"Sigh... you're already really strong though..."
Saitama couldn't help but grumble.
Ever since he met Kizaru, he hadn't been able to get him out of his head.
If there was anyone left in this world who could actually fight him and make him feel the thrill of battle, it was probably this man—someone who triggered Saitama's instincts with a real sense of danger.
But unfortunately, Kizaru insisted adamantly on not fighting him. And since Saitama wasn't the type to force others into anything, the fight never happened.
"Spit it out already. We're not even that close!"
Kizaru replied with irritation. They had only met twice and barely exchanged more than five sentences—what was with this guy's absurd sense of familiarity?
Kizaru wouldn't usually be this snappy with someone, but Saitama had a special effect on him: Kizaru's Observation Haki kept reacting like it was short-circuiting—constantly buzzing in alert.
Every single move Saitama made triggered an involuntary response from Kizaru's Haki.
It wasn't that Kizaru was being overly sensitive—it was just that Saitama was too strong. Being around him felt like standing at the edge of a cliff. Even if you knew you weren't going to fall, your instincts screamed at you to be careful.
Of course, the gap between them wasn't that drastic, but still—Saitama was easily the most formidable and unpredictable opponent Kizaru had encountered since becoming an admiral.
"I saw your training camp ad on TV. It looked pretty cool, so I brought Genos to sign up. I honestly have no idea how to teach people anything myself."
Saitama scratched his shiny bald head. He didn't seem to mind Kizaru's blunt attitude. If he were in Kizaru's shoes, he wouldn't want to deal with someone constantly trying to fight him either.
Like that self-proclaimed ninja Sonic—Saitama already found him kind of annoying.
As a hero for fun, Saitama genuinely did try to think about others. He was just a little too simple-minded to consider all the angles.
"Ad? When did I ever run an ad on TV?"
Kizaru frowned. He suspected Metal Knight had pulled something shady behind his back again.
So far, Metal Knight hadn't shown overt hostility, but it wasn't hard to tell from the way the old man lurked in the shadows—he definitely wasn't up to anything good.
"Actually, here's what happened…"
Seeing that Saitama was about to go completely off-track, Genos stepped in and began explaining the situation to Kizaru.
After the Seafolk incident in J-City, the Hero Association headquarters realized that the training camp run by their newly ranked S-Class #9 hero was far more extraordinary than they had expected.
So the Association made a TV special out of the incident.
Ostensibly, it was an educational program on how to respond to disasters, but the footage was basically just heroes defeating the Seafolk monsters and the Deep Sea King.
It was essentially a roundabout way of advertising the Hero Association. Perhaps feeling a bit guilty about this shameless self-promotion, the execs decided to "highlight" Flashy Flash's training camp during the program.
They probably thought they were doing Kizaru a favor, not realizing he had no intention of promoting the camp in the first place.
Saitama had seen the program and, coincidentally, was troubled about how to train Genos.
His own experience didn't help Genos much. But Saitama got along well with Genos and genuinely wanted him to become stronger. So when he saw the show, a light bulb went off—and he brought Genos straight to Kizaru.
After all, Kizaru had already trained so many people… surely one more wouldn't hurt, right?
"You're… hmm, I do sort of remember you…"
Kizaru finally noticed the handsome young man beside Saitama and realized he did look familiar.
The infamous titles flooded his mind:
The Walking Budget Cut, The Punching Bag Hero, The Overhyped Rookie, Captain One-Hit KO'd…
Never won a fight, never lost a pose.
"I am the 17th-ranked S-Class cyborg. You can call me Genos, Lord Swift Flash."
Faced with someone whom even his teacher, Saitama, regarded with interest, Genos was particularly polite.
Up to this point, he hadn't met anyone comparable to his teacher in strength. Kizaru was the only one Saitama had mentioned more than once as someone he wanted to fight.
Combined with the power Kizaru displayed when he eliminated Vaccine Man, and his willingness to open a training camp to help other heroes grow stronger, Genos held him in high regard.
"Genos, huh… If I'm not mistaken, your entire body's been modified? Oh, though most of your brain seems to still be the original…"
Kizaru gave Genos a once-over. He had to admit, the tech level of the One Punch Man world was seriously advanced. Apart from the overwhelming scale of the Swallowed Star universe of Li from the chat, no other member's world could compare to One Punch Man's in terms of current technological development.
Even Stark, the man behind the Iron Man suit, would only count as a second-rate inventor here.
Whether it was Dr. Kuseno's human modification work, Dr. Bofoi, or Child Emperor's absurd technical prowess, all of them completely outclassed early-stage Iron Man.
Unfortunately, most of these were black box technologies—only the creators themselves understood how they worked. Even if Kizaru wanted to get his hands on them, it was nearly impossible to bring any of it back to the One Piece world.
After all, he couldn't exactly kidnap Dr. Kuseno and haul him to Navy HQ. Nor could he bring Vegapunk over to study Genos's modifications.
"Yes. Thanks to Dr. Kuseno, I'm equipped with incineration cannons, sensors, biochemical legs…"
Genos started listing off his modifications with machine-like precision.
It almost sounded like he was pitching Dr. Kuseno's upgrade packages.
If Kizaru didn't already know Genos was a bit of a straight arrow, he might've thought the kid was being sarcastic.
"In that case, I don't think I have anything to teach you. Given your current state, you'd get more benefit from upgrading your body than training."
Kizaru spread his hands in a helpless gesture. The One Piece world did have cyborg tech—Germa 66's level wasn't bad—but Kizaru wasn't a scientist. Expecting him to enhance Genos was laughable; he'd sooner tear him apart.
"So even you don't know how to teach him?"
