," he muttered, clearly regretful that such a talent hadn't received proper training.

Atomic Samurai's eyes narrowed, a competitive smirk tugging at his lips. "You mean my sword techniques would do better."

The two old masters were about to launch into a full-blown argument when a loud whistling sound cut through the air. They turned just in time to see a large cylindrical capsule hurtling toward them.

It slammed into the ground and opened up, revealing a sleek robot inside.

Genos, who had been approaching from the outskirts of the city, furrowed his brows as he saw the arrival, "Metal Knight? You skipped the meeting and only show up now?"

The robot completely ignored him, its sensors scanning the massive fallen battleship.

"Magnificent," Metal Knight murmured, its mechanical voice filled with awe as it took in the wreckage that spanned the horizon.

As Genos confronted Metal Knight, trying to gauge his intentions, Superalloy suddenly paused mid-squat. A realization hit him hard. "Wait... we forgot Puri-Puri Prisoner! He's still under the wreckage!"

"..."

Silence.

Everyone froze as they realized they had completely forgotten about the gay prisoner, who was likely still trapped beneath the debris. Genos winced as he recalled what had happened with the Deep Sea King.

He muttered under his breath, "He's gonna end up in a hospital bed again..."

"Whoa, looks like everyone's alright!"

A voice called out. They all turned to see Tsuna slowly floating down. The metal slab he had been standing on shifted and morphed into a pair of chopsticks, which he casually tucked into his pocket.

Everyone's faces lit up at the sight of him. They were about to greet him when a cold, disapproving voice cut through the air, "What the fuck are you. doing, S-Class Hero, Tsunayoshi Ito?"

'It's not telekinesis...' Tsuna was a bit speechless as he turned to see the newcomer.

"Huh? Who the hell said that?"

Metal Bat growled, his brows furrowing as he turned toward the voice. It belonged to a blue-haired man in a perfectly tailored suit, clearly out of breath.

Metal Bat scowled, "The hell's your problem? And why the hell are you so out of breath? You didn't even fight the alien."

"That's right," Superalloy added, shaking his head in disbelief. "You barely did anything, yet you're the one complaining."

Metal Knight's robot ignored the commotion entirely, already heading toward the fallen battleship for inspection. Genos noticed but filed it away for later, his attention now on the blue-haired man—Sweet Mask.

Sweet Mask seemed irritated as he retorted sharply, "I didn't fight because I was thrown halfway across the neighboring city, you idiot! I had to run all the way back here..."

"And by the time I arrived, the damn ship was already destroyed."

The A-rank hero glared at Tsuna in anger. Seeing Tsuna amused by his outburst only made him angrier, "And you! You brought that thing down? If you could do that, you should be ashamed of yourself for letting things get this bad in the first place."

He wasn't done. "You ever hear the saying? 'With great power comes great responsibility.' If you could've stopped that alien from the start, we wouldn't have been this desperate—"

"There you are!"

A high-pitched, familiar voice echoed through the chaos. Normally, it was irritating, but for once, everyone felt relieved. The interruption saved them from the A-rank hero's yap.

Tsuna turned to see a small figure floating toward them, her green hair fluttering as she pouted. It was Tatsumaki.

"You bastard," Tatsumaki huffed, her voice dripping with irritation. "I was waiting right below the ship for you, and you're already here? You ungrateful—"

"Why were you waiting for me?" Tsuna interrupted casually, his tone cool. "You're not my dog."

Tatsumaki's face turned crimson with anger. "How annoying! You told me—"

"Shut up!"

Sweet Mask, unable to take any more interruptions, snapped. He glared at Tatsumaki, fury written all over his face. He hadn't forgotten that she was the one responsible for flinging him across the city earlier. "If it wasn't for you—"

But before he could finish his sentence, Sweet Mask suddenly turned green.

"Who's this annoying mosquito?"

Tatsumaki barely glanced at him before sending him flying yet again. Everyone watched in stunned silence as Sweet Mask screamed profanity, his voice growing fainter as he vanished into the distance.

Their eyes followed his trajectory, and in unison, they all thought the same thing, "So she's the one who threw him the first time..."

It seemed that Sweet Mask wasn't destined for more screen time. Not this chapter. Maybe not even in the entire series.

---

Well, shit. It was indeed hemorrhoids.

I had a similar issue back then, but it was minor, and medication was enough. After going back and forth to the toilet all day and not being able to go, I tried to force it out—and that revived an entirely new beast.

I'm not planning on getting surgery soon. Shit was painful, it was intense—not just painful but really painful, and it lasts. I heard you'd be hurting for a whole month after surgery, too.

I can't deal with that here in Bali; it'd ruin my whole stay. Maybe once I'm back home, I'll consider the surgery option.

So, yeah, I'll be dealing with some bleeding for a while. My head's totally lightheaded from the blood loss. I thought it wouldn't affect me since I've been eating "healthy," but I guess it messed me up completely.