But Naruto, whom He considered an ant, had his aura, with the blessing of the rules, furiously climb until it was on par with His power level after being restricted!
"What?! How dare you—tamper with the rules?!" The God roared in shock and fury.
"Now—it's fair!"
Naruto felt the power surging within him, a power on the same level as the God's. It was a new power, a combination of his own potential, borrowed strength from the gamble, and the forced balance of the rules!
He no longer used any specific Ninjutsu, but instead unleashed this power in the purest, most direct way.
It was a clash of wills, a duel of existence itself!
He transformed into a streak of light, no longer the crimson Night Guy, but a light containing all opposing concepts like creation and destruction, connection and loneliness, hope and despair, and charged towards the God, who was restricted by the rules!
"Don't think this is enough to defeat me!"
"An ant is, after all, just an ant. No matter how many tricks it pulls, it can never shake a God!!"
The God roared, also gathering all His restricted power, transforming into an ultimate darkness that devoured everything, meeting the charge!
Light and darkness, on a cosmic scale, engaged in the most primal, most intense, and most brutal collision!
There was no sound, only the annihilation and rebirth of rules.
There was no explosion, only the violent turbulence of existential concepts.
Who knows how long passed, it felt like an instant, yet also like eternity.
Light and darkness simultaneously reached a critical point, and then—dissipated together.
The dice of the gods exhausted its last bit of power, turning into specks of starlight and completely disappearing.
This divine artifact actually shattered just like that.
The God's colossal figure became extremely dim and illusory, emitting a final thought filled with unwillingness and malevolence: "Naruto—we—will meet again—"
Immediately, His figure completely vanished, fleeing this area severely disturbed by the rules, and re-concealing Himself in a higher dimension of the universe.
Naruto, meanwhile, stood silently in the cold vacuum, and after confirming that he was not being spied on by the God from a higher dimension, he used Flying Thunder God to return to Saitama's side.
"Pfft."
Naruto, who had been holding it in, finally couldn't help but spit out a mouthful of blood. His aura, which had been comparable to a God's, plummeted, becoming weak and listless.
He won the gamble and forced the God to retreat, but he also paid an unimaginable price.
"Teacher? How did you suddenly appear? Wait, you're injured!"
Saitama was greatly alarmed and quickly helped Naruto up.
Naruto waved his hand and slowly sat on a roadside bench.
He glanced at Saitama and saw that Saitama was carrying a plastic bag, apparently just back from the supermarket.
"It's a good thing I had foresight and left a Flying Thunder God Mark on Saitama's back, otherwise I would have gotten lost in the universe and wouldn't have been able to come back."
Naruto stabilized his breathing, still feeling a lingering fear.
Even if he logged out on the spot and left the One-Punch World, the next time he returned to the One-Punch World, it would still be the place he left from.
However, Flying Thunder God solved the distance problem.
"The God—is truly formidable—"
"But that just makes me more motivated. So there are such powerful guys in the world, hehe—heheh—"
Naruto's blood boiled, and he couldn't help but laugh loudly, but after only a couple of laughs, he started coughing violently again.
"Teacher—what's wrong?"
"Oh right, Teacher, do you know about the changes in Z-City? Z-City disappeared, and an incredibly terrifying battle occurred." Saitama patted Naruto's back and pulled out a tissue from his pocket, handing it over.
"The battle in Z-City broke out between me and the Monster Association."
Naruto took the tissue and thanked him.
"Ah! It was Teacher—no wonder Teacher told me to move out of Z-City. So that's what happened, but what's the Monster Association?" Saitama instantly turned into a stick-figure-style bald head.
"The Monster Association—it's too much trouble to explain. Never mind, I'm too lazy to explain. I'm going to the Hero Association first." Naruto stood up and said.
Before long, news came from the Hero Association:
"By resolution of the Hero Association's Supreme Council, in view of Mr. Uzumaki Naruto's irreplaceable and absolute contribution in the action to eliminate the Monster Association and save all humanity, his S-Class Hero ranking is hereby re-corrected to S-Class No. 1!"
The official announcement was like ice thrown into boiling oil, instantly igniting global public opinion.
"Are you kidding me! Directly parachuted to No. 1? Even Mr. Blast was pushed down?!"
"Monster Association, what is that? Why haven't I heard of it before?"
"You're behind on the news. According to the latest information, the Monster Association is a super monster organization hidden underground in Z-City. I heard that every executive member is a Dragon-level existence, and the Monster King is even a God-level monster, and Lord Naruto single-handedly fought through the entire Monster Association! In the end, the Monster King stirred up the entire Pacific Ocean! He stopped all of it!"
"All Dragon-level? And the Monster King is a legendary God-level being capable of causing the end of the world?!"
"In that case, Naruto being ranked S-Class Hero No. 1 is well-deserved!"
"I know Z-City. It was originally a no-man's land, with few residents. Now it has become a giant sinkhole, and there was a huge tsunami that stirred up the Pacific Ocean. I could see it even though I was inland."
"I thought the end of the world had come, but then the super tsunami disappeared."
"Is he even human?"
"He's like a God from a myth—"
The internet crashed, and in every street and alley, everyone was frantically discussing the golden-haired young man with the world-altering power.
The setting sun, red as blood, reflected on the deep, jagged, bottomless rock walls of the giant abyss at the edge of Z-City.
Naruto stood silently at the cliff edge, his damaged orange ninja attire still not changed, the Yin Seal mark on his forehead dim and lusterless.
He listened to the roar of distant disaster relief machinery, looked at the latest model Hero Association exclusive phone in his hand, which displayed his new identity and codename, but there was not much joy on his face.
"Number one, huh." He murmured softly, but what flashed through his mind was the cold, star-formed shadow in the deep cosmic void, and the "God's" whisper that echoed directly through his soul.
Fortunately, after becoming the S-Class Hero No. 1, his Hero King mission was completely finished.
Aside from 1 million experience points and 100,000 exchange coupons, he also received the legendary title "Hero King."
Naruto's previous title above rare-level was the peerless title "Shinigami."
The "Hero King" title effect was also very good, but it still couldn't defeat the God.
The thing Naruto wanted to do most now was to become strong again, to become even stronger, so he could defeat the "shadow" standing in high-dimensional space.
"Naruto-kun."
A gentle voice sounded beside him.
It was Mumen Rider. He was pushing his bicycle, his face showing tired but sincere respect, "Thank you—for saving everyone.