Chapter 4: A Trial of Battle / Anime Episode Counterpart, Episode 8: Bakugo's Start Line (MHA Episode) and Episode 4: A Modern Ninja (OPM Episode)
(Mini Chapter)

In this battle, even the winners lost. The losers were fully capable of continuing to fight, while the winners were both fully collapsed, unable to use their quirks anymore. The losers who were still awake were reflecting on what had gone wrong. Bakugo was doing this specifically, he had lost to Deku. The entire time, Deku was reading him like a book, and was able to beat him. Bakugo was unable to win against Deku, even when they were seriously fighting.

"Let's return Bakugo, for your critique! In the end, it doesn't matter if you've won or lost the match, as the experience that you gain from this, that's what training is all about!"

Bakugo had gained an experience all right, not one that he wanted to reflect on though. He had lost to Deku.

"Now, i'd say that the best in this match was Young Ida!"

"But didn't Ochaco and Midoriya win the match?"

"Yes, but why could I think this way, who can tell me?"

"It's because Ida adapted most to his surroundings. Bakugo was driven by a personal grudge, and acted too recklessly throughout the fight. The same can be said for Midoriya, even though it seemed that he planned for the interaction. Uraraka also had to rely on Midoriya throughout most of the fight. Ida however, was able to develop a counter strategy against his opponents, and he correctly assumed that the match was based around the core. And he was also too stiff when reacting to Midoriya's attack, being unable to develop a counter strategy, but he did everything he could."

The entire class went silent. No one had expected such a large and detailed explanation for the training. It seemed that she had taken her training very seriously, and was able to excel in analysis. All Might hesitated to give his response, as he didn't think that any student would be able to give that good of an explanation.

"Y-yes! That's the correct answer."

Several different battles waged on. Many were impressive, but none were quite like the first match. Most students defaulted to a strategy of either offensive talent, recon, or a defensive one. Then, the last match finally commenced, the match that the students were the most interested in, the son of Endeavor, the number 2 professional hero and a Ninja against a cyborg with incredible fighting abilities against the strongest hero.

Here, a bunch of the students were also making bets between which of their two peers would make it out on top. Some, such as Kirishima and Fubuki, believed that Saitama and Genos would win, witnessing his strength firsthand, while others, such as Yaoyorozo and Tokoyami believed that Todoroki and Sonic would emerge victorious.

Todoroki and Sonic had begun their work as villains, finding the room where the nuclear weapon was stored. Sonic had an insane looking grin over his face, he would finally be facing someone who could rival his own combat abilities, an equal.

"Don't make this a repeat of the first fight. Rushing after Saitama will only end in loss for both of us."

"Hmph. You're supposed to be the son of Endeavor? You should be more confident in our victory."

"I've experienced first-hand how powerful Saitama's strength is. Our best bet is to defeat Genos then team up against Saitama, or prevent them from touching the weapon all together, so you might want to stand back."

Todoroki then shot an ice wall in Sonic's direction. Sonic dodged this quickly, and the entrance to the room they were in, as well as the hallway surrounding it, were covered in ice.

"Alright. I'll abide by your rules, but don't expect me to follow you if something goes wrong."

"What you do after the plan is none of my concern. I already know it will work."

Both of them were reluctant to teamwork. They only needed themselves to survive, as that was the only way they were ever taught to live. Speed of Sound Sonic had only ever been trained to be a hero, and didn't care about anyone else because of this, while Todoroki was abused solely to become a hero by his father, Endeavor, who was miraculously still the number 2 hero.

Saitama and Genos were waiting outside. Saitama was getting bored just waiting there, as even though he hoped that Todoroki or Sonic would be a challenge to him, after all, if the son of the #2 hero and someone who considered himself strong enough to be Saitama's rival weren't strong, why should he be so pumped for anyone else?

"So, Saitama, do you have a plan for the battle?"

"Oh, no. I just wanna see how strong the guy with the scar and Sonic are. I heard that the one with the scar is the son of the number two hero."

"Yes, that's Shoto Todoroki, son of Enji Todoroki. Let's do our best to overcome them!"

"Alright!"

Saitama was getting pumped for a good fight, and couldn't wait to see what strength Todoroki and Sonic could show.

Saitama and Genos decided that the optimal point of entry would be the front entrance. It would be an unexpected approach option that the enemy wouldn't even think of attempting to cover. Genos then started scanning for lifeforms throughout the building, making sure that the enemies didn't outsmart them. Thankfully, no lifeforms were detected, but Genos did pick up something that could help them.

"Saitama, i'm detecting an unusual amount of water molecules on the top floor, i'm suspecting it's Todoroki's ice being used defensively."

"Alright, well then, what are you waiting for?"

Saitama asked this before casually jumping to the top floor, breaking the ground that he jumped through while he accelerated upwards. He then landed on the top floor, only to see every inch of it covered in ice. Saitama then instantly thought of a way to remove the ice. He aimed a punch in the direction of the ice, and used the air pressure from his punch in order to break the ice, but the air pressure wave was so large that he broke the walls on every side and even the end of the hallway.

Genos decided to follow Saitama, using his respiro-burst to quickly make it all the way to the top floor. Genos analyzed the area, searching for lifeforms, but his search was cut off by a voice appearing.

"It seems I caught you."

