The Metal Bat

A flashback shows a young Garou always rooting for the villains, resenting how the monsters, the ones he saw fighting hardest, were doomed to lose simply for being labeled freaks. Determined to overturn that order, he vowed to become the strongest monster and never fall. In the present, he wakes from his defeat with no memory of it, reunites with Tareo, and marks Watchdog Man and Metal Bat as his next prey. At the Super Fight venue, Saitama registers under the Charanko disguise and meets Sour Face, a former Bang pupil who quit after Garou wrecked the dojo six months earlier. Learning that impostors now face disqualification and a heavy fine after a fraud the previous year, Saitama shrugs it off and vows to win, needling Sour Face for abandoning the dojo when Charanko at least stood up to Garou.

Meanwhile, the Hero Association assigns S-Class heroes to guard its officials, and King wriggles free by passing off his video-game boss as a real threat. Metal Bat is stuck minding the VIP sponsor Narinki and his son Waganma at a sushi restaurant instead of watching his sister's piano recital. When monsters strike, he cuts down Junior Centipede and Venus Mantrap, then endures Senior Centipede and Rafflesidon's sleeping gas, jolting himself awake by cracking his own skull to finish the Demon-level pair. As local heroes carry the VIPs to safety, the Dragon-level Elder Centipede batters Metal Bat and hurls him near Garou. Believing him dead, Garou moves on until Metal Bat rises, and the two square off as Metal Bat barely blocks the first strike. After the credits, the martial artist Suiryu heads toward the Super Fight tournament.

Garou's origins and motivation are laid out through his childhood flashback, and he selects Metal Bat and Watchdog Man as new targets. Saitama enters the Super Fight tournament in disguise, Metal Bat survives a barrage of centipede monsters, and the arrival of Elder Centipede and Suiryu sets up the coming conflicts.

Garou's Justice Man flashback and his awakening in the trash were both relocated to this episode from the previous one. New scenes were added, including Charanko and Mumen Rider discussing Saitama on the hospital roof and Association workers dreading Elder Centipede by recalling its destructive battle with Blast two years earlier, while Suiryu is shown flirting on his way to the tournament.