One Punch Man: Heroics Start with Dual Kamui

Facing Tatsumaki's unreasonable request, Shinji paused for a moment before sighing.

"…Fine. I'll handle the defense on the ground."

To Tatsumaki's surprise, Shinji actually agreed to her rather casual request.

"Are you sure? That wooden clone of yours isn't just for show, right?"

Now it was Tatsumaki who seemed concerned about whether Shinji could protect the heroes on the ground.

The only reason she hadn't gone straight into the ship was that she couldn't leave the others unprotected. Otherwise, with her psychic power, she would have charged in long ago.

In short, Tatsumaki had a sharp tongue but a soft heart. Of course, her temper wasn't just an act, it was genuinely bad.

"Don't worry." Shinji's voice was calm.

His wooden clone could also use the Rinnegan's abilities. While it couldn't freely perform every ocular jutsu, it was more than capable of blocking the spaceship's cannon fire.

"Then take me inside. I'll take down their leader right away." Tatsumaki spoke with complete confidence.

No one else present thought there was anything wrong with her words. After all, she was the Hero Association's trump card and recognized as the most powerful esper.

(P.S. The space-time esper "Blast" is Murata's creation; in ONE's original version, Blast's abilities were never revealed. For accuracy, Blast should follow ONE's version.)

Shinji, however, couldn't agree. Against an opponent like Boros, someone beyond Dragon-level, leaving himself aside, no one in the Hero Association except Saitama would be much help. Even after becoming the Ten-Tails Jinchuriki, he wasn't completely confident.

Whelp, he had to abide by the brat's rule for now.

Another wooden clone of Shinji appeared. One clone remained to guard the area, while the other took Tatsumaki inside the ship.

Shinji placed one hand lightly on Tatsumaki's shoulder, and in the next moment, they teleported into the ship's interior.

Seeing Tatsumaki vanish, Genos turned to the clone that stayed behind and asked, "Master, is there anything I can do?"

"Just protect everyone here." Shinji's answer was firm.

Letting Genos face Boros would be far too dangerous. Heck, Boros could just destroy Genos's core straight.

"Got it. I-I will try my best."

Although disappointed, Genos understood he was nowhere near strong enough to face a God-level threat.

Meanwhile, the wooden clone had brought Tatsumaki inside the ship, where they met Shinji's true body.

"You're the real one this time, right? With so many clones, it's hard to tell." Tatsumaki eyed him suspiciously.

Shinji didn't answer her question. He only pointed in a certain direction, "They're here…"

The next moment, the door ahead slid open, revealing a Dragon-level monster with a full green-blue body, a massive mouth lined with sharp fangs where his face should have been, and jaws on both hands and at the end of his tail.

It was Groribas, one of Boros' three elite warriors.

"Heh heh heh! Found the intruders! You've got some skill to make it here, but my acidic breath will melt you to a puddle…"

In his mind, Groribas had already planned a full combo: first, his new "Acidic Breath" to dissolve his opponents, then "Double Bite" with the jaws on both hands, followed by "Infernal Stinger," "Sky Rend," "Spiral Tail Fang," and other deadly moves. Just thinking about it made him pity them.

But before he could finish his threat, his head suddenly shifted unnaturally.

"Uh…?"

As his vision dropped toward the floor, he still didn't realize what had happened.

The villain's flaw is always talking too much, and Groribas was a textbook example.

He had underestimated Shinji and never noticed the space around his neck twist, ending with his head being torn off.

Unlike Melzargard, who had infinite regeneration, Groribas's strength lay in his variety of powerful attacks. But he was instantly killed by Shinji's Kamui.

[Alert! Host has defeated the Dragon-level monster "Groribas." Reward: 90 points.]

"He was that weak? He died in one hit? No way that was their leader." Tatsumaki looked at the corpse on the floor with clear disdain.

"Not important." Shinji didn't waste time explaining. Instead, he reached out a hand to her. "You're here to find their leader, right? Then follow me."

