The half-severed head shot into the sky, and the body began to topple. Tetsu no Sosuke had no time to spare for either. He grabbed the Pig-Head Boy, who had suddenly lost his opponent and still looked bewildered, and hurled him toward Tanjiro and the others.
The instant he threw the boy, Tetsu no Sosuke shot forward too. Though he had started later, he overtook Pig-Head Boy.
Pig-Head Boy had a million objections to being thrown around, but before he could roar, Tetsu no Sosuke went whooshing past him.
He stared in confusion. When this guy got serious, did he even throw himself?
Looking up, he saw that Tetsu no Sosuke had already reached Akaza. His blade came down, forcing Akaza, who had meant to intercept Pig-Head Boy, to deal with it instead.
Blade met fist, but this time there was no explosive crash.
At the instant of contact, Akaza felt his fist begin to disintegrate, and he could not stop it.
A strange force flowed through the tip of his opponent's blade and into his body. Horror crossed his face. "What did you do?"
Tetsu no Sosuke did not answer. His blade had barely fallen before he raised his left hand. Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh! Three hidden darts flew straight at the stump of Akaza's arm.
"Ridiculous!"
Akaza was already on guard against all his tricks. He knew this man was unlike ordinary Demon Hunters. Tetsu no Sosuke cared nothing for fair play or the samurai code; his underhanded tactics never seemed to end.
Attacks with hidden darts were practically routine.
With his right hand gone, Akaza thrust out his left to catch all three darts.
Just then, an explosion sounded behind him.
In the next instant, Akaza felt as though thousands of needles had pierced every part of his