Chapter 114: Only One Mirror, How to See the Back of the Head
High-altitude winds are still swirling.
Dust kicked up on the battlefield that had just calmed down.
Darkshine's fingers tightened unconsciously, the calluses on his palms rubbing against each other, a testament to his years of training.
After a long time, he slowly relaxed his muscles and straightened his back a bit.
Yeah, there's nothing to be afraid of.
So what if I fail.
Just let the muscles rest well and continue training.
Before I first picked up a dumbbell, I experienced fifteen years of failure.
"Phew—" Darkshine let out a long breath.
He no longer wore that exaggeratedly confident smile.
Darkshine rubbed his face with both hands, dispelling the emotions in his heart.
His eyes were steady and determined, like the fifteen-year-old skinny boy who picked up a three-kilogram dumbbell that year and vowed to put in a lifetime of effort.
"Sorry for the wait." Darkshine bent his knees slightly and stood firm.
"Let's continue our sparring!"
"I couldn't ask for more."
The roar that shook the sky erupted again!
The floating island shattered again and again, and was frozen and expanded by glaciers again and again.
The volume of the island was constantly increasing.
The solid ice layer gradually expanded, forming most of the island's structure.
Amidst the roar and the hurricane, Metal Knight's voice remained cold.
"Good news, the current mass of the island seems to be far from reaching the limit of Aokiji's ability."
"Bad news, if the mass continues to grow and it falls, at least one-third of City A will suffer a devastating disaster, and other areas will be damaged to varying degrees."
"Don't worry." Saitama covered his head, protecting his precious hair, "Aokiji knows what he's doing. Even if it falls, with so many of us, we can always stop it."
Metal Knight's head turned, three flickering red light spots staring at Saitama.
Data extraction regarding Saitama.
Hero name—dead fish eyes caped hero. Aokiji has a friendly relationship with him and is helping him persuade the Association to grant the power to change his hero name.
Internet intelligence and internal Association data show that his strength exhibits a very large anomaly.
Before joining the Association, surveillance in some areas captured him in a deadlock with Tiger-Level Monsters.
Recently, he has multiple records of defeating Demon Level Monsters alone.
And excluding those with strong recovery abilities or large numbers, most were killed in one hit.
Voices questioning his strength appeared online, but disappeared after Aokiji's account (managed by Kiiro) released a clarification.
Bofoi took a sip of coffee in the Research Institute, looking at Saitama's indifferent expression on the screen.
If all this information is true.
Then this person's progress in strength is too exaggerated.
Monsters are surrounded by Monsters, it seems.
It seems attending this meeting wasn't a waste of time; all kinds of intelligence data can be verified.
Outside the main display screen transmitting images from the [Metal Knight] unit, screens of various sizes were scattered on both sides, flashing everyone's data.
Every word and action of everyone since the start of the meeting, their combat performance, the abilities and techniques they displayed, and even Darkshine's despondent state just now were recorded in detail with personality analysis attached.
"dead fish eyes caped hero..."
"Before I change my hero name, call me Saitama."
"Saitama." Metal Knight readily complied, "Would you like to have a match with me later?"
"Maybe later. Aokiji looks full of Battle Intent today, I want to fight him first."
The hurricane suddenly ceased, and Saitama no longer covered his hair.
"They're finished."
Superalloy Darkshine returned panting heavily, with several faint swellings on his body.
But there was a look of hearty satisfaction on his face.
He hadn't realized it before, but his spirit and muscles had always been in a state of tension.
After Aokiji's persuasion, while the inner shadows weren't completely wiped out, at least he was willing to face them.
In the final clash, he felt the pain from Aokiji's increasingly heavy punches, and he struck back punch for punch, feeling a sense of relief from venting without any worries.
"I lost. Aokiji-kun's stamina is terrifying; it feels like he hasn't consumed any at all." Darkshine rubbed his smooth, shiny back of the head.
"I have also experienced that deeply." Bang also had many sparring sessions with Aokiji, "I've never seen Aokiji look tired."
But now Aokiji had obviously developed many new things, making Bang's hands itch a bit.
"Since Darkshine, you're finished, then I shall..."
Whoosh————
A white cape sliced through the air.
"Aokiji, do you need a rest?" Saitama shouted as he ran towards the center.
Bang: "..."
Later, I must let this young man who doesn't know how to respect his elders experience the essence of martial arts!
Saitama jumped into the huge crater in the center, which looked like it had been hit by a meteorite, with many collapses caused by the impact.
After coming down, he saw Aokiji sitting on a piece of protruding frozen earth, head bowed as if resting.
"Did I... come at a bad time?" Saitama scratched his head.
"No." Aokiji, who had finished checking the progress bar, suddenly looked up, "You've come at exactly the right time."
The boost brought by a Darkshine who regained his confidence exceeded Aokiji's expectations.
One more decent battle would be enough.
And at this moment, Saitama was perfect!
As for Saitama's state before officially becoming the invincible bald guy.
In Saitama's Bald Spot Stage, the jump in strength was also very large!
In the Early Stage, with a patch of bald scalp the size of a finger, he could easily blast a large hole and insta-kill the Demon Level [170,000-year-old cicada larvae].
The strength of the Late Stage of the Bald Spot Stage was also shown a bit in a side story.
Saitama, who was losing more and more hair, suddenly wanted to see what the back of his head looked like while taking a bath one day.
But there was only one mirror in the bathroom.
'As long as I turn my head fast enough, I can see the back of my head,' thought Saitama, who was at the Great Perfection of the Bald Spot Stage.
He thought it, he did it, he succeeded!
A head turn that exceeded the speed of light!
The smooth back of his head and the strands of hair flying out were reflected in Saitama's fierce gaze... Of course, Saitama hadn't lost that much hair yet.
Right now, it was just a patch of baldness about the size of two fingers.
But as for strength... carefully sensing the aura contained within using Observation Haki, Aokiji made a rough judgment.
He was probably more than twice as strong as the current Darkshine.
"Saitama, let's have a satisfying fight."
"Eh? Don't we need to set some rules? It'll be a hassle if the island falls."
Saitama spoke words of concern.
But the excitement and Battle Intent dancing in his eyes couldn't be faked.