One-Punch Man Pits Saitama Against the Series’ Strongest Psychic

Warning: Spoilers for One-Punch Man Chapter 179 (JP) aheadOne-Punch Man‘s Saitama can’t seem to catch a break, and that streak continues now that a misunderstanding with Tatsumaki has escalated to a full-blown fight.

After running into Tatsumaki while with her sister Fubuki, the elder Esper sister got the wrong idea about Fubuki and Saitama’s relationship. While Fubuki might harbor feelings for One-Punch Man’s Saitama, these aren’t quite reciprocated by the oblivious hero. Entering her protective sibling mode, Tatsumaki puts Saitama to the test–while the pair were still underground in the new Hero Association headquarters. Seeing the damage that had already taken place, Saitama grabbed Tatsumaki and dragged her outside in the hopes that it would at least minimize the damage. All that seems to have done is embolden Tatsumaki, however, and she begins pulling out some of her best tricks.

Saitama Faces One-Punch Man‘s #2 Hero

Tatsumaki is at the top of One-Punch Man‘s hero charts, except for the ever-absent Blast, the only one who ranks above her. She stood her ground against Psychos and Orochi’s fused form, and destroyed a massive amount of land in her battle with the Monster Association a while back, so her power is definitely deserving of that high of a rank. Unfortunately for Tatsumaki, she really doesn’t yet understand how powerful Saitama is, although she quickly makes note of his fortitude after sending him flying with a flick of her fingers to his forehead. Saitama himself is still not all that interested in fighting, although he does seem to be enjoying this look at Tatsumaki’s killer techniques, especially her trademark psychic tornado.

Saitama remains on the defensive, blocking debris that Tatsumaki launched from hitting a car with civilians inside of it. Despite her continued aggression, Saitama really doesn’t seem interested in fighting her, at least at the moment. His intention really is just to keep her busy out in the deserted lands near the Hero HQ until she calms down, but her last lines of the chapter indicate that it might still be a while. Despite her ranking, Tatsumaki really hasn’t been giving Saitama all that much trouble, but then she also seems to be restraining herself somewhat, noting that she’s trying not to kill him, and she was careful enough to catch another chunk of debris that Saitama missed. It’s fair to say that while this may be a fight between two of the most powerful heroes in One-Punch Man, neither of them are really using their full power, a fact which is definitely for the best. The amount of devastation that an all-out brawl between them would leave might make One-Punch Man’s Monster Association attack look like child’s play.

It seems this One-Punch Man fight may not end with a clear victor, but the situation is still far from over by the chapter’s end. Given the amount of damage they’ve already done, though, Saitama and Tatsumaki may have some explaining to do before returning to the Hero HQ.