My Hero Academia – Under Pressure – Season 3 – Episode 3 – The Art of War
"What's the most tired you've ever been?"
Class 1-B continued their training at the summer camp. It may have only been the second day still, but they felt like they had been there for an eternity already. They were still on the two-part task of the obstacle course, followed by the rock wall climb. With each rotation, it got harder and harder to move.
"If you were to ask me that before, I would've told you of a time that my Uncle Brazen thought of a 'good idea' that he and I do some 'family bonding'…and that 'bonding' was via physical labor. I was chopping wood for hours and then carrying it by hand to several spots across my hometown. Oh, and I was only 10 at the time and not as muscular as I am now."
The training went on, and the "casualties" of it started to show as the hours grew longer. This especially was true on the rock wall. The first time or two, no one fell, but with exhaustion now a factor, many fell, and either used their Quirks to save themselves, or were caught by Angel Wings.
"When my uncle and I were done with the day, he was no worse for wear, and I could barely move. He laughed in his usual way and carried me home where I slept like a rock for 12 hours straight, and in the morning? I was so sore."
The leaders did their best to keep their teams going, but even they faltered at this at times. And slowly, one by one, all the students got to a point where they couldn't go on anymore.
"But if you were to ask me that question now? I'd take that day with my uncle over that second day at the summer camp with no hesitation. Because by the time they finally called of the training…there wasn't a word in the dictionary to describe how exhausted we were."
As the sun finally started to set, the last of the students fell to the ground in acceptance that they couldn't give no more. When that happened, the teachers and The Trainer helped them to the main area where the others were all sat upon benches and tables. No one was talking, as that would require energy and effort to do.
With the last students now among them, Angel Wings, Armed Guard and The Trainer all looked at them with various expressions. Each one matched the personality of the person. Angel Wings was worried, Armed Guard was slightly disappointed, and The Trainer looked like he was ready to get them to start all over again.
But instead, he blew his whistle to get the students attention, "So, what are you feeling?"
"Pain," Fenella said angrily with a look to match.
"That's good, Ms. Fenella, that was the goal."
Ueno's head wobble was barely there when he said, "So you were trying to kill us? Wonderful."
"No, Ueno, that wasn't the goal," Angel Wings said with a sympathetic look.
"Could've fooled us," Kanagita remarked as she tended to her arm.
"I may be a shark, but overkill is overkill," Anno added as he winced in pain from his own exhaustion.
"Your anger is misplaced," pointed out Armed Guard, "if you're looking for someone to be mad at, it's yourselves."
This got an uproar from the class.
"QUIET! I tell you this because the only person who failed you…is you. Your bodies have limits, and at times, you've seen them, tested them, but never like this. Pro-Hero work may seem like it's something spur of the moment, and quick to resolve, but that's not always the case. Look at the Okinawa Incident, for example."
"The one with Athena and Rip Roar?" asked Chuya as she tried not to show her pain.
"Precisely. That fight was almost a disaster due to the number of enemies they faced. But because they endured, and pushed through the pain and the numbers, they were able to last for over an hour until reinforcements could arrive. THINK about that. An HOUR of intense combat using your Quirks. At the Sports Festival, you at best had minutes using them, and in very controlled situations more or less. Do any of you think you could survive an hour of grueling combat at your peak?"
The class carefully looked around at one another, none of them dared answer because for all they knew, they couldn't.
The Trainer made a noise of agreement with Armed Guard, "This test was designed for you to fail. Well, fail overall I should say. You were all going to pass the first run, but all the runs that came after? That was more of a personal test. One to show just how much you could endure, push through, and see how far you could go."
"A test of will?" suggested Kuroda as she rubbed feeling into her arms and legs.
"In a manner of speaking. This feeling of exhaustion you have? Consider this the lowest point you can get to physically. Your goal going forward, and by going forward I mean as you venture beyond this camp and back to UA, is to work hard so that you never have to experience this feeling again. Because if this happens to you on a battlefield? You're as good as done."
The somber statement rattled the class. It was in that moment that the true gravity of their training came into focus. They knew they were here to get stronger, but they were also clearly here to ensure that they knew just how bad things could get if they weren't prepared for what was out there.
"The good news…" stated Angel Wings, a small smile back on her face, "is that you all honestly did well. The leaders kept your teams going until it just wasn't possible anymore, and you all didn't give up until you simply couldn't go on."
