Spoiler for One-Punch Man Chapter #186 (JP)For One-Punch Man‘s Genos, Saitama becoming the strongest hero means that Genos sees him as a pupil to a mentor. Now, however, Genos is finally starting to realize that Saitama isn’t as great a teacher as a hero, and that means he may never be able to measure his strength. Saitama – a harsh truth for robots. accept.
Chapter 186 (in Japanese numbering) of One-Punch Man sees Genos challenge Saitama to a duel, a remake of their first battle early in the series. However, when Genos powers up and unleashes his first attack, Saitama closes his eyes, seemingly blinded by the beam of light from Genos’ attack. Genos paused before his attack landed, realizing that Saitama wouldn’t close his eyes like that if he really considered Genos a threat. Despite the amazing power Genos has gained in the story, he still can’t leave a scratch on Saitama and Saitama is fully aware of that fact.
The gap between the power of Genos and Saitama cannot be narrowed
As Genos retreats from his attack, he begins to realize that Saitama hasn’t taken the concept of training him seriously enough. Saitama has always said that his strength isn’t really something he can teach; he doesn’t even fully understand his power and where it comes from, so can’t pass that knowledge on to others. Genos asked Saitama for his opinion on whether he would become stronger and Saitama really didn’t have an answer. The truth is that Saitama didn’t notice Genos’ progress as a teacher, and it was a disappointing realization for Genos.
Genos has apparently considered leaving the Hero Association for the recently introduced Neo Heroes, in the hope that a new organization and environment might allow him to thrive at will. His lack of progress, real or not, is a major cause of his frustration, so it’s understandable that a new challenge might be appealing. However, even when Saitama had a relatively conflicted attitude towards his training, Genos ultimately refused to leave the Hero Association without him. It shows that even when Genos realizes Saitama is not a great teacher, he still wants to be his friend and be with him after all he has seen Saitama achieve.
Genos may not be quite ready to accept that Saitama is not the right teacher for him, but at least he’s taken the first step toward realizing it. It’s now clear that the only thing that keeps Genos affiliated with the Hero Association is Saitama, so if anything happens to interrupt that, he’ll switch without a second thought. That sets up an interesting possible conflict in the upcoming chapters of One-Punch Manbut only time will tell what Genos does in the end.
