WARNING: The following contains spoilers for "The Resistance of the Strong," the eighth episode of One-Punch Man Season 2, available now on Hulu.
Much of the second season of One-Punch Man has seen Saitama develop a strong interest in martial arts in the hopes of finding a worthy opponent that the monsters and extraterrestrials he usually fights have not yet provided him. This newfound obsession has led the unassuming superhero to infiltrate a tournament, completely unaware that a prophesied monster apocalypse is threatening to overwhelm the world's heroes as they defend attacks on cities all over the world. However, just as the tournament comes to an end, the monster onslaught makes its way to the stadium and proves that not even the world's top martial artist will be enough to avert the foretold armageddon.
Having been disqualified for stealing the identity of martial artist, Charanko, to enter the tournament, Saitama skips out on the final awards ceremony after Suiryu was named the champion -- despite having easily been bested by the bald fighter. It is then that the monsters strike, corralling the fighters into the center of the ring while the audience flees from the arena in terror. The assembled contestants quickly recognize the leader of the creatures to be the former martial artist Gouketsu, a monster last seen easily defeating Saitama's protege, Genos.
Having maxed out his human potential as a recurring martial arts champion, Gouketsu sought drastic ways to exceed his limits, ultimately joining up with Monster King Orochi and the Monster Association. Consuming a monster cell, the human fighter underwent a monstrous transformation that resulted in him becoming a towering behemoth and exponentially more powerful than he had been before. Confronting the world's greatest martial artists, Gouketsu then drops a handful of monster cells and makes them a similar offer: Consume the monster cells to transform and join the Monster Association or die.
One fighter immediately consumes a monster cell when faced with the ultimatum, resulting in his immediate transformation. Upon seeing how much the fighter's powers have been augmented, several other fighters follow suit, including Bakuzan, who greedily eats most of the remaining cells and passes out from the sudden strain on his body. Having just been thoroughly bested in combat for the first time by Saitama, Suiryu contemplates Gouketsu's offer but ultimately declines. The previous episode had ended on the possibility of Suiryu taking a villainous turn after his public humiliation but, in the end, his noble, honorable side wins out and he leads the remaining martial artists to defeat the assembled monsters as Gouketsu watches, unimpressed.
Suiryu then unleashes his strongest moves against the martial artist-turned-monster, only to be shocked when they are all completely ineffective. Saitama had recently dismissed martial arts as little more than cool-looking moves, and the failed attack on Gouketsu seems to confirm this. As Gouketsu effortlessly defeats the remaining martial artists, Suiryu's escape is blocked by Bakuzan. His transformation now complete, Bakuzan is now a Dragon-Class Monster like Gouketsu and mercilessly tortures Suiryu leading the normally cool, calm fighter to scream repeatedly for help. Just as Bakuzan prepares to deliver the killing blow, Saitama reappears, no longer dressed as a martial artist, but in his familiar superhero outfit instead.
In many ways, much of One-Punch Man's second season has been a deconstruction of martial arts tropes in anime and the reliance on fighting styles, so their ultimate futility against the powerful monsters certainly underscores that subversion of the medium. However, the one thing the Monster Association certainly didn't plan for was Saitama, and with the hero back in action, they are about to learn his true power.
Produced by J.C. Staff, new episodes of One-Punch Man debut every Tuesday on Hulu.