All thanks to natural talent

But...

Wouldn't that also tell the enemy how to get stronger? Was that really okay?!

Although Genos desperately wanted to know how his teacher Bai Ye had grown so strong, he worried that revealing it to the enemy would pose a threat.

That left him deeply conflicted.

"I, Bai Ye, owe everything I've achieved today to my extraordinary natural talent... Deep Blue, add points!"

As his words fell, Bai Ye formed another Rasengan in his hand, infused it with Kamui's power, and casually tossed it at Carnage Kabuto.

His words and actions seemed baffling, but he was actually trying to tell Genos that he really had nothing to teach him.

The system had given him the Rasengan. The system had given him Dual Kamui. The system had given him everything.

Since he had only tossed it casually, the Kamui Rasengan didn't fly very fast.

Carnage Kabuto was so frightened that he jumped straight up, leaping ten meters into the air and narrowly avoiding the black energy sphere that filled him with dread.

"..."

Genos sank into thought.

He hadn't immediately understood what his teacher Bai Ye meant, so his mind was racing as he frantically analyzed the meaning behind those words.

Saitama, by contrast, showed no reaction.

Hidden in the shadows, Dr. Genus looked utterly bewildered. What kind of method for growing stronger was that?

Was he basically saying... that he'd reached this level through talent alone?

A moment later, Genos suddenly smacked his fist into his palm, as though he'd had an epiphany.

Teacher must mean that extraordinary talent is merely the most basic prerequisite, while diligent training and the right training methods are the true essence...

Those words are so profound that the enemy can't grasp their deeper meaning. Such is Teacher's exceptional wisdom!

Bai Ye wasn't afraid of Genos looking down on him. He was afraid of Genos overthinking things and reading far too much into them.

What Bai Ye feared most had happened, though he didn't know it yet.

"You're fucking messing with me!"

Coming to his senses, Carnage Kabuto flew into a rage.

Creak...

At that moment, Carnage Kabuto's body suddenly began to change.

Veins bulged all over his body, and both his eyes turned white.

"Wait! Carnage Kabuto?! Are... are you losing control again?!"

Dr. Genus cried out in horror from the shadows.

"It doesn't matter if you won't tell me how to get stronger. I'm the strongest anyway!!"

In an instant, Carnage Kabuto completed his transformation.

His muscles grew larger and more defined, the horns on his head and back doubled in length, veins covered his entire body, and his face became even more terrifying. Even the hole through his abdomen healed instantly.

Asura Mode!

"Heh heh heh... Once I activate Asura Mode, I lose all reason for seven whole days. Even I can't suppress my own fighting instincts!"

Carnage Kabuto let out a sinister laugh.

Before he even finished speaking, Carnage Kabuto moved as though teleporting, his speed having doubled in a terrifying leap.

Yet Bai Ye merely said calmly, "So you're going to keep rampaging until next Saturday?"

"...Huh?!"

Saitama, who had watched the entire fight with barely any expression, finally looked shocked.

His brain stalled for a moment, and his mind began racing.

"That's right! Once I kill you, I'll go outside and keep slaughtering people until next Saturday! Hahahahaha-"

Carnage Kabuto threw a punch at Bai Ye, who used the Flying Thunder God Technique to teleport to another marked spot in the distance.

Boom!!

Carnage Kabuto's punch blasted a huge crater into the spot where Bai Ye had just stood, sending cracks spreading across dozens of meters of ground.

It was clear just how terrifyingly powerful that punch was.

"...!"

The sight made Genos tremble with fear.

If he had been the target, he could never have dodged that punch from the rampaging Carnage Kabuto. He would probably have been reduced to a heap of scrap metal in an instant...

Fortunately, his teacher Bai Ye was fast enough to dodge over a hundred meters away in an instant.

His vision simply couldn't keep up with Carnage Kabuto's movements, much less his teacher's...

Saitama, meanwhile, remained frozen in brain-stalling shock. No one knew what was wrong with him.

"It's all over... No one in this world can stop Carnage Kabuto once he loses control..."

Dr. Genus smiled helplessly in the shadows.

Although this wasn't the outcome he wanted, at least it would show the world that the new humans he had created were destined to replace the mediocre, foolish old-era humans.

"Stop running! Face me head-on if you've got the guts!"

Carnage Kabuto charged at Bai Ye again with a single step, moving so fast that he reached Bai Ye over a hundred meters away in the blink of an eye.

