It had been five days since The House Of Evolution attempted to fight the unstoppable Saitama and his students. Since then, the bald Hero had been attempting to return to his usual daily routine of relaxing at home and reading his manga collection. Unfortunately for him, one of his new pupils had arrived to spend time at his home as well.
Shunshi was in the middle of Saitama's apartment, doing one-handed push-ups with little effort. All the while, Saitama found himself distracted from his reading by all the little noises Shunshi was making.
While he exercised, instead of wearing his Hero armor, Shunshi was dressed in regular street clothes. The armor in question was inside of a backpack that he had brought with him.
As he glanced over at Shunshi with confusion and annoyance on his face, Saitama complained internally, Why does he insist on working out at my place...? Well, I guess it's a bit better than how he was yesterday... Just a little bit, though.
Flashing back to yesterday afternoon, the overpowered Hero remembered Shunshi having arrived at his door, fully dressed in his Hero armor.
While standing at attention at the doorway, Shunshi addressed his teacher, "Good afternoon, Saitama-Sensei. May I please come in?"
Saitama, who was dressed in casual wear, just gave him a hesitant look, before stepping aside and gesturing for him to walk in.
After Shunshi had entered Saitama's home, the owner of the place asked his admirer a question, "So what's up? Any reason you felt like visiting today?"
As he began to stretch out his arms, the younger Hero answered with attentive excitement in his voice, "I came over to do my daily training, Saitama-Sensei! Training here with you is the best way to make sure it's done right."
Not fully understanding Shunshi's reasoning, Saitama quickly looked him over and asked another question, "Why are you wearing that outfit of yours if you just stopped by to visit?"
Stopping mid-stretch to give an answer, Shunshi hesitated slightly before answering, "Um... Well, you're a superhero yourself, Master. Aren't I supposed to be dressed in my own costume if I come over to your home?"
Becoming minimally perplexed by Shunshi's reasoning, Saitama scratched the side of his scalp and explained emotionlessly, "Don't be stupid. If I wore my costume all the time, then it would start to stink. You don't need to always wear yours all day, either."
Shunshi was utterly taken aback by his powerful Master's words of wisdom and, after recomposing himself, he bowed and stated attentively, "Thank you for that quick lesson, Sensei!"
In response, Saitama just cocked an eyebrow and thought, What the Hell is he talking about? What lesson?
All of a sudden, Shunshi stood up straight, energetically walked over to Saitama's door, and, as he was leaving, addressed his Sensei one last time, "I won't waste any more of your time today, Master. I promise I'll come back tomorrow with proper clothing."
Saitama just watched in slightly surprised bewilderment at the young man who had shown up at his house just to leave after only a few minutes of confusing dialogue.
Looking out of his window to see Shunshi as he walked down the street, Saitama asked himself with a slight hint of concern, "How exactly did I wind up in this situation...?"
Back in the present, Shunshi had just finished the last part of his personal training regiment, twelve hundred single-armed push-ups for both of his arms. Having completed this, it was now time for him to begin Saitama's training regime.
Shunshi got on his hands and knees and thought doubtfully to himself, Alright... time for Saitama-Sensei's workouts. Let's start with 100 regular push-ups and move on from there. With the utmost speed and power behind his movements, Shunshi quickly blew through all of Saitama's exercises, feeling little to no fatigue from them at all.
After he had finished all but the last part of his Master's training, Shunshi stood up, got a glass of water, took a drink, and asked Saitama, "So, Sensei. I haven't seen Genos-Senpai here all day or yesterday. Did you send him somewhere to do his own special training?"
Without a hint of emotion, Saitama answered this while getting back to reading his manga, "I don't keep track of the guy. I haven't seen him since I took care of that evolution home. He's probably got his own things to do."
Upon hearing this, Shunshi thought in confusion as he put his glass down in the sink, Seriously? Huh, I wonder where he is? I thought that he would've gotten repaired by now and stopped by for training.
Meanwhile, at the home of Shunshi's parents, the blond cyborg approached the front door.
Genos had arrived at the two-story home of his junior and muttered to himself in a cold tone, "I should investigate further into who Shunshi is. I do not want him to wind up annoying Saitama-Sensei, and getting in the way of me making myself stronger."
Back at Saitama's place, Shunshi had grabbed his backpack while making his way to the door.
"I'm gonna go do the running part of your training regiment now, Sensei," Shunshi calmly explained.
While slightly looking up from his manga, Saitama waved to Shunshi and responded with just a small hint of interest, "Okay, have fun, I guess. Remember, ten kilometers."
"Yes, Master!" Shunshi replied to his teacher's words of encouragement while smiling enthusiastically. He then took off down the stairs and onto the streets like a racecar on steroids.
After Shunshi had left, Saitama felt at his teeth with his tongue and thought, Oh, crud. I forgot to brush my teeth... I guess I'll take care of it after I finish up with this manga volume.
Meanwhile, in the middle of Z-City, Shunshi had long since finished his ten-kilometer run.
Shunshi was speedily running through the streets of this city while thinking a mile a minute with uncertainty and fear, This really isn't all too hard. Will... will Sensei's training regiment actually make me stronger any faster than the training I've been doing so far? Will I be able to get into the Hero Association by the end of the month? Will I even be able to get into C-Class?!
As the black-haired Hero was having a small panic attack, Genos had walked up to the home of Shunshi and his parents.
After he knocked on the door and waited for a moment, Genos was greeted by a woman in her mid-fifties who he assumed to be Shunshi's mother.
At first, this woman was a little shocked by the robotic young man at her door.
Fortunately, though, she was able to calm her nerves slightly and ask the robot in a half nervous half friendly tone, "Um... Hello there. May I help you?"
Genos put his arms at his sides and introduced himself stoically, "I am an associate of the man named Shunshi. I was wondering if I could talk to his family."
Shunshi's mother's face softened upon hearing this, as she replied with a smile, "Oh, you must be one of the Heroes that Shunshi said he was going to be training with. I'm his mother, by the way."
Due to how kind this woman seemed to be, Genos' face softened a bit as well, and he asked her more kindly, "May I come in?"
Now knowing that this was her son's friend, Shunshi's mother answered happily, "Oh, of course. Please, make yourself at home."
With that, the young cyborg made his way inside, where he and the middle-aged woman quickly found themselves sitting in the living room.
After having Genos wait for a moment, Shunshi's mother came back into the room with some hot cocoa.
Before a conversation between these two could begin, though, Shunshi's father walked into the room. At the sight of the yellow-eyed, robotic teenager sitting in his living room with his wife, he couldn't help but let out a startled yell.
"Who the Hell are you?!" The man of the house demanded in a protective and shocked tone.
"Calm down, dear. This boy is named Genos. He's one of the two Heroes that Shunshi told us he's started training with," Shunshi's mother explained to her panicking partner.
"I am not a boy, ma'am. I am 19 years old. This means that I am legally an adult," Genos commented in a polite but firm tone.
