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I am Saitama - Chapter 31: The Strongest in the Universe (Part 2)
🕑 Added 2025-08-13 03:42:32 +0000 UTCGasps and exclamations erupted from the surrounding heroes.
“Did she just—”
“She launched him into space?!”
“That was insane…”
Genos’s eyes widened, sensors tracking Boros’s trajectory until he vanished beyond radar range. Tatsumaki’s telekinetic output just spiked past recorded limits… but it’s not over.
King didn’t move, but his hand twitched near his pocket as if he could will his phone to teleport him away from ground zero. His expression stayed the same mask of grim bravery, but a bead of sweat rolled down his temple.
Metal Bat cracked his knuckles, visibly impressed. “Heh… guess the short stack’s got some bite.”
Saitama’s brows knit together—not in shock, but in recognition. He knew what was coming. He had seen this before, in high-definition animation and inked panels. Boros wouldn’t stay down. This was barely the start, he wasn't even trying yet, on his fight against Saitama he was already using his full power by now. However... seeing how things were going and the way Tatsumaki was hovering forward, with her eyes blazing, ready to chase him—
His stomach tightened.
He had been standing back, letting things play out, because he was too afraid to act.
But on that moment, the truth hit him like a gut punch.
He was a coward.
That wasn’t why he hadn’t moved.
He’d been afraid. Not in the detached, “this is just fiction” way—no, this was raw, primal fear. Seeing Boros on a screen was one thing. Standing in front of him now, feeling that killing intent in the air, was another entirely. The towering alien wasn’t a character anymore; he was a predator, radiating the kind of power that made every instinct scream to run.
But as that realization settled, another thought cut through the fear like a blade.
If Boros redirected his fall and slammed into Tatsumaki at full force… her shields might hold for a moment, but she’d be injured. She could even—
However his thoughts were interrupted when a sonic crack splitted the air.
Here it comes.
Above the clouds, a spark of purple light bloomed—then expanded into a comet streaking downward. The air trembled. Boros was coming back fast.
Tatsumaki’s grin was sharp, almost feral. “You think you can match me from up there? Come on then!”
The surrounding heroes flinched as the comet-like figure grew larger. Boros’s one visible eye glowed like molten gold, his body wreathed in an aura that twisted the air around him.
Saitama felt his heartbeat hammer once. Twice.
Then his foot moved.
In an instant, he blurred forward, cape whipping behind him. The wind of his acceleration scattered loose debris off the rooftop.
Tatsumaki’s eyes flicked sideways in surprise. “Baldy—?!”
Saitama didn’t answer. His eyes were locked on Boros. In the fan’s mind, every frame of this moment from the anime replayed at once… only this time, he wasn’t going to watch from the couch.
Boros’s descent roared into ear-splitting range, the shockwave of his fall flattening clouds above.
“HEY!” Saitama barked, his voice cutting through the chaos like a blade.
Boros’s gaze snapped down toward him mid-fall.
And then, just before the alien warlord could reach Tatsumaki’s position, Saitama jumped—meeting him halfway in the air. The collision boomed like an artillery shell, a pulse of wind blasting outward in all directions.
The shockwave shoved heroes back, rattled windows for blocks, and sent Fubuki to one knee. Genos raised his arms to shield his optics. King stood frozen, heart pounding.
Up in the air, Saitama’s hand gripped Boros’s shoulder.
“Not her. You want a fight—” his instincts gave way to something rawer “—you fight me.”
Even if I'm afraid, I must face him, otherwise, I wouldn't be able to consider myself a hero or see anyone on this world to the face ever again if I didn't do it. I am the only one with enough strenght to end him without casualties after all.
Boros’s eye narrowed. “Hmph… so you do have spirit, human.”
Below, Tatsumaki’s glare softened just a fraction—confusion and annoyance warring with the faintest flicker of respect.
Huh, I guess the baldy relieved me. I could wish him good luck but I don’t think he needs it. Thought the green haired esper.
Meanwhile, the two titans had crashed down and now stood in the middle of a ruined street in A-City, the asphalt cracked beneath their feet, streetlamps bent like straws, and glass from shattered windows crunching under the faint breeze. The city was eerily silent—every civilian had long since fled, leaving only the sound of distant fires crackling in the background.
