Chapter 353: The World Needs Heroes
Gojo Satoru was lifted directly from the ground. Cracks began to appear in the surrounding space. His expression changed; at this moment, he truly began to realize how terrifying Tornado's power was.
Previously, he only felt her crush the guy who could use Domain Expansion and put his host into slumber with a casual grip.
That overwhelming power radiating from every gesture made him place her on the same level as himself and Uchiha Madara.
Therefore, seeing that bald man in a funny costume quarreling with such a powerhouse, he only found it comical.
The weak couldn't understand what the strong could do, just as ants couldn't understand that humans could crush them simply by lifting a foot.
What amused him even more was that the powerful girl seemed actually angry.
He just didn't expect that when he spoke up to 'mediate,' these people completely missed the true purpose in his words. The girl threw a tantrum and attacked without reason, displaying overwhelmingly terrifying power.
Gojo Satoru had never felt such extreme power—no exquisite techniques, no mental games, no feints or disguises.
She just gripped casually, and the entire space was brought under her control. His Limitless was being compressed by extreme violence.
Suddenly, Gojo Satoru felt a strong gravitational pull. Before he could struggle much, his spirit body turned into a black shadow, falling into the ground instantly, then escaping into Kaito Shirogane's body.
Uchiha Madara, who had been observing Tornado with Sharingan and arms crossed, also turned into a black line and entered Kaito's body.
Grotesque granulation began to twitch on that tattered body. This scene made Tornado look away in disgust.
She had already seen that those two spirit bodies with so-so strength were summoned by this strange guy.
The opponent not only possessed that special ability that made her feel danger but also hid the ability to control spirit bodies.
"Sensei, it's that guy!"
As Kaito's body healed rapidly, his appearance was revealed: a heroic face, a robust body, and that... thick hair.
Clearly, this was the [Hero for Fun] reported in J-City.
Saitama finally detached himself from the previous commotion, looking at the guy in front of him.
Just standing up, Kaito subconsciously focused his gaze on Saitama as well.
This bald man was probably the strongest person he had seen so far. Even though the [Black King] in the One Piece world displayed overwhelming power and the characteristic of mastering a large number of Devil Fruit abilities...
In Kaito's eyes, that still wasn't as pure and absolute as this person's power.
But unfortunately, neither [Transparent World] nor [Mantra] (Heart Net) could detect anything from Saitama.
In the perception of Transparent World, Saitama was no different from a slightly fitter ordinary person. Even the number and shape of his muscles showed no special changes.
In Mantra's sensing, it was completely blank.
Unlike with Tornado where Mantra couldn't read any voice at all, his Mantra encountered no obstruction when listening to the voice in Saitama's heart, but inside... there was no sound at all.
If he didn't know the plot, Kaito probably wouldn't realize Saitama's specialness and strength either.
"You are that Nameless Hero... You..."
Saitama scratched his head. He wondered if he had been alone for too long and somewhat forgotten how to communicate with people.
He was also somewhat unclear about what he wanted to ask.
Saitama began to space out. He started wondering what was wrong with him. Was it really because monsters began to disappear after he defeated that whatever [God], leaving him feeling bored and lost?
At this moment, Genos, interpreting in his own way, asked:
"Sensei wants to ask you: Is being a hero interesting?"
He didn't process it at all, repeating Saitama's previous words completely.
Although Tornado was dissatisfied with Gojo Satoru expressing recognition of her power right off the bat, she was even more displeased with Kaito's behavior of seemingly ignoring her.
"I say, Fubuki was attacked while with you, right? In the end, a weak guy like you shouldn't come out to play hero games. Weak guys should just hide in the studio and act as clowns to entertain those idiots..."
Tornado's sharp tongue made Fubuki's face livid. Her chest heaving violently, she stepped forward.
"Although this guy is weak, he is much firmer than you!"
"Who got dead drunk when everyone needed you most? Who has been idling for the past two years? Who is lonely and wants to be recognized, yet arrogantly shuts everyone out!"
Kaito watched the esper sisters quarrel coldly. His indifferent detachment made him seem like an outsider to the event. He knew very well that Fubuki wasn't angry for his sake.
It was just because she was stung by Tornado's theory that [weak people shouldn't become heroes]. As Tornado's sister, Fubuki had a unique inferiority complex since childhood.
And Tornado was also stung by her sister. As the world's strongest Esper, because she was imprisoned and studied by an evil superpower organization in her childhood, she had underlying distrust towards everyone.
Because when she needed help most, except for [Blast] who appeared at the end, no one appeared. Therefore, she only believed in her own absolute power. As the former ace of the Hero Association, she actually didn't believe in calling for heroes.
Moreover, because Tornado's destructive power was too great, people inside the Hero Association, including [Metal Knight], secretly monitored her, regarding her as a potential 'Dragon-level or above threat.'
Saitama didn't pay attention to the quarrel. He just looked at Kaito's expression and found the other party was as indifferent as his current self.
He suddenly felt somewhat disappointed. Although he didn't have much expectation to begin with, this guy might not be the answer he wanted...
"Because... someone called for help..."
At this moment, a timid voice rang out. Tornado in a rage, Saitama appearing indifferent due to detachment, and Mercenary Tao whose expression became cruel and cold again as his body recovered—all turned to look at the speaker simultaneously.
Stared at by these gazes, [Lilith] almost collapsed.
But eventually, she gritted her teeth and said loudly:
"Because someone called for help, so the hero appeared!"
She recalled being in that bizarre hospital, surrounded by eerie dirty things. She was pierced through the abdomen by a Dodon Ray from nowhere, yet her teammates strangely abandoned her.
Incomparably desperate, she couldn't help shouting in her heart countless times.