"…." Tatsumaki hesitated when she saw his hand. "You're bold, I'll give you that…"

She teased him, but she didn't seem to resist.

Just as she was about to take his hand, Shinji instead grabbed her wrist. This was his intention from the start; holding her wrist was simply a more polite way to guide her.

Still, Tatsumaki didn't look pleased, though she didn't pull away.

Shinji then warped them both into the void, speeding straight toward Boros' location.

Seeing that she and Shinji could pass through layer after layer of bulkheads without any obstruction, Tatsumaki's expression showed a flicker of surprise.

…

Meanwhile, Bang and the others were still locked in a fierce battle with Melzargard.

Despite their best efforts, none of them could inflict a truly fatal injury. His body regenerated almost instantly every time.

"Tch… what a pain. We can't kill him completely?"

Metal Bat rested his bat on his shoulder, his tone filled with impatience.

Banshō Ten'in!

At that moment, Shinji's wooden clone raised one hand and activated the Rinnegan's gravitational technique, dragging Melzargard toward him.

At the same time, Vaccine Man was pulled out of Kamui's space.

"Aliens? You dare invade Earth right under my watch? Unforgivable!" Vaccine Man instantly transformed into his berserk form.

Believing himself to be born from Earth's will, he naturally held deep hatred toward any foreign invaders who threatened the planet.

The wooden clone, which could also summon Susanoo, immediately wrapped Vaccine Man in the fourth-stage Susanoo armor, greatly enhancing his energy sphere attacks.

Melzargard, who had been pulled in by Banshō Ten'in, was preparing to counterattack, but what greeted him instead were massive energy spheres raining down on him.

In an instant, his body was blasted into chunks of flesh. Among the debris, two marble-sized hearts were snatched by Shinji and crushed on the spot.

"Gyaaaah!"

Two of Melzargard's heads let out agonized screams before deflating like popped balloons, finally melting into puddles of blood, never to regenerate again.

Those marble-sized hearts were his vital weak points, as each head corresponded to one heart.

The problem was that these hearts were tiny and moved freely through his body, making them extremely difficult to target in normal combat.

Bang and the others froze in shock when they saw the two heads suddenly die, but they quickly realized this must be the enemy's weakness.

Sensing the danger, the remaining three-headed Melzargard hurriedly contacted the ship's other Dragon-level warrior, Groribas.

Coincidentally, Groribas had also been trying to reach him.

"Melzargard! Get back to the ship! We've got intruders on board!"

"I can't! Aim the ship's firepower at these guys on the ground and wipe them out!"

"What? There's someone on the surface strong enough to give you trouble?!"

"Cut the chatter! I can't hold out much longer!"

Hearing the urgency in his voice and the fact that he said "can't hold out," Groribas realized how serious this was.

"Got it. Just make sure you don't get caught in the crossfire."

He gave a brief warning, then immediately ordered the lower-ranking fighters to start bombardment.

Melzargard was about to tell him to come help instead, but the line went dead.

It's over…

Despair set in as another volley of massive energy spheres came flying toward him.

BOOM!!

In the intense, concentrated bombardment, Melzargard's body and hearts were completely obliterated, leaving not a trace behind.

[Alert! Host has defeated the Dragon-level monster "Melzargard." Reward: 90 points.]

But before the group could celebrate their victory, the spaceship above began firing countless shells toward the surface, right at Bang and the others' location.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The barrage was so rapid that the sound alone made their ears ring. The shells were so fast they looked like streaks of light. If they hit the ground, Bang, and the others had almost no chance of surviving.

"Damn! Above!!"

At that critical moment, Shinji's figure suddenly appeared in midair.

"Master?!"

Genos immediately noticed him high in the sky, with countless shells only seconds away from impact.

Bang and the others also looked up in shock, having no idea what Shinji intended to do.

Shinji spread both arms wide. In that instant, all other wooden clones vanished; the power from his true body was fully concentrated into this single clone.

And then, he released it all.

In that moment, the entire world seemed to fall silent…

Shinra Tensei!