One Punch Man chapter 196 revealed secret connection between God and Blast's partner

One Punch Man chapter 196 is finally out, and it packed a ton of information that has the entire community talking. After the previous chapter’s release, fans started to theorize and link Blast, God, and the mysterious villain of the current arc. The theories essentially stated that the mysterious being that headed the ninja village was none other than Blast’s partner.

Chapter 173 of the manga series provided a brief glimpse at Blast’s partner. While the circumstances are unclear, fans had reason to believe that he came into contact with God, who lent him powers and monsterized him.

Following this, the formation of the ninja village took place, which produced assassins like Speed-o’Sound Sonic, Flashy Flash, Hellfire Flame, and Gale Wind, among many others.

Let’s take a closer look at One Punch Man chapter 196 and see the information that Blast revealed, which confirmed the above-stated theory.

---

One Punch Man chapter 196: Blast was responsible for the destruction of the ninja village

Leader of the ninja village (Image via Shueisha/ONE and Yusuke Murata)

One Punch Man chapter 196 opened with Flashy Flash, Manakao, the Caped Baldy, and Blast assembled. Flashy Flash knew that Blast was connected to the incident that led to the destruction of his ninja village.

Blast didn’t try to hide it and soon revealed that he was the one responsible for the destruction of the village. The large spherical indentations on the destroyed buildings suggested Blast’s involvement, and Flashy Flash was spot on with his guess.

However, that was not the most surprising reveal. One Punch Man chapter 196 also showed the connection between Blast, God, and the mysterious being that was the leader of the ninja village.

Blast revealed that his former partner, Empty Void, is the leader of the ninja village. He explained that they would hunt for God Cubes, and during one such incident, Empty Void came into contact with God and borrowed his powers.

Empty Void - Blast's former partner who is now the ninja village leader (Image via Shueisha/Yusuke Murata and ONE)

It led to Empty Void’s monsterization, which was similar to Garou’s transformation in the Monsters Association arc. One Punch Man chapter 196 revealed another important piece of information that connects Blast’s reasons for pursuing his former partner. The rank-1 hero stated that Empty Void had a special ability. He was the only one who could open the Gate of the Celestial Rock Cave.

He further went on to explain that this was a dimensional portal that led to God’s hideout. Just when readers were about to get more information on this, an employee of the Heroes Association interrupted and handed a letter to Flashy Flash.

It was a letter from Speed-o’Sound Sonic, who was Flashy Flash’s close friend during their childhood. Sonic dreamt of taking over the village and allowing people to live the way they wanted.

Flashy Flash and Speed-o'-Sound Sonic prepare to battle each other (Image via Shueisha/ONE and Yusuke Murata)

However, he refers to this as a childish dream in the letter and asks Flashy Flash to meet at a place that only they know of. Speed-o’-Sound Sonic and Flashy Flash decided to settle all scores for one last time, as One Punch Man chapter 196 concluded with the aforementioned characters drawing their swords.

---

Final thoughts

One Punch Man chapter 196 packed a ton of information, and the manga is certainly heading in an exciting direction. The series is slowly peeling layers of information and providing it to the readers. It’s only a matter of time until Saitama is pitted against God, and it will be interesting to see how the battle turns out towards the concluding part of the manga series.

Stay tuned for more anime and manga news as 2023 progresses.