With a look of disappointment on his face, Toji spat in the unconscious veteran hunter's face.
"I expected more from you, the acclaimed strongest Hunter," Toji said with deep disappointment.
Turning to leave, he grinned wildly, imagining how he would deal with Aki and humiliate him even further.
"Now, let's hunt the fox." With a wild look and a grin on his face, Toji began running at full speed to pursue his next prey.
As Aki urgently ran through the streets, he felt a growing sense of fear, sadness, and anger welling up inside him. He needed to find a phone and call for backup quickly.
Reaching a phone booth at a corner, Aki ran in and hurriedly dialed the association's number, desperate to request help in his current situation.
As a hunter from the association responded with the usual monotone voice, Aki wasted no time in speaking. "Listen carefully, we're under attack by a very powerful assassin. We need backup," Aki said, desperation and anger in his tone, gripping the phone tightly.
"S-sir, what's the location and which division?" asked the overwhelmed hunter on the other end in response to Aki's urgent call.
Before Aki could respond, a loud crash echoed through the area, and a cloud of dust appeared in the distance. Aki's desperation shot up as he realized time was running out.
"District 4, third division, Aki Hayakawa, mission to eliminate the Rat Demon, we need help imm-" Aki managed to say in a hurried tone before, without warning, a chain with something attached smashed into the roof of the booth, narrowly missing. Surprising him and revealing the tip of a peculiar sword.
Leaning slightly to dodge the sudden attack, Aki quickly exited the booth and ran several meters down the street. However, he stopped abruptly when he saw the assassin approaching from the same direction he was heading, with a confident grin. The chain that had attacked him earlier emerged from the mouth of a worm, revealing its strange nature.
"I missed," were the words the assassin, Toji, said with a mocking grin and playful tone as he approached Aki, stopping about 15 meters away.
Aki's eyes widened in shock and surprise as he saw Toji standing in front of him. He knew he shouldn't let his emotions get the better of him, but he also feared the worst for Kishibe—probably the old man was dead or gravely injured.
"How are you here?! Kishibe was supposed to be with you!" Aki exclaimed in shock, his hands trembling slightly in Toji's presence.
"Ah? The old man? He wasn't even warm-up material," Toji said with disdain, mocking the veteran hunter with his words.
But his words didn't stop there as he continued, "That guy wasn't worth it, seriously. Is he the strongest? Because nah, I think there was a mistake there." Then he sighed and continued talking, "Is it the age?" he said thoughtfully, seemingly ignoring Aki completely.
Aki clenched his jaw tightly as he glared at the assassin with immense anger and a thirst for revenge. Toji retrieved his chain from the booth with a powerful arm movement and grinned wildly. At the end of the chain, the Celestial Inverted Halberd swung wildly, its movements combining brutality and deadly grace.
Quickly storing his chains and halberd in his Cursed Inventory, Toji smiled at Aki, who was filled with rage and hatred, but was also carefully studying Toji's every move.
A wooden sword hilt emerged from Toji's Cursed Inventory, and with a quick movement of his powerful arms, he revealed a wooden katana. Its design featured a black hilt and a miniature Oni figure as decoration. Toji's face had an arrogant expression, and his wild grin grew wider as he observed the young hunter in front of him.
Seeing Toji's wild grin, Aki placed his left hand over the Kon summoning seal while his right hand moved toward his left eye.
"Kon!" Aki exclaimed, his tone devoid of emotion but filled with fury as his gaze fixed on Toji's figure.
"Get ready to witness a level you'll never reach," Toji said with an arrogant smile before suddenly being engulfed by the head of the Fox Demon. Aki was well aware of the consequences of summoning the Fox Demon, but facing a being like Toji, he knew he couldn't hold back.
The Fox Demon smiled before Toji suddenly emerged from its mouth, cutting it as if it were an illusion. However, the reality was very different.
When Toji's feet touched the ground and he casually swung his sword as if cleaning it, the Fox Demon exploded into thousands of pieces, scattered by the force of his sword strike.
Aki stared in shock at the Assassin before him, both now covered in the blood of the disintegrated Fox Demon, an feat he had never seen before.
"What?!" Aki exclaimed, completely stunned by this unprecedented display of power.
"What was that? His speed? It was so fast, I didn't even see it coming," Aki thought desperately, trying to make sense of the situation.