Both of Shunshi's parents were a little surprised by this sudden correction for a moment. In part, due to Genos' younger appearance, as well as the unexpected and odd manner in which he chose to articulate the fact.
After recomposing himself with a cough, Shunshi's father asked Genos, "You sure about that? You look like you're still in the middle of your teenage years to me."
"I was turned into a cyborg when I was 15 years old, so my face's appearance has not changed much since then. There have been some attempts made to age up my appearance, but there has been nothing too drastic. This is due to neither I nor my caretaker, the brilliant Dr. Stench, knowing what exactly I should look like at this age," Genos explained.
Both of Shunshi's parents were understandably baffled by this answer, but, in unison, both decided to simply reply, "Oh... Okay, then."
Deciding to get down to business, Genos hunched forward slightly and started talking more seriously, "If I may get to the reason for my visit. During our first training session, I explained who I am and how I got to where I am in my life to both Shunshi and our Master. Shunshi gave a very vague explanation of who he is due to our Master being a very busy man. I had intended to question him on this at a later point, but monsters attacked us before I had a chance to ask him any questions about just who exactly he is. I thought it over some more and came to the conclusion that it would be rude to just ask him his life story, so I wanted to know if you, his family, would be willing to explain anything about him to me."
Shunshi's father rubbed his beard at this while, stating in a minimally disappointed tone, "Isn't that just like my boy? So caught up in the excitement of a fight, that he didn't even properly introduce himself." He then turned to his wife and said in a respectful tone, "If you don't mind, I think I'll tell our son's story to this Genos character, dear."
Shunshi's mother playfully pinched her husband's face in response, while saying, "As long as you remember all the important facts."
After turning back to look at Genos, Shunshi's father's face shifted to a much more serious look, gaining the cyborg's full attention.
"Well, I suppose I should start at my son's high school years. Shunshi's first year there was spent with his older sister. She was a bit of a sports star and kept bullies off of his back during that year, but naturally, she'd graduated by the start of his second year. After his big sis had left, my boy got his butt handed to him by bullies on a pretty regular basis. So, in order to protect himself, he started exercising and attending a martial arts class after school." The older man's face then shifted to a much more proud look before he continued, "Pretty soon, my boy just beat down anyone who gave him crap! And after getting the local thugs off of his own back, he started helping out anyone else who got picked on by them! I tell ya, I thought that the confidence boost that he got from all of that would've given him all the courage that he needed to be a successful man once he'd come of age!" His expression then turned to a more annoyed one before going on, "But nooo! As soon as he found out about the Hero Association, he never even bothered going to college. He went to go and apply for that group of part-timers that try and do the suicidal job fighting off those freakish monsters that have been popping up for God knows how long. But Shunshi failed his test and then did something I was horrified of... He never got a job! He hasn't had a single job in his entire life and has been spending every single day training to be stronger instead. I thought he'd give up on it when he realized that he just couldn't compete with the pro Heroes, but during some meditation or something, he suddenly caught on fire and started getting superpowers of all things. Well, as you might imagine, getting superpowers gave him yet another confidence boost, so he spent all of his free time between training to make a costume for himself... Ugh, I guess that tells you everything you need to know about him... Excuse me. I need some coffee."
After Shunshi's father left the room, Genos was thinking over everything that he had just told him. However, his concentration was broken when Shunshi's mother let out a sigh of her own.
"Just like I expected, he forgot one of the most important facts," she declared in disappointment.
Cocking his eyebrow at this, Genos asked, "And what fact would that be?"
Gaining a somewhat sad look on her face, Shunshi's mother hesitated briefly, before answering, "Shunshi suffers from clinical depression."
Genos was shocked to hear this, but he let Shunshi's mother continue without interruption.
"I love my boy, but his grades in school were always just barely passing. The only thing he was ever really good at was fighting. I think it was more due to a lack of interest in the subjects he learned, rather than him being stupid or anything. Regardless, he was convinced that he would never get a good job, or rather, a job that he would actually want to do. The only times I ever really saw him happy was when he would talk about the other students that he'd helped with bully problems. So that, combined with his love of reading superhero stories, planted the thought in his mind that he could only be happy if he was a superhero himself. When he actually gained powers from his meditation, I found him crying in his room out of joy. In all honesty, my husband is just concerned about our son dying while fighting criminals or monsters, as well as the idea of Shunshi not living a fulfilling life. I just don't think he really realizes that Shunshi wouldn't be happy doing anything other than the dream of heroism that he's chasing after right now. He just loves helping other people too much."
Genos was put into deep thought by this, so he stood up, bowed to Shunshi's mother, and told her, "Thank you for the information, but I am afraid I cannot stay any longer. I have... business to attend to. Thank you for your hospitality, ma'am."
As Genos walked away, Shunshi's mother smiled and stated cheerfully, "Any friend of Shunshi's is a friend of ours. Feel free to visit our home any time, Genos."
Being taken a little off guard by her hospitality, Genos stopped walking, turned his head, and smiled at this kind-hearted woman before telling her, "Thank you. I will keep that in mind."
As Genos started walking away from Shunshi's home and towards Saitama's apartment, he thought, I... I think I will allow him to continue training with Sensei and myself for the time being.
Meanwhile, in F-City, Shunshi had been mindlessly running around for far more than ten kilometers, and he eventually came across a Zoo.
While running past this Zoo, the young man heard a symphony of screams coming from inside. Concerned that people might be in danger, he ran into the Zoo through the front gate, just in case, there was anything he could do to help them.
After swiftly maneuvering around a stampede of fearful people trying to get away, Shunshi saw that all of the dangerous animals in the Zoo had escaped their habitats and were attacking people.
Shunshi was about to jump in and help subdue the feral creatures, but he saw that several actual members of the Hero Association were already there. They were just C-Class Heroes, though. These Heroes were Red Nose, Hyottoko, Mohican, Red Muffler, and, one of Shunshi's personal idols, the noble License-less Rider. They were all doing their best to keep the escaped animals at bay, while the citizens fled.
As the C-Class Heroes kept the animals from getting past them, Shunshi had hidden behind a bathroom and was putting on his armor.
"Should I step in?! I don't want to get in the way of the actual Heroes... I only got involved with Saitama-Sensei's and Genos-Senpai's fight the first time because I was already fighting that mosquito monster. And I only got involved with Master's fights after that because he's my teacher. I've risked enough already by getting involved with an A-Class and an S-Class... Maybe I should just leave and let the pros handle it this time. Don't want to step on the toes of any more pros after all," Shunshi muttered to himself.
Just as Shunshi was about to start packing his costume back up, he saw Red Nose and Hyottoko, with pretty grievous-looking claw and bite marks, running away from a lion while screaming in fear.
Shunshi was a little bewildered by this sight at first but then remarked, "Maybe... Maybe it wouldn't hurt to help out after all."
Just as Red Nose and Hyottoko ran out of the Zoo, Shunshi, fully dressed in his armor, jumped at the lion and kicked it in its back. With that one attack, the tiger was knocked out before it could escape the Zoo and hurt anyone else.
