Chapter 65 (Catching Bugs) It ended in a confused manner...

Chapter 65

At this point, the battle for the Ring was meaningless. In fact, not even Cerberus had anticipated this unfolding situation. Seeing the others scoff, they tossed the half ring, representing the Ooku attribute, to Sawada Tsunayoshi. The Cerberus and their companions exchanged bewildered glances. After a long pause, they spoke, "It has been confirmed that XANXUS is the adopted son of Timoteo, the Ninth Vongola Master, and therefore ineligible to inherit the Vongola family. The winner of the Ring Battle is now declared Sawada Tsunayoshi."

"Haven't you guessed this result a long time ago?"

XANXUS scoffed. "Even from the moment I saw that letter, I knew what you were trying to achieve through me. I advise you to disappear from my sight from today onwards, or I might get so upset that I'll kill you all."

"...The Ring War is over. According to the agreement, the losing party will hand over all the rings, and Sawada Tsunayoshi will officially become the Tenth Generation of the Vongola."

“Tsk.”

XANXUS raised his eyebrows and couldn't help but click his tongue. "You're even more like robots than Mosca. Seriously, are you really human?"

"We are Cerbero."

Boring. XANXUS rolled his eyes and turned to look at Kurokawa Kaoru behind him.

"How did you guess that the old man was inside Gora Mosca?"

"If I had to say it... intuition?"

Guessing that XANXUS didn't believe him, Kurokawa Kaoru thought for a moment, tilted his head, and said, "The day the ninth generation disappeared was also the day Gola Mosca appeared. Plus, he really looks like a robot, so if you watch him for a long time, you'll always find some anomalies, so..."

“So you tore it down.”

"Judging from the current results, it seems to be the case."

As if? XANXUS snorted coldly and reached out to grab the person from behind Gong You again.

"Give me your contact information."

"I won't pay you...eh?"

After a few seconds to digest XANXUS's words, Kurokawa Kaoru was stunned for a moment, then looked up at him: "Contact information?"

"Or are you going to ask me to go find you in your family?"

Not surprisingly, seeing the stiffness on Kurokawa Kaoru's face, XANXUS laughed. Until now, Kurokawa Kaoru had always stayed out of things, seemingly unconcerned about everything, but now, because someone had held him hostage, he was forced to bow down to him. Sensing the frustration in his heart, XANXUS raised his eyebrows and extended his hand in front of Kurokawa Kaoru.

"Give me your phone."

“…”

Two minutes later, Kurokawa Kaoru took out his cell phone reluctantly.

He took the other person's phone and sent a message to himself, then threw the phone back. Seeing the person holding the phone, looking angry but not saying anything, XANXUS raised the corners of his lips and smiled at him maliciously: "If you dare not reply to my message, you're dead, trash."

After saying this, as if there was nothing else worth lingering on, and without even looking at anyone else, XANXUS let out a long sigh and walked towards the exit.

Looking at his back, Timoteo wanted to say something, but seeing this, he could only sigh and shake his head, then turned to look at Kurokawa Kaoru not far away.

"You are very smart. You can actually find me in Gora Mosca."

Unlike the casualness when he was with XANXUS, when he heard Timoteo's voice, Kurokawa Kaoru's expression paused and he looked up to meet the other's gaze.

"In fact, I was forced to answer XANXUS's questions. I have no interest in your affairs."

As the ninth head of the Vongola clan and Xanxus's father, Timoteo couldn't have been so easily captured and trapped within Gola Mosca. Earlier, during the dismemberment, Kurokawa Kaoru had observed a device resembling a power system within Gola Mosca. Based on his understanding of esper beings, the source of that power must be Timoteo's Death Flame. Even if Timoteo's strength had declined to the point where he couldn't even defeat his own son, if he hadn't voluntarily activated Gola Mosca, no one could have forced him to do so, and the subsequent events wouldn't have happened.

"If you want to use this to make up for the guilt of not being able to tell XANXUS about your true life experience for so many years, then I hope you will choose a suitable day and let him help you kill him, instead of pretending to be a robot here, without even considering whether doing so will bring harm to Sawada."

After Kurokawa Kaoru finished speaking, even Sawada Iemitsu fell silent. Timoteo was silent for a moment when his gaze touched him, and then he sighed after a long while.

"you're right."

"Indeed, if you hadn't discovered Gola Mosca's secret, I would have participated in the Battle for the Ring as XANXUS's Cloud Guardian."

The Gora Mosca's power system required the user to maintain the Death Flame burning for a long time, otherwise it would not activate. Timoteo was already old, and facing Hibari Kyoya in that situation was easy to imagine, and he might even lose his life.

In fact, when he was "imprisoned" in Gora Mosca, Timoteo guessed that something like this would happen. It was only out of guilt for XANXUS that he chose to do one last thing for others as a father.

