"I must be insane for joining this training camp…"
Magic Trick Man cursed under his breath—but his body, traitorously, sped up along with Blue Flame.
After all, he was the second-highest-ranked A-Class hero here. How could he just let himself be left behind?
The heroes sprinting with all their might didn't even realize that, without noticing, they had already broken through their previous limits.
On such a basic training ground, with nearly all of them close to exhaustion, it was their drive to outdo one another that pushed them beyond.
"Hissss… How strange. These two-legged creatures are running faster now…"
The Feathered Snake was still sluggishly trailing behind the group, but what puzzled it was that the 'prey,' which had seemed to be nearing its limits, was still accelerating.
What made the Feathered Snake especially unhappy was that the slowest of the two-legged creatures was now actually catching up to the slightly larger one.
Two creatures who had originally been slow were now chasing each other, and as long as neither of them stayed in last place for more than a minute, it couldn't have fun playing with them anymore.
"Has the limiter loosened? Is it because of the competition, or because of me, an outsider?"
Kizaru, who had been lounging on his beach chair, suddenly opened his eyes, gazing in confusion toward the training field.
Through his Kenbunshoku Haki, he sensed an incredible change happening with the heroes running laps.
The "locks" that existed in everyone from the world of One Punch Man—the restrictions that prevented them from progressing further once they reached their limits—seemed to be loosening slightly.
However, this loosening was barely enough to raise the upper limit by less than one percent. It was nowhere near the level of unlocking the full potential, as Saitama had done, but for these still "weak" heroes, it was already a significant leap.
The heroes still running desperately didn't notice this small change. With the finish line getting closer, even those who had no hope of reaching the top ranks were pushed by the competitive atmosphere, and unconsciously gave it their all.
"Hmm? Not bad. Already someone finished?"
By the time Kizaru was awakened from his nap by Fubuki, nearly a third of the heroes had completed their 20 laps of "warm-up exercises."
But aside from Blue Flame and Mizuki, who still had some energy left, most of the heroes had barely completed the 20 laps, and both their physical and mental states were nearing their limits.
"Are we continuing with the training? They all look like they're about to die…"
Fubuki was extremely glad she hadn't been foolish enough to join this training camp. Kizaru's camp was absolutely killer.
Mountain Ape, who usually looked strong and reliable, was now barely hanging at the back of the group, competing for second-to-last with the top C-Class hero.
Out of Fubuki's group of twelve members participating, only B-Class Rank 2, Eyelash, and Rank 5, Lily, had completed the 20-lap goal.
However, Fubuki was still quite satisfied. Aside from Eyelash and Lily, the only other B-Class heroes to finish were Mizuki and Sharp Star. The rest were all A-Class heroes.
Mountain Ape's strength wasn't much worse than Eyelash's, but unfortunately, his large size was holding him back. If it weren't for Mumen Rider covering for him, he would have definitely remained stuck in last place.
At this moment, most of the heroes were still pushing themselves on the track, and some were already showing signs of not managing their stamina properly, collapsing less than two kilometers from the finish line due to exhaustion.
"Of course, we're continuing. Now is the time to push the limits. Who knows, maybe one of these heroes could really master the full Six Styles…"
Kizaru looked at Mizuki, who was wearing a swimsuit, a bit surprised. The girl's stamina recovery speed was pretty extraordinary—even among the best students at the Navy school, she would've been considered one of the exceptional ones, the kind that could even get Zephyr out to teach.
Blue Fire, who had finished first, still showed no major changes on the surface, just slightly quicker breathing. But in Kizaru's perception, Blue Fire wasn't in a much better state than the other heroes who had completed the full 20 laps.
If they kept running, Blue Fire might last another one or two laps, but there was no way he could finish a third lap. His stamina had been depleted, and while the "limiter" had loosened a bit, it had only raised his potential limit—it didn't mean he could break through his current state.
In contrast, Mizuki, who had just crossed the finish line, had been exhausted, but now she was already cheerfully cheering on the other heroes.
Not only could she do another couple of laps, but even if they added three or four more laps, she would still be nowhere near her limit.
"Are you interested in that girl?"
Fubuki, noticing Kizaru's gaze on Mizuki, frowned slightly and felt a twinge of unease.