With that beast dealt with, Shunshi quickly turned to look at the Heroes who had stayed to fight and saw Red Muffler, Mohican, and License-less Rider fighting a small pack of wolves.
Red Muffler had one of the wolfs in a headlock, and, after picking it up off of the ground, he threw it at a wall, knocking it out. Before he even had a chance to prepare himself for the next beast, another one of the wolves tackled him. While it had the Hero pinned, the wolf tried to bite at Red Muffler's throat. Fortunately for Red Muffler, he was fast enough to shove one of his armored forearms into the wolf's mouth. After continuing to grapple with the beast for a few seconds, he head-butted it, knocking it out cold while drawing some blood from his own forehead in the process.
At the same time, Mohican was surrounded by three wolfs. Despite this, Mohican kept his eyes on all three, making sure he was ready for when any of them attacked. Seemingly angry that the Human wasn't giving them any openings, one of the animals tried to jump and bite at Mohican regardless.
With some impressive skill, Mohican swiftly spin-kicked it away while shouting, "Mohi-Cutter!"
Seeing this as an opening, the other two wolves rushed the Hero as fast as they could. However, Mohican used the momentum of his spin-kick to carry him away and maneuver to the side of the animals.
Once in his new position, Mohican was able to launch himself off of his back foot and punch one of the beasts in its head while shouting, "Mohi-Punch!" The force of his punch was enough to knock the first wolf into the other, bashing out one of the first wolf's teeth in the process. With that, they both laid on the ground, unable to move.
Now that the first five wolves were taken care of, the last four rushed at License-less Rider, with him ready to fight. The Cyclist For Justice ran at the last four wolves in retaliation, punching one of them square in its forehead, knocking it out could. Another wolf tried to bite at his arm while it was extended. Fortunately, License-Less Rider pulled his limb back before the wolf could close its teeth on him. At the same time, he kneed that wolf in its jaw, breaking a few of its teeth and rendering it unconscious. With only two more of the beats left, License-Less Rider ran at the wolves, reached underneath them, and grabbed them by their necks, before rushing forward and slamming the wolves into a nearby wall.
As he wrestled the wolves to the ground, License-Less Rider shouted, "Justice Tackle!"
Upon witnessing these C-Class Heroes deal with the wolves, Shunshi postulated, Huh... Looks like I really didn't need to step in after all. Ya know, now that I think about it, I was able to follow their moves pretty easily... Even License-less Rider... I guess I'm stronger than a C-Class Hero after all! That's awesome!
Just as the three C-Classes started to relax and catch their breath, a rhino rushed out from behind the corner of the butterfly exhibit and started charging at them.
Quickly composing himself and analyzing the situation, License-less Rider jumped onto his bike and started peddling straight at the rampaging rhino.
The top C-Class Hero then jumped off of his bike and allowed it to crash into the rhino while roaring, "Justice Crash!"
Unfortunately, The Bike Of Justice harmlessly bounced off the thick hide of the rhino. The beast then stampeded into License-less Rider, knocking him away with a powerful slam from the side of its horn. The rhino then continued to charge, with the now frightened Red Muffler and Mohican in its path.
Seeing that they were about to get trampled, Shunshi blurted out in a panic, "Oh crap!"
Shunshi got ready to intervene, but, before he could do anything, the B-Class Hero, Darkness Blade jumped out from behind him.
Moving twice as fast as the rhino, Darkness Blade rushed in and cut the animal's head off with a single slash from his longsword, just as it was about to reach the other two Heroes.
After whipping the blood off of his sword, Darkness Blade posed dramatically and stoically exclaimed, "I, the great Hero Darkness Blade, saw the two other C-Class Heroes running away from this disaster. As such, I arrived on the scene to save you all with my merciless, evil slaying blade! Now, I will handle the rest of these escaped animals with my unstoppable sword!" Just as he finished declaring this, a tiger rushed at Darkness Blade from behind the corner of another building and clawed at his back. This attack knocked him onto his face and almost cut through his fancy armor.
Darkness Blade, now with a visibly panicked expression, quickly got back up and turned to face the tiger. License-less Rider tried to stand up so that he could rush over and help Darkness Blade. However, the B-Class Hero quickly, and with palpable desperation, thrusted his sword straight at the tiger, impaling its head on his blade.
Darkness Blade had a look of surprise and fear on his face, but he quickly recomposed himself when Red Muffler and Mohican ran up and started praising him.
Red Muffler, while pounding his fist into the air, stated, "That went way better than when we fought the 170,000 Year Magicicada Nymph! Great job!"
Placing a hand on Darkness Blades' shoulder, Mohican stated happily, "Amazing! You always were promising, even back when you were a rookie!"
Darkness Blade, without a change in expression, replied with a calm and collected look on his face, "That's why I'm a B-Class Hero, but I don't really think that makes me much better than you guys because I'm so cool."
When Darkness Blade said this, Red Muffler lost the enthusiasm on his face and grimaced internally, Oh, right. I forgot that he's the kind of person that's better off not talking.
As he looked at Darkness Blade standing triumphantly above the dead rhino and tiger, Shunshi thought in amazement, Oh man, it's Darkness Blade! I always thought he looked so awesome...! But did he really need to kill those animals to win?
Shunshi, then, looked down at the unconscious lion at his feet. Concerned that he might have done the same thing as Darkness Blade, he took off his gauntlet and felt the animal's nose. He then put his gauntlet back on, happy to see that the creature was still breathing.
Another thought then occurred to the dark-clad Hero, Hmm. Darkness Blade looked like he was moving pretty slowly too... Does that mean I'll be even higher ranked than him when I retake the test?! Holy crap, that's amazing!
After finally being able to recompose himself, License-less Rider stood up and brushed himself off while giving a slightly annoyed look at Darkness Blade.
However, he quickly wiped that look from his face, walked up to the B-Class, and spoke to him with a grateful smile, "Thank you for the help, Darkness Blade. You feel up to helping us throw these wolves back in their homes?"
Realizing that things had finally calmed down, Shunshi hesitantly walked up to the professional Heroes, while carrying the lion that he had knocked out over his shoulders.
"Can I help you guys with that?" Shunshi nervously asked them.
Mohican and Red Muffler both yelped in shock, due to a combination of the intimidating appearance of Shunshi's getup and the fact that he was carrying an unconscious lion on his shoulders.
Darkness Blade, on the other hand, kept his cool and told the two frightened C-Classers, "Calm down. I saw this Hero defeat the lion that he's carrying in order to save the others that ran away. What class and rank are you anyway, stranger?"
Having hoped he wouldn't have been asked that, Shunshi grew nervous and replied, "Well... Uh... I'm not an official Hero yet, actually. I failed my first exam, and I'm gonna try again at the end of this month. I just wanted to lend a hand when I saw that those other C-Class Heroes were in danger. So, uh... Do any of you know where this lion's habitat is?"
