UA. Japan's Number one Hero Academy. An institution that took in only the best of the best and produced most Top 200 heroes as Alumni. This was also the location for its infamous cutthroat entrance exams. Children from different parts of Japan arrived here all for the chance to be part of the select few admitted into the hero course.

Among the multitude of prospective students was a relatively unique looking individual. The person was unique because unlike the vast majority who wore the uniforms of their middle schools, this person sported a black hoodie with dark jeans and highly contrasting bright red sneakers. Another unique feature was the carefully wrapped object that was slung over their shoulder.

The individual was male of above average height with a lite muscular build (though that wasn't obvious courtesy of the hoodie). Dark green hair poked out from the hood's confines while the person stared at UA's gates with piercing emerald green eyes. The youth's face was adorned with diamond shaped freckles on both cheeks, a small scar travelled across his nose from cheek to cheek.

Izuku Midoriya's morphed into a smirk. UA hero course, here I come.

His stride into the gates could be described as smooth, trained to reduce unnecessary movements to the barest minimum. There was confidence in his steps yet his body language was of someone who was actively avoiding notice and attention. As he walked, Izuku took an quick appraising glance at the other students at his sides.

Most don't really seem to be taking this seriously but I can identify the ones that do. He thought to himself when he saw a blonde with spiky hair and a focused feral look in his eyes.

This didn't mean he was already writing off the rest of the competition just because of their disposition. He'd been taught that underestimating an opponent at any point of the battle was the first step to failure, a concept he'd rather not entertain.

He had crossed the entrance distance and entered the building before anyone even noticed him.

Later…

The written exams were surprisingly tougher than expected but Izuku wasn't too worried about it since he prided himself as smarter than most and that even if he didn't do well on the written test, he'd make up for it during the practical.

He was directed, wrapped object and other small booklets still in hand, into a large auditorium with rows of seats already taken by some earlier arrivals. He quickly found a seat in the back, wrapped item still in hand, beside a girl with earphone jacks attached to her ears. As a quirk enthusiast, it took Izuku a great deal not to immediately start questioning her about her quirk since that was rude and he'd rather not cause her to lose focus.

It wasn't until all the seats were occupied that someone walked to the center of the stage. Izuku immediately recognized the person as the Voice Hero, Present Mic. The man was easily recognizable with his glasses and hero costume.

The hero stood behind the podium of the wide stage with large screens behind him. "For all the examinee listeners tuning in, welcome to my show! Everybody say Hey!"

Silence…

Izuku couldn't help but snort at the Voice Hero's antics. The earphone girl also covered her face as she snickered at the display.

"What a dignified response!" The lack of response didn't seem to deter the hero's enthusiasm though, "Then, I'll quickly present to you the rundown on the practical exams! ARE YOU READY?! YEAH!!"

Even more silence…

Again, the hero continued, "As it says in the application requirements, you'll be having a ten minute mock urban battle. You can bring whatever you want with you. After the presentation, you'll head to the specified battle centers!"

Izuku glanced at the paper he was given after the written exams. It had his details and picture. He'd been assigned to Battle Center B. A quick glance to the side told him the girl beside him was assigned to Battle Center A. Were the assignments random? It wouldn't be surprising since this was an individual test. They wouldn't want classmates to work together. Not that Izuku could even do that since he'd been homeschooled for quite some time.

It turned out Present Mic wasn't finished. On the screen, a small-scaled city was displayed and the hero went on to explain the objective of the mock trial.

Robots? That seems…boring. It definitely sounded less exciting compared to some of the tests Izuku had been given during his 'training'. He involuntarily shivered from some memories.

The fact that we're allowed to bring whatever we want does clear up some of my worries though. He thought while unconsciously gripping the wrapped item tightly.

"EXCUSE ME!"

Izuku blinked before focusing on where the spotlight landed on a student wearing glasses. His posture was so rigid and straight that if Izuku didn't know any better, he'd call it a quirk.

The glasses guy made a whole speech about a misprint on the given flyers and how UA should be ashamed of themselves.

