"Then use your Quirk and throw it again." After directing Katsuki Bakugo to the designated area, Shota Aizawa said, "As long as you stay within that circle, you can do whatever you want. Hurry up and give it everything you've got."
Katsuki Bakugo rolled his arms and stretched before muttering, "Then... I'll add the blast's shockwave to the ball's momentum..."
"Die!"
Boom!
With a deafening explosion, Katsuki Bakugo hurled the softball. Amid the flames, it shot rapidly into the sky, only beginning to fall after reaching an incredible height.
Todoroki Shoto, with his half-white, half-red hair, watched the scene and gained some understanding of Katsuki Bakugo's strength. Strictly speaking, he was a Recommended student, much stronger than those who had passed the entrance exam.
Yet this boy named Katsuki Bakugo had ranked first in U.A. High School's entrance examination, so Todoroki had no choice but to take him seriously.
He made a point of understanding every opponent.
"First, you need to understand where your limits lie. That's the proper way to build the foundation of a hero." Shota Aizawa took out the recorder, glanced at it, and showed it to all the students present.
"705 meters... You've got to be kidding, right?" Denki Kaminari stared speechlessly at the number on the recorder. Was this Bakugo guy really that strong?
"What's this? It looks so fun." Ashido Mina looked eager to give it a try.
"We can use our Quirks as much as we want. This really is the Hero Course." Hanta Sero also wanted to try, though he knew his Quirk could not compare to Bakugo's. They were not even in the same league.
"This seems fun... does it?" Shota Aizawa sneered. "Do you all intend to spend the next three years, the years meant to turn you into heroes, with that kind of attitude?"
"Fine. Then I'll deem whoever ranks last in the total scores across all eight events to have no potential and expel them." Shota Aizawa's words made every student's heart race. The stronger students might not have been intimidated, but Izuku Midoriya was genuinely frightened.
His Quirk was still in its adjustment phase—its very earliest stage, at that. If he used too much force, his arms would be directly injured and collapse under the power he could not control.
For Izuku Midoriya, this was the most unfair situation of all. But did he have a choice?
"It's up to us teachers what we do with our students." Shota Aizawa ran a hand through his hair and looked at the students with an unknowable smile. "Welcome. This is U.A. High School's Hero Course!"
"Expel the last-place student?" Ochaco Uraraka stepped forward in shock. "It's only the first day of school, isn't it? No, even if it weren't, isn't that far too unreasonable?"
"Natural disasters, major accidents... and enemies doing whatever they please... disasters can strike anywhere, at any time. This country is now filled with that kind of unreasonableness, and the people who overturn such crises are heroes."
With a blank expression, Shota Aizawa said, "If you intend to go laugh and have fun at McDonald's after school, then I can only say I'm sorry. For the next three years, U.A. will spare no effort in bringing you suffering. Charge toward a more distant horizon. Plus Ultra."
Shota Aizawa curled a finger at everyone. "Overcome every obstacle with all your strength."
"As a baptism, those words are too heavy. But this truly is the pinnacle. All we can do is press on." Tenya Iida took a sip from the sports bottle he had brought with him, his gaze firm.
"Come on, come on!" Katsuki Bakugo grinned, baring his teeth. This was more like a challenge.
"Alright, that concludes the demonstration. Next comes the official testing." Shota Aizawa looked over the entire class. He was still quite concerned about Izuku Midoriya's Quirk.
After all, that giant mock enemy was not something anyone could defeat with a casual punch. There was an incredibly powerful force inside that kid's body; the question was whether he knew how to use it.
First event: 50-meter dash.
Yang Xiao was completely unremarkable in this event, placing roughly in the middle. He neither stood out nor fell behind.
If he covered his feet with Holy Light, he could definitely run much faster than usual. But he needed to position himself as a middling student in the class rather than draw attention by standing out.
Second event: grip strength.
Yang Xiao observed his classmates' grip strength, then deliberately held back enough to remain in the middle.
Third event: standing long jump.
This one was easy to control. Yang Xiao covered his feet with Holy Light and once again maintained a middle-ranking result.
Fourth event: side-to-side jumps.
Yang Xiao remained in the middle of the pack.
Fifth event: softball throw.
Needless to say, he was again in the middle.
Once all the events were nearly complete, Katsuki Bakugo looked at Yang Xiao strangely. This guy seemed entirely unremarkable, and even these tests had placed him squarely in the middle.
But he really was a student of Hero Class A, which Bakugo found odd. During the entrance exam, he had only seen this guy when entering and leaving the venue. So what had happened in between?
Izuku Midoriya had worked hard to complete the last few events. During the softball throw, Shota Aizawa had even drawn out his potential, resulting in an injured finger.
Still, the softball he threw traveled far farther than Yang Xiao's. That was all within expectations.
But Katsuki Bakugo could not accept it. How could Deku possibly have gained a Quirk in such a short time?
Before this, Deku had been Quirkless. No matter what, anyone who failed to awaken a Quirk before the age of four could never awaken one afterward, whether the Quirk was innate or acquired.
Awakening before age four was the universally recognized timeframe. Beyond that, it was impossible—though there had been a few cases of people awakening after four, how many such people could there possibly be in the entire world?
"Hey!" Katsuki Bakugo suddenly rushed forward, flames blazing from his hand as he grabbed at Izuku Midoriya. "You'd better explain this, Deku!"
Whoosh!
The next moment, Katsuki Bakugo's body was wrapped in white bandages. He could not take another step forward and was frozen stiff in place.
"What is this? This cloth... is so tough." Katsuki Bakugo struggled to turn his head and discovered that it was the fabric wrapped around Shota Aizawa.
"This is a capture weapon woven from carbon fiber and steel wire made with a special alloy." Shota Aizawa raised his head. "Seriously, stop making me use my Quirk over and over. I have dry eye syndrome, you know!"
"Such an amazing Quirk, what a waste~"
That was the collective complaint from the entire class, Yang Xiao included.
Shota Aizawa, homeroom teacher of U.A. High School's Class 1-A, could erase the Quirks of anyone he saw, then release them again with a blink. It was an incredibly powerful Quirk.
"Now, I'll announce the results." After all the events had ended, Shota Aizawa looked at everyone and said, "The total score is simple: the sum of your scores in each event. Explaining them one by one would be a waste of time, so I'll reveal them all at once."
After saying that, Shota Aizawa's testing device projected everyone's scores in 3D, their names arranged in order.
Without question, Izuku Midoriya was last.
Before you continue