I am the protagonist

"...I'm very angry."

“That’s right, no one can see these things without getting angry. Maybe we also have blood on our hands, but at least we won’t do things that cross the line.”

"But some families do this because of their interests and ambitions; they go even further than what is described in writing."

"This is the Vongola as it is now, a Vongola that has completely fallen."

The Vongola's most glorious moment was actually during the reign of the First King. After the First King was overthrown, the Vongola was essentially just a den of thieves. It was riddled with problems, completely lacking in order, and filled with ambitious scoundrels.

In Tsuna's view, the Vongola should have been destroyed long ago.

If it weren't for the fact that the Ninth Generation had already mitigated much of the Vongola's corruption, the Vongola would actually be far worse than Tsuna sees now. That's why Tsuna decided to reform it and completely change the Vongola.

Yan Zhen's eyes were filled with shock and anger.

"The Vongola are actually this despicable!"

Tsuna sighed helplessly.

"Once upon a time, the first Vongola was created to protect ordinary people who were bullied, but since the first Vongola was overthrown, it has completely degenerated. Each generation of Vongola Boss is actually chosen by D. Do you think someone chosen by a madman can be good?"

"Certainly not!"

Yan Zhen knew without even thinking that the person chosen by that kind of guy would definitely make things worse for the Vongola.

"Tsuna, doesn't that mean you'll end up cleaning up the mess?"

"...That's why I said from the beginning that I'm too lazy to inherit the Vongola. The current Vongola is like a stinking bus. I feel disgusted just sitting on it, and now they want me to be the driver. I almost threw up."

Tsuna's face clearly showed his disgust.

"But I don't want this stinking bus to keep running like this."

"I have now started overseeing the cleaning of the bus interior, but it's only just begun, and it will take some time before we see the results."

Yan Zhen was stunned for a moment, but then he understood.

"Starting now? Is the situation inside alright?"

"Heh~ Yan Zhen, you've misunderstood this point. The rule in our inner world is that the strong are respected. We may not be bound by ordinary laws, but we have our own rules, and I am now formulating the rules for the future inner world."

"Of course they had many opinions, but those who had opinions are now gone to meet God. As for those who had opinions, I will send them to a place where there will be no opinions; that will be their punishment."

Tsuna doesn't know the meaning of showing mercy in these situations. The Vongola's current condition requires drastic measures, otherwise the internal threats will be greater than the external threats.

"Yanzhen, we people in the Inner World may not have to abide by the laws of ordinary people, but we need to have a bottom line. We must abide by the most basic bottom line as human beings, and those who have become morally depraved, or even have no bottom line... can no longer be called human beings."

At this moment, Enma thought of the "Blood Flood Incident" and the past of their Simon family. He could understand what Tsuna was saying because he was also a beneficiary of those dirty deeds.

"I don't want to talk about the past anymore, but I absolutely cannot let things turn out like this in the future."

"So, Yanzhen, do you understand why I'm saying all this to you?"

The meaning behind these words has gradually become clear. Yan Zhen's eyes are no longer filled with laziness and confusion, but with enlightenment.

"It's about strength!"

This answer made Tsuna laugh.

"That's right!"

Chapter 289 The difference in strength at different stages is enormous

“We people in the inner world may have concepts of power, money, and status, but these concepts are not as important as one’s own strength.”

"Strength... is still very important after all."

Yan Zhen sighed. He hadn't really cared much about his strength before, believing it to be quite good. But this proxy war had presented many problems, and he realized his strength was actually far from sufficient.

"I used to think that my strength was enough."

"Your idea is really too idealistic. The world has no shortage of talented people. Being content with the present means stagnation, and that is the kind of thinking we should avoid the most."

"Even if we've climbed one mountain, we still aim for even higher ones, just like my guardians."

"By the way, just how strong are Gokudera and the others?"

In fact, Enma had been wanting to know the answer to this question ever since he saw Yamamoto's strength.

"This question... is actually not easy to answer, since some things can be hurtful if said out loud."

"No... the difference can be huge, right?"

"Hmm... I'll use Edheidi as a comparison point for you. The question remains: how strong is Edheidi?"

"powerful."

Yan Zhen might not be able to be certain about others, but Ed Heidi is definitely strong. Within his family, Ed Heidi is also one of the strongest individuals.

"If I compare Edheidi's strength to 1, then Yamamoto, Gokudera, and Sasakawa are all at the level of 100."

"Such a huge difference!?"

A hundred times better than Adebayo!

Such a gap was something Yan Zhen couldn't even imagine.

"That's how big the gap is. Although it may be hard for you to understand when I say it, once you reach the pinnacle of the power of the Death Flame, people who are not in the same field cannot comprehend just how terrifying people in this field are."

"After understanding both the positive and negative aspects of oneself and simultaneously merging them with oneself, the level of one's soul is incomparable to that of ordinary guardians. For example, one of my guardians is named Hibari Kyoya, whose strength is comparable to Edheidi's. Before, apart from Lambo, he was the weakest among my guardians."

Yan Zhen was starting to have trouble understanding what these words were saying.

"Tsuna, wait a minute."

"soul?"

What are "positive" and "negative"?

"Yes, you won't understand the meaning of this concept if you haven't encountered it before."

"The Earth Flame you are currently using is actually the form of your own soul. However, ordinary people cannot activate this ability through their own soul, which is why the Death Flame was born."

"Ordinary people cannot use the abilities of their own souls, but some people have discovered that the Death Flame can use abilities that cannot be used directly by one's own soul, thus creating various Death Flames with different characteristics."

These words gave Yan Zhen an even bigger headache.

"The power of the soul... wait, Tsuna, you're talking too fast, my head hurts right now."

