A faint hissing sound was heard as the jet-black blade fully formed from my gauntlet. It wasn't long, only about the length of my own forearm, but its serrated shape and dense aura felt incredibly deadly. The students surrounding me instinctively took a step back, their eyes widening at the sudden transformation from a defensive fighter to someone wielding a weapon. Fear was a weapon, and I had just drawn it.
The large, four-armed student still gripping me hesitated for a moment, his surprise giving me the opening I needed. I didn't swing the blade at him. I twisted it with a quick flick of my wrist, using the flat side to strike and shatter the extra arms made of flesh and bone. He roared in pain and released his grip.
"Enough playing around," I whispered to myself.
Then I moved.
This was no longer a dance of evasion. This was a hunt. I shot into the middle of the group, my leg guards giving me a speed they couldn't follow. A student with a gravel-skin Quirk tried to punch me. I didn't block. I ducked under his punch, and with a single controlled upward slash, the tip of my Incursio blade easily cut through the three targets on his chest without touching his skin. The lights on his targets turned red. One.
A girl tried to shoot sticky slime projectiles from her hands. I spun my body, letting the projectiles fly past, and in the same motion, I used the pommel of my sword to strike the nape of her neck, knocking her out instantly. I stuck two balls to her helpless targets. Two.
In less than a minute, I had turned the tide of the battle. I was a black storm, moving among them with cold efficiency. I wasn't fighting to injure; I was fighting to eliminate. I used the flat of my blade to disable, the hilt to strike pressure points, and the sharp edge only to cut the small targets on their bodies. Every move was calculated. Every slash had a purpose. The echo of the original Tatsumi's soul, a trained warrior, seemed to guide my hand, combining his killer efficiency with the hero ethics I was learning.
The remaining students, who had been so confident, now looked at me with terror. They no longer saw me as an arrogant U.A. student, but as something else, something older and more dangerous. They scattered, running in different directions, no longer interested in trying their luck. I had created a zone of fear around me. I looked down. Two of my three targets had lit up, indicating I had eliminated two opponents. I only needed one more. But I also felt my stamina draining quickly. Maintaining this weapon manifestation was far more draining than a simple armor. I retracted the blade back into my gauntlet, leaving only the protective armor. I had to use my power wisely.
In another part of the vast arena, in an industrial zone filled with pipes and large tanks, Momo's group was in trouble. They were also surrounded, but their opponents were more coordinated.
"Jiro, detect from the left!" Momo yelled, her voice firm and authoritative. She stood in the center of their formation, creating a large metal tower shield to block a barrage of projectile attacks. "Shoji, three above us, on top of that tank! Tsuyu-chan, pull that one down!"
"I'm detecting strong vibrations underground! They're trying to throw us off balance!" Jiro reported, one of her earphone jacks plugged into the ground.
"I can handle it, kero!" Tsuyu said. She leaped onto a pipe, her tongue shooting out and wrapping around the ankle of a hiding villain, pulling him out of his cover.
They worked like a well-oiled machine, each member covering the weaknesses of the others. But their opponents were too numerous. They were constantly being pushed back.
"This won't end if we just defend!" Shoji said, one of his duplicate mouths. "We need a strong counter-attack!"
Momo gritted her teeth. She knew Shoji was right. Her old self-doubt tried to creep back in. 'What's the best item? A net? Too slow. Smoke grenade? They'll just scatter.' But then, she remembered Tatsumi's words. 'Don't think about the perfect item. Think about a fast and effective one.' She also remembered their fight against the villains in the warehouse.
A crazy yet brilliant idea formed in her mind. "Everyone, give me ten seconds!" she yelled. "Protect me!"
Jiro, Shoji, and Tsuyu immediately formed a defensive wall around her without question. They trusted their leader. Behind that human shield, Momo began to use her Quirk to its fullest. She wasn't creating something small. She was creating something big. Something absurd.
