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As fans anxiously wait for the upcoming chapter of One Punch Man, there is a growing suspicion that it could possibly wrap up the current story arc - the Monsters Association arc. There is no doubt that this is one of the best series of events we have had so far. Since it introduced many new characters, the narrative was packed with a lot of action.
The highlight of this story arc has definitely been the fight between Saitama and Garou. However, now that the fight has been concluded, fans believe that this could mark the conclusion of the current arc.
Let’s take a look at the most likely events that could take place in the upcoming chapter of One Punch Man.
Disclaimer: This article contains minor spoilers from the manga. All external media belongs to their respective owners and Sportskeeda claims no ownership of the same.
One Punch Man: Possible assumptions about the aftermath
The latest chapter of the series seems to have concluded with the fight between Garou and Saitama. Both of them returned to Earth after their fight on Io. It was at that point when Garou saw Tareo’s dead body, he regretted all that he had done. He then taught the Caped Baldy how to travel back in time and asked Saitama to stop him before he got any stronger. With his constant growth in strength and power, the Caped Baldy was able to reverse the causality rate.
The One Punch Man protagonist defeated Garou with zero punches and ended up saving all the heroes around the Hero Hunter, including Genos. At this junction, fans noticed Garou looked like he was losing all the powers that God had granted him. Given how things ended, the upcoming chapter 169 will most likely wrap up the fight, not the entire arc itself. It could feature a few interactions between Saitama and the rest of the heroes since he was able to save them from Garou’s wrath, but nothing more can be expected from the aftermath.
Since this was one of the most intense fights Garou has had in his life, he will surely exchange a few words with the Caped Baldy after admitting his defeat. According to the manga, the next arc is the Neo Heroes arc. For the series to bring back the older setting where the heroes were on Earth, there needs to be a smooth transition. If the upcoming chapter ends the arc, it could be slightly abrupt. Some fans believe that Fubuki and Psykos might fight in the next few chapters of One Punch Man.
There might even be a few set of interactions that would involve Saitama and Blast. However, it is under the assumption that Blast was either able to identify that Saitama traveled back in time or Blast has the ability to time travel as well. If any of these two conditions are met, Blast could ask Saitama to accompany him on interdimensional fights in One Punch Man. In that case, Saitama could contest for the top-ranked spot in the S class category.
To sum up, the upcoming chapter of the series will most likely not conclude the current story arc. Since this article explored some possible theories, we urge the fans to patiently wait for the next chapter to receive a confirmation.
