One Punch Man Chapter 201: God Appears In Front Of Flashy Flash, Baiting Him To Accept His Power!

Finally! After 84 years of patiently waiting, God makes his move by appearing in front of Flashy Flash via an illusion, brainwashing him to team up with him in the guise of sonic.

The S-Class Hero knows the TRUTH behind the creation of the Ninja Village and its purpose and relays it to Empty Void’s minions. But unbeknownst to Flashy Flash, they willingly offered themselves to Void under the pretext of “Oh, I don’t care what kind of master I’m serving as long as I have some meaningful duties to fulfill in life”.

So they don’t care whose feet they had to kiss, as long as they got work to kill the time.

Basically, Empty Void had brainwashed them into thinking that kissing HIS feet is the way to find salvation. I mean, what can you expect from a group of assassins?

The truth behind Ninja Village and its existence

In chapter 200, the information Flashy Flash relays to the minions is that the village was a testing ground for creating God’s cult, producing worthy subordinates similar to Empty Void. Hence, they took young boys in and took away their humanity.

He further revealed how the cube at the village was being used to test people’s suitability as minions of God. That very cube had consumed Empty Void, powering up even further, making him into a monster. Flashy Flash confirms in chapter 196 that Void was given powers by God and he is now God’s personal minion.

Previously, he was Blast’s partner, aiding him to unearth the God cubes. But unfortunately, he couldn’t resist temptation after coming across one such cube. 15 years ago, Blast confronted and defeated him in battle, but since he is such a softie, he couldn’t deliver the finishing blow, so Empty Void was stuck in a capsule, lying in a coma.

Now, he had awakened by absorbing all his minions, making him even more monster-like.

(OPM Chapter 200)

Flashy Flash vs Empty Void (Part 1?):

Someone call Itachi because Empty Void copied his entire flow bar for bar. He’s forcing these guys to watch some downright gruesome scenes, however, Flashy Flash as a true ninja of Konoha- I mean the Ninja Village. 

Thus, he can look past such tricks with ease.

Apparently, Flashy Flash explains how he purposefully sent Blast to the wrong location, as he knew Empty Void would be there. That way, he can force him to tell him everything he knows about God.

Well… that is probably one of the worst moves the S-Class hero could ever have done. Bro just sent the STRONGEST hero… and Blast… on a petty expedition leading nowhere while he alone tries to defeat Empty Void?? With God’s powers??

The two of them go at it at top speed, which is CRAZY!

We must remember how fast Flashy Flash is. He was able to keep up with the likes of Platinum Sperm and Monster Garou to the point where the 3 together left behind a geometric structure above the city.

Empty Void, on the other hand, is effortlessly keeping up with Flashy Flash, dodging all of his attacks while carrying one of God’s cubes! And he’s more powerful that Cosmic Garou, as we can see Galaxies inside his mouth.

(OPM Chapter 201)

Which we know to be extremely heavy, to the point where dropping one onto the ground would create a mini-crater!

So the fact that he is being weighed down that much and still keeping up without trying shows just how strong Empty Void truly is.

I mean, the dude is literally Blast’s sidekick. So imagine someone as strong as the space-time manipulator and inject him with God’s powers. For reference, check Homeless Emperor, Garou, and Psykos. Even Orochi’s henchmen and Bang were able to defeat Human Garou. However, Saitama is the only one who can defeat Cosmic Garou.

So you can imagine how strong he can really get.

In chapter 201, Empty Void hasn’t forgiven Blast for almost killing, so he literally asked Flashy Flash, “how is the bastard doing? I was just about to eat up his entrails too”. Bro turned full cannibal after becoming a monster.

So with this immense strength, Empty Void hasn’t even thrown an attack during the entire fight. His only goal is to recruit Flashy Flash.

Their speeds are enough to even overwhelm Sonic, who notices how much stronger Flash has become once he’s mad. This is similar to how Saitama also levelled up considerably against Cosmic Fear Garou once his emotions went out of control following Genos’ death!

However, Flashy Flash has remained calm enough to remember his training. He closes his eyes to protect himself from the Genjutsu, which he is skilled at because he learned it while still a child while practicing his other senses while blindfolded.

But that didn’t last very long as Empty Void saw into Flashy Flash’s worst nightmares and conjured Saitama’s iconic Death Punch and that too numerous ones!

HE WAS STUNNED! Flashy Flash couldn’t believe that Void could not only read his mind but also manifest such a deadly move! He therefore concludes that the monster must be a very talented esper, maybe on par with Blast himself!

If you didn’t know, the One Punch Man databook claims that Blast is an esper, capable of commanding trillions of robots! So it’s safe to say he’s the best esper around!

This nightmare causes him to open his eyes, which is when Flash is once again under the physical genjutsu, as Sonic’s severed head falls into his lap. This gives Empty Void just enough of an opening to swoop in there and shove a cube in Flash’s face.

Although Sonic tries to intervene and save Flashy Flash, Void shoves the cube in front of his face as well, leading him to fall backwards.

Flashy Flash sees God

By the time anything could be done, it was too late. Flashy Flash had entered a world created by God’s illusion and stands in front of Sonic, who is secretly God.

This is the same form of trickery that God used to lure Tatsumaki into receiving his power by taking the form of Blast. Luckily for her, she recognized that this is Blast but someone else and Blast’s face took the form of Sonic in this chapter (201).

(OPM Chapter 156)

However, I can’t say the same for Flashy Flash. Just like Blast extended his hand to Tatsumaki, God, in the form of Sonic, extended his hand and says that any nightmare would be better than life in the village and that, starting now, they will build their own ninja village.

Basically, this reminds Flashy Flash’s and Sonic’s dream of building an entirely new village, filled with lustful green grass and clear blue sky, surrounded by peace. And the setting God brought forth for the S-Class Hero in this illusion is exactly the same, thereby making it easier for Flashy Flash to fall into his trap.

However, it’s not crazy to suggest that Flashy Flash is aware that the one standing in front of him is God and he’s willing to get lured in to learn more about him. But from Kid Flashy Flash’s face and God’s veins in this panel, it looks like the hero is going to lose this one. And it’s likely that Blast and Saitama would teleport there to save the day!

Sonic, or God I should say, reaches his hand out to Flash, who goes to take it in a panel that resembles the famous “Creation of Adam” painting, which represents the moment in which God gives life to Adam.

However, in One Punch Man, power is the most important thing in life to many people, and so, God giving them his, is the equivalent of giving them life, like he did to Adam.

Yes, One Punch Man can be deep as well, believe it or not!