The topic has now directly touched on an area that Yan Zhen has never thought about before. This area is really giving Yan Zhen a headache, especially since it sounds like it involves a very wide range of things.

"Tsuna, are you saying that the power of the Dying Will Flame actually originates from our souls?"

"Yes."

"But don't different death flames possess different inherent characteristics?"

"That's not how it works. Your understanding is wrong. The essence of the Dying Will Flame is to draw out the fluctuations within one's own body, and then use the ring's power to amplify those fluctuations. The manifestation of this is the Dying Will Flame."

"Then I must ask, where does this fluctuation come from?"

"Um, is it bloodline?"

"you are wrong."

From the beginning, Tsuna did not believe that his fluctuations were entirely due to inheritance from his bloodline; he believed that the soul was the biggest reason.

"Bloodline is only one part of inheritance; the real key lies in the inherent characteristics of the soul."

"Humans have been exploring and studying the soul since ancient times, but even now there is still no concrete conclusion about the soul. But from what I understand now, everyone's soul is different, just like fingerprints, almost everyone's soul is different."

"Different people carry different soul fluctuations, and these different fluctuations are categorized by us into the characteristics of the Death Flame."

"The reason there are seven characteristics may be because of the seven stones, or perhaps because of the seven deadly sins and the seven virtues. In any case, different souls contain different fluctuations, and these fluctuations are reflected in the Death Flame, which becomes the Death Flame with seven different characteristics."

"The seven different types of death flames are like the seven deadly sins and seven virtues, just like the sins and virtues that are inherent in the depths of the soul. The seven deadly sins and seven virtues that correspond to the soul are what I call the 'positive' and 'negative'."

"That means that our souls all carry different vibrations, and these different vibrations also have two different aspects: positive and negative."

Yan Zhen finally understood a little.

Even though he understood some of it, the complex content and explanations still gave him a headache.

The Death Flame is a perfectly good thing, but it involves the Seven Deadly Sins and the Seven Virtues. Just thinking about it gives me a headache. How did so much content come about?

"That's right. Everyone's soul has two sides, one positive and one negative, and these two different sides make up the different personalities of different people. In other words, you can actually see the personality of a person in their soul after they are born."

"Different souls will have different fluctuations, and different fluctuations represent different characteristics. The reaction on the Death Flame is the different shapes of the flame."

"Therefore, as long as you focus on training the Death Flame, you are actually making the shape of your soul clearer. Once you train the Death Flame to its limit, you will enter the state of both [positive] and [negative], which is a symbol of reaching the zero point of strength, and also a symbol of being able to further improve your strength."

This statement caught Yan Zhen's attention.

"So that means you've reached that stage too, Tsuna?"

"No, I've already passed that stage. Now I've merged [positive] and [negative]. After strengthening my soul, I can use its characteristics much more easily."

"By the way, Chrome, Sasagawa, Gokudera, and Yamamoto have already reached this level, and Hibari is now moving towards it."

Chapter 290 Tsunayoshi, why are you saying your last words again?

I learned some truly incredible things today.

Yan couldn't imagine what Tsuna had said to him today; those words definitely contained things that outsiders had no right to know.

[This involves completely new areas, and it could even be said that Tsuna and his Guardians have already entered this stage.]

No wonder Yamamoto was so strong just now, showing such a huge gap in strength compared to us.

In truth, since both are beings who wield the Dying Will Flame, any difference in strength is merely a matter of the quantity of Dying Will Flame they possess. Once the quantity reaches a certain level, the difference in strength between them will directly narrow... Enma had always accepted this concept, but he never imagined that this concept was actually wrong.

It wasn't that his understanding was flawed, but rather that he had run out of ways to advance his strength to the next stage, and all he could think of for improvement was increasing the quality and quantity of the Death Flame.

However, this method often prevents one from ever reaching the next step.

【So that's it. 】

No wonder I only gained a slight increase in strength despite improving both the quality and quantity of my work, while Tsuna and the others are getting further and further away from us.

After realizing the gap between them, Yan Zhen's remaining ambition began to burn.

He always knew that there were people like their Simon family in the world, and that there were quite a few of them.

But it wasn't until today that Yan Zhen saw from the information in Tsuna's hands that those people were indeed not far from him, and that such things often happened in this world.

As Yan Zhen thought about the information he had just seen, his gaze sharpened.

Unlike the usual lazy bum, Yan Zhen has completely changed at this moment.

Just like Simon I.

The Simon family members waiting outside also saw Yan Zhen return.

Edheidi also walked towards Enma before the others.

"Yanzhen, you..."

Suddenly, as she got closer, she saw Yan Zhen's resolute gaze, completely different from before, and she was stunned.

"Go home first, I have some things I want to tell everyone."

Edheidi looked at Enma in front of her and felt very unfamiliar. That different look in his eyes was really not like his usual lazy and nonchalant self. It was as if he had made a decision.

Tsunayoshi, watching Enma leave from the classroom, was finally able to relax completely.

"What you do next is up to you, Enma."

"It sounds like someone is giving their last words."

"You're really sensitive, Bai Lan."

Tsuna turned his head and looked at Byakuran, who was standing at the door with a grin.

"Do I look like I'm giving my last words? Do I look like someone who would say their last words?"

"Hmm~ You didn't look like it before, but now... you do."

Bai Lan, who had been all smiles, slowly stopped smiling.

If it were before, Byakuran would have believed that Tsuna was joking, but now he doesn't think Tsuna is joking at all.

"Was this battle so perilous that you felt compelled to utter your last words?"

"..."

"It's not because of the battle."

For the first time, Tsuna felt a headache coming on because of his sensitivity to Byakuran.