One Punch Man Chapter 167 finally settles the Goku vs Saitama debate (2023)

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Continue reading to learn more as we discuss the strength of our bald-hero.

Disclaimer: This article contains spoilers.

Saitama may not be as strong as Goku as proven by One Punch Man Chapter 167

What happened in One Punch Man Chapter 167?

After Genos was killed by Garou in front of Saitama’s eyes, the bald hero decided it was time to stop holding himself back. Garou crossed the line and accomplished something no other villain in the series has done before: making Saitama angry.

Saitama and Garou were transported to space by Blast to prevent the earth from being destroyed by their fight. When their punches collided, the shockwave sent them flying towards Saturn’s moon. When they arrived, Garou tried to use his portals to defeat his opponent swiftly, landing a couple of good hits against the hero.

Still, Saitama was not affected in the slightest, standing up seconds after the attack to destroy the moon with a single hand. Using its remains as platforms, Saitama jumped from one to another while overwhelming Garou with punches.

Just as the bald hero was preparing to finish the fight, Garou entered his Saitama mode once more to use his enemies' moves against him. One Punch Man Chapter 167 ends with Saitama and Garou punching each other in the face, with the hero bleeding from the punch for the first time.

Why is One Punch Man Chapter 167 crucial to the debate?

Saitama is done withdrawing his punches against this imposing opponent, so we can be certain now that he is finally using his full strength for this fight. Unfortunately for his fans, this fact makes it seem like the legendary strength of our favorite baldy is nowhere near most Dragon Ball heroes.

Saitama was able to destroy an entire moon with one hand, an incredible feat for a human in his universe, but a common occurrence in Dragon Ball. While it appears that the hero did not exert much effort while accomplishing this feat in One Punch Man Chapter 167, Goku and his friends have been able to do the same since the beginning of Dragon Ball Z.

Some One Punch Man fans argue that this is not the same, since Dragon Ball characters use beams of energy to destroy planets, not pure strength.

While this is true for many humans in the series, it has already been proven that Goku, Vegeta, and several other characters would have no problem destroying a celestial body with a single finger.

When Beerus was dissatisfied with his food on one of the countless planets he has visited, he opted to destroy only half of it. With a single touch of his finger, the world was cut in half, only for one of these halves to explode moments later.

While Goku is not yet at the same level Beerus is, he has been able to keep up with the God of Destruction before, making entire galaxies tremble because of their fights. Saitama, even when using serious punches in this recent confrontation, is unable to achieve a power of that magnitude.

Some may argue that the power displayed by Saitama in One Punch Man Chapter 167 is not the limit of his strength, given that he does not have any kind of limiters anymore. This may be true, and it is possible he will continue to get stronger as the series progresses, but so will Goku and his friends.

Without his limiters, Saitama is already weaker than Goku at the moment, so even if he trains and acquires more power, it is most likely that the Saiyan will too. This cycle will not be broken until either Goku stops training or Saitama closes the power gap between them in a miraculous way.

Final Thoughts

Although Saitama accomplished incredible things in One Punch Man Chapter 167, his power level still seems to be far lower than most Dragon Ball characters. Although he does not have limiters anymore, this does not mean his power is automatically infinite.

Like Goku and the rest of the Saiyans, he has limitless potential, meaning he will probably get stronger with time. Still, even if he were to obtain a power similar to Goku’s most recent transformation, the Saiyan would most likely already be more powerful than that.

Both heroes are amazing characters who excel at what they do, protecting innocents and becoming stronger as they keep fighting. Despite this, Saitama still has a long way to go to become as strong as our favorite Saiyan. And we will be glad to accompany him on this journey if the series continues to be as amazing as One Punch Man Chapter 167 was.

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