Lexon woke up early.
After a bit of tidying up, the doorbell rang.
He didn't even need perception; the light reflecting off the visitor's scalp was visible even through the peephole.
"Lexon, Lexon..."
As expected, it was Saitama's voice.
Lexon opened the door and said, a bit speechlessly, "Are you here to mooch breakfast too?"
"No, no, no, that's not why." Saitama waved his hand and put on a hurt expression. "Am I really the type of person who only thinks about eating in your eyes?"
"..." Lexon remained noncommittal.
"You could at least try to deny it..." Saitama grumbled.
"Anyway, what's up?" Lexon asked.
"Well, I heard from Genos yesterday that being a hero involves work. I'm a C-rank hero now, and C-rank heroes need to perform at least one heroic act a week. I just saw something on the news, so I'm planning to go take care of it and meet my quota for the week," Saitama explained.
"And?" Lexon still didn't quite see the point Saitama was trying to make.
'Does he want my help? Surely not.'
"I just came to let you know that if I get back too late, we'll have to push our sparring session back," Saitama said.
"Sure, no problem," Lexon replied.
A few days wouldn't make a difference anyway.
Regardless, he wouldn't be leaving this story world until he had finished checking in for most of Saitama's rewards.
"So... by the way, have you had breakfast yet?" Saitama rubbed his head, asking as if it were a casual afterthought.
'So he still had that motive after all.'
Lexon thought to himself.
"I really can't deal with you. I'll whip up something suitable for breakfast right now." For some reason, Lexon was quite kind to Saitama.
Perhaps it was because the man's personality and values matched his own standards for a friend...
Or perhaps it was simply because Saitama was quite interesting.
At the very least, spending time with him was quite easygoing.
Preparing and eating breakfast didn't take much time.
Saitama slipped away as soon as he finished.
The incident was happening in another city. Apparently, it involved a group called the 'Paradisers'—an organization that refused to work and caused destruction to property and danger to citizens. If he didn't hurry, other heroes might snatch the job.
Since his sparring session with Saitama was postponed... he decided he might as well visit the Moon today.
Lexon thought of the "God" residing on the Moon.
"Ding-dong..."
Just as he was considering his plans, the doorbell rang again.
He opened the door.
"Mr. Lexon!" Genos's face, filled with respect, came into view.
"Saitama is busy, so today's sparring is postponed for now," Lexon said directly.
"No wonder Saitama-sensei wasn't there..." Genos mused.
"I have things to do in a bit as well, so..."
"Mr. Lexon... would it be possible for me to spar with you?"
Genos spoke up before Lexon could finish.
There was a clear note of pleading in his voice.
During the time he had spent with Lexon and the others recently, Genos felt more and more that his strength was insufficient.
'With this level of power... when I face the cyborg that destroyed my hometown... can I really get my revenge?'
Having realized how many powerful individuals were in the world, Genos couldn't help but wonder.
Consequently, he had visited Dr. Kuseno to upgrade his equipment.
This request wasn't just born of curiosity regarding Lexon's strength, but also a desire to test the limits of his own power.
'After these upgrades... will I be able to put even a little pressure on Mr. Lexon?'
Genos hoped so... because that would mean he had earned a bit of Lexon's recognition.
"I want to as well... 'Mist Swordsman'..." Fubuki's figure appeared from the end of the hallway.
Clearly, she had overheard the conversation.
"I think it would be better if you two fought each other." Lexon's gaze shifted between the two.
While Fubuki was certainly weaker than Genos, the gap wasn't insurmountable.
Lexon felt it was better to have them spar with each other.
He couldn't be bothered to guide their training personally.
He wasn't their master, after all.
"Mr. Lexon..." Genos's face fell with disappointment when he realized he was being turned down.
He felt that sparring with the B-Class Rank 2 'Hellish Blizzard' wouldn't be very useful.
In such a fight, Genos would have to worry about the output of his weapons and wouldn't be able to go all out.
He was afraid he might accidentally kill her.
"'Mist Swordsman'... I'm asking you as well." Even the haughty Fubuki lowered her head slightly in a request.
Since Fubuki had seen others with strength comparable to her sister's, she naturally wanted to build a connection with them.
She wanted to know the secret of his strength... she wanted to be part of their circle...
"No," Lexon refused firmly.
Fubuki looked quite dejected at the refusal.
"Cheer up," Lexon said, patting Genos on the shoulder. "If you want someone to guide your training... I can arrange that."
His words caused both Genos and Fubuki's expressions to brighten with surprise.
"Really, Mr. Lexon?"
"'Mist Swordsman'!"
"But it won't be me," Lexon replied with a smile.
Then, he pulled a middle-aged man who was smoking out of Kamui's pocket dimension.
Huh??
This move left both Fubuki and Genos completely bewildered.
How did he suddenly have another person in his hand??
Smoker, held by Lexon, was equally dazed.
'I was having a perfectly good smoke in that strange space, why was I suddenly pulled out?'
"Guide these two in their training. You can do that, right?" Lexon said directly to Smoker.
"..." Smoker was a bit slow to react.
"You can't? I guess I'll swap you for someone else then," Lexon murmured with feigned regret, making a motion to toss Smoker back.
"Wait... wait!" Smoker cried out hurriedly. "I can do it! I can do it!"
His main mission wasn't finished yet. It was obviously better to be out in reality than to remain imprisoned in that space!
Otherwise, he didn't even know if he'd ever be released before the story world ended...
If that happened, it would be too late for regrets.
Thus, Smoker didn't want to miss this chance.
"As long as you can do it," Lexon said.
Then, he casually cast Kotoamatsukami on Smoker.
"I'll leave them to you. I have things to do." After setting Smoker down, Lexon left those final words and soared into the sky.
Smoker, who possessed the strength of a peak Tier 3 Reincarnator at the very least, was more than qualified to be a training partner for Genos and Fubuki.
"Is this guy really up to it...?"
Genos and Fubuki thought as they looked at Smoker, who appeared a bit dazed due to the struggle between Kotoamatsukami and his specialized mental defenses.
Although Kotoamatsukami was the strongest genjutsu in the Naruto world, its power ultimately had limits.
It wasn't as if the technique would scale indefinitely just because Lexon's eyes were the Nine-Tomoe Rinnegan.
The chakra cost of using Kotoamatsukami was a drop in the bucket for the current Lexon.
Cost and power were usually proportional.
Therefore, it was impossible for one move to be the solution to everything.
Judging by the slight resistance shown by Smoker, a peak Tier 3 Reincarnator, manipulating a Tier 4 Reincarnator with Kotoamatsukami was likely the absolute limit.
After all, Reincarnators wouldn't be unprepared for mental-type opponents.
They would definitely have specialized their mental defenses.
[Reviews - Power St0nes - Comments are highly appreciated to keep me going.....(+50 chapters) patre0n.c0m/talecrafter]