Without warning, Mohican got in Shunshi's face and yelled, "You can't let anyone know about professional Heroes running away from a fight, you punk! If you do, then we'll all make sure that you won't be allowed into the Hero Association, even if you do pass your Hero exam!"
Flinching, Shunshi was understandably a little shocked by this sudden outburst from a pro Hero. Although he wanted to tell them they had no need to worry, the Hero worshiping young man felt as if all his words were glued to his throat.
At the same time, Red Muffler looked at the unregistered Hero that had easily beaten and was carrying on his shoulders a creature that he couldn't have possibly handled on his own.
With a mixture of intimidation and admiration, Red Muffler internally pondered, How highly ranked would a guy like this be if he did join the Hero Association?
Pushing Mohican aside, Darkness Blade coldly explained to Shunshi, "We won't hold anything against you if you don't tell anybody about this and allow us to take full credit for beating that lion you took down. I'll do this for you because I'm such a cool guy."
License-less Rider, something in him having snapped, walked up to Darkness Blade and adamantly interjected, "Guys, look. If he honestly just came here to help us, then let's leave it at that and not harass the poor guy! He's not an official Hero yet, so we'll get all the credit for this anyway."
In response, Darkness Blade put on a serious face while thinking in relief, Good point. I didn't want to try and intimidate this guy anyway. He looks scary, and he took down a lion without even using a weapon.
While clearing his throat, Darkness Blade responded in a calm yet arrogant tone, "You're right, License-Less Rider. I already had that figured out. I just didn't feel like showing off how clever I am and making the other two feel bad."
Giving a small glare at the B-Class Hero, Red Muffler thought to himself, "What the Hell is this guy even talking about?!"
Even with License-Less Rider coming to his aid, Shunshi was still frozen for a moment. The anxiety of wanting to impress these Heroes was eating away at any confidence he was trying to build up within himself.
Despite this, he still did as he offered and helped put the animals back in their cages.
A few minutes later, all of the animals that hadn't been killed were put back into their habitats.
Afterward, License-less Rider walked up to Shunshi, placed his hand on his shoulder, and encouraged the younger, unregistered Hero, "Good luck on your test, buddy. For what it's worth from a C-Class, I think you can definitely make it in."
Shunshi smiled at this and finally found the willpower to respond, "Thank you, License-less Rider, sir! That means a lot coming from you, sir!"
The Rider was initially taken back by this praise, but he quickly recomposed himself. He then climbed onto his bike, turned to face the other Heroes, smiled at them while giving them a thumbs up, and then started riding off.
He's... he's just so awesome, Shunshi thought in awe as the Rider for justice peddled away on his bike.
With License-Less Rider gone, the three Heroes and Shunshi thanked each other properly and started heading for the Zoo's exit, but stopped when they saw that there was a person blocking it. A disheveled man came in through the entranceway while being carried through the air by hundreds of small birds. The bizarre man glared at the Heroes, stopping them in their tracks as they readied themselves for combat.
Elsewhere, License-less Rider had already ridden far enough away from the Zoo that he no longer had any way of knowing what was happening there.
As he was riding along, a young boy asked him if he would help him get his balloon out of a tree, to which the Hero happily agreed to do.
Back at the Zoo, the Heroes were on guard against the bizarre bird-riding man.
The disheveled man addressed the small gang of Heroes, anger suffusing his voice, "I see... So you're the ones that beat my troops and put them back in their cages! I am the King Of Nature, a Dragon Level Disaster! I will enslave Humanity with my ability to control all animals around me, an ability given to me by God!"
Having heard enough of this man's insane ramblings, Darkness Blade took out his sword and exclaimed, "Evil-doer! Prepare to be slain by my merciless, evil slaying blade!"
Just as the B-Class said this, dozens of the small birds that had been carrying the King of Nature swarmed at him and started pecking at any exposed spot on his body. Darkness Blade futilely tried to swing at the small birds with his sword, but due to their size and speed, he couldn't hit any of them as they continued to make tiny cuts on his face and joints.
Before the other three Heroes could try to help Darkness Blade or attack the King Of Nature, they heard a loud trumpeting in the distance as they felt the ground shaking beneath them. The source of this rumbling exposed itself to be an elephant that was charging at the three of them.
Shunshi was ready to put a stop to this goliath-sized animal, but Mohican rushed at it first.
Confident he could stop the stampeding beast, the mohawk Hero jump-kicked at the elephant while shouting, "Mohi-Glide!" Unfortunately, the elephant's thick skull easily ran through Mohican's attack and kept charging forward as the C-Class laid on the ground, unconscious and with a broken leg.
Quickly taking action, Shunshi gave an order to Red Muffler, as Kie flames covered his body, "Stay here and try to help Darkness Blade. I'll handle this!"
Shunshi then ran at the elephant, jumped at the creature's face, grabbed onto its tusks, and forced it onto its side by twisting its head. While the elephant was lying on the ground, it thrusted its trunk at Shunshi and tried to wrap him up with it. Fortunately, he managed to wrap one of his arms underneath the trunk and began to wrestle the beast.
While Shunshi was struggling with the elephant, Darkness Blade with the birds, and Mohican with the ground, Red Muffler just stood there awkwardly and afraid. Trying to think of what to do, he looked up at the King Of Nature standing atop the mass of birds he'd flown in on by the Zoo's entrance.
All of a sudden, Red Muffler cleaned off the blood that had gathered on his forehead, and, began making his way towards the Zoo's gate as if he had decided to just run away. A few of the birds pecked at the C-Class Hero as he ran by them, but they gave up their pursuit as soon as he exited the Zoo.
However, once Red Muffler rushed out of the main entrance, he climbed up the stone wall that surrounded the Zoo, and then jumped into the air, straight in the direction of the King Of Nature. As soon as the Hero's momentum carried him close enough to his target, he performed a forward flip and ax-kick into the back of King Of Nature's head. This blow knocked the villain out cold and caused blood to fly from the back of his skull.
As soon as the king hit the ground, all of the animals suddenly passed out, leaving the Heroes baffled but relieved. Once they realized what the C-Class Hero had done, both Shunshi and Darkness Blade both looked at Red Muffler with a mix of surprise and appreciation.
Ecstatic that his hunch about how to win was right, Red Muffler smiled and pumped his fist into the air while exclaiming with a grin on his face, "Hahaha! Looks like he wasn't nearly as tough as he liked to pretend to be! Dragon Level, my ass!"
Shunshi was glad that the battle against the forces of nature was over and, as he caught his breath, he suggested to Darkness Blade and Red Muffler, "Hey, how about you guys,(huff) take in Nature King to the Association prison and, (huff) get Mohican some medical attention. I'll, (huff) put this elephant back in its habitat, okay?"
Not really understanding how this guy could get this massive creature back where it belonged all on his own, Red Muffler asked Shunshi, "How do you plan on doing that, exactly?"
In response to the question, Shunshi took his hood off, put his clawed gloves inside of the hood, slid his hands underneath the behemoth, and, after struggling for a few seconds, picked up the elephant over his head.
