Asui and Tokoyami were up next. The morale of the entire class depended on these two securing a victory.
But the moment the fight started, Ectoplasm's clones appeared right from the get-go without even letting the students take their first steps.
"Each teacher has a different style of attack." Niwa clicked her teeth.
"Looks like we'll need to predict and prepare for any situation…" Midoriya muttered with his eyes glued to the screen.
With a swift escape onto high ground, Tokoyami and Tsuyu avoided being completely surrounded by their teacher's clones.
"They're good!" Uraraka said happily in support.
"A combination only they could pull off!" Midoriya praised.
The door to the monitor room slid open, "Communication skills. In this society, it's a simple but important skill for heroes to have." Recovery Girl returned to the room. She must have already patched up Kirishima and Sato.
"More than being able to pull off perfect teamwork with a specific sidekick, it's better to be able to achieve a certain standard with anyone." The old woman returned to her seat.
"Even though this is a test," Midoriya asked the old lady, "Each team is being made to deal with their weakness on purpose, right?"
The boy made a good point.
"That's right," The nurse replied.
"I wonder what Tokoyami and Asui need to work on…" Midoriya pondered.
"Rather than that," Niwa said while watching the monitor projections on the large screen, "We should take the time to consider our own weaknesses and prepare with those in mind. Although, I think everyone knows the weakness your team has."
Bakugou's attitude, an unwillingness to cooperate, and Midoriya's lack of backbone when dealing with the boy. Aizawa-Sensei had set them up, on purpose of course, to see if they could overcome their stubborn attitude and work together while casting their negative emotions aside.
"Of course, your weaknesses are one obstacle you will have to overcome. But do not forget that your teacher's abilities will be your primary hindrance." The nurse advised.
"I can't imagine ectoplasm's Quirk being a bad match up for them…"
"No. It's bad… for Tokoyami Fumikage."
"Why is that?" Uraraka asked as the four students in the monitor room all looked at the nurse.
"If you watch, you'll understand." Recovery Girl said, ending the questions and returning their focus back to the screen.
When she looked back to the screen, Niwa watched as more of Ectoplasm's clones appeared in front of Tokoyami. The boy's Quirk was quick to unleash an attack at the teacher's clones, batting away and crashing into the clones until they disappeared into puffs of white smoke. But no matter how many clones Tokoyami dispersed, more kept appearing. Asui jumped out of hiding and attacked a cone that appeared behind Tokoyami.
Niwa understood then, it was a numbers game.
Tokoyami couldn't attack more than one clone at a time and while the boy was quick in defeating the clone he focused on, that led him to be vulnerable.
The moment Ectoplasm's clones managed to slip past Tokoyami's dark shadow, Asui grabbed bird-boy and threw him up to a higher level. They were trying to retreat but more and more of the clones kept appearing. If Niwa remembered right, Ectoplasm-Sensei could make up to thirty clones at a time.
"Tokoyami Fumikage's strength is his quick attack and range that lets him keep his distance. But, looking at it another way, he won't hold up if something does get in close to attack." The nurse explained.
If Niwa thought about it, and she had, Tokoyami was like a hawk. Always dancing out of reach and swooping in for the attack in just a moment. Niwa had already had an imaginary battle with the boy in her head. The best way to beat him was either with sheer numbers or to slip past an attack and close the gap. Ectoplasm was doing both, putting Tokoyami in a bad situation.
"If it weren't for Tsuyu's support, this exam would already be over," Niwa mumbled.
"On the other hand, Asui Tsuyu, an excellent student with no clear weakness. Therefore, as you said, she must provide support to her ally who is powerful and has few weaknesses." Recovery Girl clarified. "Her ability to keep calm can provide emotional support to others in a crisis."
The pair of students surrounded in the hall continued grinding their way through Ectoplasm's clones. Tokoyami dealing all the heavy hits and Tsuyu covering any holes that their teacher managed to slip through.
They finally reached the area where the goal stood waiting and Ectoplasm's real body stood waiting.
In a giant plume of smoke, rose the biggest clone Niwa had ever seen, it was on par with the size of Mount Lady's enlarged form.
The giant clone and Ecotplasm-Sensei stood entirely blocking the two students from the finish line and Niwa wondered how the pair would go about this situation.
The giant attacked too fast for Tokoyami and Tsuyu to escape. When the cloud of debris faded, Tsuyu and Tokoyami were stuck in the folds of the clone's body, completely restrained. Dark Shadow slipped out and soared down to attack the teacher, but the creature was outmatched in a head-on fight against the Pro Hero.
Dark Shadow regrouped with the restrained students for a moment before lashing out in a quick and powerful attack. The moment Dark shadow was close enough, Ectoplasm-Sensei launched out a kick powerful enough to send the Quirk meters back.
Niwa let out a breath of relief.
There, dangling from the same ankle that had just kicked him away, Dark Shadow had managed to secure the restraining cuff.
While Midoriya and Uraraka celebrated the Tokoyami and Tsuyu's victory, Niwa glanced off to her teammate.
"Do you want to keep watching or shall we strategize a bit?" She asked the multiple-armed boy.
A mouth formed at the end of one of those appendages, "It would be wise to come up with a few strategies."
"Let's go for a walk, then."
Niwa and Shoji turned silently to walk out of the room.
"Good luck, you guys!" Uraraka called.
Niwa glanced back and smiled, "Thanks. Let's clear this!" she said with a thumbs up.
"Yeah!"
Finally, after about two hours, it was their turn.
Each battle had a different terrain and setting.
Niwa stood glancing around at their surroundings and frowned. "Looks like this can go either way." She said.
The room they were in was filled with massive pillars all aligned in rows. There was a straight line from the start to the finish and her goal was already clear in sight. There were ten pillars in each direction and each pillar was about five meters wide and a meter thick. The distance between pillars was roughly ten meters meaning her goal was about a hundred and ten meters away.
