Chapter 37 — Thirty-Seven Punch
Hanami's remaining two legs quickly turned to ash after losing their supply of cursed energy. The wind within the labyrinth carried the ashes away, and soon they vanished without a trace.
"So… that's the end of it, right?" Saitama turned back and asked.
"Yeah… it should be." Maki Zenin still hadn't fully come back to her senses. "The flowers on Megumi's stomach have disappeared too. That should be proof that the Special Grade is completely dead."
Without the grotesque flowers that absorbed cursed energy to grow, the wounds on Megumi Fushiguro's abdomen, though ghastly, were no longer life-threatening. Toge Inumaki had fainted from overusing Cursed Speech, but his condition wasn't critical either.
"And you?" Saitama's gaze fell on Maki Zenin's injured shoulder. "How's your injury?"
"As for me, I'm fine." Maki moved her wounded shoulder. Though she frowned from the pain, she still replied, "My constitution is a Heavenly Restriction. I don't have cursed energy, but my physical strength is comparatively strong, and I can take a lot of damage."
"Is that so?" Saitama pointed west. "Then I'll leave the others to you. I'll go check over there. From what that curse said earlier, the one fighting over there is probably Genos."
"Yeah, go ahead."
Maki Zenin nodded, watching as Saitama smashed another wall with a punch and headed west once more.
The sound of crumbling walls gradually faded into the distance. Maki let out a long breath.
When she turned back around, she met Megumi Fushiguro's gaze.
"What?"
"Maki-senpai," Megumi glanced at the dust stirred up by Saitama's departing punch and asked softly, "What do you think of Saitama now?"
"What do you mean what do I think…" Maki recalled how she had once treated Saitama as if he were weak, and awkwardly looked away. "…He's just a ridiculously strong bald guy. Probably not any weaker than Gojo-sensei."
"Heh…"
Megumi almost laughed, but quickly suppressed it.
"There's something I need to tell you," he said. "Gojo-sensei was the first to notice Saitama's strength. But he's already decided to treat Saitama as a secret weapon, to avoid drawing the higher-ups' attention."
"A secret weapon?" Maki froze. "So Saitama's strength is a secret that can't be made public?"
"Yeah." Megumi nodded.
"…Isn't that unfair?" Maki frowned. "If I put myself in his shoes, I'd be furious. Doesn't Saitama mind?"
"…He doesn't."
Under Maki's astonished gaze, Megumi thought for a moment before answering, "Because Saitama is a hero for fun."
…
Inside the monitoring room at Jujutsu High, Gojo Satoru—who had originally been stationed there—had disappeared at some point. In the now-empty control room sat a silver-haired woman with red lips.
The Curtain that had descended above the labyrinth allowed everyone to enter. After realizing this, Mei Mei began controlling her crows to search for the students inside the maze, while helping them establish contact with the teachers who had already set out.
That had been the plan.
But through her crows, Mei Mei had discovered something rather interesting.
Displayed on the monitoring screen was Saitama—dressed in his bright yellow suit with a cape draped over his shoulders—running forward.
Just moments ago, the crows had relayed, without missing a single second, the scene of the bald man shattering the Special Grade curse Hanami with one punch.
Mei Mei adjusted the crows' vision and zoomed in on the captured footage. Soon, a close-up of Saitama's blank, almost comically drawn face filled the screen.
"This person…"
Mei Mei studied Saitama's facial features, which looked as if they had been lifted from a gag manga, resting her chin on her hand in thought. Suddenly, a faint sound came from behind her.
She turned around and saw, standing ghostlike in the shadow by the back door of the monitoring room, an elderly man with white hair and beard, his figure slightly hunched.
"Principal Gakuganji?" Mei Mei said softly. "You're quick—have you already returned?"
How much did he see? she wondered, feeling a twinge of regret.
—She had originally planned to sell this information for money. Unfortunately, since Gakuganji Yoshinobu had already seen it, she could no longer sell it to him.
The dim glow from the monitoring screens reflected in Gakuganji Yoshinobu's slightly protruding eyes. He stared motionlessly at Saitama's bald head on the screen, not responding to Mei Mei's words.
After a long moment, Gakuganji slowly parted his lip-ringed mouth and uttered a few distorted words.
"Who is this?"
…
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Saitama smashed through the last wall with a punch and leapt forward, only to realize that the wall he had just destroyed was the final one.
Ahead was no longer the monotonous maze of walls, but a layer of black membrane separating the inside and outside of the labyrinth.
"It's huge…"
Saitama couldn't help but tilt his head back, following the membrane upward. It resembled an enormous black dome covering the entire maze.
"This thing… is it called a 'Curtain'?" Saitama muttered to himself as he walked to its edge. "This wasn't here earlier."
"In that case, it probably doesn't need to exist."
As he spoke, Saitama raised his hand, clenched his fist, and casually knocked on the Curtain.
