Sunlight Yellow Hamon Overdrive

Although Toru Hagakure had told Jilan to go ahead earlier, letting someone touch a girl in a place like that would embarrass even her. But there was no other good way now.

So, in a voice tinged with despair yet calm, as though she had accepted life and death, Hagakure said, "There's another part. Hurry up..."

"All right, then. Sorry about this." Jilan Jiyu crouched down and called out, "Scarlet Hamon Overdrive!"

The Hamon coiling around Jilan's hand turned a warm shade of scarlet at a speed visible to the naked eye. Then he reached his cane toward the oval block of ice.

Who knew who had decided that you had to shout out JoJo-style moves when using them?

It had hurt so much when the ice on her foot cracked earlier. Touching her there would surely hurt even more!

Hagakure clapped her hands tightly over her mouth to keep herself from crying out in pain, only to cry out in surprise instead. "Huh? That's strange. It's a little warm!?"

The power of Hamon mimicked the power of sunlight, and Scarlet Hamon Overdrive could instantly generate heat through friction. Jilan Jiyu was afraid she wouldn't be able to withstand the kind of force he had used earlier, so he carefully melted the ice this way.

It was as though the ice were exposed to the full glare of the sun. The bone-chilling ice could not withstand the heat of the sunlight, which surrounded Toru Hagakure bit by bit. Her whole body felt warm, and the ice beneath her gradually melted. The pleasant sensation made Hagakure accidentally cry out.

Soon, the ice had completely melted into water, and Jilan Jiyu inevitably came into actual contact with Toru Hagakure's body. It was soft and warm, nothing like those silicone things.

The melted ice ran down Toru Hagakure's body and Jilan Jiyu's hand. Jilan Jiyu could faintly feel a warm current quietly mingling with it.

Before he could think about it carefully, Toru Hagakure's body went limp, and she collapsed into Jilan Jiyu's arms.

...Sure enough, she really was soft.

Toru Hagakure felt deeply ashamed. She had actually done something like that at a time like this. Even falling into Jilan Jiyu's arms seemed a little less important now.

Mom, I'll never be able to get married now... Hagakure wailed inwardly, her face miserable.

Soon, Hagakure felt as though her physical discomfort had vanished, and even her shame had faded somewhat. She looked up, pushed Jilan Jiyu away, and stood on the ice covering the floor. It was a little cold, but her body was warm inside... It was like feeling a ray of sunlight on a cold winter day. It wasn't strong, but it was warm enough.

"What did you do?" Hagakure asked in surprise.

"I sent some Hamon into your body. It can eliminate your negative status effects while keeping you warm."

Jilan Jiyu was a little out of breath. Converting Hamon into Scarlet Hamon Overdrive involved a certain amount of loss and was already physically taxing, let alone maintaining high precision while also controlling its force to avoid burning Toru Hagakure.

"I've thought of a plan to win, but I don't have much stamina left." Jilan Jiyu could now indirectly sense Toru Hagakure's position through his Hamon, so Jilan spoke to her seriously. "...You're the only one who can carry out this plan."

I'm the only one who can carry it out?

"Only one chance..." Toru Hagakure stared nervously at the half-open door, which had been frozen solid in a single block of ice. She felt uncertain. Could she really defeat someone so powerful?

Shoto Todoroki was a formidable opponent who had simply covered the entire building in ice. His Quirk was far stronger than hers!

Suddenly, a warm current welled up inside her and swept away Hagakure's uncertainty. Jilan had just told her that even the most powerful Quirk had a weakness. Just as the strongest elephant in Jungle could lose to the weakest mouse, she could defeat Shoto Todoroki too!

Hagakure's gaze grew resolute. Shoto Todoroki was the culprit who had put her in this embarrassing situation. How could she let him off so easily?

Besides... Jilan was there too.

Before she knew it, Toru Hagakure had completely forgotten that she had previously intended to put Jilan Jiyu on her blacklist.

"Scrape, scrape..."

The sound of footsteps on ice grew clearer. Toru Hagakure quickly realized that the "hero team" was almost there and nervously gripped the capture tape in her hand.

When Shoto Todoroki appeared at the base alone, Toru Hagakure nearly cheered aloud. Just as Jilan had thought!

"With Shoto Todoroki's indiscriminate, full-screen AOE attack, if he doesn't want to hurt his highly sensitive ally, Mezo Shoji, he'll definitely have Shoji leave the building after locating us by sound. In other words, he'll come up alone... That'll be our chance to win."

Shoto Todoroki looked at the shattered ice and the empty base, slightly surprised. He probably couldn't understand why they hadn't left anyone to guard the nuclear weapon.

He glanced warily behind him, on guard against someone suddenly appearing, and carefully walked to the middle of the room. The nuclear weapon was in a dark corner of the room. When he saw that no one really was coming out, he relaxed a little and went to touch the nuclear weapon to finish the match.

