Tetsu no Sosuke gave a slight wave. The members of the Hidden understood at once and scattered like a pack of wolves, carrying word of what had happened here.
A voice came from the woods. "Several of us came together. Looks like I hit the jackpot."
A figure emerged from the trees: a man riding a wild boar.
He was broad and heavyset, with a fleshy face and a vicious grin.
Around his neck hung a small necklace, its pendant a copper whistle.
He smiled. "You defeated my little darlings so easily. You must be the Pillar they mentioned, right?"
Tetsu no Sosuke glanced at the characters in his eyes and sighed. "A Lower Moon..."
"So you know I'm a Lower Moon?"
He rose to his feet on the boar's back. "Then you're no nobody. Tell me your name. You'll taste even better when I eat you!"
Tetsu no Sosuke planted the Sunflare Hammer on the ground. "You said several of you came together. Who else is here? How did you learn about this place? What are you here for?"
"Are you interrogating me?"
The man burst out laughing. "You're asking for death!"
As if sensing his anger, the boar beneath him turned red-eyed. Its hooves churned the earth, and it charged Tetsu no Sosuke through a cloud of dust!
Tetsu no Sosuke smiled. "Good. Tomorrow's dinner is taken care of."
He stepped forward, dragging the great hammer with both hands. Breath of the Sun—Form Two: Direct Forging of Qiankun!
Flames seemed to spring from Tetsu no Sosuke's hammerhead. With a thunderous roar, the sweeping blow carried the force of an immense hammer.
The boar paid no heed to what awaited it. It charged headlong, and an instant later slammed into Tetsu no Sosuke's Sunflare Hammer.
Boom!
The air exploded