"CP9."
Hollow's gaze swept over the four people standing in different positions.
It lingered for a moment on Fukuro in particular.
Then, a knowing smile appeared on his usually indifferent face.
"So you still found me after all."
"In other words, Hitsugi has already been dealt with by you."
"But he probably isn't dead."
"After all, he was one of the 'Naraku Three Crows' who endured the blood I bestowed upon him."
Kuro did not respond, having no intention of wasting time with him.
He decisively moved straight into the execution phase of the mission.
"I assume you won't surrender without a fight."
Locke looked at Hollow and Oboro as he pushed up his glasses with his wrist.
"Then there's no need for more nonsense."
He immediately issued clear orders to the three members of his team.
"Lucci, Hollow is yours. I'll handle Oboro."
"Bruno, Fukuro, take care of the other monk soldiers."
After saying that, he firmly spat out the final two words.
"Move out!"
But the moment the word "move" left his mouth, a sudden change occurred.
No one had clearly seen Lucci or Hollow make any noticeable move.
There was no step forward, no gathering of strength—only a momentary clash of gazes.
Yet a deafening boom erupted without warning in the roughly ninety-square-meter clearing between them.
The air was like a great drum struck violently by an invisible hammer.
A transparent shockwave, visible to the naked eye, exploded outward in a sphere.
The solid ground was ripped apart as though clawed open by a savage beast.
Chunks of earth and stone, mixed with bloodstained corpses, were hurled into the sky.
This was not an explosion caused by gunpowder or energy.
It was a physical phenomenon born from the collision of extreme speed and strength.
Hollow's blade and