In a humble tone of voice, while also gasping for breath, Shunshi asked, "(Huff. Wheeze)- Don't these guys only weigh, like, two or three tons? I can lift... seven tons... Last time I checked anyway."
Both of the professional Heroes stared at Shunshi's feat of strength and, having become overwhelmed with shock, couldn't think of anything to say in response to it.
Deciding it was best just to leave this unregistered Hero to his devices, Darkness Blade put the King Of Nature over his shoulders, while Red Muffler carried Mohican. The two, then, speedily ran out of the Zoo without another word, all while Shunshi brought the elephant back to its habitat.
A few moments later, While the two professional Heroes were running back to H.Q., the concussed King Of Nature started mumbling to himself, "Huh... Wazzat...? What...? God...? What is it you...? NO! Don't take away my-!"
Before the King Of Nature could finish his sentence, he suddenly rotted away and turned dust on Darkness Blade's shoulder. This freaked both of the Heroes out so much that they began to scream uncontrollably.
Back at the Zoo, Shunshi had placed the elephant back into its habitat.
Satisfied with the work he'd done, the young Hero was putting his gauntlets back on when he saw a building collapsing in the distance.
Realizing that he had found more evil to stop, Shunshi mumbled to himself in a strange mixture of exhaustion and excitement, "A Hero's work is never done, I guess... I'm not really a Hero yet, though... Whatever. There are people who need help!" He then started running and jumping as fast as he could towards the scene of the crime, in order to find out what was happening.
Meanwhile, License-less Rider had gotten the child's balloon out of the tree and started riding away on his bike proudly as the child waved him goodbye.
After patrolling around for a bit longer, he heard an explosion come from farther into the city and went to investigate in order to see if any people needed help.
Back at Saitama's apartment, the bald Hero had just finished brushing his teeth and was sitting around his home, being bored as usual.
Grabbing his T.V. remote, Saitama thought to himself emotionlessly, Let's see what's on the news, I guess. He turned on the television and listened in while still going about his business.
Sitting on the ground, Saitama half-heartedly paid attention as the news reporter stated, "-A terrorist group called the Paradisers. This group is led by the B-Class criminal Hammerhead and is comprised of young men with no motivation to work. This group has come into possession of high-tech suits of battle armor-"
Hearing all of this, Saitama thought uncaringly, Eh, the police should be able to handle it.
However, his attitude changed when the reporter finished her sentence, "And each of them have heads that have been shaved bald. If you see anyone like this, do not approach them, as they are extremely dangerous."
Once he heard this, Saitama was horrified and exclaimed internally, What!? That's my look! I have to stop them before people start mistaking me for a terrorist!
Having used his super-speed to put his costume on as quickly as possible, Saitama rushed out of his house in order to put a stop to the Paradisers.
Meanwhile, License-less Rider had managed to find the source of the disturbance, a group of criminals who all had shaved heads. They were all wearing some kind of black robotic armor and had just finished tearing through a squad of riot officers.
A large man whose armor had fire patterns on it was leading the criminals, and exclaimed gleefully, "This is too easy!"
Infuriated by all the harm that these men were causing, License-less Rider shouted while peddling towards them, "Hold it!"
After the Paradisers had all turned to face the direction of the top C-Class Hero, the Rider stopped in front of them, got off of his bike, and kicked out its stand.
Raising his fists, License-Less Rider shouted at the terrorist, "The bicyclist for justice is here! License-less Rider!"
When nearby civilians saw that License-Less Rider had shown up to save the day, they started cheering outcries of relief, "It's License-Less Rider! We'll be safe now that he's here!"
License-Less Rider simply smiled at the encouragement that he was getting from the crowd and clenched his fists tightly in preparation for combat.
The Paradisers' leader just smirked and rhetorically asked, "A Hero? What a joke!"
Ignoring this taunt, License-less Rider readied himself mentally and quickly charged into combat, only to be taken out with a single punch from one of the criminals.
"Someone call the police!" A nearby citizen shouted in fear as License-Less Rider laid bloodied on the street.
A few minutes later, as the Paradisers were making their way through wave after wave of police officers, Shunshi was about to catch up to them, ready to confront the crooks himself. All the while, Saitama was repeatedly getting stopped in the street by panicking people mistaking him for one of the Paradisers.
Just as the Paradisers were starting to make their way into a forest, Shunshi had caught up to them and threw one of his Light Balls at one of their backs. The force of the explosion was enough to knock the Paradiser that it hit off of his feet, although he immediately got back up, his armor having absorbed the majority of the blast.
Jumping out and presenting himself to the villains, Shunshi struck up a combative pose while stating, "Well, it's a good thing I caught up to you thugs here of all places. Now I can fight you losers without having to worry about anyone else getting hurt!"
Having no clue who this armored individual was, Hammerhead stared at him for a moment with an annoyed face, until he yelled at the aspiring Hero, "Get lost or get put down, runt. That armor of yours doesn't look high-tech like ours is."
Profoundly offended by Hammerhead's attitude, Shunshi quickly rushed at the villain while making sure to cover himself in Kie. However, he was easily backhanded away by the power of the large man's battle armor.
Shunshi landed on his back, but quickly somersaulted back up to his feet and fretted internally, This guy hits almost as hard as that mosquito thing did before it transformed... Damn it all! Another Demon!
As Hammerhead started walking towards Shunshi with killing intent in his eyes, a bucktoothed Paradiser stepped in front of his boss and told him confidently, "Leave this puke to me, boss. You guys should focus on taking down Zeniru rather than this suicidal idiot."
Annoyed further at being insulted yet again, Shunshi rushed at this Paradiser and threw a flurry of punches at him while thinking, This one goes out to Genos-Senpai!
"LIGHT KIE MACHINE GUN!" Shunshi shouted righteously as his flurry of punches flew at the Paradiser, who raised his arms in defense.
While his armor protected him from the Hero's rapid punches, the Paradiser turned his head, smiled at Hammerhead, and exclaimed, "Don't worry, boss! I got this one!"
With pride on his face, Hammerhead smiled at his underling and shouted to the others, "Alright, Paradisers! Let's go and kill Zeniru!"
As the other Paradisers walked away, the bucktoothed one that stayed behind thrusted his arms forward and forced Shunshi to stumble back by a few feet.
Once he regained his footing, Shunshi calculated in his mind, The others are getting away. Ugh. Okay, I could just punch this guy in his head and kill him... But he's not really a monster, he's just a criminal in a suit of armor. So should I risk killing him...? Let's just see how this fight goes.
Shunshi ran back at the bucktoothed Paradiser, with bucktooth throwing a couple of punches at the dark-clad Hero in retaliation. However, Shunshi redirected the first punch away from himself and spun around the other while sweeping his foot at the Paradiser's ankles, knocking him to the ground.