The greenette rolled his eyes at the disrespect. Dumbass, who ever said Present Mic was done with the explanation?

Sure enough, the blonde hero quickly addressed the issue, "Okay, Examinee 7111, thank you for the speech. The last type of faux-villain is worth zero points. It's an obstacle so to say. There's only one in each center. It's an obstacle that'll go crazy in narrow spaces. It's not impossible to defeat, but there's no reason to defeat it either. I personally recommend you listeners to avoid it."

The glasses teen seemed satisfied with that and apologized for the interruption while Izuku pondered on what he just heard.

It honestly...made no sense to him. Why would you add an obstacle that's not impossible to defeat but have no reason to defeat it? He heard someone whispering about how it was like a video game obstacle to be avoided and but he internally disagreed.

He'd played a few video of that nature in his childhood and most times, obstacles like that gave massive rewards if you didn't avoid and took your time to beat it.

Could UA be following the same principal? It wasn't beyond them. Safe to say, the Zero-pointer had seriously peaked his interest.

"That's all from me!" Present Mic was rounding up his presentation, "I'll give you listeners a present—Our school motto! The hero Napoleon Bonaparte once said: 'A hero is someone who overcomes life's misfortunes.' Go beyond, PLUS ULTRA!"

Izuku got up and gathered his stuff and headed for the exit while other were quickly getting their things and doing the same.

"Good luck suffering little listeners!"

That was certainly…something.

They'd been given time to change their clothing into something better fit for the exam. Izuku had opted out to just leave his hoodie behind, leaving him in the black tank-top he'd worn inside. They were then guided to the different buses that would take them to their respective battle centers. A short ride later and he found himself waiting in front of the entrance of Battle Center B.

The fact that they have a whole city as a single center is certainly impressive. Where did UA even get their fundings from? He'd probably know…

The green haired youth quickly readied himself with some light stretches before unwrapping the item still in his hands. The wrapping cloth fell away to reveal a sheathed straight sword. The sheath was black with golden writings carved into it. Izuku could've said the words written on the sheath even if he was sleeping;

"No fear, no hesitation, no surprise, no doubt."

It was one of the first lessons he'd ever learned while learning from him. One that stuck to him since then (Mostly because it was beaten into him but that's just semantics).

He took a familiar grip on the handle before unsheathing the sword, relishing in the metallic shink! that came from it. The blade was single edged of about 80cm in length. The hilt was a golden rectangular shape indented at the corners.

Its name, Kaiketsu.

Izuku took a few quick swings with it, making sure to step away from the crowd to avoid bloodshed. The sword had been something akin to a graduation gift from him after his training had ended. Before that, he'd only used wooden swords. Not in a traditional way though, not even close. His teacher had called them unnecessary and just beat him up constantly until he puked or passed out.

He shivered for the second time that day as he remembered his first day of training.

He took more swings both one and two-handed, focusing on the movements of the blade as it swished and sliced the air.

"EXCUSE ME!"

Izuku was jolted out of what he was doing by the familiar voice. It was glasses guy and he was practically marching up to him, hand swinging up and down in a chopping motion.

"You are distracting the other examinee with you actions! Are you taking the test to interfere with everyone else?! And that sword, are you licensed to have that?!"

A quick glance around confirmed that most of the other examinee had been watching what he was doing, some looking surprised by the appearance of a sword and other with a little fear at the display.

Still though, Izuku couldn't fight off the scowl that came to his face as he put Kaiketsu back in its scabbard. "If me preparing for an exam was enough to distract them, then I'd say they shouldn't even be taking this exam. And yes, my sword is allowed, UA wouldn't have allowed me into the buses if it wasn't."

The blunt statement seemed to surprise the glasses teen but brought a negative reaction from the crowd. Izuku ignored their sneers and scowls when he noticed Present Mic on top of a large pillar from the corner of his eyes.

"Okay, START!"