Toji remained silent, maintaining the same position he had taken after his dazzling and rapid attack on the Fox Demon. He sighed and began making small jumps on the ground, shaking his arms and exhaling, apparently relaxed.
Aki, who had been staring at him while reflecting, was perplexed by the assassin's behavior.
"Two cuts and a kick, and the game is over," Toji said with an arrogant and confident voice before taking one last small jump. Only inches from the ground, he dematerialized from reality like a ghost, showing pure speed.
Aki's eyes widened even more. In his mind, the idea that this man wasn't human grew stronger. "How can a human move like that? Could he be a demon?" This possibility couldn't escape Aki's mind as he scanned his surroundings, desperately trying to find any trace of the Assassin.
The sound of a wooden sword hitting the ground echoed in all directions on the street. Aki moved his head faster, his desperation evident as he scanned the area, even noticing the air moving inexplicably in multiple directions.
"Damn it, damn it, damn it," Aki muttered in his mind, his sense of panic growing as he looked in all directions with increasing urgency.
Feeling something land on his shoulder, Aki turned his head to see a brown fly resting there.
"What—" Aki began before two X-shaped cuts appeared on his chest, causing intense pain and a huge shock to his senses.
Overwhelmed by pain and agony, Aki never saw Toji appear in front of him. Toji was facing away from Aki as he placed his wooden sword in his Cursed Inventory, revealing only the hilt in his mouth.
With a jump and a graceful rotation of his body, Toji faced Aki and delivered a powerful kick to his face, sending him flying about 40 meters until he crashed into a nearby red truck.
The previously silent area was now filled with the metallic sound of the impact from the collision.
Footsteps echoed in the area as Toji approached the now motionless body of Aki, who lay on the ground, knocked out and injured by Toji's relentless attacks.
Toji sighed, walked away from his victim without even looking at him, and disappeared from the scene, walking confidently and calmly.
In his mind, the possibility ran that he might now earn the Public Safety's contempt and, in turn, Makima's as well. He couldn't allow her to see him, as he didn't know if she remembered him or not, and he couldn't predict her reaction.
As for Public Safety, he didn't care much, since he was too powerful for them, but he knew that having them constantly on his tail would be a problem, so he had to think quickly.
A few hours later, you could see Toji walking through the halls of a luxurious mansion with his hands in his pockets and his Cursed Inventory strapped to his torso and shoulders.
Arriving at a large door, he opened it indifferently, looking at the man in front of him.
"I've got good and bad news," Toji said lazily before his eyes slightly widened at what was in front of him, or rather, the people.
A girl in a red coat and red shorts, with yellow hair that looked youthful, stood next to a man with black hair and small bangs on his forehead, dressed in a formal suit that, by his appearance, seemed to be in his 30s or 40s. Both looked at Toji with inquisitive gazes.
The contractor had a satisfied smile on his face as he saw Toji alive and well while sitting in his chair, and the people in front of him looked at Toji with curiosity about his appearance.
"Welcome, Toji. Come in," the contractor said, still smiling with satisfaction on his face, his eyes expectant.
With a disdainful grin, Toji lazily placed himself between the man and the young girl, standing in the middle, the girl on the left and the middle-aged man towering over them.
"Who's this guy? Definitely doesn't smell like a demon," the man next to him commented, scanning Toji with his eyes, stopping at the peculiar worm attached to him.
"What's that horrible thing?" the girl declared, pointing at the worm stuck to Toji.
Upon hearing the girl's comment, Toji's expression shifted from disdain to annoyance. While his cursed inventory wasn't pretty, it was one of the most useful things he possessed, as it contained his weapons and some low-level mini-demons he had captured.
Sighing in irritation and casting deliberate glances at his companions, Toji knew who they were, or at least one of them. "The middle-aged man is Katana Demon, or Katana Man, whichever you prefer. He's like Chainsaw Man, but with swords, though unlike Chainsaw Man, Katana is weaker. The girl next to him isn't a demon, but she must have some powerful contract."
Toji knew very well that Katana Man was working with the Gun Demon, or Pistol Demon, as you may call him, which meant that if they were here together, they weren't on a mission. They were looking for something.
"Although this religious group is wealthy, they also have unknown contracts, unknown weapons, and government secrets, things that would be beneficial for them. And while they offer good salaries, I don't think that's what they're after. So, 'There's something suspicious here, and I'll have to find out what,'" Toji thought to himself.