From the chat group's private conversations about Kizaru, he was at least a notorious playboy, if not a full-fledged womanizer.
Although Mizuki's muscular frame didn't fit the typical beauty standards for most people, there was no denying that her energetic personality had a certain charm for some people.
"Hmm, this girl has potential. If she were in my world, she'd probably get specially recruited into the Navy school."
Kizaru felt a bit regretful.
Aside from members of the dimensional chat group, people from other worlds couldn't use the group to travel across dimensions.
If it were possible, he'd have loved to bring more talented kids like Captain Mizuki back to the One Piece world—then he wouldn't have to worry about the Navy's future anymore.
So far, only Orochimaru had found a loophole and sent the snakes from Ryuchi Cave to work in other worlds.
As for Kizaru himself, bored out of his mind, he had made several trips across worlds. He was the only one who dared to travel so recklessly and freely.
Even though Haibara Ai and Fubuki were as close as sisters, they still didn't dare recklessly step into each other's worlds.
It wasn't about distrust—it was a primal fear of the unknown. After all, bold and supremely skilled individuals like Kizaru and Esdeath were rare.
The guy from Swallowed Star was a transmigrator and understood the group members' worlds quite well, but even he wouldn't casually venture into the One Punch Man world the way Kizaru did.
"She has that much potential…"
Fubuki instinctively sized up Captain Mizuki. She had 'personally' witnessed Kizaru's true strength.
Could that girl really possess a potential that even someone stronger than her sister—like Kizaru—couldn't help but praise?
Maybe it was worth considering pulling Captain Mizuki into the Blizzard Group. That way, the group could potentially have two S-Class heroes in the future.
"She's definitely not on the level of Sakazuki or Kuzan, but she's better than Vivian… Oh, Vivian's a giant girl under my command, one of the top Vice Admirals in HQ now… You can think of her as being about as strong as that Dragon-level monster from the other day."
Kizaru scratched his head as he said this.
Truthfully, Vivian still wasn't quite at Vaccine Man's level, but among all the people Kizaru had encountered in the One Punch Man world, she was the closest in power to him.
"That strong?"
Fubuki found it hard to believe. While Vaccine Man didn't cause as much destruction as some other Dragon-level threats, that was mainly because he targeted the Hero Association HQ and hadn't gotten the chance to go on a full rampage before Kizaru instantly vaporized him.
Still, the aftermath of Vaccine Man's attack had turned nearly a fifth of City A into rubble—even with dozens of heroes resisting him.
Now, watching Captain Mizuki cheering loudly at the edge of the track, Fubuki couldn't imagine this girl becoming an S-Class hero.
"But even mastering the Six Styles only takes you so far. If she gets a good Devil Fruit, though, she might be able to spar with your sister someday…"
Kizaru gave Fubuki a sly, knowing look. If Fubuki could bring Captain Mizuki into the Blizzard Group, even without Kizaru's help in the future, the group could become the most powerful faction in the Hero Association.
Of course, that would depend on whether Fubuki was willing to exchange a Devil Fruit for Mizuki. Kizaru had only given the group members a discount for their first fruit.
With Fubuki's current finances, giving the first Devil Fruit to Mizuki would mean she probably wouldn't be able to afford another full-price one anytime soon.
The pros and cons were hers to weigh—did she want to become stronger herself, or build up the Blizzard Group?
Fubuki understood Kizaru's hint perfectly. If possible, she wanted to earn her sister Tatsumaki's recognition.
But she also knew her own limits. Unless Kizaru personally picked out an especially powerful Devil Fruit for her, she would never be able to catch up to Tatsumaki in this lifetime.
"I'm going to go have a chat with her."
Without hesitation, Fubuki made her decision, pressed her lips together, and walked over toward Captain Mizuki.
Right now, Captain Mizuki was still a B-Class hero, so recruiting her into the Blizzard Group wasn't out of the question—especially since Fubuki now had the newly promoted S-Class Rank 9, Speed-o'-Sound Sonic, backing her.
Of course, whether this would work out in the long run depended on whether Fubuki could actually keep Mizuki in check.
But considering most heroes tended to be relatively straightforward and simple in personality, the odds of success were still in Fubuki's favor.