The announcement might have been surprising to the others but not Izuku. On instinct, he'd bolted, weaving through the examinees like a snake with speeds akin to someone with a speed-enhancement quirk.

He'd already crossed the gate and was heading into the city by the time Present Mic was informing the others to get moving.

He ran past buildings, looking for any of the faux-villains. As if on cue, a 1-pointer burst out from an alleyway.

"Target Acquired. I'll ki-"

That was as far as its mechanical voice could go because instantly, its head had left its body.

Izuku didn't even look back at the damaged robot and was already moving forward, a soft green glow encompassed the unsheathed Kaiketsu in his hand.

That 1-pointer must have been incredibly fragile since I was using my quirk at a lower output.

Izuku's quirk, Upgrade, made him able to use his stamina to enhance the efficiency, effectiveness and overall durability of any non-living thing he came in contact with as long as he knew how it worked or how it was used. He'd slightly enhanced the sharpness and cutting effect of his sword.

The next robot to reveal itself was a 3-pointer. It had taken him a bit more effort and longer time to slice through the robot's chassis at a 10% upgrade. So he boosted Kaiketsu to a 15% upgrade. The glow on the sword increased in strength. There shouldn't be any be anymore delay in cutting the robots.

Gotta do this quickly. Don't want to exhaust myself unnecessarily. He thought, feeling the familiar gradual decrease in his stamina reserves.

More robots had begun to fill the streets, the sight of their clustered forms brought a feral grin to Izuku's face and a dangerous glint in his eyes.

"Come at me you bastards!"

He lunged straight into multitude of bots.

In an observation room was a number of screens, each one displaying various parts of the different exam centers. A row of chairs were placed in front said screens for viewing.

On the center chair was Nedzu, his eyes looking at every screen and absorbing all the information easily due to how his quirk, High-specs, enhanced his brain. The rest of staff were either to his left or right, also observing the examinee though not to the same degree.

"In this practical exam, the examinees have not been informed on the number of robots or their locations. They have a limited amount of time in a vast area. They have to draw them out from there. Information gathering to understand the situation before anyone else, mobility that could be used in different circumstances, discernment to stay calm in any situation, and pure combat ability. These basic abilities needed to keep peace in the streets are transformed into points for the test."

The principal had already identified quite a number of prominent candidates throughout the exams with a significant amount of villain points. He'd research on each of them after the exams had concluded, after all, he couldn't have any bad eggs for the future generation, not with All Might's inevitable retirement.

All for the safety of the future.

"This year's group looks promising, don't they?" Kayama Nemuri AKA Midnight asked from where she was seated.

"Indeed they do Kayama-san!" Yagi Toshinori AKA All Might boomed while transforming into his muscle form, he quickly glanced at the timer for the exams, "but now it's time to see if they have what it truly takes to be a hero." His finger removed glass case of a red button and pushed it.

At the far right corner, Aizawa Shota layed quietly in his sleeping bag even though he was doing anything but sleeping. He rolled his eyes at the Symbol of Peace's dramatics before training his gaze at one particular screen.

The sword-wielding youth in Battle Center B. Now, Aizawa knew next to nothing about sword techniques but if he wanted to describe what he was watching, he'd call it swift, efficient and brutal. The kid was like a hurricane of mass destruction, leaving nothing but robot parts in his wake.

Aizawa had never met the kid before but there was something about that feral grin that he found awfully familiar.

And that sword… Where have I seen that from?...

The kid was definitely someone to watch out for. His eyes shifted to the glowing red alert indicated the deployment of the 0-pointer in each test site.

You have my attention. Let's see how you do…

Izuku sidestepped the scorpion-like stinger of a an ambushing 2-pointer, a swing of his Kaiketsu easily taking off the appendage. He took a jump to land on the bot's head and use it as a springboard for another jump as he raised his blade and brought down on the 3-pointer right behind the initial bot.

The machine didn't have time to analyze what had just happened before it was diced.

There was no wasted time in-between as the green haired youth upgraded the sheath in his left hand and swung it behind him, smashing into the initial 2-pointer and taking out of the fight.