"I'm sorry, I was indeed inconsiderate on this matter."

“…”

“Is there something wrong with my understanding?”

In the silence, Gong You's voice was particularly clear.

Seeing that everyone was looking in his direction, he ignored other people's gazes and looked at Kurokawa Kaoru beside him. Miya You frowned and said in confusion, "This old man is the father of the man just now, but now he is apologizing to another person. Since he feels guilty, shouldn't he apologize to the person involved?"

"Who knows?"

Perhaps it was related to the vision he had seen earlier, but whenever the topic of "family" was mentioned, Kurokawa Kaoru was always particularly sensitive. Because he was in a bad mood, Kurokawa Kaoru was planning to say something harsh to irritate the other party, but when he saw the disappointment on Timoteo's face, his expression changed slightly, and his father's face flashed before his eyes.

"After all, this kind of thing must be a problem for both parties, and someone always has to give in first."

After a while, I might as well find some time to go home. If I remember correctly, my father's birthday is coming soon.

Thinking about all these messy things in his mind, Kurokawa Kaoru raised the corners of his lips, took out his mobile phone from his pocket and waved it in front of Timoteo.

“Sometimes, silent words also have weight. If you don’t know how to express your inner thoughts, why not try a different way?”

"you're right."

Timoteo smiled, looking at Kurokawa Kaoru with admiration in his eyes: "I will seriously consider it."

Timoteo was a bit weak from being in the Death Flame state, but fortunately, he didn't encounter any major problems. After a few heartfelt words with Sawada Tsunayoshi, the kind old man left with Sawada Iemitsu by his side.

Looking at the other person's back, Sawada Tsunayoshi's expression was stunned, and even now he still felt it was a little unreal.

"So... does this count as a win?"

"From the very beginning of this so-called duel, there was no such thing as a winner or a loser."

He lightly jumped onto Sawada Tsunayoshi's body and tugged at his hat. Reborn's voice was flat, but the content of his words was clearly heard by Kurokawa Kaoru: "No matter what, I have to thank you for the Ninth Hokage."

"This doesn't seem to be the first time Lord Reborn has said 'thank you' to me."

After being entangled by XANXUS, Kurokawa Kaoru's idea of severing ties with the Vongola was basically completely shattered. At the same time, because of the scenes he saw in the illusion, Kurokawa Kaoru became a little uncertain about his choice to escape death by staying away from the mafia.

However, he still felt conflicted about inheriting the Kurokawa family. At most, he wouldn't deliberately reduce his interactions with Sawada Tsunayoshi and the others. If there was anything he could do to help in the future, he would likely agree, within the constraints of the situation.

"Speaking of which... Is Lord Sawada Iemitsu going back to Italy with the Ninth Generation of the Vongola?"

"Um."

Reborn nodded. "As an outside advisor, Iemitsu was negligent in not noticing the leader's presence in Japan. If I hadn't personally escorted the leader back, I'm afraid the clan members would have protested."

"family……"

Hearing what Reborn said, Kurokawa Kaoru smiled, his eyes passing over Sawada Tsunayoshi obscurely: "As expected of a Vongola outside consultant, he is truly a qualified family member."

Unfortunately... for Sawada Tsunayoshi, he is not a qualified father.

The early end of the ring battle made Hibari Kyoya, who thought he could bite his opponent to death, make a wasted trip. He looked at the "culprit" who caused all this with an expressionless face. Not knowing what he thought of, Hibari Kyoya snorted coldly and turned away.

After he left, the other guardians also left one after another, and finally only Reborn, Sawada Tsunayoshi, Kurokawa Kaoru and Miya Yu were left.

"For this incident, and for my previous sparring with Yamamoto Takeshi, Lord Reborn must pay me."

"You're acting like this, which makes me suspect that the Kurokawa family is usually withholding your pocket money."

"Pocket money is pocket money, and compensation is compensation. Not a cent should be less than what is due."

“…”

Although he has been with him for some time and has a certain understanding of Kurokawa Kaoru's personality, Reborn still feels speechless towards him for various reasons every time.

"I'll transfer your reward when you get back."

“That’s wonderful.”

A few minutes later, Reborn, who realized that it was already past his usual bedtime, also dragged Sawada Tsunayoshi away.

At this time, only Kurokawa Kaoru and Miya Yuu were left here.

No……

Kurokawa Kaoru laughed.

"There are others."

Almost the moment he opened his mouth, Cerbero, who had been hiding in the shadows, stepped out. As if having anticipated this development, Kurokawa Kaoru's eyes narrowed. Although he was smiling, from Miya Yu's perspective, he could clearly see—

"You've been waiting for so long, is there something you want to tell me?"

There was clearly no smile in Kurokawa Kaoru's eyes.

TBC.