One Punch Man: Heroics Start with Dual Kamui

Chapter 155 155: Chuunibyou

"..."

Shinji had no patience for Garou's endless chatter in the middle of battle.

Bansho Ten'in!

"What is this?!" Garou suddenly felt his body seized by a terrifying invisible force, pulling him straight toward Shinji against his will.

And no matter how he tried, he couldn't replicate the move at all!

Was this… psychic power?!

At that moment, Shinji met him head-on with a heavy punch, slamming him into the ground. Garou's nose was smashed crooked, blood spraying everywhere.

Instinctively reaching up to wipe the blood from his face, he was immediately struck again by Shinji's rising knee, sending him flying.

Darkness swam before his eyes, his consciousness beginning to blur.

Seeing Garou collapse with whites showing in his eyes, Shinji said flatly, "Is that all?"

The words ignited Garou's fighting spirit, spurring him to his feet once more.

For the first time, Shinji had cured him of his incessant babbling.

Garou's expression hardened as he fixed his gaze on Shinji, settling into a stance Shinji found all too familiar.

So, he really didn't want to use this move, but there was no other choice. In close combat, he was utterly outmatched. With no other option, he resorted to Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist.

After the brutal beating he had once received from Bang, Garou carried a psychological scar every time he tried to use this technique. Even though he had already mastered it, he usually avoided it altogether. But now, facing Shinji, he had no choice but to go all in.

"Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist, huh? As it happens, I know a little of it myself," Shinji said with a faint smile, shifting into the exact same stance.

"…?!" Garou was stunned.

That move was the legacy martial art of Bang's dojo. By all rights, no outsider should know it. Yet Shinji clearly did!

There was no time to dwell on it. Garou roared and charged.

"AAAHHH!!"

But even with the same technique, Shinji overwhelmed him in every way, faster, sharper, and backed by the monstrous perception of the Rinnegan.

Every motion Garou made was read in advance. This wasn't only the power of Shinji's eyes, but also his deeper understanding of the Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist.

Punches, kicks, sweeps, Shinji evaded them all with ease, never even needing to call on his intangibility.

"My turn." After letting Garou flail for a while, Shinji struck back.

BANG!

Using the very same technique, his attacks were fiercer and more precise, battering Garou like a punching bag.

It was completely one-sided. Shinji began to feel bored.

Until now, he had only been holding back, using minimal strength. But this time, he decided to end it.

With a slightly more serious Friendship-Breaking Face Punch, he smashed Garou across the face.

[Ding! Host has defeated Garou (Initial Form). Reward: 50 points!]

"Gahhh!!"

Garou flew like a kite with its string cut, his vision flickering black and white, as if he were about to meet his ancestors.

…

As Garou fell unconscious, scenes from his childhood began to flicker through his mind, playing like a revolving lantern.

As a child playing hero games with others, he played the monster and was bullied by the boy playing the hero. Even though that behavior was plain bullying, because the other was labeled a hero of justice, he was free to torment someone labeled evil.

Those childhood experiences gave Garou a view of heroes and monsters that differed from most people's. More precisely, it changed how he saw justice and evil. He did not know how much time had passed, but Garou's consciousness finally returned.

He jerked upright, eyes wide, and for a moment could not recall what had happened.

"You finally woke up." At that moment he heard Shinji's voice.

He turned sharply and saw Shinji sitting just behind him.

"You…?!"

Only then did Garou remember that he had been thoroughly defeated and had passed out.

"Why did you not kill me?" Garou asked in a low voice.

"Why would I kill you?" Shinji replied. "Besides, I never kill humans. Even if you call yourself a monster, you look old enough to outgrow your chuunibyou phase."

"Chuunibyou?" Garou's mouth twitched.

His resolve to become the strongest monster had just been dismissed as chuunibyou?!! However, He had no fight left in him after being beaten to a pulp.

"So why do you want to be a monster? If it really is chuunibyou, then forget I said anything." Shinji said lightly.

"There is no why. I just cannot stand you so-called heroes of justice." Clearly, Garou still refused to reveal his true feelings.

Shinji shrugged helplessly. "Maybe the Hero Association promotes itself with the word 'justice,' but I never claimed to be justice itself. I'm just an employee of the Association."

Garou fell silent for a while.

After a moment, he spoke abruptly. "If you possess absolute power, can you treat every person and every matter in this world with absolute fairness and reason?"

"That is… completely impossible," Shinji answered offhand. "Humans are humans. No one can be absolutely fair and rational. Ask yourself honestly, could you do it?"

Even the already invincible Saitama could not take care of every person and every matter in the world.

Garou's thinking was too naive and idealistic, though he did not realize it.

"I cannot," Garou admitted reluctantly. "That is why I want absolute power, so no one dares make trouble. Whether hero or monster, I will make everyone fear me."

"So you once wanted to be a hero, then?" Shinji asked sharply.

Those words froze Garou.

They seemed to strike at the deepest hurt inside him.

He stood silently, then walked past Shinji.

"You let me live now, but you will regret it later. I will become the strongest monster, and I will defeat you."

Hearing this, Shinji tilted his head, "Wait, who said I am letting you leave?"