While his opponent was lying on his back, Shunshi tried to lightly punch bucktooth in his face so that he could be done with this fight, but the armored terrorist caught the young man by his wrist and threw him away with the armor's immense strength. After being sent flying, Shunshi was about to hit the ground, but he used his superhuman agility to spin around in the air and land on his feet. Before Shunshi could try to attack once more, the Paradiser stood back up and ripped a huge chunk of rock out of the ground, tossing it at his younger opponent.
In an instinctive panic, Shunshi tried throwing a Light Ball at the boulder. This was despite knowing from practice that he'd need more time to create a Light Ball powerful enough to counter a rock of that size. However, much to Shunshi's surprise, the Light Ball that he threw was almost twice the size of what he'd typically create, making a blast big enough to demolish the boulder in mid-air.
As the explosion's dust cloud settled, Shunshi thought in confusion, What? Wait a second... I thought it took me longer to charge up a Light Ball that powerful... Don't look a gift horse in the mouth, I guess. I still gotta deal with this jack-ass.
Deciding to try a new tactic, the black-haired Hero started running circles around the Paradiser while throwing swift and precise strikes at his armor in order to try and knock him off balance or damage the battle-suit itself. Bucktooth tried repeatedly to catch Shunshi and hit him, but his non-stop movements kept the Paradiser from even touching him. Unfortunately, after a few minutes of striking the battle-suit, Shunshi had to stop and back off due to his limbs feeling like they were going to break if they kept hitting this seemingly unbreakable armor, even with the protection of his own armor and his Kie.
Seeing that the no-name Hero's attack had failed, Bucktooth laughed at Shunshi and happily taunted, "I haven't even had to actually attack you to hurt you yet! Your own attacks are doing the job for me! Ha!"
Infuriated once again, Shunshi snarled at the Paradiser from behind his helmet, and yelled back at him with a growling voice, "Don't you ever laugh at me, you scum-bag terrorist!" He then generated a few small Light Balls and threw the cluster at the Paradiser's feet.
Bucktooth, thinking that nothing Shunshi could do would hurt him, smiled confidently. However, he was taken off guard and started coughing when the Light Balls' explosions created a large dust cloud all around him.
Confident that his plan was working, Shunshi darted forward and thought excitedly, Now I just gotta rush through the cloud and give that jerk a love-tap to his noggin. That should K.O. him... What am I gonna do about the rest of the Paradisers, though...? I'll guess I'll just fight as hard as I can to stop them. Even if I can never stand up again after the battle's done, that's just what Heroes do!
Before Shunshi could finish making his way through the dust cloud, ready to sock bucktooth in his face, he was knocked over by Hammerhead running past them both. As he ran by, Shunshi noticed that, for some odd reason, the huge man had a kunai stuck in the back of his massive head.
Shunshi was, naturally, very confused by this odd turn of events. What concerned him far more, though, was the fact that the bucktoothed Paradiser he had been fighting was lying on the ground in front of him, beheaded.
Sickened by the sight of a decapitated man, Shunshi stumbled backward in surprise, before what appeared to be a pissed-off ninja appeared in front of him. This ninja seemed to have come out of nowhere, quite literally seeming to materialize in front of the young man.
Without a second of hesitation, the ninja scowled at Shunshi and asked, "Which way did Hammerhead go?"
Shunshi examined this ninja for a moment and was shocked further when he saw the man's katana, which was drenched in the blood of Bucktooth.
Fearful at the mere presence of this man, Shunshi wondered as the ninja visibly grew impatient, Is this the guy that scared off Hammerhead just now...?! Where are the rest of the Paradisers?! Did he kill them all with just that sword?!
His patience having reached its limit, the ninja shouted angrily, "Answer me or get cut down, worm! Where did Hammerhead go?!"
The killer aura that this warrior gave off terrified Shunshi, so he fearfully replied while pointing south, "That way... Uh, hey. How about I go with you? I'm training to become a Pro Hero, and this guy is pretty dangerous... You might, uh... need some help, sir?"
After hearing this offer, the ninja gave Shunshi an unimpressed and hateful glare. Eventually, though, the ninja grinned and rhetorically answered, "Sure. You can come along, Hero... If you can even keep up with me, that is!"
Shunshi initially thought that this ninja was referring to combat skill in regards to 'keeping up,' but before he could ask for clarification, the ninja vanished with speed so intense that Shunshi wasn't even able to tell when he'd left. The only trace of the ninja was the cloud of dust he'd made and the blood on the ground that had been coating his sword less than a second ago.
After being briefly stunned silent by this ninja's speed, Shunshi hissed at himself, "What are you doing, you moron?! Chase after him!" The dark-clad Hero then started running as fast as his body would allow, heading in the direction that Hammerhead had gone, as well as where the blood was leading towards.
Meanwhile, Saitama, who had finally managed to avoid all of the people that were calling him a terrorist, was walking around the forest and looking for the Paradisers. As he walked, Saitama eventually came across Hammerhead running away from something or someone, evident by the terrified and pissed-off expression on his face.
Having noticed this unimpressive-looking man in a superhero outfit standing off to his side, Hammerhead glanced over at Saitama in confusion. His bald head had gained Hammerhead's attention and gotten his hopes up somewhat.
"Ah, found you," Saitama exclaimed with a small smile.
Deciding to stop and ask questions, Hammerhead inquired, "You here to join the Paradisers?"
Saitama didn't waste a second to give an answer, as he replied nonchalantly, "Actually, I'm just here to kick your ass."
Not wanting to have to waste any more of his time with another weak Hero, Hammerhead threw a punch at Saitama's face with such force that it likely would've atomized a normal Human.
Having assumed that the Hero was dead, Hammerhead began to examine his surroundings, while thinking out loud, "Gotta find a way outta here quick." However, when he felt that his fist was still connected to something, he focused his gaze back in front of himself and saw that Saitama was still standing in front of him, having been left completely unphased by his attack.
Growing a look of disappointment, Saitama asked Hammerhead, "Is that it? What a letdown. I was all excited to fight these battle suits. But the design is lame, and all they do is give you super strength."
Furious at this nobody's attitude as well as the loss of his entire gang, Hammerhead shouted ferociously as he readied another attack, "You have no idea how hard it was to steal these things! How could you possibly know their value?!" All of a sudden, the flame design on his suit's torso and limbs started glowing, while the suit itself started growing more bulky and muscular. Hammerhead then glared angrily at Saitama and screamed furiously, "I've been looking for someone to test the full power of this suit on!"
The bald terrorist then began spinning his arms like windmills and charging towards Saitama while exclaiming, "Spin Attack!"
Saitama, remembering a fight he had when he was a child, realized with a very small amount of shock, I used to use that move all the time when I was a kid.
Just as Hammerhead's fists were about to slam down on Saitama, the world's strongest Hero effortlessly caught them both in his hands.
Seeing such a plain-looking man perform a feat of power he had assumed would've been impossible caused Hammerhead to shout at the top of his lungs, "Huh?! No way!"
Looking over the odd individual he was holding by the fists, Saitama started contemplating his life choices, Hammerhead, huh? He's a lot like me.
