"Your strength has indeed increased significantly. If I had known earlier, I would have gone easier and left the giant whole so you could have become even stronger."
Saitama looked at Zhao Zheng displaying his strength, his lifeless large eyes brightening slightly, mixed with a hint of regret.
"It's fine, there will be plenty of powerful Monsters in the future. I'll have to trouble Brother Saitama to help me out more often."
Zhao Zheng also felt a moment of regret, but it quickly faded.
He would encounter a large number of Monsters later on; the giant was merely a minor general among them.
There were plenty of Monsters comparable to the giant; was he afraid Zhao Zheng wouldn't have "ingredients" to grow stronger?
"True. Come on, let's go home. It's a shame that discount supermarket was destroyed; we won't be able to buy cheap groceries now."
Saitama's regret deepened, feeling sad for the lost discounted groceries.
"The roof was just ripped off, and the contents were scattered. It's not like they're inedible."
"Let's go, we're going 'zero-dollar shopping.' The supermarket has insurance anyway; they can just file a claim. They won't regret the lost produce; they'll just assume it was destroyed by the Monster."
Zhao Zheng pulled Saitama, running toward the former supermarket, brainwashing Saitama as they ran.
He successfully convinced Saitama, making him feel completely justified, and his lifeless large eyes became bright and spirited.
"That makes sense. Let's hurry."
In his excitement, Saitama hoisted Zhao Zheng onto his shoulder—buttocks forward, head backward—and turned into a flash of yellow light, speeding toward the supermarket.
There were certainly many people with the idea of zero-dollar shopping; if they arrived late, the supermarket might not have any products left.
This time, Saitama was determined to acquire all the expensive groceries he usually couldn't afford and could only stare at... In the center of City A, there stood a black rectangular building, its exterior appearing to be made of black gold.
This was the Hero Association Headquarters, managing Heroes from C-Rank to S-Rank.
Of course, the stronger the Hero, the less they cared about or listened to the Hero Association's management.
As the main base for Heroes, the Hero Association Headquarters was structurally sound and permanently guarded by two S-Rank Heroes, meaning its strength should not be underestimated.
"Is this the extent of the disaster caused by the Monster in City D?"
Inside the monitoring floor of the Hero Association Headquarters, a male executive in a suit, with a middle part hairstyle and glasses, watched the large monitoring screen.
The large screen displayed the scene of City D being destroyed by the giant. With one stomp, a large area turned into ruins, and further destruction was caused casually by the giant as it walked.
This destruction alone caused severe damage to City D.
"This destructive power is absolutely not Demon Level, it's Dragon Level! Immediately raise the disaster level to Dragon Level and issue a notification, summoning multiple S-Rank Heroes to confront it."
The middle-part executive pushed up his glasses, giving urgent commands.
"No need, the Monster has already been dealt with. It was eliminated by an unknown entity while en route to City B."
"This is the video taken by a witness!"
The Young Miss operating the computer spoke in shock, her pretty face stunned as she uploaded a video to the large monitoring screen.
On the large monitoring screen, the video speed was slowed down, allowing them to see a blood-black shadow moving around the giant, constantly fighting it.
Although his attacks did not immediately cause damage to the giant, everyone watching the video knew this person was extraordinary, definitely possessing S-Rank strength!
Finally, the blood-black shadow leaped into the air. Just as the giant's punch was about to strike, the giant died instead, its entire upper body reduced to ash.
At this point, the video cut off.
"Such powerful strength! He definitely possesses top-tier S-Rank ability!"
"We must investigate this person. The fact that he can fight a Monster indicates a good Heart-Nature. We need to recruit him as an S-Class Hero for the Hero Association. Allowing such power to roam outside our control is simply too dangerous."
The middle-part executive's tone became excited and urgent as he issued orders.
As soon as he finished speaking, the surrounding staff members cast strange looks at him.
"He seems to be a Monster. He can transform into various weapons; a human couldn't do that, right?"
"Letting a Monster become a Hero? I fear there will be much controversy within the Hero Association."
The computer Young Miss couldn't help but speak up, mentioning that the video showed the blood-black shadow transforming its hands into blades, claws, and hammers.
Such a person, let alone being a Hero, would be lucky not to be labeled a terrifying Monster.
"Monster? Is there really a difference between our S-Class Heroes and Monsters?"
The middle-part executive countered with a question, leaving everyone present speechless.
Indeed. The general public might not understand the true value of S-Class Heroes, but shouldn't those working for the Hero Association understand their true nature?
S-Class Heroes possess abilities that surpass Mortals; they could be called humanoid Monsters with immense power.
Initially, the Hero Ranks didn't even include S-Rank. The reason S-Rank appeared later was that the Hero Association high command discovered certain individuals were so powerful that their strength far surpassed A-Class Heroes, allowing them to defeat Monsters that A-Class Heroes struggled against even when fighting together!
Therefore, the high command gathered these individuals, and they became the S-Class Heroes.
