Warning: Contains spoilers for Chapter 154 of One-Punch Man

Saitama is known to fall out of focus in One-Punch Man from time to time, and his most recent absence from the plot lasted over a dozen chapters. But when Saitama returned to the battlefield, he immediately made it clear what he worried about most: his friend.

Previously, Saitama had been passing through the Monster Association's underground base when he came in contact with the S-class hero Flashy Flash and a non-hostile monster named Oculette. They became trapped in the tunnels when Tatsumaki's incredible attack leveled the base and found a mysterious cube that put them in contact with the malicious being Homeless Emperor refers to as God. This drew the attention of the top-ranked S-class hero, Blast, who teleported in to collect the cube and offer the trio a way out of the underground. All of this meant that Saitama missed most of the fighting with the Monster Association's executives above ground, and the other S-class heroes struggled to hold their own against the overwhelming power of monsters like Fuhrer Ugly, Evil Natural Water, and Black (now Platinum) Sperm. Even Garou reappeared from the rubble before them, turning a tense battle into an all-out free-for-all.

Related: One-Punch Man: Bang is Breaking Through to Garou--Literally

Now that Saitama has arrived on the battlefield, one might expect him to get a bit excited and immediately confront some of these powerful monsters. And, at first, that's what appears to be happening, as Saitama charges forward in Garou's direction--only to pass him by and immediately head towards the badly damaged Genos. For someone who's spent so much of the story lamenting the boredom of being so strong, it's become apparent that Saitama's life isn't so boring since Genos came along, and he may be beginning to realize that. Not only is he very supportive of his friend's effort and courage (and, to a lesser extent, King's), he's genuinely relieved to see that Genos is alive. Even Genos himself points out that in the past, he would've self-destructed in this scenario, but that's just not something he's capable of any more.

Recent chapters of One-Punch Man have made careful use of full-color pages: when God takes Homeless Emperor's abilities back, there are several color pages, emphasizing how alien the God-being is. And, in a chapter that includes moments like Evil Natural Water absorbing the entire ocean and a melee battle between Garou, Platinum Sperm, and Flashy Flash that literally creates a light show in the sky, those color paged were used to show Saitama tending to the wounded Genos--a sweet moment between friends who've grown close quickly. The Genos/Saitama relationship has formed the emotional core of the series, and by putting this scene in color, it causes the reader to pause a bit longer than they might have and consider just exactly how far they've come together.

Even when he wasn't on the field of battle directly, Saitama's good influence on characters like Fubuki, King, and Genos was critical to the kind of cooperation that's kept them alive and fighting. What sets One-Punch Man apart isn't that it's a shonen series or a satire of a shonen series--it's that no matter what else may be parodied, strong bonds between friends are always genuine.

Next: One-Punch Man Vs. Batman: Who Would Win in a Fight?