ad-fusion Chapter 139 139: This Is Called Rasengan
Chapter 139 139: This Is Called Rasengan
"Who came up with this hero name for me?" Saitama looked like he couldn't accept it. "Sure, it fits my image, but it sounds terrible!"
"This hero alias was decided by the higher-ups at Association Headquarters," Shinji explained.
"Really?" Saitama went quiet for a moment. "Forget it. Not like I'm ever going to call myself by that name anyway."
Just like in the original story, he always introduced himself as Saitama, never as [Caped Baldy]. He was too lazy to argue with the Hero Association.
...
The next day, Shinji accompanied Sonic to take the Hero Certification Exam. He reminded him of a few key points about the written test.
As for the physical test, Sonic's ability naturally earned him the full 50 points. But when it came to the written portion, his unusual way of thinking tripped him up a little. His final score came out to 95.
"Not a perfect score? What a bunch of idiots," Sonic muttered in annoyance when he saw the result.
"Getting 95 is already pretty good," Shinji said.
If he hadn't warned Sonic about the written test beforehand, he suspected Sonic's score might not have been much higher than Saitama's in the original.
Soon after, Sonic received his hero certification results.
"What's this supposed to mean? Designated as an A-Class hero... I thought the Association's highest rank was S-Class? I only get A-Class?"
Clearly, Sonic wasn't too happy with the outcome.
[Ding! Disciple Sonic has been certified as Rank 39 in A-Class. Reward earned: 20 points!]
It was at that time when Shinji's system rang up.
"Be content. Even if you had scored a perfect 100, you still might not have been promoted straight to S-Class," Shinji explained. "As long as your future performance is strong enough, reaching S-Class will just be a matter of time."
Saitama and Genos had only been promoted directly to S-Class because of more than just their perfect exam scores.
For Saitama, his overwhelming physical strength made it impossible for the Association to treat him like an ordinary candidate.
For Genos, he had already eliminated countless monsters worldwide before even joining the Hero Association, so his contributions were taken into account.
By comparison, Sonic's physical ability was impressive, but not nearly as shocking as Saitama's, and he lacked Genos's extensive track record.
The only notable feat the Association knew of was Sonic's victory over Hammerhead's [Paradisers], which wasn't nearly enough to make a 95-point candidate an S-Class hero.
It was like when Suiryu's younger sister, Suiko, joined with the goal of becoming an S-Class hero, yet only qualified for A-Class. Most likely because she had little to no contributions.
"Fine. Climbing up slowly is the same. It's not like I became a pro hero because I wanted to," Sonic said casually.
If not for his goal of learning under his master, all those so-called hero activities would bore him to death. Next, Sonic had to attend the orientation lecture.
Shinji stayed with him, all the while thinking that Sonic's buffs were now stacked to the max.
After all, Saitama would never go all-out against a human. When it came to fellow pro heroes, his tolerance was endless.
No matter how recklessly Sonic tried to pick a fight with him, his life would never truly be in danger. Sure, Sonic didn't have Saiyan biology, but in this world, if a human can one-punch everything, Sonic's endurance can make him stronger.
...
Since the exam was held at the Z-City venue, it just so happened that Sneck was in charge of the orientation lecture again.
The moment Sneck spotted Shinji in the hall, he looked surprised. "Mr. Kamui is here too... then that must be Sonic next to you, right?"
Sneck opened with a formal greeting. "First, congratulations on passing the test. I hope you'll keep working hard with the goal of becoming an outstanding hero. Then—"
But before he could get into the main lecture, Sonic had already cut him off impatiently. "Too much pointless chatter. Can you just get to the point?"
"What the…"
Sneck's expression instantly darkened.
He'd dealt with plenty of rookies during these orientations, all sorts of personalities, but this was the first time he'd met someone so blatantly arrogant.
"Show some respect. This lecture is important and worth listening to." Shinji's tone carried a note of authority as he scolded Sonic.
The reason was simple: this lecture covered many fundamentals of the hero world. If Sonic didn't pay attention, he'd just end up pestering Shinji later with endless questions.
"Yes..." Sonic immediately straightened up and sat properly in his chair.
"Go ahead, Sneck. Sorry for the trouble, please continue," Shinji said politely.
"No problem at all."
Since the No. 2 S-Class hero Kamui himself had spoken up and shown such courtesy, Sneck naturally chose not to dwell on Sonic's earlier rudeness and acted as if nothing had happened.
He then began to explain everything a professional hero needed to know.
For example, the classification of monsters, the ranking system for pro heroes, how to rise in rank through contributions and accumulated credit, and so on...
After sitting through the lecture, Shinji and Sonic finally left the hall.
"That was so boring. I can't believe that guy managed to drag it out for over an hour," Sonic complained.
"So you actually paid attention?" Shinji asked.
"I did. And I remembered it all." Sonic's eyes lit up. "So now... you can finally teach me ninjutsu, right?"
"I can. Let me think about where to start..." Shinji considered for a moment before making his decision. "This one."
He raised his hand, and in his palm formed a spiraling sphere of energy.
"This is...?!" Sonic's eyes shrank as he stared at the rapidly spinning orb, brimming with immense power.
He instantly recalled how Shinji had once knocked him out cold with this very technique.
"This is called the Rasengan. The principle is to concentrate your mental energy into your hand, then have it flow and compress continuously in multiple directions until it forms this shape. Mastering it requires very sharp sensitivity and control over your mental energy," Shinji explained.
Sonic immediately tried to imitate him, attempting to gather his own mental energy into his hand, but nothing happened.
The truth was, the Rasengan was no easy feat.
Having never paid much attention to mental energy before, Sonic couldn't possibly control it right away. That kind of talent usually showed up in esper-types, whose mental energy was naturally more pronounced. Furthermore, Shinji's Rasengan might just be an ability and not a skill that can be learned by people of this world.
"Don't rush it," Shinji reminded him. "Start by learning how to control your mental energy. I doubt even you know what kind of potential you have in this area."
...
Author's note: For the Hero Certification Exam, I had to patch in some corrections. Earlier I wrote that Saitama and Genos went straight to S-Class just for getting perfect scores, but that seems to have been a mistake. I only read the Murata version in full and the ONE version up through the Garou arc. I never watched the anime, so I might miss some details. For example, I originally thought that getting perfect scores on both the physical and written exams guaranteed S-Class, but apparently not. (The Murata version doesn't go into that much detail about the exam.)