Saitama scratched his bald head. His own experience was useless to Genos, and in his mind, the only one who might be able to guide his disciple was Kizaru, someone he actually felt a sliver of threat from.
Now that Kizaru had also shrugged it off, Saitama was a bit bummed—he had been hoping to offload this burning hot potato… er, help Genos find a path to growth.
"Lord Kizaru, may I visit your training camp?"
Unlike the disappointed Saitama, Genos took the news calmly. He had always preferred staying by his teacher's side—he even had two full notebooks filled with Saitama's daily habits and quotes.
Still, he was very interested in Kizaru's training camp. After all, even Flashy Flash had chosen to remain there for training.
That was an S-Class hero ranked above Genos—surely the camp had something unique to offer.
"Sure, have a look. Come on in."
Kizaru didn't mind Genos tagging along. The kid had a stubborn streak, sure, but he definitely deserved the title of hero.
If he weren't so thoroughly modified and thus unable to grow stronger through normal means, Kizaru wouldn't have minded teaching him things like the Navy's Six Powers or even Haki.
Saitama was curious too. His own training methods were rather unorthodox, so he was genuinely interested in how Kizaru had gotten so strong.
Genos followed behind his teacher and Kizaru, eyes scanning the surroundings as they entered the training grounds.
The space wasn't particularly large—actually, it was smaller than the weapons testing range Genos usually used. But it was enough to accommodate several dozen heroes at once.
Because Kizaru had increased training intensity by fifty percent…
And because most heroes had gotten a taste of the brutal "Tempest Kick" the day before, only a handful were still stubbornly practicing it now.
The rest were racing against the clock to complete their training quotas for the day, desperate not to get eliminated.
But just as Kizaru led Saitama and Genos into the training area, they were stopped by none other than Flashy Flash.
"Hm? What is it now?"
Kizaru raised an eyebrow, a little curious about what Flashy Flash wanted.
If he was hoping to get early access to the rest of the Navy's Six Powers techniques, Kizaru could only say—he was thinking too much.
The Six Powers were something Kizaru intended to offer to all the heroes of the One Punch world. He would only start formally teaching the advanced techniques once at least three to five suitable heroes had been selected.
Otherwise, even if Flashy Flash learned the entire set himself, Kizaru wasn't confident the guy had the patience to pass it on to others.
More importantly, Kizaru was just lazy. He preferred teaching everyone all at once instead of repeating himself over and over again.
"I heard yesterday you promised that group of guys that if they could keep up with me, you'd teach them a variant of that Rankyaku move?"
Flashy Flash glanced briefly at Genos, completely ignoring Saitama standing next to him.
Even an S-Class cyborg didn't warrant his attention—let alone a bald guy in a cape no one had heard of.
Flashy Flash hadn't known about Kizaru's promise to the others. But thanks to his sharp hearing, he overheard some heroes grumbling about how they failed to keep up with him—otherwise, they could've learned that Rankyaku derivative.
Hearing Kizaru's name alongside a Six Powers technique had piqued his interest. The usually aloof Flashy Flash couldn't resist asking about it.
The awestruck heroes had spilled everything in one go. Finding out he'd been used as the standard in Kizaru's bet didn't bother him—instead, he became even more focused on learning the technique.
"Uh, yeah, that happened. But none of them did keep up with you, right?"
Kizaru responded with a rhetorical question. He hadn't been physically present, but J-City was always under the umbrella of his Observation Haki. If anyone thought they could cheat the system, well… Kizaru would just say, dream on.
"Exactly. They didn't succeed. But since they would've gotten a reward if they did—shouldn't the reward go to me instead?"
Rare for him, Flashy Flash actually spoke in full sentences—his desire to learn that Rankyaku variant was that strong.
Technically, the Six Powers were just a cherry on top for someone like Flashy Flash. Even mastering them wouldn't drastically change his overall power.
But when you'd already hit your personal limit, every tiny improvement became precious.
Especially after witnessing Kizaru's godlike speed—beyond human limits—Flashy Flash still didn't grasp what that truly meant. He was simply thinking of how to replicate, or even surpass, Kizaru's miracle.
"…Huh. That… actually kinda makes sense."
Watching how serious he was, Kizaru scratched his head.
Teaching Flashy Flash wasn't really a big deal—it was just a flashy, showy move anyway.
When Kizaru used it, sure, it looked like a storm tearing through the land.
But if Flashy Flash or anyone else tried it, pulling off even a tenth of that power would be a life-or-death effort.
Otherwise, old man Zephyr wouldn't have brushed off Kizaru's variant as impractical. It looked cool, sure—but teaching that kind of move to Flashy Flash… yeah, it felt a little irresponsible.
"What are you teaching him? Can I watch?"
Saitama, unfazed by Flashy Flash's earlier snub, leaned in with a curious look on his perpetually blank face.
To him, Kizaru was the only person he'd met who might actually be strong enough to fight him—or maybe even beat him.
But Kizaru had zero interest in battling, so Saitama could only settle for studying him from a distance—like staring at food you couldn't eat.
"No!"
Kizaru snapped back without a trace of friendliness.
In that moment, he understood exactly how those old Navy officers felt when they hated him but couldn't do anything about it.
Sure, Saitama seemed polite now. But anyone who saw through that submissive posture would know what he really wanted—to get Kizaru to fight him.
Or more accurately, to punch him. No wonder Kizaru's attitude toward Saitama was so hostile.
With his ultra-sharp Observation Haki, Kizaru could even get along fine with schemers like Orochimaru—because he knew they didn't pose a real threat.
But Saitama? If Kizaru so much as nodded, the guy would absolutely throw hands.
"…Stingy."
Saitama mumbled under his breath but didn't press the issue further.
°°°
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