"Alright, you low-level villains!" Momo yelled as she finished, stepping out from behind her friends' protection. On her shoulder now rested an impressive-looking black bazooka cannon, just like the one she used in the Landslide Zone. "It's time for a lesson in financial power! This is my Ultimate Move: Yaoyorozu's Private Zoo!"
With a confident smirk, she fired the cannon. But what came out wasn't an explosive shell. What came out was a giant net made of super-strong cables, weighted at the ends. The net spread out in the air and ensnared nearly a dozen of the students who were attacking them. They all fell in a helpless pile. With one move, Momo had eliminated most of the threat. Her friends stared at her with their mouths agape, before finally cheering with joy.
In another corner of the arena, a very different battle was taking place. A clash between two forces of nature. Todoroki Shoto and Inasa Yoarashi from Shiketsu were facing off.
"I will never forgive your father," Inasa growled, a strong wind beginning to swirl around him. "And I will never forgive you, who carries the same hateful eyes as him!"
He unleashed a powerful storm of wind toward Todoroki. Todoroki, with a cold expression, countered it with a giant wall of ice. Wind and ice collided in the middle of the arena, creating a spectacular yet deadly scene.
"My hatred is none of your business," Todoroki replied, unleashing another wave of ice.
They were both so focused on defeating each other, so caught up in their personal rivalry and hatred, that they paid no attention to their surroundings. Todoroki's fire, which he unleashed to counter Inasa's cold wind, was blown in an unexpected direction. Inasa's wind, trying to surround Todoroki, accidentally pushed several other students into the path of a pro hero acting as a villain. Their selfish fight was starting to cause chaos and endanger others.
I had managed to collect my third tag from a student who tried to ambush me from behind. The targets on my body now glowed green, indicating that I had passed. My job was done. I could have gone to the waiting area. But I didn't. I started moving across the arena, looking for my friends.
I found Momo's group first. They had all managed to pass, standing proudly next to the pile of students entangled in Momo's net. "Good work, Yaoyorozu," I said with a respectful nod.
She smiled confidently. "I was just applying the lessons I've learned."
We then heard the powerful explosions of ice and wind. We all turned and saw the fight between Todoroki and Inasa getting out of control. They were going to get everyone around them hurt.
"What idiots," I muttered. I started running toward them.
"Tatsumi-kun, what are you doing?" Momo asked worriedly.
"Breaking up a children's squabble," I replied without looking back.
As I arrived near them, I saw the Pro Hero Gang Orca, acting as one of the main 'villains,' approaching them. But Todoroki and Inasa, too busy attacking each other, accidentally hit Gang Orca with their combined attack, sending him flying.
This was a total failure as heroes.
I arrived between the three of them. "ENOUGH!" I yelled, my voice echoing with an authority that surprised them.
Todoroki and Inasa looked at me, their breath heavy. "Stay out of this!" Inasa growled.
I looked at both of them coldly. "You two are the most powerful people in this exam. And you're both acting like children fighting over a toy. You're endangering everyone with your selfish rivalry." I turned to Todoroki. "Midoriya risked everything to make you accept your power, and you use it for this?" I turned to Inasa. "And you, you let your hatred for one person blind you to your duty as a hero candidate?"
My sharp words seemed to snap them out of it. They looked down, looking ashamed.
The first round of the exam ended a few moments later, with the announcement that one hundred students had passed. All of Class 1-A had made it through. We regrouped near the exit, tired but safe. I saw Todoroki and Inasa talking to each other in a calmer tone. Maybe they had learned something today.
As Mera announced that there would be a break before the next round, I felt a sense of relief. But then, I looked around. I was looking for my friends from "Team Ryukyu." Uraraka and Tsuyu were there, chatting with Midoriya. But... where was Nejire? She wasn't taking this exam because she already had her license. But she said she would come to watch and cheer us on. I didn't see her in the spectator stands.
An uneasy feeling began to creep into me. I took out my secret communicator and tried to contact her. No answer. I tried again. Still nothing. My heart began to pound for a completely different reason. This wasn't about the exam anymore. Something else was happening.