While struggling to get out of Saitama's grip, Hammerhead asked the Hero in front of him a question in a mixture of frustration and fear, "What the Hell are you?!"
Instead of giving an answer, Saitama let go of one of Hammerhead's armored hands and proceeded to lightly backhand the battle-suit that he was in, shattering it and leaving the B-Class criminal butt-naked.
Realizing that his armor had been destroyed, Hammerhead squealed in fear, took a few steps backward, and started sweating heavily.
"Wait, hold on! I just wanted to get out of working, that's all!" Hammerhead pleaded in a desperate and miserable tone.
As Hammerhead smiled fearfully, Saitama addressed this failure of a terrorist leader, in his usual emotionless tone, "Don't be bad anymore, okay?"
Hammerhead was confused by this response and asked, "Huh? Wait, you mean you're not gonna kill me?"
Still speaking emotionlessly, Saitama ordered, "Get lost."
Realizing that he'd really get to live, Hammerhead responded to this mighty Hero's demand in a very polite manner as he ran off, butt naked and with a kunai still lodged in the back of his skull, "Right! You got it! AAAGHAAHAHAHAHA!"
Saitama sighed in disappointment at this sight and said to himself in a somewhat frustrated tone, "Well, that's that. Guess I'll go home."
Without warning, the ninja Shunshi had met earlier suddenly appeared behind Saitama and asked him in a calm yet arrogant tone, "Where did Hammerhead run off to?"
Feeling mostly unphased by this man's sudden arrival, Saitama turned to face the ninja, with a confused expression.
The ninja, with the same tone of voice, continued to speak to Saitama, "There's no one left here but you."
Saitama, still having no reaction to seeing a ninja, pointed west and explained emotionlessly, "Hammerhead ran that way, buck naked, screaming and yelling."
Just as Saitama finished explaining this, he swiped a kunai out of the air that was aimed at his face.
While examining this throwing shovel, the Hero For Fun pondered out loud, "What's this thing?" Saitama then caught the ninja's katana in his free hand, just as it was about to hit him in the eye.
The fact that this yellow-clad Paradiser was able to stop not just one, but two of his attacks shocked the speedy ninja as he struggled to free his blade.
Saitama, still speaking in his default emotionless tone, tried to explain the situation to the ninja, while simultaneously crushing his blade, "Hey, you got it wrong."
At this moment, Shunshi had caught up with the ninja, and saw his Master and said ninja standing across from each other.
Concerned for his teacher's safety, Shunshi yelled out, "Master!"
Saitama noticed that one of his would-be students had shown up in the woods as well, and asked him with minor curiosity, "Shunshi? What are you doing here, man?"
Shaking in fear slightly as he caught his breath and looked at the ninja, Shunshi explained, "Master, be careful. This man defeated all of the Paradisers, on his own, with just a sword! He's really dangerous!"
The younger Hero then noticed the shards of a broken sword at Saitama's feet, causing him to mutter out awkwardly, "Uuuuuuhhh... Okay, maybe not?"
Before he had time to process what Shunshi was trying to tell him, Saitama found himself having to swipe another kunai out of the air well before it would have actually hit him. This surprised Shunshi and angered the ninja further.
After nonchalantly discarding this weapon, Saitama, in a patient tone, tried explaining himself once more, "I told you, you got it wrong."
Curious, the ninja asked the yellow-dressed man, "What did I get wrong, exactly?"
"I know how this looks, but I'm not one of the Paradisers," Saitama responded calmly.
The ninja closed his eyes for a second before stating in a quiet, yet firm tone, "You're a terrible liar."
Saitama, having become somewhat frustrated, yelled, "No no no! Don't be stupid! Look at me! I'm-!"
The ninja cut Saitama off by stating, "I don't need to know who you are. With that bald head, there's no denying it."
Shunshi interjected in a defensive tone, "How dare you accuse Sensei of being part of that group! My Master is just naturally bald, you jerk!"
"Shut up! You're not helping!" Saitama shouted at his student.
He then turned back to the ninja and tried to explain who he was one last time, "Oh come on! Really, take a good look at me. I'm the guy who's a Hero for fun! I'm not a-."
The ninja cut him off once again by calmly declaring, "I've never heard of you. And if that guy is actually your student, then that doesn't say much for your reputation. He couldn't even beat a single one of those Paradisers on his own."
"I was about to win..." Shunshi muttered in aggravation.
Feeling truly offended at the insults the ninja had thrown out, the young Hero ignored his fear as his eyes started glowing white with fire. Simultaneously, Saitama's face showed utter defeat at not being recognized.
The ninja, then, started speaking in a much more serious tone, all while growing a very disturbed smile on his face, "Either way, it doesn't matter to me in the least. What does matter is that you saw through and countered three of my attacks. That's the real problem. I was born in a ninja village and was taught the art of the ninja since I was just a child. Yet, you saw through three of my moves! This, I cannot permit!"
What's he even talking about? Saitama thought with a minimal amount of concern.
The ninja, while suddenly disappearing into the trees with his inhuman speed, exclaimed wildly, "I don't care who you are. My pride won't allow for you to exist. I just have to kill you right now!"
Concerned that his Sensei might need assistance, Shunshi was about to run in and try to help, but Saitama noticed and gestured for him to stay put.
"Don't worry, Shunshi. This guy just wants to test his moves out on me. I can tell by that innocent smile on his face," Saitama explained cheerfully.
The ninja, who was facing away from both of them, covered his mouth with his hand when Saitama said this. He then continued jumping around the trees of the forest at continuously higher and higher speeds; speeds that were too fast for Shunshi's eyes to keep up with. While all of this was happening, Saitama just stood idly.
As he sprung about the branches around Saitama, the ninja thought happily, There's no hope for him keeping up with me! I have speed that beats even sound itself! I have to kill him now!
Believing he saw an opening in his opponent's defenses, the ninja leaped at the Hero for fun, only for said Hero to quickly turn his head and ask with disinterest, "Uh, can I go home now?"
The ninja was left completely shocked by his opponent's reflexes, so he spun around in the air like a windmill, and threw an ax-kick while shouting, "You bastard! Wind Blade Kick!"
Much to this speedy warrior's continued surprise, Saitama casually moved his body out of the way of the attack. As he dodged, Saitama put his fist into the air, and calmly stated, "Checkmate."
The ninja tried to move out of the way of Saitama's fist, but the momentum of his speed carried him forward, and launched his testicles right into the fist of the bald Hero.
As soon as this happened, the ninja backed off, and Saitama addressed him with a sincere apology, "Oops, sorry. I uh... I meant to stop short of hitting you, but your momentum carried my fist into your... uh..."
Unable to hear Saitama's words through his agony, the ninja's eyes had become bloodshot with pain, and he let out a shrill gasp before screaming bloody murder.
After witnessing this awkward and unintentional scene, Shunshi criticized himself, Geez... I should really stop underestimating Sensei...