Saitama squared his shoulders, eyes locked on the single glowing eye of the alien warlord.
Okay… no more pussying out. I’m tired. I’m especially tired of being afraid. I thought I’d already overcome it, but I was wrong. And because of that, I almost let Tatsumaki fight Boros alone.
He clenched his fists.
Well, no more. I know Boros just wants the fight of his life… so I’m gonna give it to him.
Boros tilted his head slightly, an unnerving smile tugging at the edge of his mouth. “Honestly, you surprised me, human. I thought you had… ‘chickened out,’ as you say. But I guess you were just waiting for the perfect moment to attack, isn’t that right?”
Saitama didn’t answer. His face was serious, focused—none of the usual blank, bored expression.
Seeing the silence, Boros continued, his tone a mix of curiosity and anticipation.
“It’s strange, really. Because I know for a fact… that of everyone here today, you are by far the most powerful. Isn’t that so?”
Saitama hesitated, jaw tightening. His mouth worked soundlessly for a moment before he finally spoke.
“You’re right. But I’m not like you. I am Saitama an S-Class hero, so if you want to fight me and enjoy it…” he stepped forward slightly, his voice carrying over the desolate street, “…then I recommend you use your full power now. Because once I start punching, I won’t hold back.”
Boros’s smirk faltered just slightly, his eye narrowing as Saitama went on.
“You see, I am strong—yes. But I don’t enjoy fighting. I don’t enjoy facing dangerous opponents every day. Because I know every fight like that means thousands… maybe millions of lives at risk. For me to enjoy it, I’d have to be a psychopath. I fight only to protect the world. Nothing more. Nothing less.” A faint, bitter smile crossed his lips. “Sorry if that disappoints you. But it’s the truth.”
For several long seconds, silence hung over the ruined street. The wind picked up, carrying the smell of smoke.
Then Boros’s grin returned—wider, sharper, more feral. “You think that will disappoint me? No, Saitama… it only makes you more interesting.”
Without warning, Boros spread his arms wide. A surge of deep purple and blue energy erupted from his body, flaring into a violent, spiraling aura. The air warped with the heat of it, the ground beneath him cracking and splintering outward.
“This form you see now…” His voice deepened, almost resonating in the bones. “…is nothing compared to what I am truly capable of.”
Boros’s body began to tremble—not from pain, but from the overwhelming surge of power erupting within. His skin cracked with glowing lines, each fissure radiating blinding energy like molten veins beneath the surface. The ground at his feet splintered and cratered under the sheer pressure, waves of force rippling outward in every direction. His single eye flared, locking onto Saitama with a predator’s focus as his entire form pulsed with violent, unrestrained might—Meteoric Burst had begun.
Saitama narrowed his eyes as the wind from Boros’s transformation battered his cape against his legs. He’d seen this before on screen. He knew the name of this form.
Meteoric Burst…
Boros’s aura detonated outward in a shockwave that shattered nearby building fronts and sent a column of dust spiraling into the sky. The sheer pressure forced Saitama to lean forward just slightly, grit biting at his face.
“This is my ultimate fighting form,” Boros declared, voice almost shaking the air itself. “In this state, my speed, strength, and regeneration increase beyond imagination, all of it in Exchange of my vital force, a little price to pay to become invincible. In this state… I will test the limits of your strenght and we will finally determine who is THE STRONGEST IN THE UNIVERSE.”
The street was still for only a heartbeat before Boros vanished in a purple flash—closing the distance between them faster than most could blink.
Saitama’s eyes sharpened. Alright, Boros… full power it is.
Then…Boros vanished again.
And on the next instant, his knee was already buried against Saitama’s forearm. The block held, but the shockwave ripped the street into a crater and hurled parked cars like confetti.
Saitama slid backward, boots grinding sparks.
…That actually pushed me.
Boros didn’t let the moment breathe. Meteoric Burst howled around him—ion-bright aura, wind corkscrewing, pavement liquefying under each step. He reappeared at Saitama’s flank, then above, then behind, each attack arriving before its wind could catch up. Saitama’s cape snapped and stung his shoulders as he parried, deflected, and slipped through the hurricane.
High above, the rooftop crowd tried—and mostly failed—to watch.