Pulling himself out of his thoughts, Toji deliberately looked at the contractor, ironically named Hiroshi. He noticed that Hiroshi's desk was covered with documents, which was normal for an extremist religious group that believed in the paranormal and had powerful enemies trying to eradicate them. But one detail caught his attention: there were photographs with the name of a country, "China." That name triggered his senses, and he became fully alert. His lazy gaze turned serious as his piercing eyes scanned the desk.
"You've definitely done your homework if you're here, Toji," Hiroshi said with a blank expression after noticing Toji's change in attitude.
"This wasn't part of our contract," Toji responded, looking at Hiroshi with annoyance and seriousness while casually putting his hands in his pockets.
"I definitely won't work with this guy," both Katana Man and his companion said simultaneously, in an expressionless tone.
Toji simply turned his head towards Katana Man, his emotionless eyes fixed on him in response to his comment.
"I'm more than enough to make you crap your pants in a second and wish you'd never met me," Toji said emotionlessly, looking at Katana Man, who visibly became irritated by his words.
"Why don't we test that?" Katana Man said, smiling with annoyance at Toji's attitude.
Hiroshi, who had kept calm all this time, smiled expressionlessly and let out an audible sigh, causing everyone in the room to turn their heads toward him.
"First of all, consider this mission I'm giving you as an extension of the first, Toji, because I know for sure that the Rat Demon wasn't there. However, I don't know what happened with the Rat Demon or if you brought the Hunter's body, Hayakawa," Hiroshi declared, looking at Toji with an expression of clear indifference.
"As for you two, this is part of your mission, whether you like it or not," Hiroshi continued, speaking confidently to Katana Man and his companion, who looked at him with irritation.
With a now calm expression, Hiroshi continued speaking.
"If you manage to complete this mission, I assure you, you will be rewarded as you wish," Hiroshi said in his usual indifferent tone, smiling with no emotion.
"Is this guy some sort of copy of Makima?" Toji thought, observing the man's attitude, and couldn't help but compare it to Makima's, though hers had more confidence and charisma.
"We'll do that. However, we need to prove for ourselves how strong this one is," Katana Man said with disdain and annoyance, looking intensely at Hiroshi, sending the hidden message that there would be problems if he didn't comply.
"I've got something that'll help with that," Toji said with a smirk as he took several steps back and raised his hands in apparent surrender.
"Are you giving up?" Katana Man mocked, looking at Toji with disappointment and amusement at his situation.
The girl, who had been unusually silent, couldn't help but blush a little when she saw the well-built man. However, her heart skipped a beat when she noticed his posture, feeling that something was wrong.
Hiroshi simply smiled and, with an impassive attitude, stood up from his chair and slid under the table. It was no surprise that Toji was known as one of the most powerful assassins, and after the mission he had been assigned, which involved humiliating a high-level Public Safety squad and facing Kishibe, the strongest, seeing him alive and well could only mean one thing: either he was so powerful that he killed Kishibe, or he escaped, which Hiroshi doubted because someone like Toji wouldn't run from a fight.
Hidden under the table, Hiroshi sighed and waited for the worst to happen.
Toji smirked with disdain and, with a yawn, declared: "A magic trick," before moving his hands in an ultra-fast throwing motion that was almost imperceptible to the eyes of those present.
In half a second, his hands were back in his pockets as Toji lazily smiled.
The moment his hands went into his pockets, Katana Man fell to the ground, stabbed by small Senbons in several parts of his body: his torso, arms, thighs, and palms were pierced.
Katana Man's body went numb, and he barely blinked. To his consternation and surprise, Toji had fulfilled his earlier statement, and now intense pain and numbness ran through his body.
The girl, who had seen her companion fall, tried to move but was taken by surprise when a knife was pointed at her neck from behind.
Looking slightly ahead, the girl noticed that Toji was no longer in his previous position and was now behind her.
"Pathetic, and you call yourselves demons? Anyway, I don't blame you; I'm superior," Toji said as his knife lightly grazed her neck to make his point. His voice became mocking and cold at the same time.
In another second, Toji disappeared and reappeared in front of Katana Man, and without saying a word, he quickly kicked him in the face, knocking him out successfully.
A dry sound resonated in the area as Katana Man's body hit the floor, unconscious.
If you're wondering how Toji learned all this, let's just say... practice makes perfect, and Hollywood movies and manga fights influenced his way of executing attacks.
Releasing his killing intent, Toji stared coldly at the girl, who froze in fear as she looked at him.