Kizaru silently nodded to himself at the sight. As the leader of the Blizzard Group, Fubuki's decisiveness and leadership were nothing to scoff at. Without those traits, there's no way she could've grown her faction into the largest one in the Hero Association.
It was just a shame that her own strength had become a bottleneck for the group's overall development. If she were as powerful as Tatsumaki, she wouldn't have to limit her recruitment to just B-Class heroes.
Still, she had found a workaround. Even if her own strength was lacking, as long as she could recruit strong enough members, she could patch up the group's lack of firepower.
"Now, what should I have them do next... Huh? Who's this guy trying to cause trouble again?"
Kizaru took a sip of his cold drink, then frowned and looked toward the entrance of the training camp, clearly annoyed.
He could swear on the last shreds of his dignity—he really had just come to this world for a vacation, and to buy time for Orochimaru, Tony Stark, and Haibara Ai to finish researching the Pure Gold.
Even the training camp had been a spur-of-the-moment decision. After the exhausting war at Marineford, even Kizaru wanted to take things easy for a while.
But the more he tried to avoid trouble, the more it came knocking on his door.
First it was Tatsumaki, then Sweet Mask, and now some new random dude had shown up. What, did they think he was some kind of tourist hotspot to check off their list?
At that moment, outside the training camp gate stood a man dressed in flamboyant metallic armor, wearing a skintight bodysuit and a cape. His long hair flowed down behind his strikingly handsome face as he coolly surveyed the makeshift camp.
This was Flashy Flash.
After leaving his training retreat, he had gone to the Hero Association to inquire about the newly promoted S-Class hero "Swift Flash," only to be surprised to hear that Swift had started a training camp.
As someone who had been sold by his parents to a ninja village and subjected to cruel, cold-blooded assassin training since childhood, Flashy Flash instinctively harbored deep suspicion and rejection toward any place called a "training camp."
Initially, it was just Swift's chosen hero name that rubbed him the wrong way—but now, seeing this shabby little camp in person brought back all sorts of unpleasant memories.
"Swift Flash... let me see for myself who you really are!"
Flashy Flash didn't hesitate for even a second as he drew the sword at his waist. In an instant, countless streaks of sword light flashed—and the large iron gate of the training camp was sliced into a rain of shattered steel fragments.
Clang clang clang…
The sound of broken metal crashing to the ground immediately drew the attention of everyone inside the training camp.
Unlike Kizaru, the newly promoted S-Class hero, Flashy Flash had long been well-known within the Hero Association. Formerly ranked 13th among the S-Class, he had recently been bumped down to 14th—thanks to Kizaru.
If it weren't for the fact that he rarely took the initiative to fight monsters, leaving his accumulated merits too low, there's no way he'd be ranked that far down.
In truth, even if his strength didn't quite place him in the top five of the S-Class, he definitely wasn't far off. Before Kizaru appeared, Flashy Flash was regarded as the fastest hero in the entire association.
"Wait... is that Flashy Flash? Why would he show up here?"
"He's not looking too friendly... You don't think they're going to fight, do you?"
"But I've never heard of Flashy Flash having any grudge against Swift Flash's…"
…
The heroes who had already finished their laps all looked on curiously. Everything about the S-Class heroes was shrouded in mystery to them.
And Flashy Flash, even among the S-Class, was one of the most elusive.
Even those few heroes who had seen him before rarely had any meaningful interaction with him.
"Swift Flash!"
Flashy Flash's gaze locked onto Kizaru, who was lounging by the running track. The moment he laid eyes on him, he frowned.
Everyone else in the camp was in the middle of intense training.
And those who had already finished—it was clear to someone of Flashy Flash's level of perception that they had just gone through a pretty grueling regimen.
Only Kizaru stood out. The guy had been laying on that beach chair from the start, completely motionless and looking utterly relaxed the whole time.
"That's me. And you are…?"
Kizaru let out a lazy yawn. He still remembered characters with strong visual traits, like Saitama or Tatsumaki—main characters or major supporting cast. But Flashy Flash? He barely rated above background NPC in his memory. He was clearly not a complete nobody, but Kizaru honestly couldn't recall who this guy was.
°°°
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