“I can’t see squat! Did my vision broke or something?” Metal Bat barked, eyes darting over empty sky.
“Your eyes are fine,” Zombieman muttered, cigarette ash trembling. “They’re just… too fast.”
Drive Knight’s visor flickered with numbers. “Lateral vectors exceeding hypersonic. Optical capture is borderline meaningless.”
Flashy Flash didn’t blink. “You’re still missing the feints.”
Bang’s gaze tracked calmly, jaw set. “The alien’s speed is wild, but Saitama’s movements are pretty clean for someone without martial arts training, that boy always manages to surprise me.”
Tatsumaki hovered, hair whipping. “Heads down or you’ll die from the backwash.”
Child Emperor squinted through his lenses, grimacing. “Tch—useless.” He snapped a panel open on his visor and began typing. “Boost frame accumulation… temporal oversampling… filter plasma bloom… okay—okay, lock on…!”
Down below, Boros carved an arc across the boulevard. Air detonated in his wake. He hammered fists at Saitama from point-blank, each blow a thunderclap; Saitama bobbed and shouldered through the barrage, answering with short, straight counters that cracked like rifles. One connected—Boros skidded, tore furrows in the asphalt, he saw the wound and suddenly grinned, his chest sunk and bruised, healed instantly returning to his normal form right in front of Saitama’s eyes, his skin flexed back into place like if it was nothing.
“Good,” Boros said, voice gleeful under the roar of his aura. He sprang forward again. “Very good!”
Saitama planted and threw a “Consecutive Normal Punches.” To a bystander, it looked like a single blurred line. To Boros, it was a wall. He crashed through it anyway, the street exploding behind him as he ricocheted off a glass tower, vanished, and reappeared at Saitama’s blind spot with a heel aimed at his neck.
Saitama ducked a fraction late—the kick shaved the top of his shoulder, his cape twisting free and snapping away into the wind.
“Sensei—!” Genos clenched his fists, jets screaming to spool.
“Stay,” Bang said, palm out, voice iron. “If you jump in there, you’ll die.”
Superalloy Darkshine shaded his eyes, awe breaking through his smile. “He’s still holding together against that?”
Atomic Samurai exhaled through his nose. “That alien’s speed… If I blink, I lose them.”
Child Emperor’s visor finally beeped, the image stabilizing into ghosted afterimages. He gasped. “There—! Above the green sign—no, he sold the feint—left-of-center! They’re trading at… at—” He swallowed. “I can’t even put a number on it.”
The street buckled again. Boros’s fist met Saitama’s palm; the shockwave rolled out in a perfect ring, flipping manhole covers and ripping traffic lights from their poles. Saitama twisted the wrist, pivoted, and shoulder-threw the alien through a row of offices. The tower bent around Boros’s impact like a soda can—then he was already out the other side, a lance of violet light cutting the air.
A narrow beam ripped past Saitama and carved a trench three blocks long. Windows shattered like rain. Saitama glanced at the smoldering groove, then back at Boros.
“Neat trick,” he said, deadpan.
“Your restraint is infuriating,” Boros laughed, delighted. He blurred—no footfalls, just strobing presence—reappearing with a palm thrust that Saitama met head-on. The two forces clashed, pressure exploding upward into a column that punched a hole through the low clouds.
On the roof, Sitch had both hands on the rail, white-knuckled. “Maintain the perimeter! No one engages without my order!” His voice broke slightly as another pressure wave made the building groan. “Evacuation grid reports minimal civilians left in-zone. Keep it that way.”
“Minimal isn’t ‘none,’” Tatsumaki snapped, eyes narrowed. Her aura rippled outward, invisible hands catching falling debris and setting it aside like toys. “Try harder.”
Drive Knight’s readouts chirped. “Alien’s output is spiking. He’s funneling more energy into speed and regeneration—unsustainable in the long term, but terminally lethal in the short.”
Flashy Flash clicked his tongue. “He’s not just fast. He’s smart. He’s adjusting angles to cancel Baldy’s counters.”
Saitama felt it too. Boros wasn’t a blur anymore—he had a pattern. Although he’d seen Meteoric Burst on a screen before. This was different—the air tasted metallic and every hair on his arms was buzzing from the charge.
Okay. Enough sampling. He cut the doubt out of his head like a tumor. If I hold back, people get hurt.