This was how it had been going for Izuku for the last 8 minutes, he'd been moving from street to street, taking out attacking robot after attacking robot.

A frown appeared on his face as he looked at the slight twitching form of a downed bot. The entire test had left much to be desired and he'd lost count on how many points he'd gotten. The faux-villains were predictable and could be countered easily.

He sheathed Kaiketsu while leaving behind another downed bot when the announcement rang out.

"Two minutes left!"

His stamina reserves hadn't taken that much of a hit. He was still at about 70%. Other bots he'd missed had been destroyed by the other examinees and so the street was filled with only dead robot parts.

I could find some if I actively went looking but I think I've done more than enough for me to pass.

A rumbling that shook the entire city interrupted his thoughts. Izuku could hear the distant sound of shattering glass as the trembling earth grew closer.

UA is fucking crazy. Was what he thought when the 0-pointer took a punch at a building.

It was a behemoth of machinery that towered over all the buildings and seemed to have the strength to easily knock them down.

Izuku ignored the other test-takers as the ran past him in panic or fear while he stared at the giant robot.

Should I try to take it down? I most definitely could, especially with my stamin-

"OW!"

The yelp of pain interrupted his machinations. He immediately focused and noticed the girl pinned by rubble, the 0-pointer steadily approaching.

He didn't know the girl and he wanted to believe UA wouldn't let an examinee die during their exams but with the dust, rubble and the fact that the robot wasn't slowing down, he wasn't going to leave it to chance.

He immediately started sprinting, easily closing the distance in a few strides before assessing the girl's situation. She was obviously disoriented from the pain and possible quirk exhaustion, pinned by layers upon layers of rubble that he wasn't sure how thick. He couldn't use a high percentile upgrade on Kaiketsu lest he accidentally also sliced her along with the rubble, and a low percentile upgrade might take too long given the 0-pointer's position.

I'll have to destroy the machine itself. I'll have to use THAT, though it'd definitely take me out of the fight.

"There is no merit taking on the 0-pointer, BUT, it creates an opportunity for that to rise."

There was no hesitation when he unsheathed Kaiketsu from its confines and dropped the scabbard. What was formerly a green glow that had covered the sword was now as if the blade itself had been coated with emerald lightning. Winds picked up swirled around the blade as Izuku felt his stamina take an enormous hit, almost taking him out entirely.

"I never thought I'd use this technique in something like a school exam."

He raised the sword overhead. The winds were getting stronger now and the blade sparked an roared with emerald lightning endlessly. It was like watching a storm take shape in form of a Japanese blade.

The other examinees who'd ran in fear were now rooted to the spot as they gazed upon the display of light and winds.

100% Upgrade, ultimate Technique…

"Yes…that quality which defines a true hero…"

"SHŪMATSU! (DOOMSDAY)"

He swung the sword down, the confined storm let loose.

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SHINK!

In a shower of sparks from both sword and bot, the metal behemoth was forcefully bisected in half vertically. Like a higher force had used a ruler to rip apart the structure, blasting both equal parts a great distance before the entire scene of destruction concluded in glorious explosion.

Yagi Toshinori couldn't help the grin on his face as he and UA's staff watched the shocking display of power on their screens.

"…The spirit of Self-sacrifice!"

In the corner of the room, Aizawa Shota could only think of one thing as he stared at the video feed.

Irrational…

Didn't mean it wasn't impressive though.

Back at the scene of destruction, one Izuku Midoriya was perfectly still, his body remained in the downward swing pose for a few seconds, his breathing was heavy and his vision, dizzy.

His form swayed back and forth for a moment before he tipped backwards and landed spread eagle on his back, the exhaustion too great for him to even pick himself up.

Black was already overwhelming his sight as he descended into unconsciousness. A slight head turn confirmed that girl was okay. Though he didn't know what to make of the way she gawked at him.

One thought though pierced through everything else.

The old man isn't going to let me hear the end of this.

And then he passed out.