"When facing someone powerful, what if he is a Monster? As long as his heart is dedicated to the people, he is a Hero."
"Conversely, if a Hero is strong but evil in nature, how is he different from a Monster?"
"Furthermore, whether this person is a Monster has not yet been clearly investigated, so we cannot jump to conclusions. What if he is like Zombieman?"
The middle-part executive pushed up his glasses again, and his words caused the staff present to nod in agreement.
It was indeed reasonable. Even if that person was a Monster, as long as he was dedicated to the people, with the help of the Hero Association, he would simply become another Hero.
At most, he would be an unconventional Hero possessing extraordinary strength.
"Report: Witnesses claim that the remaining half of the gigantic Monster's body has vanished, likely taken by the figure we saw earlier."
The computer Young Miss received a message and reported it to the middle-part executive.
"Good. Then fully investigate this person. Report any information immediately; do not overlook even similar individuals."
With the middle-part executive's order, the massive machine of the Hero Association began to operate, extending its reach across the twenty-six cities of the entire Supercontinent... "Brother Zhao Zheng, come eat at my place tonight. I want you to try my cooking."
In the Unmanned Zone of City Z, Saitama, carrying large bags of groceries, extended an invitation to Zhao Zheng.
His bags contained expensive ingredients he usually couldn't bear to buy or afford. He was determined to enjoy himself thoroughly tonight.
"Alright, I'll be your assistant."
Zhao Zheng said with a smile. He was also carrying large bags; who would refuse free items?
The two entered Saitama's apartment and began preparing dinner.
"How are things going with Little Naruto?"
"Although he's unreliable as a protagonist, he's quite effective when it matters."
While preparing, Zhao Zheng thought of Naruto; he was still obsessed with the Sharingan.
Especially now that he possessed Dragon Level strength, Zhao Zheng had greater confidence regarding The Night of the Uchiha Clan Massacre. At worst, he could use the Blacklight Enhanced Form to crush the enemies with absolute power, giving them no chance to use sealing techniques.
"And in terms of mental power, my current abilities rely purely on physical strength, making my mental level weak. The Genjutsu of the two white-eyed wolves is a huge threat, especially Tsukuyomi, and the Kotoamatsukami that Uchiha Shisui gave to Itachi!"
"I must achieve a quick victory!"
Zhao Zheng tidied up on the surface while mentally preparing for battle.
If he had Tatsumaki's psychic powers, he wouldn't need to fear Itachi's Genjutsu.
After all, Genjutsu is a manifestation of Mental Energy. No matter how Heaven-Defying the skills Tsukuyomi and Kotoamatsukami are, the disparity in strength between the two parties must be considered.
Tatsumaki's strength, placed in the Ninja World, would easily be at the powerful Six Paths Sage level.
Here, Six Paths refers to the ability to move mountains, fill seas, and change the face of the land.
Not the Ōtsutsuki in boruto era, who are as weak as dogs.
Most of those Ōtsutsuki are powerful but lack combat experience, only able to display Kage Level or even Super-Kage Level strength, making it difficult to deal with Naruto and Sasuke without the Six Paths Sage's blessing.
If the Ōtsutsuki in Boruto truly possessed strength comparable to Ōtsutsuki Kaguya in shippuden era, taking down Sasuke and Naruto during the Boruto era would be effortless, and they certainly wouldn't ignore the sealed Ōtsutsuki Kaguya.
But they didn't, indicating they still feared the immensely powerful Ōtsutsuki Kaguya.
As for the subsequent individuals separated from the Ten-Tails Spawns, who transformed into corresponding bodies by consuming Ninja Chakra, they claimed to possess Six Paths power individually.
In reality, they did not. Back then, Ōtsutsuki Kaguya, relying on the incomplete but fully mature Ten-Tails God Tree, plus the Chakra of the entire Ninja World, still did not exceed the Six Paths level.
The Ten-Tails Spawns were inherently weaker than the incomplete, yet fully mature, Ten-Tails, and the more they separated, the weaker their individual strength became.
A few weak individuals separated from the Ten-Tails Spawns claimed to have Six Paths strength. Their true power was unknown, but after consuming the Chakra of a few Ninja, they were merely barking like mad dogs, unaware of their own limitations.
As for the boruto era protagonist group fighting the Ten-Tails Youngling group, it wasn't because the opponents were strong, but because the protagonist group was too weak!
"Currently, it seems that aside from a few Heaven-Defying skills originating from the Ōtsutsuki God, and the Ōtsutsuki God himself, the demonstrated combat power in Boruto is far inferior to the shippuden era era."
Zhao Zheng thought to himself, if it had been Boruto who entered instead of Naruto, then by simply consuming the Ōtsutsuki, he would obtain the Sharingan, Byakugan, and everything else.
Then, with a thought, the Chat Group light screen appeared before Zhao Zheng's eyes.
In the Chat Group, only Qi Lin and Xiao Yu chatted occasionally. Naruto hadn't posted any messages, presumably preparing to convince Sasuke to leave.