He stepped in, just one step—clean, decisive. Boros threw a straight like a mortar shell. Saitama slipped inside the line and tapped Boros’s sternum with a short cross.
The city blinked.
Boros flew—no, disappeared—through two blocks of buildings, a contrail of pulverized concrete in his wake before he corrected mid-air, skidding into a crouch on the vertical face of a skyscraper. His chest built like armor plates warped, then snapped back with a wet crackle.
His eye widened, then sharpened to a predatory point. “Yes,” he breathed, voice shaking with euphoria. “Yes. This body was built for this.”
He kicked off the tower. The building’s frame screamed. In the breath between moments, he was already on Saitama—elbow, knee, palm, heel, a cyclone of strikes. Saitama’s forearms reddened from the friction of the blocks; he slid, pivoted, guard tight and his expression focused in a way no other S-Class had never seen.
“Is he… taking damage?” Zombieman asked, smoke trailing past his lips.
“Not really,” Bang said softly. “But he’s being made to work.”
Child Emperor’s voice was small. “That thing… It’s reading his responses and adapting.”
Tatsumaki’s eyes narrowed further. “So is Egghead.”
Down below, Saitama lowered his center and changed his timing. Not faster but cleaner. He let one of Boros’s kicks skim past his ribs, turning with it, and drove a palm heel into the alien’s jaw.
The ground detonated.
Boros ragdolled through a bus, tore a groove across the avenue, and bounced to his feet laughing, aura burning hotter.
“Good! GOOD! Don’t you dare hold back!” Boros roared, energy flaring so bright the shadows reversed on the buildings. “Let me see the strength that brought down my ship!”
Saitama looked at the empty, shattered street, the evacuated windows, the distant ring of sirens. He inhaled once, slow.
“All right,” he said quietly. “Serious.”
The word barely left his mouth before he was gone. Boros’s grin faltered for the first time as a fist he hadn’t predicted folded his guard and hammered his core. The alien’s aura convulsed, then surged back, doubling down—Meteoric Burst howled higher, the pressure turning the air into knives. He answered with a blitz so violent the rooftops trembled.
On the roof, even Flashy Flash lost them for a heartbeat. “Tch—”
Child Emperor’s visor screamed data. “They’re… everywhere!”
Saitama and Boros reappeared mid-boulevard, foreheads inches apart, fists buried in each other’s guard, the ground beneath them spiderwebbed into a basin. Two breaths. Two titans. The city holding its own breath around them.
Boros’s eye gleamed with savage joy. “At last.”
Saitama’s gaze didn’t waver. “Then let’s finish this before anyone else gets hurt.”
Saitama didn’t hesitate.
“CONSECUTIVE NORMAL PUNCHES!!”
His fists blurred, each punch landing faster and harder than the last. The air cracked and thundered under the barrage, each blow turning Boros’ body into a shredded mass of flesh, blood, and shattered bone. Chunks of alien tissue exploded outward, splattering across the broken remains of the street. In seconds, Boros’ once-proud form was reduced to a twisted mess of gore.
Then—
With a wet, snapping sound, his body reformed. Torn muscle reknit, shattered bones fused, and torn organs rebuilt themselves in grotesque fashion. In moments, Boros stood whole again, his one eye was now blazing at him with fury.
“You… you dare!” Boros’ voice was trembling—not from fear, but pure, volcanic rage. “You mock me with this half-measure! Very well, I will burn EVERYTHING!”
The surviving heroes, scattered and battered from the earlier shockwaves, stared in horror from a distance. Atomic Samurai’s jaw tightened, his hand frozen halfway to his sword. “That… that energy—if he releases it—”
“—the planet’s done for,” Bang finished grimly, his eyes fixed on the glowing aura coalescing in Boros’ chest.
Tatsumaki, floating above the rubble, felt her psychic senses screaming. “This isn’t just some big attack. He’s going to erase us all.” Her voice, for once, lacked its usual smugness—replaced by the cold edge of realization.
In the center of it all, Boros’ energy peaked, forming a blinding sphere of annihilation in his chest cavity. “COLLAPSING STAR… ROARING CANNON!!” His roar carried the weight of desperation and vengeance.
