The billowing smoke and swirling sand—accompanied by an ear-splitting roar that would have left most heroes disoriented and ringing with tinnitus—had no effect on All Might.
Even Bakugo’s full-force assault, launched at the risk of everything, had done nothing more than push him back under sheer pressure.
All Might’s keen senses had zeroed in on Bakugo’s location along the disordered road, where chaos reigned supreme.
Midoriya was sprinting for the nearby exit while Bakugo trailed close behind him—a sight that filled All Might with a curious sense of pride.
He had never expected the two to coordinate so seamlessly, yet they had managed to corner All Might beautifully.
Had it been any other Pro Hero, they would have taken a severe beating.
"But I'm different. Off to dreamland, Bakugo boy. I'm sorry to wreck your body like this—I have a trauma when it comes to self-destruction."
With that, he seized Bakugo by the back of the head and slammed him to the ground.
It was at that moment that Midoriya, startled, whirled around.
As All Might moved to claim Midoriya, the unconscious Bakugo suddenly gripped his ankle.
Straining with superhuman determination, Bakugo roared, "Get moving, idiot. Damn it—I hate that we have no other choice, even though teaming up with you means tearing my pride to shreds. Run, Deku bastard!"
After unleashing that final, desperate cry, Bakugo finally slumped his head in defeat.
No matter how indomitable the will, the human body still had its limits.
Once All Might confirmed that Bakugo was out cold, he turned to Midoriya and said, "Oh dear, I can't let you leave. Midoriya boy! Hm?"
In that instant, Midoriya lunged at him.
Seeing Midoriya close in so quickly, All Might began to dodge and counter—but then he abruptly halted.
The battered body, scarred from a past brawl with a notorious rival, suddenly rebelled again. One of his remaining lungs spasmed violently, struggling to push air and blood upward.
This left him no choice but to suffer Midoriya’s punch squarely on the face.
"At a time like this!"
Coughing up blood, All Might managed a small smile as he watched Midoriya slowly pull away.
Though Midoriya’s punch was still too feeble to inflict real harm, it was clear he had given it his all.
Suddenly, All Might recalled the very first moment he had met Midoriya.
He remembered being captivated by the sight of a child—devoid of any Quirk—rushing headlong at a Villain to save a friend.
That noble resolve, which disregarded every barrier once it decided someone needed saving, had moved him profoundly and given rise to the future inheritor of One For All, Midoriya Izuku.
With a fond gaze, All Might watched as Midoriya hoisted the unconscious Bakugo and bolted through the exit.
The exam was over.
"You really never know when to stop! A few more hits and he might have been past saving! Especially with Midoriya’s lower back hanging in the balance!"
All Might, who had just escorted the injured kids to the mobile treatment station where Recovery Girl awaited, was immediately inundated with a torrent of scolding.
Coughing awkwardly and avoiding eye contact, he mumbled, "Bakugo won’t be waking up for a while. For now, get both of them to rest on the school’s infirmary beds."
Straining his heavy eyelids open at Recovery Girl's instruction, Midoriya pleaded, "Um... Recovery Girl, may I watch from here?"
"You're exhausted. You need to sleep," she replied firmly.
"Ah, but still... It's not every day one gets such a detailed view of a showdown between students and a Pro," Midoriya added.
"Hmm. I won't say no, but don't overdo it. And remember, there will be plenty of chances," she cautioned.
"Thank you! I—I mean, it's kind of my hobby," he replied, gratitude evident in his voice as he shifted his gaze to the wall of monitors.
On the screens, several teams competed simultaneously. Apart from the team of Kirishima and Sato, who had cleared the exam first, the remaining eight teams lit up the dark space with their battles.
One screen, in particular, caught Midoriya's eye: Yaoyorozu was sprinting in a frantic panic.
She looked alarmingly overwhelmed.
"How far to the exit gate? Is there a faster route? Is this the best we can do? Is Todoroki alright? Can I really make it to the gate like this? Where am I even running?"
A torrent of thoughts flooded her mind.
Just as panic, despair, and fear threatened to consume her, Aizawa’s voice boomed from above as he leaped from a utility pole.
"Ever since the sports festival, your loss of confidence has been all too clear."
Yaoyorozu was undeniably cornered mentally, yet her training kept her body true to its purpose.
Without hesitation, she pivoted and fired toward the source of the voice.
