Tatsumaki sat beside Kizaru and Fubuki, watching the heroes with a look of disdain as they trained.
In her eyes, true strength was innate. Sure, training could make someone stronger, but it would never bridge the gap to true greatness.
So after watching for a bit, she lost interest in the sweaty, grunting crowd and turned her attention back to Kizaru and Fubuki.
At that moment, Kizaru had just whispered something to Fubuki that made her nearly burst out laughing.
Tatsumaki hadn't seen her sister smile like that in forever. The expression on her tiny face darkened instantly.
This wasn't going to work.
She couldn't stay by Fubuki's side forever—and she certainly couldn't constantly keep an eye on Kizaru, that dangerous creep clearly trying to hit on both sisters!
Even the time she was spending here was taken by filing a special leave request from HQ.
If a Dragon-level monster suddenly appeared, she'd have to rush off to handle the disaster on the spot.
Besides, she was already twenty-eight, and Fubuki was twenty-three—not exactly young girls anymore. If she left for just a few days, she might return only to find herself attending Fubuki's wedding!
"No way! I don't approve of this marriage!"
Tatsumaki suddenly shouted, growing more and more horrified at the thought. All eyes immediately turned toward her.
Realizing the ridiculous scene she'd just caused, Tatsumaki flushed with a mix of shame and anger. Fortunately, her pride meant she never cared about anyone's opinion except for Kizaru's and Fubuki's. She gave Kizaru a deadly glare, then flew off in embarrassment.
The gathered heroes exchanged confused glances, not knowing what on earth made the #2 S-Class hero, Terrible Tornado, lose her mind like that.
Not that they dared ask. They could only secretly wonder what had just happened.
---
"What are you standing around for? Keep jumping! Let me be clear—if you fail to meet the training targets, you're out!"
Kizaru's loud voice snapped everyone out of their daze. As soon as the words left his mouth, the heroes all picked up the pace.
No one knew what kind of martial arts Swift Flash was going to teach next, but none of them wanted to be eliminated before the real training even began.
Seeing their morale surge, Kizaru nodded in satisfaction, reminded of his own youthful days back at the Naval Academy.
---
"Alright, now that you're warmed up, give me 5,000 high knees to get the blood flowing…"
"Tch, still not quite there… Make it 5,000 squats!"
"You're all still hanging in there, huh? Looking tired. Okay, take it easy with ten laps around the field…"
…
At one point, the heroes had thought they were used to even the harshest training.
Only now did they realize just how insane Kizaru's regimen truly was.
Some even felt they wouldn't last long enough to be eliminated—they'd give up before that point.
But every time they looked over at Flashy Flash, carrying double the weight, clearly more exhausted than anyone else yet showing no hint of quitting, their shaken resolve would steady again.
And then there was Mumen Rider.
Still at the bottom, looking like he might pass out at any moment—yet gritting his teeth and holding on with sheer willpower.
If even an S-Class and a C-Class hero could keep going, what excuse did the A and B-Classes have to quit?
---
By the end of another grueling day, only forty-eight out of over sixty heroes, including members of the Blizzard Group, remained standing.
Only three had quit by choice. The rest simply couldn't make it to the end.
The most unbelievable part? The worst performer throughout—C-Class hero Mumen Rider—actually held on until the very last moment.
Even as he slipped into semi-consciousness, he forced himself to finish the final exercise before collapsing onto the training field.
Kizaru, watching it all, gave an approving nod.
The training intensity he'd arranged was several times tougher than what marines at HQ had to endure—and that was with the chakra-weighted wristbands increasing the strain even further.
He'd figured it would be good if even half the participants made it to the end. To his surprise, they had surpassed expectations.
---
"What a shame… A few of them were so close to finishing. Can't we give them another shot?" Fubuki said regretfully.
Several members of the Blizzard Group were eliminated from the training camp—Lily and Mountain Ape among them.