The beam shot forward, a cosmic spear of destruction tearing through the wreckage toward Earth’s surface. The heat alone scorched the air, and the gravitational pull distorted the space around it.
Saitama’s expression didn’t change, but inside… his mind was a storm.
So this is it… the final move. I remember watching this scene back when I was alive, sitting in my old room. I thought it looked cool on screen, but standing here… I can feel it. All the pressure and the inmense heat…it’s like standing next to the sun. One wrong move and it’s all over.
He stepped forward, grounding himself.
Boros… you really weren’t holding back, huh? But neither will I.
He drew his fist back—every muscle in his arm coiling with incomprehensible strength.
“SERIOUS SERIES: SERIOUS PUNCH!”
BOOOOOOOM!!
The instant his fist moved forward, reality itself seemed to split. A shockwave tore across the battlefield, shredding the air into a blinding white void. Saitama’s punch collided with Boros’ Collapsing Star Roaring Cannon, and for a heartbeat, the clash looked like a sun fighting against an invisible force, this invisible force being the pure kinetic force of the punch of Saitama trying to devour the attack from Boros.
The impact ripped through the atmosphere—literally. The skies above Earth cracked open like glass under strain, clouds spiraling outward in violent, concentric rings. From the ground far below, it was as if someone had drawn back a cosmic curtain, revealing the black void of space between the torn clouds.
A deafening KRAAAASH!! followed, a sound so deep it rattled bones. Winds hundreds of times stronger than any hurricane whipped across the battlefield, flattening debris, uprooting structures, and forcing the S-Class heroes to brace themselves.
Most of them couldn’t even keep their eyes open. Atomic Samurai cursed under his breath, squinting against the searing light. Genos’ sensors screamed in overload warnings. Tatsumaki floated behind her psychic barrier, gritting her teeth at the sheer pressure. Flashy Flash’s eyes darted at speeds rivaling the combatants, but even he swallowed hard—this was beyond anything he’d faced.
Child Emperor slammed a few commands into his wrist console. “I can’t track their movements—hold on—adjusting visual spectrum—done!” His visor recalibrated with a rapid sequence of beeps, and suddenly he gasped. “Oh… oh wow. They’re fighting in microseconds…”
Drive Knight, in a low, almost mechanical tone, muttered, “No… they’re colliding in forces that shouldn’t be possible.”
And then—
The beam faltered. Saitama’s punch didn’t just cancel it—it reversed it, bending the torrent of destruction back toward Boros like an unstoppable tide.
Boros didn’t move. Didn’t even try to avoid it. His single eye widened, reflecting the incoming apocalypse—not in fear, but in something different, he felt...gratitude.
In that final instant, the world seemed to go silent for him.
At last… I found him. The one who could push me beyond my limits. Guess that seer was right after all… Saitama… thank you, you really are...the strongest in the universe.
The redirected energy consumed him entirely. His body, his flesh, his bones—vaporized before they could even fall away. What remained was light, pure and absolute, streaking into the cold void of space. The blast didn’t stop—it pierced through the stratosphere, a spear of annihilation that punched into the dark beyond.
From Earth, it looked as though a hole had been torn straight into the heavens. The clouds split wide, revealing the distant stars for just a moment… before the sky slowly stitched itself back together.
On the battlefield, Saitama slowly lowered his fist, his cape fluttering in the dying winds. His reincarnated mind, once so desperate to face a challenge like the ones he’d read about in his old world, was quiet now.
Somewhere far above, the last fragments of Boros were already gone—scattered into the infinite.
When the light faded, there was nothing left but drifting ash and the faint echo of his last breath.
The heroes slowly lowered their guards. Metal Bat whistled low. “The hell… he just punched it back.”
“Monster…” Tatsumaki muttered under her breath—but her tone was different this time, tinged with reluctant respect.
Bang exhaled slowly. “No… that was no monster. That was…scarier that any monster that I had fought I assure you.”
Saitama stood there, lowering his fist, his face unreadable. Inside, though, his thoughts were sharp and heavy.
It’s over… That’s it, right? He glanced at the spot where Boros vanished. You really fought to the end. You didn’t run or give up on any moment. You even seemed to enjoy it… guess you were really just like the old Saitama in your own way, huh…rest in peace.
Comments
firerock laser
Thanks for the chapter