The ice proceeded to suddenly wrap around both Saitama and Genos' legs, trapping them. Todoroki then emerged from one of the walls that Saitama had broken, with Sonic nowhere to be seen. Todoroki then began.

"You can move, if you'd like, but the ice here is strong enough to rip off the soles of your feet if you even attempt to move."

"I'm sorry, what?"

Saitama casually broke out of the ice without even trying, and then stood there idly, waiting for Todoroki to finish his speech. Todoroki was surprised, no one had ever been able to withstand his ice, and so effortlessly too, he couldn't believe it.

"What a surprise… your plans first step didn't even work!"

"Hey! I told you to stay back."

"Heh, too bad! You said I could do what I please after your plan didn't work!"

The ninja then suddenly emerged from behind Saitama and Genos. He then stepped into the light to reveal himself as Sonic. Genos looked seriously at Sonic.

"So you're the one who declared themselves as Saitama's rival."

"Yes… and I suppose you're the cyborg."

Sonic almost teleported behind Genos, kicking him while he was still in the ice, knocking him down.

"Stay out of my way, okay?"

"Hey, Sonic, you sure do love cheap shots, eh? But fine, i'll fight you since you're so persistent."

Sonic then had a sick grin along his face. One so large that he couldn't hide it even if he tried, and he was finally ready to fight a good fight. Sonic began jumping from wall to wall, analyzing Saitama at a speed equal to how fast he was moving, attempting to look for a blind spot. Due to the angle of light, he thought that Saitama would be the most susceptible from the top right corner of his head.

At the same time, Genos was finally able to move his arms.

"Incineration cannon!"

Genos ignited the palms of his hand, having a fast enough momentum to get up through Todoroki's ice. Todoroki wasn't surprised that another person was able to break out of his ice floor, and was ready for it. He formed two icicles with his quirk, and then launched them. Genos wasn't intimidated, he readied an incineration cannon, and got close to Todoroki. He pushed back his fist.

"Machine gun blows!"

Todoroki was hit with a barrage of attacks, and got knocked back far into a wall, leaving a crater. It took Todoroki a second, but he got back up.

"It's a shame. I was expecting to gain data from this matchup, but you only used half of your power."

Todoroki was pissed that Genos had said this, yet again he was told that he was useless without his left side. He readied a giant ice wall, and shot it at Genos. Genos used another set of machine gun blows to attempt to break the ice wall, but he couldn't break the entirety of it without getting hit, and was pushed back.

Genos quite easily retaliated however, running back towards Todoroki quickly. Todoroki, however, knew how to defend himself. He formed a giant ice wall, one that could stall out Genos, and knowing that Genos would come back through the wall, he started to ice the floor, making it easy to slip. He wouldn't hold back on Genos this time.

Genos sensed an intense amount of water molecules, even beyond the wall. He detected them to be on the floor, so, with his final hit, he flew above the floor, and Todoroki looked slightly surprised. He used his ice wall to hit Genos in mid air, pushing him against the window, almost making him fall out. Genos easily got up however.

Meanwhile, Sonic had decided to finally put an end to his and Saitama's fight. He launched into Saitama, and readied his fist. Before he was even halfway towards Saitama, Saitama said.

"Are you just gonna go for cheap shots here too?"

Sonic was surprised that Saitama was able to react to his attack, and that he was also able to speak as fast as he did. Sonic couldn't back down now though, instead of backing down, he doubled down on his plan.

"Well then, i'll also go for a cheap shot."

Saitama then readied his fist, and punched. The punch wasn't a fabulous one, but it was good enough. Sonic was launched through several walls, only being stopped by the nuclear device, which now had a giant hole in it. The students who were watching the fight were impressed.

"Wow! He knocked out Sonic in just one punch!"

"I've heard of Sonic before… apparently he's had to fight powerful villains before, and for him to be defeated in the first strike…"

"Saitama's awesome!"

Amongst all of the students, who were impressed with Saitama's incredible strength, All Might was as well.

"It seems that Saitama was able to win, he really is the strongest hero already! "

Sonic was knocked out cold, and Saitama walked towards the nuclear device, touching it, and that let the hero team win the fight.

"THE NUCLEAR DEVICE HAS BEEN TOUCHED! THE HERO TEAM WINS!"

Both Genos and Todoroki stopped, as both of them were readying strikes onto each other. Genos looked at his opponent, and Todoroki looked back. Genos shot out his hand, giving Todoroki the opportunity to shake his hand. Todoroki didn't even look at Genos' hand, and walked away.

"Besides Saitama, I would say that Todoroki was the best in this match! Who can tell me why?"

Todoroki looked quite surprised, but he hid it with his blank face. Tsuyu raised her hand.

"Because during the match, Todoroki went in with a plan, and after his plan failed, he tried to work with his teammate as best as possible. Genos just followed Saitama until he fought Todoroki, and Sonic seemed to just want to fight Saitama."

"That is correct! Even so, Todoroki's main weakness was his cockiness that the plan would work! He could've won if not for a lack of a backup plan, but this can also be blamed on Sonic!"

Todoroki thought differently. He first-hand saw Saitama's strength multiple times. All Might acted as if Saitama was a student just like the rest of them, but Todoroki knew that Saitama was a pillar that could not be broken. He was already a hero, unlike any of the rest of them. And that, is how the Trial of Battle finished.