Chapter 164: The Final Exam Ends
All Might really is strong. Unbelievably strong. That kind of absolute power can't be overcome with mere tricks. You can't even stall for time...
Just a moment ago, one of All Might's attacks had casually destroyed Bakugo's gauntlet. After pinning him under his foot, All Might, believing he had been completely disarmed, had no reason to be on guard and had begun a long-winded lecture.
But Bakugo, looking up at All Might's pearly-white teeth, had quietly aimed his free palm at the ground. And then—a series of explosions.
The sudden blast had thrown the weighted-down All Might off balance. Bakugo had rolled out from under his foot and grabbed the back of Midoriya's uniform.
"I know... the gap in our strength is impossible to close right now. It pisses me off, but this is the only way..." Bakugo had said, pulling Midoriya to his feet and, with an explosive burst, forcefully throwing him.
"—DIE!" (Get to the finish line!)
There were two victory conditions for the exam: one, cuff the teacher. The other, just one student had to make it through the exit gate.
Propelled by Bakugo's explosion, Midoriya had shot away from All Might, getting closer and closer to the exit.
"Not so simple, Young Midoriya!" All Might had thrown an empty punch, which had the effect of an air cannon. He had arched his body and shot toward Midoriya like a comet, slamming into his back.
Midoriya had crashed to the ground a dozen meters from the exit, his face buried in the dirt. He had tried to stand, but the intense pain in his lower back told him it was broken.
"Yeah... I should have known... It's impossible to get a victory from you without paying a price!" On the other side, Bakugo was already charging All Might again, a villainous smile on his face. His left hand gripped his right wrist as he aimed at All Might's face in mid-air—
"HOWITZER... IMPACT!"
Just as the flames were about to erupt from Bakugo's hand, an intense gust of wind had blasted him in the face. His palm had only managed to produce a few small sparks, like a firecracker being lit, when a large, rough hand had instantly clamped down on his face, and then—
BOOM!
Bakugo's body had been slammed heavily into the ground.
All Might had said gravely, "Rest in peace. You are very tired, Young Bakugo. I have seen your will. I acknowledge your tenacity. Although it's not commendable... that self-sacrificing method of fighting was truly unexpected."
Rest in peace? I'm not dead yet! I was willing to warp my own pride to work with that bastard Deku! If I still can't win after all that, there's no way I can rest in peace!
Bakugo's teeth had clamped down on All Might's hand. His eyes, like those of a wounded lion, had stared intently at him, filled with a desire to win that would not disappear even in death.
I want to win!!!
"Young Bakugo..." All Might had sighed and raised his other hand, preparing to knock him out, when—
"SMASH!"
Izuku Midoriya, with a furious cry, had charged forward with everything he had and struck All Might in the face. As he stumbled, Midoriya had pulled Bakugo out from under him, thrown him over his shoulder, and run for the exit.
This time, for some reason, All Might had not given chase.
...I was saved by that bastard Deku again. How pathetic. In the moment before he had passed out, this was the only thought in Bakugo's mind.
"Victory condition met for Team Midoriya and Team Bakugo!"
When Bakugo woke up again, the exams were over. His injuries had apparently been healed by Recovery Girl. Aside from a deep-seated soreness, he had no other ill effects.
Izuku Midoriya was lying on a cot on the other side of a curtain, intently watching a monitor. Bakugo wanted to say something to him, but in the end, he said nothing and silently walked out of the infirmary.
"Bakugo. Nice work," Kira said, walking toward him with a smile.
"...Are you mocking me?" Bakugo snorted. "You were the first one to finish, weren't you? You must have seen my whole match, right? How was it? Pretty pathetic, getting saved by Deku, huh?"
Bakugo turned his head to the side. "No matter what, I lost that fight. Laugh if you want."
"It's true, you took a little longer than I did. If we're just going by results, then you definitely lost our bet. However..." Kira shrugged. "This wasn't an equal comparison. Just because I cleared a level on 'Easy' doesn't mean I can arrogantly claim to be better than you, who cleared it on 'Hard'."
"At the end of the day, All Might and Ectoplasm are on completely different levels. We can only be compared when we're facing the same target," Kira said, turning and giving Bakugo a wave. "Let's call this one a draw. We'll settle it when we get the chance."
"I don't know if he's pitying me or if he really thinks that..." Bakugo glanced at Midoriya inside the room and snorted again. "But next time... I'll definitely win."
The final exams had drawn to a close, but two dark horses had emerged with spectacular results: Koji Koda and Minoru Mineta.
Since the start of school, Koda had never done anything to attract attention. His timid personality had kept him from interacting with his classmates. His Quirk, "Anivoice," allowed him to communicate with and control animals, but it was hard for him to use it to his advantage without the right environment.
But this time, his and Jiro's opponent had been the "Noise" Quirk user, Present Mic.
Although Jiro's "Earphone Jack" Quirk allowed her to broadcast her heartbeat, compared to Mic's demonic noise pollution, it was like a candle in a hurricane; she couldn't even cancel it out.
Koda's Quirk required a quiet environment to even be activated.
Clearly, pitting them against the loud-mouthed Mic had been a deliberate handicap.
But under these dire circumstances, Koda had cast aside his fear of insects and had contacted earthworms, centipedes, and other creatures that could move underground. By digging, they had tunneled under Mic's feet. An endless swarm of insects—enough to make someone with trypophobia faint—had burst from the ground, swarming up his legs and body.
Present Mic had fainted, losing his ability to fight.
As for Minoru Mineta... it's better not to describe the specifics. In short, by using the information he had gathered from TV shows and magazines about Midnight's various... preferences... he had taken advantage of her sadistic nature, baiting her into chasing him. Just before her sleep-inducing aroma could reach him, he had thrown his sticky grapes, gluing her to a spot far from the exit, and had made his escape.
That afternoon, after the exams.
"Hahaha! See that!? I'm an academic prodigy! I'm not in the same league as you guys who failed the practical exam!" Mineta shouted, standing on his chair and laughing at the few who hadn't passed.
Ashido, Kaminari, Kirishima, Aoyama, and Sero. Although Sero had been on Mineta's team, he had been knocked out by Midnight's aroma at the very beginning. He had spent the entire exam blissfully unconscious on her lap (much to Mineta's jealousy) and, having done nothing, had also been failed.
"Kira! I've failed you! Even though I passed the written test thanks to your training, I ended up failing at the last hurdle..." Denki Kaminari cried in front of Kira. "Kira! The forest training camp... the mixed bathing... the peeping... you have to do it all for my sake! Remember! I'll be with you in spirit!!"
"Hey, hey. What are you talking about?" Kira's eye twitched. "Mixed bathing is impossible, alright? You know that's not a place for you to relax, right?"
Kira didn't think for a second that those who had failed wouldn't be able to go to the training camp. After all, it was an intensified training session. It was the ones who had failed who needed to go the most.
Sure enough, after Aizawa had announced the schedule for the summer vacation, he scanned the room and said, "This time... everyone will be going to the forest training camp."
(End of Chapter)
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