Only now did Kaguya and Ai fully realize the creature before them wasn't a prank in a costume but a being with supernatural powers like those in yesterday's great battle.
"Kokoro-chan!"
Genta and Mitsuhiko were terrified, tears streaming. She had been their secret crush since school started.
As the dust began to settle, even Kaguya, usually aloof and proud, couldn't help but look away.
In her mind, that cute little girl was probably already a bloody pulp, like those unfortunate soldiers yesterday.
Despite her own fear, Ai hadn't forgotten her duty as a personal maid and bodyguard. She stepped forward, placing herself protectively in front of Kaguya, her eyes fixed on the dust cloud ahead.
If the crab-man charged them, she would do everything she could to hold it off, buying time for Kaguya to escape.
However, as the dust slowly cleared, Kokoro's imagined bloody corpse wasn't on the ground.
"Big brother, you look familiar..."
A clear, childish voice suddenly sounded nearby.
Everyone, including the crab-man, instinctively turned towards it.
A tall, straight-backed youth was holding Kokoro by the scruff of her neck like a kitten, lifting her effortlessly in the air.
"Nishikawa Makoto!?"
Genta and Mitsuhiko almost instinctively shouted the name.
Ai, seeing who it was, felt the boulder in her heart drop. Only one thought remained: 'We're saved.'
"Big brother, can you put me down? I'm getting dizzy..." Kokoro blinked her round eyes, looking at Makoto obediently.
But Makoto seemed not to hear her. His gaze was locked on the crab-man across from him. After a few seconds of silence, he asked, "Were you chosen too?"
He suspected this crab-like monster was also a player selected by the Reincarnation System, sent to some world to gain special abilities.
Although there were no abilities like this in the Naruto World, the Reincarnation Game could run multiple scenarios simultaneously. The other might have been sent to a different world.
Perhaps he had eaten a Zoan-type Crab Devil Fruit in the One Piece World?
The crab-man clearly recognized Makoto. He stumbled back two steps, his fierce demeanor gone, replaced by panic as he quickly explained:
"I, I didn't mean to kill the brat! I was sleeping in the park when those two kids drew nipples on me with markers! Now my hands are pincers, I can't wipe them off, I just lost my temper..."
The crab-man, sounding aggrieved, raised his two big pincers and pointed at two black, squiggly circles drawn with colored markers on his hard crab-shell chest.
Ai couldn't help it… she snorted with laughter.
Kaguya pressed her lips together tightly, outwardly maintaining her icy princess facade, but her trembling shoulders betrayed her true feelings.
Makoto glanced towards Kaguya and pointed at the two kids hiding behind them. "The kids you mentioned, wouldn't happen to be them, would they?"
The crab-man turned, following his finger. His face instantly contorted with renewed anger, he gritted his teeth. "Yes! It was those two brats!"
The expressions on Kaguya and Ai shifted from stifled laughter to exasperation.
'So that was it. No wonder the monster was chasing them.'
Genta and Mitsuhiko quickly shrank back, explaining nervously, "W-we thought he was just someone in a costume, so we wanted to play a prank..."
"W-who knew someone so big would be such a poor sport..."
As they spoke, the two boys lowered their heads, their voices growing smaller and smaller.
Kaguya was struggling to maintain her composure, while Ai was caught between amusement and irritation.
The crab-man's expression swiftly shifted from anger to fawning. Rubbing his two giant pincers together, he cautiously tried to curry favor with Makoto. "But since it's you, Nishikawa-sama, protecting them, I'll let it go! B-but could you please help me find a towel to wipe..."
"Who said I was protecting them?"
Makoto interrupted, looking at him strangely.
Hearing this, the crab-man perked up instantly, his mouth curling into a vicious grin as he stepped towards Genta and Mitsuhiko. "In that case, I won't hold back!"
"Big brother, what's the crab uncle going to do?"
Though naive, even Kokoro sensed something was wrong by now.
"Close your eyes if you don't want nightmares."
Makoto casually set the little girl down.
"Okay~"
Kokoro obediently nodded, covering her eyes with her short little hands.
Seeing the giant shadow looming over them, Ai acted decisively, grabbing Kaguya's wrist. "Kaguya-sama, let's go!"
They quickly skirted around the crab-man, hurrying to Makoto's side.
"Wait for us! Big sisters, wait for us!"
Seeing this, Genta and Mitsuhiko tried to run after them.
But it was too late.
A massive pincer descended with a gust of wind.
Splat—!
A sickening, muffled thud. Blood and flesh sprayed.
The obese Genta was instantly crushed into a pulp by the immense force, not even a scream escaping.
The blast flung Mitsuhiko aside, his body slamming hard into a metal lamppost by the roadside.
Blood poured from his head, blurring his vision.
He forced his eyes open through the pain. The crab-man stood before him like a small mountain, grinning cruelly.
Seeing the pincer raised again,
Mitsuhiko broke down completely, screaming in despair, "Help! Help—!!"
The next second, another fresh pile of gore decorated the street.
The Detective Brat Duo appears. The Detective Brat Duo exits.
Across the street, Shinichi, also on his way to Totsuki Academy and passing by, stood frozen, his mouth agape, unable to process what he had just witnessed.
After a few seconds, Shinichi finally snapped out of it. His fists clenched tightly, righteous indignation burning within him as he glared at Makoto, muttering angrily under his breath:
"That's too much! You have that much power, yet you just stand there and watch innocent victims die right in front of you!"
Just then, two more graceful figures hurried across the road and came to Makoto's side.
It was the Aizono sisters, who were usually inseparable from him.
"Makoto, is he..."
Marina stared blankly at the crab-man, who stood over three meters tall. If she had seen such a thing in the Naruto World, she wouldn't have been too surprised.
But the problem was, this was the real world.
Looking at the bizarre creature with the upper body of a giant crab and human legs wearing only white underpants, Airi did not hide her disgust.
"So gross. Kill him."
Hearing this, the crab-man fell to his knees with a thud, repeatedly kowtowing to Makoto, his voice filled with fear and pleading.
"Spare me! Spare me! Nishikawa-sama! I'm a decent fellow! I ate too many crabs and ended up like this without realizing it. I... I've never done anything bad!"
'Never done anything bad? More like he hadn't had the chance to do anything bad yet, right?'
Makoto silently mocked in his heart.
This guy's portrayal in the original work wasn't exactly virtuous.
Hearing that the other party had become like this because he ate too many crabs, he instantly guessed the identity.
The crab-man from One Punch Man, the very first being who pushed Saitama to break his limiter.
'Good grief. I thought the world he crossed into was a chaotic mix of various Slice-of-Life Anime, but now One Punch Man was mixed in too?'