And they were actually ranked quite high among B-Class heroes. It was just that their willpower—or maybe their luck—fell a little short.
"No need for that. I'm not going to stop them from spreading the Rokushiki. Even those who were eliminated can learn it from the ones who made it through the camp."
Kizaru was here to teach people how to fish—not to feed them every day. He simply didn't have the time to personally train every single hero.
All he could do was select the most outstanding among them and pass on the Rokushiki techniques.
Those who didn't get into the camp could still learn from the others. After all, Rokushiki wasn't some invincible miracle. It just gave ordinary heroes a chance to go a step further.
Of course, without Kizaru's direct guidance, future learners would likely have to take more detours and put in far more effort to master it.
"Are you going to that old man's 100th birthday celebration tomorrow too?"
Failing to convince him, Fubuki changed the topic on her own. Although the flow of time differed across worlds, the timeline in the Heaven Sword World was fairly close to the One Punch World—about a 5:4 ratio.
If Kizaru planned to attend, they'd have to leave right after tomorrow's training session.
"Of course. You want to come too?"
Kizaru nodded. Bold as ever thanks to his strength, he was currently the most well-traveled person in their chat group—and he fully intended to keep that title.
He just didn't know whether this Zhang Sanfeng belonged to a TV drama, a novel, a movie, or some kind of wild remixed version of Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber.
Still, with Kizaru's level of power, it didn't really matter which version it was.
---
"Yeah. I want to see what a birthday party looks like in another world."
Fubuki nodded. Having just celebrated her own 23rd birthday, she was genuinely curious about Zhang Sanfeng's 100th birthday celebration.
"Alright. We'll teach Geppo first tomorrow, then head out."
Kizaru cast a subtle glance at the rooftop of a nearby building. Tornado thought she was hidden while spying, but under the perception of Observation Haki, she stood out like a spotlight.
Tornado, hidden on the rooftop, never imagined that Kizaru could take Fubuki to another world.
"When that bastard slips up, I'll make sure he disappears for good!"
Clutching her binoculars, Tornado muttered under her breath.
If she stuck around any longer, Swift Flash definitely wouldn't expose his true colors so easily. Then there'd be no way for Fubuki to see through his wolfish intentions.
As she kept one eye on Kizaru, Tornado began imagining Fubuki thanking her with tears in her eyes. She couldn't help but let out a quiet laugh.
Though there were quite a few intimate gestures between the two through her binoculars, her determination to drive Kizaru away let her just barely keep it together.
You can't catch a wolf without bait. Just a little more patience, and she'd surely catch that pervert slipping up!
But the wait dragged on until sunset. Seeing Kizaru about to head back to the villa with Fubuki, Tornado finally stopped her surveillance, scowling in frustration.
"Sis? I thought you'd already gone home…"
Fubuki was surprised to see Tornado again. Usually, whenever Tornado came to visit, they'd either argue and part ways or Tornado would be called away to deal with a monster soon after.
And it always took a long time for her to come back. A day like this was definitely unusual.
"I took extended leave. Got a problem with that?"
Tornado spoke with obvious annoyance, her sharp, unfriendly gaze sweeping over both Kizaru and Fubuki.
She'd been crouching alone on a rooftop under the scorching sun, stomach growling from hunger—while those two were lounging in beach chairs, sipping cold drinks and snacking away. Even their lunch had been custom-ordered from the most luxurious restaurant in City B.
The more Tornado thought about it, the angrier she got. The glare she shot Kizaru could practically cut steel.
If looks could kill, Kizaru would've been turned into a human colander by now.
"Kizaru is my guest! Sis, don't you think you're being a little too rude?"
Fubuki stepped between Kizaru and Tornado, frowning. Even though Tornado was not only her older sister but also an S-Class hero—clearly the more dominant one—Fubuki wasn't the type to back down just because of that.