Rapid-fire bursts from a 12-gauge short-shell blasted out from the muzzle.
As salt-like fragments erupted from the shells and whipped past her rear, Aizawa veered off, landing on the rooftop of a nearby house.
His Capture Weapon ensnared Yaoyorozu’s wrist.
"I'll hit you where it hurts. How about a little test of wits?"
"Fighting a teacher, I don't stand a chance! Huh? It hasn't vanished?"
The moment the Capture Weapon coiled around her arm, Yaoyorozu resigned herself to defeat.
Yet her Quirk kept humming along.
Realizing that her spontaneous [Creation] continued unabated, she fashioned a bracelet from the section bound by the Capture Weapon, detached it from her body, and broke free.
Then she dashed back the way she came.
"She's turning back... so she's about to hand over judgment," Aizawa mused as he trailed her, choosing not to block her path outright.
"She compared herself to Todoroki and decided he was superior. For better or worse, watching the ever-confident Todoroki made her doubt her own worth. Mentally, she's still just a fifteen-year-old kid. But when push comes to shove, her instinctual reactions are impressive... Did Kirishima's training with the kids pay off? I certainly didn't cover that in class," he sighed, watching Yaoyorozu’s retreating back.
He longed to restore her confidence—but that was not the enemy’s place to do.
Meanwhile, Todoroki dangled from a power line, wrapped in his own Capture Weapon, deep in thought.
"Now that I think about it, she looked like she wanted to say something," he mused.
"Todoroki..."
"Yaoyorozu,"
Just then, Yaoyorozu reappeared in his view. It seemed they had spotted each other almost simultaneously.
"Todoroki? I'm sorry…I—" she began.
"Hey, Aizawa-sensei is coming!" Todoroki intervened.
Her earlier panic escalated into full-blown hysteria.
Gazing at her disheveled face, Todoroki bellowed, "Yaoyorozu! You’ve got something, don’t you? I'm sorry—I should have asked if this was enough. You have something, right?"
"But your strategy didn’t work, so how could my idea possibly..."
With a voice heavy with lost confidence, Yaoyorozu replied, prompting Todoroki to shout,
"Stop with the talk and get on with it! You're the one deemed perfect for this—remember, you got two votes when we picked class rep! I cast one of them because I believed in your aptitude!"
"Are you done?"
At the verge of tears, Yaoyorozu clutched her face just as Aizawa finally descended from above.
She fished a flashbang from her belt—a preemptive measure—and hurled it at him.
"Pathetic. Absolutely pathetic! But still!"
"Todoroki! Close your eyes!"
The flashbang exploded immediately in front of Aizawa, who had just swatted away a flying decoy resembling a matryoshka.
Even though Yaoyorozu had momentarily turned away from the blast—and her ears rang—the mishap with her balance was minor, and she moved without hesitating.
Quickly untying the rope binding Todoroki, she set him down and declared, "I have it! I have a trump card to beat Aizawa-sensei!"
"A trump card?"
"Yes! I've had it in mind from the very start!"
"All right, just spit it out," he urged.
Even after taking a close-range hit from the flashbang, Aizawa had swiftly evaded its effects.
Using the hard-won time, the two scouted for a hiding spot.
They knew that any misstep that drew Aizawa’s attention would jeopardize their finishing move.
"A teacher’s Quirk isn’t something you can use endlessly. I suspect it stops the moment he blinks. So from now on, just keep producing small amounts of ice," Yaoyorozu instructed.
Following her lead, Todoroki focused on forming tiny patches of ice on the back of his hand.
Even while they lay hidden, Aizawa kept up his pursuit, though no ice appeared.
Undeterred, Yaoyorozu continued, "You can do it—even if for just a moment, like that massive ice wall you showcased at the sports festival."
The instant a small patch of ice materialized on his hand, Todoroki stomped his right foot down.
In seconds, the ice swelled into a colossal wall, forming a barrier that completely sealed off their rear.
Glancing over the ice barricade, Todoroki remarked, "That definitely stops him. Now I can fully use my Quirk—time to reposition in this opening..."
But when he turned to Yaoyorozu, he was momentarily at a loss for words.
She had unfastened the front of her jacket and was now unleashing ropes resembling Aizawa’s Capture Weapon.
He had a lot to say, but decided instead to avert his eyes and mutter, "Aizawa-sensei’s weapon?"