Crack.
Where his fist struck, the pitch-black Curtain suddenly fractured with spiderweb-like cracks, thin slivers of white light leaking through the gaps.
A crisp sound rang out, spreading from near to far as cracks rapidly extended, racing all the way to the top of the dome. The semicircular Curtain shattered like a broken mirror, suddenly splitting into hundreds of irregular fragments. Those fragments then broke down further into even smaller pieces, until they became powder and vanished into the air.
The afternoon sunlight poured into the labyrinth. In that instant, everyone within the Curtain instinctively looked up at the sky.
As the fragments rained down, Saitama stood where he was. When his gaze passed through the falling shards and he saw the scene outside the maze, he froze.
"Genos…"
To the west of the labyrinth, the once-lush forest had been completely ravaged by battle. The moisture-rich soil had been scorched into charred earth by flames. Shrubs and grass had been burned to nothing. The few tree trunks still standing were stripped bare, blackened into charcoal. Wisps of white smoke, still warm from the heat of burning, drifted through the air, and the acrid smell testified to the intensity of the fight.
On this burned land, a figure knelt on one knee. Hearing Saitama's voice, he turned his head with difficulty.
"Sensei…"
When Saitama saw Genos's condition, he was shocked. "Genos, are you okay?"
—Genos's outer armor was dented and battered. A large hole had been blasted through his waist, exposing the mechanical ribs inside. One of his arms and one of his legs had been torn off during the battle and were nowhere to be seen. Wires hung exposed from the severed joints, occasionally sparking with bursts of golden electricity.
His face was covered in cracks, and his blond hair had been burnt into an enormous afro nearly twice the size of his head. As he turned, fragments of synthetic facial plating flaked off and fell away.
"Sensei, I am fine."
Seeing that Genos was still trying to stand, Saitama hurried over, grabbing his cape and running toward him.
"You call that fine? A bunch of your parts are wrecked, aren't they?" Sweat beaded on Saitama's bald head. "Your arms and legs are torn off—looks like you'll have to get repaired again…"
"Sensei!" Genos suddenly interrupted loudly.
"Huh? What is it?" Saitama blinked.
"Sensei, how did the match go?" Genos asked seriously.
"Uh…"
Hearing the question, Saitama instinctively turned his head and glanced behind him.
There, the massive hole he had punched through the labyrinth wall was extremely conspicuous. Just as he looked back, there was a clack, and a loose brick from the damaged wall fell to the ground.
"…." Saitama was silent for a moment. He slowly turned back around, shifted his gaze to the side, and looked at the ground. "I guess… I kind of messed it up."
"Damn it!"
With the sound of metal striking earth, Genos slammed his remaining fist into the ground in frustration. "I failed to protect Sensei's match and let the curses slip inside!"
"Oh, you mean that guy with saplings growing out of his eyes?" Saitama said, startled. "I already took care of him. With one punch."
"With one punch…? As expected of Sensei!" Genos first froze, then exclaimed with sincere admiration.
"Well, you don't have to put it like that. But that guy said you were fighting someone else outside." Saitama looked around. "Did you win?"
"No. The volcano-head escaped," Genos replied. "He seemed to suddenly sense something and left in the middle of the battle."
"I see." Saitama scratched his head. "Well, if he ran away, forget about it for now. Anyway, in your condition, that's definitely not okay. You need repairs first—"
Before Saitama could finish speaking, Genos suddenly stiffened and abruptly turned toward the labyrinth. His remaining intact eye instantly displayed rapidly moving golden targeting coordinates.
"High-speed approach detected… Sensei, someone is coming out of the labyrinth!"
"Huh?"
Saitama turned around just in time to see a figure leap out through the large hole he had smashed in the maze wall.
"Saitama! So you're here after all!"
The newcomer shouted energetically. Strands of hair from his topknot flew with the motion. His muscular upper body was slick with crystal-clear sweat that gleamed golden under the sunlight.
Aoi Todo landed heavily on both feet, then rushed over to Saitama in a few quick strides.
"I finally found you! Let's spar, Saitama!" He planted his feet firmly, clenched his fists, his muscles bulging as he declared with fighting spirit.
"You are…" Saitama blinked. "Uh, um…"
Todo stood there expectantly, looking at Saitama.
"Uh… who are you again?" Saitama asked in confusion.
"…." Todo's eyes widened in shock, speechless.
"Sensei!" Genos immediately reminded him from the side. "He's the one who chased you out of Jujutsu High the day of the sashimi rice bowl, asking to spar with you. His name is Aoi Todo."
"Oh! It's you!" Saitama suddenly realized, then waved his hand at Todo. "About sparring or whatever, let's forget it. I'm not really that free right now."
"No. I searched through the labyrinth for so long before finally finding you," Todo said in a deep voice. "Last time, I wasn't able to fight at full strength. This time, I will battle you again with 100% of myself!"