That much was obvious from the way she always stuck with the Blizzard Group, not caring one bit that Tornado dismissed them as a glorified B-Class fan club.
A little rudeness, once or twice, Fubuki could tolerate for the sake of family.
But Tornado constantly treating Kizaru with open hostility? Fubuki wasn't going to keep pretending nothing was wrong.
"You're arguing with me over that man?"
Tornado's eyes widened in disbelief as she stared at Fubuki, her voice a mix of shock and fury.
Because both of them had awakened psychic powers at a young age, the two sisters had been sent to a secret research facility and turned into test subjects.
It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that Tornado, five years older, had practically raised Fubuki herself.
They'd had plenty of fights over the years for all sorts of reasons—but it was always Tornado who picked the fights.
This time, she hadn't even started anything. Just one angry look at Kizaru, and Fubuki snapped at her. Tornado couldn't accept that.
"Kizaru is my guest!"
Fubuki stared her sister down stubbornly, showing no sign of backing off. Tornado's flat chest rose and fell with visible anger—but, sadly, there wasn't much to see
"Fubuki, Tornado is your sister. I must've done something to give her the wrong impression. There's no need for you two to fight over an outsider like me…"
On the surface, it was the most reasonable thing in the world to say—but given the timing and context, it somehow oozed with that infuriating "fake nice guy" energy.
If someone with more experience had been there, they'd have easily picked up on that shady aura. But unfortunately, both sisters—especially Tornado—had spent most of their childhoods locked away for research, so they had no idea how to spot a playboy's tactics.
So, convinced she was in the right, Tornado continued to glare daggers at Kizaru. Meanwhile, Fubuki, who had only been a little annoyed earlier at her sister's rudeness, now started to get genuinely angry.
"If you don't want to see Kizaru, then maybe you should just go home!"
Fubuki bit her lip as she said it—this wasn't because Kizaru held a more important place in her heart than Tornado.
It was because Tornado kept forcing her way into Fubuki's life, over and over again. Years of bottled-up frustration all came to the surface in that moment.
"You're kicking me out?"
Tornado stared at Fubuki in disbelief, unable to accept that the little shadow who used to cling to her was now standing up and telling her to leave.
Seeing Tornado's shocked, disappointed expression made Fubuki waver for a moment. But then she remembered all the times in the past when her compromises only made Tornado double down on her controlling behavior.
This wasn't right. Maybe things hadn't crossed the line yet, but if this kept going, their relationship was bound to explode one day from all the pressure.
One of the reasons she and Ai Haibara had become such close friends was because they shared a very similar experience.
Both were younger sisters. Both had an older sister who was overly fixated on them. And both had to deal with strong control issues from the other side.
The only difference was, Fubuki couldn't stand her sister Tornado's control freak tendencies—while Haibara, ironically, was the more controlling one in her sibling dynamic.
Fortunately, unlike the fiery, uncompromising Tornado, Haibara was much better at managing the ups and downs between sisters.
That's why Fubuki had decided to try out the approach Haibara taught her—stand your ground when it really matters.
"Kizaru is my guest. You can't just lash out at him for no reason."
Fubuki pressed her lips together, standing firm.
Still, this was the first time in her life she'd come close to a full-blown argument with her sister, and it left her feeling more than a little nervous.
---
"Fine! I'm leaving!"
Furious, Tornado didn't even wait for an explanation. She floated into the air, ready to storm off. But just before she left, she threw Kizaru one last venomous glare.
One glare wasn't enough—so she gave him a second one for good measure. But just then, she noticed something on Kizaru's face: a subtle smile, as if his plan had just worked perfectly.
Tornado froze mid-air.
Wait a minute—could this bastard really be waiting for her to leave, so he could make a move on Fubuki?
The thought made her psychic energy boil over, and she gritted her teeth, glaring at Kizaru with murderous intensity.
°°°
If you want to read ahead and access 20 advanced chapters, check the patreon
Link: Patreon/Moziel