"Boom—!"
His fist collided head-on with the tip of the sword. An invisible shockwave swept through the surroundings, and the ground beneath Wood's feet fractured in an instant, spiderweb cracks spreading from the immense impact.
But CP3 York had it worse than Wood. The moment their attacks collided, the sleeve covering his arm was shredded by Sword Aura.
The fist that had struck Tenku's tip was now a bloody mess, and the impact sent York flying several meters away.
When York landed, he felt that his right arm had gone completely numb. A look of relief crossed his face.
"Tekkai: Shatter" was a technique that concentrated the user's full strength into a single point while in the Iron Body state, allowing them to easily pulverize the ground.
But even a fist focused to a single point had ended up like this after colliding with his opponent's. If he'd really tried to trade blows, even at the cost of his own life...
There was no doubt about it: before his fist could hit the other man's head, the blade would have pierced his throat first.
"Your judgment is excellent. No wonder you belong to an intelligence organization specially trained by the World Government.
But you got one thing wrong earlier. Even if you don't underestimate me, you still aren't a match for me, Fish-Man Sword Saint Yasuo."
Wood had sensed York's sudden appearance behind him with Soru well in advance through his Kenbunshoku.
The best response would have been to use Soru himself to dodge, then launch a counterattack.
But since he was currently posing as a Fish-Man, and Six Powers: Shave was a Marine technique, Wood had ultimately chosen to meet the attack head-on—a move that looked reckless.
Fortunately, these two CP3 agents weren't as strong as Wood had imagined.