"Anyone is fine! Please save me!"
Also, when that terrifying Ajin's Black Ghost almost cut her in two with one strike and missiles whistled towards her, she also wailed in fear.
"Anyone is fine! Can someone save me?!"
She clutched her heart, as if recalling those moments of fear again. Of course, many times, the source of that fear was Mercenary Tao himself.
But Lilith knew very well that in [Locker]'s temporary squad, she was absolutely one of the weakest. Yet now, those people who were more excellent, stronger, and more adapted to the Dimensional Space than her had died in that bizarre place, while she was still alive and well.
Mercenary Tao injured her, but also saved her...
At the same time, she knew very well that the child saved by Mercenary Tao, and the ordinary spirit watching his child's head being pinched by a Cursed Spirit helplessly, must have shouted in their hearts:
"Anyone is fine! Hero, God, Buddha! Save me! Save my child!"
"Whether being a hero is interesting or not, I don't know. But I only know that when the weak me has no other way, I can only... call for a hero..."
Lilith shed tears, becoming the most unpromising Reincarnator in Kaito's eyes.
But Saitama looked at this guy with snot and tears running down her face, spacing out.
He suddenly recalled a monster for no reason. It was a monster with the upper body of a bright red crab shell, waving two pincers. To his current self, it was probably pitifully weak.
But at that time, that boy cried desperately in front of Crablante. So he stepped forward to fight Crablante fiercely, killing the opponent at the cost of injuring his forehead.
Was that crying boy calling for the arrival of a hero...
Saitama fell into thought and memory.
The irritable Tornado and the angry Fubuki also looked at Kaito at this time, their expressions softening slightly.
Fubuki nodded, then looked provocatively at her sister again.
After all, she felt a bit guilty for bragging about this Nameless Hero, whom she had only read a few reports about, as being more excellent than [Tornado of Terror] due to anger just now.
[Your behavior gained Fubuki's appreciation. Your reputation with Fubuki increased. Current: Friendly (42/100)]
[Your behavior gained Tornado's appreciation. Your reputation with Tornado increased. Current: Friendly (1/100)]
[Your behavior gained Saitama's appreciation. Your reputation with Saitama increased. Current: Friendly (15/100)]
...
Kaito looked at the unpromising weak Reincarnator with snot and tears flowing together. His eyebrows twitched. For a moment, he didn't know if the other party was shrewd enough to grasp the personalities of several plot characters so thoroughly, or really just happened to be naive to this extent.
Thump, thump, thump, thump...
At this time, huge footsteps came from the distance. A tall tree man carrying a despairing [Fleur] walked into everyone's view bit by bit.
Kaito saw that pale face at a glance. It was exactly the target Luo Xi entrusted to him.
He revealed a cruel smile.
"Miss Tornado, didn't you want to know who exactly wanted to frame me by assassinating Miss Fubuki?"
Tornado's hair moved without wind. She also revealed an indifferent and cruel expression.
She was a hero, true, but her methods were more terrifying than many monsters.
Seeing this scene, [Sylar]'s heart suddenly skipped a beat. He wanted to stop Mercenary Tao. Involving Tornado and Saitama with Reincarnators was a very dangerous act.
Once these two realized the existence of a special group called [Reincarnators], and that what this group did was no different from monsters—sometimes even crueler...
God knows what Reincarnators in this world would encounter...
"Mercenary Tao, you..."
Sylar just opened his mouth, but was scared into silence by Tornado's gaze.
Kaito, however, wasn't satisfied yet. He didn't care about any [Iron Rules]. He... did whatever he wanted!
"A group of special ability users are stirring up trouble everywhere in this world. The reform of hero society three years ago, the appearance of the Cataclysm half a year ago... Heh, probably all the work of this group."
Sylar's face instantly turned pale as paper. He cursed this madman Mercenary Tao frantically in his heart. In his view, these words pointed directly at [Reincarnators].
Sure enough, hearing it was related to the reform of hero society and the Cataclysm, Saitama also looked over.
He was trying to rediscover that feeling of his heart pounding.
"Ha~ You really have methods, Mercenary Tao. Didn't expect [Chaos Sage]'s Red Dust and [Treant]'s subordinate [Sylar] were both caught by you?"
A female voice overflowing with evil aura just by sound appeared. Sylar looked around but found no one. Locker and the others felt a chill in their hearts; that familiar 'Inspiration' reminded them that a dirty thing appeared...
Only Saitama and Tornado noticed the girl in the cloak immediately.
Saitama inexplicably felt the opponent was somewhat similar to that thing in the Spirit World Erosion Zone he passed by earlier.
Genos said that kind of thing was very dangerous?
Tornado had no interest in such little tricks of hiding oneself, just saying impatiently:
"Where is that group of people?"
She didn't completely believe Kaito, but true or false, as long as she found the people, everything would be clear.
"This kind of handiwork looks like [Sage] and [Tang Sanzang]'s doing..."
"That guy Sage likes [Cognitive Interference] the most. [Tang Sanzang] is a disgusting guy who likes to play with human hearts. Mob probably suffered..."
Kaito didn't know if Heart Demon really had intelligence or was deliberately throwing mud, but clearly the other party was very confident.
[You triggered Side Mission: Lament of Heroes. Do you accept?]
[Mission Description: Former S-Class Hero Tornado of Terror, former B-Class Hero Hellish Blizzard, and Saitama want to investigate the truth behind the secret manipulation of public opinion leading to the decline of heroes. Please give her a truth.]
[Mission Reward: Significant increase in Hero Faction Reputation. Open Hero Faction Reputation Shop.]
[Note: This mission involves the special plot character Saitama. Do not expose the existence of the Space in any form. Violators will face penalties and Cognitive Interference.]
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