--Sunday, August 30, 2172
"Was that Saito…?" Upon hearing the announcement, Uraraka couldn't help but ask as she looked at Momo, who shook her head and replied in a calm voice.
[I doubt it very much. Kai wouldn't bother eliminating more people than necessary; he's too lazy for that.]
"That's true…"
Uraraka replied with a somewhat forced smile as the image of Kai looking down on everyone with disdain and mocking the test came to mind. But just at that moment, Midoriya's voice came through the earpiece, calling out to her.
[Uraraka-san, is that you?]
"Deku-kun…?" Uraraka couldn't help but murmur in confusion the instant Midoriya's serious, low voice resounded in her ear.
[Then it's not you…]
Almost immediately, sounds of fighting were heard before the transmission cut off, which made Uraraka's expression transform into one of worry while Momo's sharpened. But just at that instant, Kyoka's worried and frantic voice resounded from the earpiece.
[Yao Momo! We're surrounded, and we're running out of bal—]
But before Kyoka's voice could finish, it cut off abruptly, which put a solemn expression on Momo's face. Uraraka also turned to look at Momo in silence, but just a few seconds later, the two spoke in unison.
[I'm going for Jiro-san!]
"I'm going for Deku-kun!"
Upon finishing speaking, Momo shot off into the air in the opposite direction from Uraraka, who used her belt and cables to the maximum to move at full speed toward where the map showed Midoriya was.
Within seconds, Momo arrived at the place where Kyoka Jiro was, along with Tsuyu, Mezo Shoji, and Fumikage Tokoyami. They were defending themselves as best they could from the indiscriminate attack of a group of at least 30 people from different schools. Seeing the scene, Momo quickly sent a message as her suit opened up in several places.
[Hold your breath now!]
Upon hearing Momo's order, the group quickly held their breath the instant in which several spheres "rained down" and exploded, releasing a thick layer of pink smoke. Upon seeing the pink smoke, the same thought couldn't help but cross the minds of all the students.
(Midnight's quirk?!)
[This is a synthetic imitation of Midnight's Sleep Aroma! It's much less effective than the real one, but it's still capable of causing strong drowsiness! I'll support you from the air; try to get your pass now!]
Soon, Momo's voice resounded in everyone's ears, and they shifted to serious expressions before springing into motion. Using her earphone jacks to plug them into the ground and listen to her surroundings, Kyoka signaled to her companions to head toward different targets that could be seen on the map in their goggles.
Once her companions got moving, Kyoka jumped to go to her target, whom she found on the verge of unconsciousness, leaning against an enormous rock, and easily eliminated. But when she jumped to reach the second, Kyoka saw three balls suddenly appear, about to touch all of her targets.
(Damn it! I got careless!)
While scolding herself, Kyoka tried to move one of the cables on her ears to cover at least two of her targets as the world seemed to move in slow motion for her. But at that moment, one of the balls transformed into a burly man, who immediately threw a punch at her temple without mercy. Kyoka could barely move her eyes to see the punch about to land along with the two balls and grit her teeth to brace herself.
But just before being struck, the young man's arm was suddenly hit by a small object moving at a terrifying speed. As he let out a cry of pain, the young man's arm moved just enough to miss Kyoka's face by mere millimeters, and she instantly changed her expression to a cold and sharp one and sprang into action.
With a fluidity acquired through thousands of repetitions and many painful blows from the terrifying blue-eyed trainer, Kyoka closed the distance with the young man and connected her jacks to the amplifiers on her fists. Then she unleashed a perfectly coordinated succession of punches. Kyoka's fists, accompanied by precise sonic impacts, struck the young man's body without mercy and ended up destroying an enormous rock behind him.
When she finished, Kyoka jumped a meter backward, the moment in which the man fell to his knees on the ground, then fell on his face, completely unconscious. For her part, Kyoka connected her jacks to the ground to make sure that this time there really were no traps. Once she confirmed there was nothing, Kyoka took the last ball she had left and touched the young man's three targets.
"Thank you, Yao Momo, you saved my life there."
As the targets on her body turned blue, Kyoka placed her right hand over the headphones at her ear and thanked her sincerely. At that moment, Momo's cheerful voice resounded in her ears.
[Don't worry, it's my duty as class representative. For now, go to the place for those who passed with the others; everyone managed to get their pass.]
"And you, Yao Momo?"
Kyoka couldn't help but ask as she watched the pink smoke dissipate around her, knowing that if she wanted, Momo would have already passed. The beauty in the imposing flying armor replied in a melodious voice charged with resolve.
"I can't leave yet. As the leader of Class A, it's my duty to make sure that my classmates, the ones who trusted me to lead them, manage to pass this exam."
Upon hearing Momo, Kyoka couldn't help but feel a lump form in her throat as a deep admiration and reverence for her friend grew within her. Holding back the feelings that wanted to make her burst into tears, Kyoka commented in a slightly hoarse voice.
"You're the best leader we could have wished for, Yao Momo… Thank you… And don't end up without passing…"
[Don't worry, I have everything under control; go with the others.]
Momo replied in a cheerful and jovial voice the moment in which Kyoka could see the imposing red armor shoot off through the sky toward another place. At that moment, Tsuyu and the others approached with equally complex and moved expressions, at which moment Kyoka commented with a somewhat heavy smile.
"Let's go."