Her eyes scanned the eery silence of the room, neither she nor her partner had moved yet from their hiding spot behind the first pillar on the left. They didn't yet have Snipe's location, but it was likely he was guarding the escape route. Ready to shoot the moment either of them stepped out from cover.
"Anything?" Niwa whispered.
Shoji took his ear from the ground and stood up with a shake of his head. Snipe was camped out somewhere. The teachers already knew all the details on the student's Quirks, so they also knew the best way to counter it. If Snipe was already in a comfortable position to shoot them if they came close to the goal, then he didn't need to move. Shoji wouldn't be able to locate Snipe unless they managed to lure him out.
Niwa had no idea if Snipe was physically capable enough to match them in a hand-to-hand fight, but considering the man was keeping his distance, Niwa would wager he wasn't willing to attempt fighting them head-on. And as awesome as it would be, Niwa couldn't outrun a bullet. They couldn't close the distance without taking a few risks of the others safety and there was no chance in hell of just making a b-line for the exit.
"Should we try and lure him out?" Shoji asked quietly.
Niwa nodded and blinked as a thought crossed her mind. She pondered it for a few seconds before Shoji snapped her from her thoughts.
"What is it?" The boy asked.
Niwa scratched an itch at her shoulder before whispering, "Just wondering what it feels like to tank a bullet."
Shoji blinked at her like she had grown a second head, "Can you do that?"
"Dunno." She smirked, "But I wanna find out."
Shoji didn't reply for a moment while he thought, "Then, do you want to take the cuffs, draw his attention and I'll hang around close by. If you put enough pressure on him, Snipe will probably think I'm heading for the exit so he'll be focused on that as well. Instead, I'll jump in from nearby and distract him while you get the cuffs on him."
Niwa grinned, securing the cuffs to one of the silver loops connecting her cream-colored shirt and skirt, "A fine plan."
Niwa adjusted her boots quickly before crouching down and launching from the left pillar to one on the right side, a scatter of bullets lodged into the ground and kicked up dust in a line around her. Her heart pounded in her ears with adrenaline. Holy shit! Niwa stared wide-eyed at the ground where several blunted bullets remained.
She looked over to Shoji who nodded at her from behind the pillar she had just left from. Niwa steeled her excitement and focused back on the task. She sprang across, body tucked low to the ground as she ran as quick as she could in a compacted area. It was another one of those situations where she was heavily disadvantaged.
Her own weaknesses were annoyingly obvious. She couldn't do any damage to the support pillars lining the building. She had no idea what the structure of the roof was, so she had to be extra cautious about not running into the solid concrete.
Bang. Bang. Bang.
The sound of Snipe's shots hitting the other side of her cover echoed in the cool shade of the building.
Not only was she limited by how far and fast she could move, but Niwa also couldn't leave Shoji too far behind while also creating a decent enough distraction so he could move around more freely.
A strange sound made Niwa peak past her cover. A gas canister rolled across the ground and spun as the area was soon clouded over in white smoke.
Shit, if he moves from here…
Niwa made the split-second decision to fully accept her role as the decoy and jumped. She landed against the side of the pillar and pushed off just in time to avoid a shot landing right where her feet had been. Niwa bounced back and forth as much as she could. Up and down diagonals from pillar to pillar and slowly closing the gap between herself and the gate.
She had no idea where Shoji was. Between the various bullets sinking into the concrete and her own focus, she didn't have the time to ensure where her teammate was. She'd just have to trust him.
Niwa soon discovered a fact that, had her mind been clear enough to think properly, she should have realized sooner. The closer she moved to Snipe, the sooner one of his bullets could reach her. Paralyzing pain coursed through her thigh. She yelped loudly at the sudden intense feeling.
One of Snipes bullets had met its mark while she was mid-jump and even though she had managed to continue her turn in the air and stick her landing, the moment her leg made contact with the pillar, it buckled. Niwa dropped to the ground, catching herself just in time before her thigh could make contact with the concrete.
Niwa stood with all her weight on her uninjured left leg and watched Snipe emerge from the smoke with his gun aimed right in her direction. Snipe's face was covered by his mask so Niwa had no clue what was going on in the man's mind.
She focused, every nerve tingled in a way that was somehow beginning to feel familiar and her vision sharpened on her opponent. Now. Now was the best time. But she couldn't give that away. Shoji had to decide when and where. It was too quiet.
Niwa growled. The menacing vibration, long and gravelly on her throat, had her teacher recentring the gun. Aimed right for her left shoulder. The only reason she had been able to dodge all those other bullets was because Snipe was aiming for non-lethal areas. Niwa grinned.
Sure, it hurt like fuck and her thigh was pissing blood, but there was no hole in her leg. Only the skin at the area of impact had been ripped from impact. The bullets were blunted, and they didn't actually do as much damage as a proper bullet probably should have. Maybe his gun was designed for a lower force? She doubted even Shoji would be seriously injured if he got hit.
Niwa launched straight for Snipe, ducking off to the left as bullets sprayed around her. One clipped her bicep and really fucken hurt but Shoji took that time to jump out from the right – how did he even get over there? – and he launched straight in for an attack, Snipe noticed immediately.
Niwa put all her force into her leap, ignoring the pain shooting up her leg and across her arm. She spun in the air in a tucked flip before bringing her good leg out in attack. Her heel crashed into the barrel of Snipes gun, now aimed right for Shoji. The weapon dropped to the ground as Shoji came at the Pro with all his arms spread wide like a net or a pair of wings or something.
While Shoji restrained their opponent, Niwa quickly clasped the pair of cuffs to Snipe's ankle.
"Team Shoji and Niwa have passed." The announcement speaker sounded.