"Yes. I don't know the exact material or manufacturing process, so I can't replicate it perfectly. Instead, I've created a Yaoyorozu version with a different compound mixed in. Since we’re in a residential area, minimizing damage is critical. And considering the nimble and unpredictable maneuvers he employs with his Capture Weapon, this approach should have a higher chance of success than merely running away."
She laid out her plan, and Todoroki nodded in agreement.
Meanwhile, Aizawa was biding his time just beyond the ice wall. There was no need to circumvent a massive blockade when stalling the clock would suffice. Taking a longer route would have only drained more energy if the path split further.
Soon, two figures appeared darting out from under a black cloth.
Amused by the absurdity, Aizawa let out a short laugh before charging forward.
"A cloth, huh. Sure, if I can't see it, I can't wipe it out—but that drawback is just too glaring."
His Capture Weapon ensnared the two figures shrouded in the dark fabric, only to reveal that what emerged was nothing more than a mannequin and some discarded cloth.
Crouched low, Yaoyorozu had managed to avoid being bound. Beneath her, she had arranged a catapult loaded with a bundle of her own Capture Weapon replicas and grabbed the firing lever.
For a split second, her hand misjudged the long pipe.
The blunder left her momentarily stunned with despair.
However, trained reflexes kicked in immediately, and she reactivated the firing mechanism without missing a beat.
The bundle of Capture Weapon replicas scattered in every direction, hurtling toward Aizawa.
Staring at the tangle of ropes obscuring his view, Aizawa muttered, "A visual diversion, perhaps?"
"Todoroki!"
At that moment, as the ropes spread chaotically around him, Yaoyorozu cried out desperately for Todoroki.
Then, from within the heap of black cloth and Capture Weapon bindings, an arm suddenly burst forth, igniting in flames.
It turned out that Todoroki had been concealed within the cloth pile—a decoy Aizawa had assumed contained nothing but a mannequin.
Realizing he had been completely duped by the double bluff, Aizawa allowed himself a wry smile, though not without a trace of puzzlement.
The flames ignited from Todoroki’s hand darted not toward Aizawa but simply flared along the floor.
"He’s not aiming. What on earth is he doing?"
"Attacking a teacher with your Quirk as a finishing blow is far too risky. So..."
Aizawa’s eyes widened behind his goggles as the flames continued their relentless crawl along the floor, and hot air rose steadily around them.
As Aizawa grimaced at the intense heat brushing his skin, Yaoyorozu pressed on with her explanation.
"Have you heard of nitinol alloy? It’s a shape-memory alloy that snaps back to its original form when heated!"
As her words faded, the scattered bundles of rope absorbed the heat and gradually resumed their original, uncoiled shape.
Aizawa found himself entangled as the ropes coiled back into neat, circular formations. He offered a faint smile and remarked, "Not bad at all."
Dazed, Todoroki, who had just cuffed the subdued Aizawa, muttered, "Yaoyorozu’s plan worked… but does it really make sense that it was so easy?"
"Honestly, I don’t get it either. The moment I was about to launch the catapult, I slipped up. You noticed and created distance. Had you wanted, you could have stopped us in that brief moment. It almost seemed as if you deliberately let the plan unfold," she explained.
Despite the lingering uncertainty in Yaoyorozu's eyes, Aizawa remained unmoved. He simply closed his eyes and stated calmly, "I was only wary of Todoroki beside you. I saw you clearly, but since Todoroki was hidden under the cloth, I couldn’t see him. I figured I was about to be frozen, so I backed off—that turned out to be your plan’s ace in the hole."
"Well, you certainly bought us some time. Thank you," came the subdued reply.
Yaoyorozu said nothing more. Tears glimmered in her eyes as she covered her mouth, struggling to steady her stormy heart. The thrill of being recognized by someone she revered, along with all the pent-up frustration of past hardships, surged within her all at once.
Oblivious, Todoroki attempted a bit of concern, "What’s wrong? Are you feeling unwell?"
"It’s nothing!" she insisted.
"When you feel nauseous, just press on the pressure point on the top of your foot..."
"I said it’s nothing!" she snapped.
Watching Todoroki’s rambling and Yaoyorozu’s desperate attempts to appear fine, Aizawa silently closed his eyes. Watching growth in these young heroes was always a sight to behold. If possible, he wished to watch this display for much longer.
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