Suddenly, his teammate's anxious voice came over his communicator. "Todoroki, watch the window!"

Before Shoto Todoroki could react, a shadow suddenly descended from above the window in front of him. It grew larger and larger, then smashed through the glass in an instant, lunging straight at him!

"Sunlight Yellow Hamon Overdrive!"

Jilan Jiyu had gone up to the rooftop from the sixth floor. He had pinpointed Todoroki's position from the footsteps coming through Toru Hagakure's radio, then used Hamon to cling to the wall as he descended, attacking directly through the window with the classic rappelling method from Rainbow Six!

To defeat his opponent in a single blow, Jilan Jiyu had used his most powerful Sunlight Yellow Hamon!

Although Shoto Todoroki hadn't reacted in time to the sudden attack, he still instantly raised several layers of ice shields in front of him. In a flash, the shields collided with the bright golden Hamon covering Jilan Jiyu's hand!

"Boom!"

Starting from the center of the room, the ice in every direction shattered from the impact, whipping up a storm of frigid ice throughout the room!

Jilan Jiyu hadn't expected him to react so quickly. The recoil hurled him against the opposite wall, while shards of ice continued slicing into his body in midair, nearly sending him flying out the window.

On the other hand, Shoto Todoroki should have been hurt more severely, but he gritted his teeth and released ice behind himself. Although he smashed through several layers, his body barely came to a stop at the doorway.

"Cough, cough." "Cough, cough."

Both sides had suffered serious internal injuries and coughed up blood. Completely unable to move, they could only sit on the floor and stare at each other.

"You're strong."

The ice on Shoto Todoroki's costume had been shattered, revealing the red hair Bakugo had called "half-and-half." There were burn scars on his face.

"If I were strong, I wouldn't be lying here just like you."

Jilan Jiyu shook his head with a wry smile. He had launched a sneak attack and struck first, yet he had still ended up in a mutual defeat with Todoroki. He couldn't even land a finishing blow and could only use his remaining Hamon to treat his injuries. "...And you still had enough strength left to protect the nuclear weapon. You really are a hero."

Even while under attack, Shoto Todoroki had instinctively put up an ice wall in the corner where the nuclear weapon was, keeping it safe from the flying ice.

"But we still won," Shoto Todoroki said calmly. As soon as he finished speaking, a figure with several connected tentacles growing from his body appeared in the doorway.

"Mezo Shoji, is it...?" Jilan Jiyu chuckled twice under his breath. "If it weren't for him, maybe you wouldn't have reacted at all."

"That's right," Shoto Todoroki readily admitted. If Mezo Shoji hadn't warned him, that terrifying power might have taken him out in one hit...

As Shoto Todoroki thought this, he motioned for Mezo Shoji to retrieve the nuclear weapon. As long as Shoji put his hand on it, they would win.

As Mezo Shoji approached, Jilan Jiyu suddenly laughed. "By the way, where do you think Toru Hagakure went?"

"Maybe you had her leave the base beforehand. Wherever she is, she isn't in this room," Shoto Todoroki replied seriously. The shards of ice that had covered the floor had turned into blades just now. If Toru Hagakure had been there too, she couldn't possibly have escaped injury.

Even if she were invisible, her body would have wounds like the ones on him and Jilan, and that was with both him and Jilan wearing combat costumes. For Hagakure, who had to maintain a neat style in battle, injuries like that might be fatal.

Therefore, Shoto Todoroki was very confident about this.

"Is that so...?" Jilan Jiyu smiled and said nothing.

Shoto Todoroki frowned. Jilan's side was about to lose, so why could he still smile? ...No, there was one place in the room that hadn't been hit: the nuclear weapon!

Shoto Todoroki realized it and immediately called out a warning to Mezo Shoji, who was about to touch the nuclear weapon. "Watch out...!"

"Checkmate!"

A girl's sharp cry drowned out Shoto Todoroki's voice. A strip of tape appeared out of thin air and bound Mezo Shoji's hand, just as he was only fifty centimeters from the nuclear weapon!

"What?!"

Mezo Shoji had thought there were no more threats in the room. He had left only one ear on his Dupli-Arms and was listening intently to Jilan Jiyu and Shoto Todoroki's conversation. With his attention drawn to them, he had completely failed to notice the faint sound of breathing above his head!

"Time's up. Fifteen minutes have passed. The villain team wins!"

All Might's voice rang throughout the training facility, reaching Shoto Todoroki loud and clear.

Jilan Jiyu had barely recovered a little stamina. He pushed himself up against the wall and walked to the window, letting the sunlight pass behind him and cast a long shadow that reached just in front of Shoto Todoroki.

"Looks like I won..." Jilan said with a smile. "Todoroki, did you know? The moment you're closest to victory is when you're most likely to fail. So don't get too complacent, okay?"