Bai Ye's gaze turned cold, and he decided to get a little serious.

Susanoo!

Just as Carnage Kabuto's fist was about to strike Bai Ye in the face, Susanoo's blue-green skeletal frame suddenly enveloped him.

[Ding! Host exchanged for "Physique ×110." "Points ×110" deducted. Current points remaining: 0!]

[Physique +110]

[Physique: 588]

As Susanoo continued advancing through its stages, Bai Ye added some points to his own stats along the way.

Susanoo only stopped growing once it reached its third stage.

The third stage added Tengu Armor to the second stage's existing form. Its size didn't increase much, but its defense improved enormously.

"What is that?!"

Seeing the blue-green giant that had suddenly appeared around Bai Ye, even larger than Carnage Kabuto, Dr. Genus was stunned.

Genos's gaze sharpened too. Yet another phenomenon he couldn't understand had appeared around his teacher.

"Ora ora ora ora ora-!!"

Already rampaging, Carnage Kabuto showed no fear of the Susanoo that had suddenly appeared before him, hammering madly at Bai Ye with both fists.

But every punch struck Susanoo's Tengu Armor, completely unable to break through its defenses.

Bai Ye couldn't be bothered to keep playing around. He raised the Susanoo Dual Blades, already imbued with Kamui's power, and unleashed an X-shaped slash at Carnage Kabuto.

Carnage Kabuto's voice and movements stopped abruptly as the X-shaped slash cut his body into four pieces.

[Ding! Host defeated the Dragon-level monster "Carnage Kabuto." Reward obtained: 80 points!]

Dr. Genus was dumbstruck, his face blank and his eyes lifeless. Even his glasses sat crooked.

Carnage Kabuto, in his uncontrollable state, had been killed in a single strike...

Dr. Genus was undoubtedly questioning everything. This had been his most powerful experimental subject.

At the same time, Saitama finally snapped out of it.

"Bai Ye... There's something I want to check with you..."

Saitama spoke slowly with his head lowered.

"What is it?"

Bai Ye turned to look at Saitama.

"What day is it today?"

Saitama asked, his voice trembling slightly.

"Today? Saturday."

Bai Ye answered.

Saitama immediately dropped to his knees, clutching his head as he wailed, "Gwaaah! I got the date wrong! Today's Supermarket Sale Day!!"

"Calm down. Mr. Saitama, you might still make it if you head over now."

Bai Ye calmly reminded him.

Hearing that, Saitama immediately jumped straight up. His terrifying jumping power blasted a huge hole through the ceiling, even breaking all the way through to the surface.

Dr. Genus stiffly tilted his neck up to stare at the enormous hole with sunlight pouring through it, even more bewildered.

They were deep underground, and the underground base had been built with extremely hard materials...

Was he even human...?

"Genos, let's go too."

Bai Ye said to Genos.

"Yes, Teacher."

Genos nodded.

"Wait!"

Just then, however, Dr. Genus couldn't help running out of the shadows to stop Bai Ye.

Bai Ye turned back to look at Dr. Genus.

"Have... have you really never undergone any experiments?!"

Dr. Genus asked hysterically.

Bai Ye calmly replied,

"No effort. All talent."

P.S. Regarding Susanoo, I went back and researched it again. I'm using Madara's Susanoo as the standard here: the initial stage (ribs), the first stage (skeletal upper body), the second stage (flesh and outer covering), and the third stage (growing legs). Then comes the crucial fourth stage. On Baidu, Madara's fourth stage is a Crow Tengu form, which kept confusing me about why Madara's third and fourth Susanoo stages were reversed compared to Sasuke's and Itachi's. After some more research, I think I understand a little better: Madara's Crow Tengu form is a transitional stage toward the complete form, or an unfinished complete form.

Actually, Madara's true third stage (the upper-body Crow Tengu form) never appeared. Of course, it could also be another inconsistency between Kishimoto's earlier and later settings, so I felt I needed to explain this. I've therefore revised the Susanoo stages into what I consider a reasonable progression: the initial, first, and second stages remain unchanged; the third stage is the perfect form (upper-body Crow Tengu); the fourth stage grows legs; and the final stage is the complete form. (Note: the original Japanese does explicitly distinguish between "complete form" and "perfect form." "Complete form" is the final warrior-god Susanoo, and it's also the term Madara originally used when activating it. "Perfect form" is what Sasuke and Itachi called the third-stage upper-body Crow Tengu earlier in the story.)