…
…
…
Sitting atop an enormous water tank high above a small town in the testing grounds, Kai looked through his phone and invisible holographic screens created by Sage. He watched Momo fly all over the place helping Class A pass the exams. Letting out a somewhat amused sigh, Kai shook his head and murmured to himself.
"Being a leader doesn't mean playing mother hen, Momo…"
As he murmured, Kai suddenly raised an eyebrow and calmly turned his head to look at the sky to his left, which caught the attention of the cats on his shoulders, who turned to look in the same direction. The cats, confused at not seeing anything, turned to look at their master in confusion, the moment in which he spoke with a subtle smile on his face.
"What an interesting quirk…"
Almost as if Kai's words had triggered something, a titanic stake made of diamond suddenly materialized in the air, which began to fall on him due to its enormous weight. With a calm smile, Kai stood up and jumped off the water tank to land in the streets of the fake city, the moment in which he took a step to position himself beneath a small rooftop of a building.
At that instant, the diamond stake impaled the water tank and the building behind it with colossal force, causing the water it contained to shoot out in all directions and then fall like rain. At the same time, Kai, hands in his pockets, casually looked at a building in front of him, where at least 50 young people appeared.
Among those young people were more than a dozen dressed as ninjas; another dozen were beautiful girls in elegant uniforms, and the rest were young people in different hero costumes. But among them, one stood out, a young woman of exquisite beauty—comparable to Momo or Nejire—with lavender hair, who had a golden monocle over her right eye and held a cup of tea.
"I hope you liked our greeting, Demon King." The beautiful young woman took a sip of tea before looking at Kai and commenting in a sweet and elegant voice. Kai, still with his hands in his pockets, replied as he scanned all the young people confronting him.
"A rather interesting greeting."
"A man of your caliber deserves nothing less." The young woman replied with a calm and cordial smile, which made Kai smile, and he soon asked, genuinely curious.
"I imagine you're looking to stand out by using my meager fame as a springboard, but does it make sense to bring so many people? Even if you win, if you use this many people, it kind of loses its meaning, doesn't it?"
"You underestimate your fame and influence far too much, Demon King." The young woman replied in a calm voice, at which moment the red ninja beside her commented in a serious tone.
"An invincible Demon King… That's how you're known, Saito Kai, and today we've come to destroy that fragile legend of invincibility!"
With the young red ninja's announcement, another more robust young man leapt toward Kai, transformed into what appeared to be a human block of diamond. At the same time, the ninja threw small diamond stalactites that he pulled from his pocket toward several uniformed girls and two ninjas.
In a synchronized manner, the girls and the ninjas began firing the diamond stalactites at Kai at a terrifying speed, which grew dozens of times in size to become colossal before impacting.
"A really interesting quirk…"
Kai murmured in a calm voice as he took a step forward, narrowly avoiding the impact of a giant diamond stalactite. At that moment, the diamond man reached Kai with his right arm transformed into a kind of pike, which pointed at his chest. With a calm smile, Kai looked at the diamond youth and commented in a casual voice.
"Diamond to prevent cuts, I imagine? A curious idea, but since you're at it…"
At the same time he murmured, Kai slowly pulled his right hand out of his pocket, which caused the expressions of all his opponents to sharpen. But although everyone was completely focused, all they could see was their diamond companion go flying at a terrifying speed and then crash into a building, creating a brutal explosion.
"What happened…?"
The beautiful lavender-haired young woman couldn't help but murmur in an apprehensive voice. The red ninja leader signaled to one of his companions, who replied in a voice charged with terror.
"He hit him with his palm… and left his palm imprinted on him…"
Just at the same time, the dozens of giant diamond stalactites reached Kai. But to everyone's surprise, instead of dodging, the attractive young man with black hair and blue eyes pulled his other hand out of his pocket to take a basic martial arts stance.
Almost simultaneously, everyone could hear loud consecutive sounds, and soon all the stalactites went flying, only to end up embedded in the ground surrounding the terrifying young man in the center.
But all the young people could only stare in absolute terror at the gigantic diamond stalactites in which—right in the center of each one—a human palm could be seen imprinted, sinking several centimeters into the diamond. Swallowing a gulp of saliva so heavy it seemed like lead, one of the ninjas couldn't help but murmur, visibly terrified.
"Are his hands made of iron or what…?"
"That's a very interesting description."
Just at that instant, a calm and playful voice resounded right beside the young man, which made him jump in terror along with several other people nearby. But before he could get far, each and every one of them went flying in different directions, each with the mark of a human palm firmly imprinted on different parts of their body or equipment.
"Normally, I'd only eliminate the two I need, but since you came all this way, let me see you off; the 'extra points' might serve me later…"
At that moment, Kai commented with a casual smile on his lips, the instant in which a brutal pressure enveloped the entire place, directly causing some to faint and others to fall to their knees.
Meanwhile, the few who could barely withstand the pressure looked at the terrifying Demon King smiling before them. In their minds appeared the illusion that a primordial demon was looking down on them from above with piercing blue eyes and a mocking smile on his lips.
…
…
…
"Is he imitating Iron Palm…?"
In the stands, Joke couldn't help but murmur in a slightly apprehensive tone as she looked at the terrifying marks of human palms on each of the fallen. At that moment, with a somewhat nostalgic and at the same time proud smile, Aizawa murmured as he watched the last of the attackers fall to the ground.
"It seems you gave him some strange motivation with your jokes, Joke… Thanks for that."
"…" Joke could only look at Aizawa with a flat expression, to which the nocturnal hero responded with a subtle, silent smile.
***
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