"I'll prove it to you—gentle types are bullshit! Only tall girls with big butts are justice!"
Aoi Todo bent slightly at the waist, settling into a fighting stance. As he moved, cursed energy flared around him like blue flames, growing fiercer and fiercer.
Data flashed through Genos's eyes. His cracked face showed astonishment.
This guy's energy output is far stronger than last time—his improvement is nothing short of explosive.
Especially his hands. Through his energy sensors, Genos could trace the flow of cursed energy throughout Todo's body. A massive amount surged through his limbs and converged in his hands, causing the density of cursed energy around his palms to reach an astonishing thickness of nearly fifteen centimeters…
"UOOOOOOO!"
With a thunderous roar, Todo stepped forward and shot toward Saitama with a punch like an arrow released from a bow. The ground split with a sharp crack beneath his foot, leaving a footprint-sized crater where he had stepped.
Todo's massive fist drove straight toward Saitama's somewhat surprised face. At the same time, he shouted at the top of his lungs, "Saitama, fight me without holding back! This time I'll show you my technique—Boogie Wo—"
Thud!
...
"Although the curse user we encountered escaped, the one Principal Gakuganji faced has already been captured."
A clear female voice rang out in the distance. Utahime Iori, dressed in white robes and red hakama, was explaining the situation as she led Nobara Kugisaki and Mai Zenin out through Exit J.
After entering the Curtain to provide support, Utahime had quickly encountered a frivolous-looking curse user with a high ponytail. She had also found Nobara and Mai. The three of them fought the ponytailed curse user together, but the moment the Curtain was shattered, he immediately fled.
"Don't be fooled by Principal Gakuganji's age—his strength is beyond question… Huh?"
From afar, Utahime's group saw the charred battlefield. At the center of it, the ground was caved in and split with deep cracks. Lying among those fractures was a large figure.
"Todo!?"
Utahime gasped in shock and immediately ran forward, with Nobara and Mai close behind.
As they drew nearer, the miserable sight came into focus—
Aoi Todo lay sprawled on the ground in a starfish shape, completely unconscious. His eyes had rolled back white, his topknot was crooked, and a huge swollen lump bulged from his face. Drool trickled weakly from the corner of his mouth.
Utahime hurriedly knelt down to check on her student. Nobara Kugisaki and Mai Zenin instinctively halted, identical looks of shock appearing on their faces.
The Aoi Todo who could defeat a Special Grade… had been knocked unconscious by someone?
What exactly happened?
---
Meanwhile, outside the campus of Jujutsu High.
After watching a drone carry away the damaged Genos, Saitama stood in place for a while before lifting his legs and heading home.
Without realizing it, time had passed quickly. The setting sun dyed the sky red, casting a warm orange glow over Saitama's head. His clothes and gloves were smeared with ash from battle, and his once-white cape had taken on a dusty gray-brown hue.
Walking along his usual familiar route, Saitama paused when he passed a supermarket. He hesitated at the promotional signboard outside for a moment before eventually going in.
He placed a carton of eggs, a pack of ramen noodles, and a long green onion into his shopping basket, then lined up at the register, his bald head reflecting the fluorescent lights overhead.
The customer in front of him caught a glimpse of him from the corner of their eye, turned around to look, noticed his strange cape and bodysuit along with the dirt covering them, and quickly stepped a little farther away.
"..."
After paying, under the curious stares of the other customers, Saitama carried his eggs, ramen, and green onion and resumed his walk home.
"Guess I'll have egg ramen today." He looked at the contents of the bag and muttered to himself, but then gradually slowed to a stop, standing blankly in the middle of the road.
In the end, today had been no different from the past—just another ordinary day.
The team battle of the Goodwill Exchange Event had been forced to end, which was only natural. Thinking back to how excited he had been before it began, Saitama couldn't help feeling a little disappointed.
He had joined the Exchange Event to experience jujutsu combat. Whether it was when he signed up, when he tried swinging Maki Zenin's cursed tool "Oni Fang," or when he ran through the labyrinth, he had been looking forward to fighting powerful jujutsu opponents—hoping to reawaken his dulled senses toward battle.
But whether it was the curses inside the maze as part of the test, the Special Grade curse Hanami he encountered, or Aoi Todo who challenged him again after training, they had all been defeated with a single punch.
In the end, they were no different from any other enemies.
At that thought, Saitama even felt a little envious of Genos. Genos must still be able to experience the thrill of life-and-death combat, the rush of blood boiling in battle.
Coming back to his senses, Saitama lowered his head and looked at his dirty gloves.
"It's fine. After all, my goal is to be a hero for fun. There's no need to pursue anything else. As long as I'm satisfied, that's enough."
Muttering to himself, Saitama's figure—green onion in hand—slowly disappeared at the end of the road.
***