Shunshi listened to the ninja scream for another minute or so, until he put his hands on the sides of his helmet, as if plugging his ears, and internally commented, I... suppose we'll be back in a moment, folks.
Seven minutes later, the ninja had stopped his shrieking.
The ninja pointed at Saitama dramatically, while his legs shook in pain, "I am the ninja who has beaten sound, Speed-O-Sound Sonic! What is your name?!"
Feeling a little sorry for the guy, Saitama gave him an honest answer, "It's Saitama..."
Speed-O-Sound Sonic then stated in a mixture of pain and anger, "Saitama! From now on, we are rivals! The next time we meet will be your last!"
Realizing that he might be able to have some fun with this guy in the future, Saitama clenched his fist and encouraged him in a serious tone, "Go train hard!"
Without another word, Sonic then disappeared into the wilderness using his immense but now waddling speed.
After letting out a sigh of relief, Saitama walked past Shunshi and agitatedly explained, "I'm going home."
Shunshi watched his Master walk past him for a moment before thinking in confusion, That Sonic guy said he had no idea who Sensei even was... Come to think of it, I never even heard of Sensei before he saved Genos and me... I feel like more people should know who he is. I need to talk to him about this right away!
Wanting answers, Shunshi quickly ran up to Saitama's side and asked him with almost child-like hesitance, "Uh... May I come with you, Sensei? There's something I need to talk about with you."
Saitama looked at Shunshi with annoyance and asked, "Whatever it is, can't it wait till tomorrow?"
Despite wanting nothing less than to inconvenience the man who so graciously took him under his wing, Shunshi shook his head and replied, "I... I'm sorry, but... no. This is very important, Master!"
Frustrated, Saitama rubbed his temples and replied, "Fine. But wait till we get back to my place. I need time to think."
Straightening his posture, Shunshi replied, "Yes, sir! Understood."
On the walk back to Saitama's place, the two of them ran into, and were joined by, Genos, who was already making his way to Saitama's apartment from Shunshi's house.
Back at Saitama's home, Genos and Shunshi, the latter of whom had removed his metal gauntlets, helmet, and boots, were sitting across the table from Saitama. They were watching him with great interest as he looked at his table in frustration.
After a few moments of tense silence, Shunshi nervously asked his teacher, "Can we talk now, Master?"
While pinching his brow in frustration, Saitama replied sharply, "Just hold on a second! The incidents of today made me aware of a serious problem, and I'm reeling from shock!"
Almost becoming frightened when he heard this, Genos asked with genuine concern in his voice, "What could possibly pose a problem for someone as great as you, Master?"
After taking a deep breath, Saitama, with a defeated expression on his face, looked at the two young men sitting across from him.
"I'm not famous. No one even knows who I am," Saitama explained in a plain, yet deadly serious tone of voice.
The fact that this was what was bothering their Master shocked both Shunshi and Genos back into silence.
"It's been around three years since I first became a Hero. I've saved the world from a whole bunch of disasters, evil organizations, and monsters in that time. Come to think of it, I've never heard of any other Hero doing as much work as me, not even close! Everyone in the world should know my name by now! I mean, isn't it kinda weird that I don't have any fans or anything?! But do you want to know what I heard from a ninja today...?" Saitama explained in confusion and frustration.
While leaning slightly closer in, Genos pondered, A ninja?
Saitama continued, "Never heard of you...! Never! On top of that, everyone in town thought I was one of those terrorists. Did everyone forget about how I beat all those monsters and all the other stuff I did for them?"
Snapping his finger in excitement, Shunshi commented on the topic in an agreeable tone, "That's what I wanted to talk about with you, Sensei!"
Hearing Shunshi's comment, Saitama looked at him with a little bit of excitement in his normally emotionless eyes and asked, "You want to start a fan club for me!?"
Slightly embarrassed by this question, Shunshi replied with hesitance in his voice, "Oh, uh... No... Um... Maybe later...? Sorry...? What I wanted to say was that I had never even heard of you until you saved Genos-Senpai and me from that mosquito monster! And I couldn't find either one of you on the Hero Registry afterward."
Saitama looked visibly puzzled when Shunshi brought up the topic of the Hero Registry.
Having come out of deep thought, Genos asked Saitama calmly, "Sensei, are you in the Superhero Registry?"
Having no idea what either of them meant, Saitama raised his fists into the air and demanded answers from Genos and Shunshi, "What are you guys talking about?! What's this superhero registry?!"
A few minutes of browsing the internet later. The three unlicensed Heroes were looking through the Hero Association website and reading what it had to say about someone in Saitama's situation.
As he finished reading through the web page, Saitama read aloud in misery, "-You may be doing a bunch of Hero work, but if you're unregistered, you're really just some weir-... weirdo."
While this new information sunk in, Saitama looked upset, rested his forehead on his fists, and stated miserably, "I had no idea..."
A shock of realization having washed over him, Shunshi slowly commented, "Guys, I... I actually kinda assumed you were both already members of the Hero Association when I asked to train with the two of you..."
Genos thought this over for a second, before replying in an understanding tone, "I guess I can see why you would come to that assumption. From what I have heard, this organization has some decently powerful Heroes working underneath it."
Saitama turned to both of his wannabe students and asked them, "So... Just to be clear... Are either of you registered?"
Genos shook his head at this and responded, "That is not something I concern myself with, Sensei... Why? Should I be?"
In response to Saitama's question, Shunshi shrugged and explained in embarrassment, "I tried to join up with them a few years ago, but I failed their test. I planned to try and take the test again at the end of the month. Ya know, after I'd finished training with you for a bit longer, Master."
Suddenly smiling, Saitama declared, "Let's all go register right now! If you guys come with me, I'll officially make you both my disciples!"
Genos quickly smiled at this and exclaimed, "Alright! That sounds like a plan!"
Due to the memories of having failed his last exam still gnawing at the back of his mind, Shunshi almost felt a panic attack take over him when Saitama said they should go register now.
"Ri- right now?! My month of training just started a few days ago! My first day of real training just started!" Shunshi desperately explained to Saitama and Genos.
Not concerned about this in the slightest, Saitama, in a happy tone, encouraged Shunshi, "We're all pretty strong. I'm sure we'll all get in with no problem."
Having received these words of encouragement from the man he idolized, Shunshi mulled his chances over for a minute.
Eventually, Shunshi took a deep breath, put his armor back on, and confidently exclaimed, "Sensei. Senpai. Let's head out!"
Hello, readers. First and foremost, thank you for reading my story up until this point.
I just wanted to explain something very quickly. You'll notice that Mumen-Rider is called License-Less Rider in this fanfic. The reason for that is because, when I first started writing this chapter, I had only ever seen the original subtitled release for One Punch Man, where the subtitles translated Mumen Riders' name literally, thus calling him License-Less Rider.
Me, not understanding how lip flaps work, assumed that this would be what Mumen Rider would be called in the Dub.
Ultimately, I've wrote too many chapters to be bothered with changing how I write Mumen Rider's name now, and I also decided it's just fun to keep it as the literal translation.