"I was expecting at least ONE of you to go the full timespan…" Armed Guard said with a grunt, but was met with a slap on the shoulder by Angel Wings.
"Oh stop it! You're lucky none of passed out from shear exhaustion. Regardless, you are done for the day, and if you haven't noticed, it's actually not 8PM. So you'll have more time to rest up after you go have your dinner."
This got a much more positive reaction from the class. Especially from Ryo, who raised her hand, "After dinner, are we allowed to go to the hot springs?"
"There's a hot spring?" asked all the guys.
"Wow, no one really noticed but me…"
Angel Wings laughed heartily at this, "Yes, you all can go to the hot spring afterward. In fact, we encourage it. Right, Sone?"
"Right!" Sone said now very excited, "Hot springs are great for relaxing your bodies, that's why we have them here. There's one side for guys, and the other the ladies, so mind the signs and no funny business!"
"That goes double from me."
Armed Guard cleared his throat, "You've worked hard today, so eat a hearty meal, then rest and recuperate. Tomorrow will not be as physically grueling as today was, but it'll still be hard. So be ready for that. Now GO!"
With that last roar, the class got up and went to the dining hall, where the food looked so good to them that they didn't question anything and just raced to it and devoured as much as they felt they could before their stomachs burst.
The talk between them was minimum at best, as most were still too beat to discuss what happened to them on that day. Instead, they rested for a moment after they ate, then went back to their lodges to get changed for the hot spring.
The teachers were there to make sure they went to the right spots, and the students didn't dare try anything, not that any funny business was likely to happen due to their still tired states.
Some were a bit nervous about just how hot the hot springs were, but once they dipped their toes in, and felt the calm and healing waters upon their skin, they couldn't wait to get in.
"Ahhhhhhh," they unknowingly said in unison from both sides of the hot spring area.
For the first few minutes, they just let the warm waters wash over them so that they could enjoy it. But after a while, they felt their energy build up again, and knew they had to talk.
"Today was the worst," Ebirima said with a still pained look on her face.
"It wasn't the best, lass, that's for darned sure," noted Fenella with a sigh.
Kanagita shifted in place to try and get even more comfortable, "I ache all over, I want this hot spring to take it all away."
"We're not that lucky, Kanagita," replied Kuroda with a laugh, "but I can definitely feel this working. I bet this is a special nutrient-rich hot spring. If we take a dip in this every night? We might just make it through the week yet."
A small laugh came from Eri, "One can only wonder what they have planned for us next. They said it wouldn't be as physical, but that leaves a lot of room for various kinds of tests."
"As long as I don't face that rock wall again, I don't care!" burst out Ryo. "I hated every bit of that."
"Not the best with heights?"
"I don't mind heights, it was just rough. Doing it over and over again, and AFTER the obstacle course? I get the intent they were going for, doesn't mean I liked going it."
"Yep," piped up Iha, who only poked her head above the water enough to speak, and then sink back into it.
"It's part of our training, and like you said Ryo, there was a point to it. If it was meaningless, then we'd have the right to riot," noted Hana wisely, "But we have to trust them on this, they've been through this before, and have taught other classes this way. That should be enough for us to at least see this through."
The girls all nodded at this. All except for Chuya, whom Kuroda noticed was in an extreme state of focus as she sat in the spring, complete with her eyes closed.
"You ok, Chuya?" asked Kuroda.
"Yes, I'm just focusing," she replied without a look to her.
"You're not mad about…?"
"No. I know I had that coming. Will you do something like that again?"
"Not likely."
"Then we're good."
"I've got a question for you," said Fenella with a rather odd look on her face, "and you too, Shifty, what would happen if your Quirks activated right now?"
Hana shrugged nonchalantly at the question, "Water is water to my body, I might get a more hardened water skin due to the temperature, but that's about it."
"My aquatic body wouldn't mesh with the hot spring, if I transform right now the waters will mix and dissipate me, and I'll die," Chuya answered quickly and bluntly.
This took everyone aback, which got to Chuya to open one eye to see their expressions, and then break out a smirk.
"That was a joke."
The remainder of them sighed in relief, then laughed as they'd never heard Chuya do a joke before.
On the other side, the guys were very much in a state of enjoyment in the spring. They too started off quiet, but Tonen knew he needed to check on them.
"Alright guys," he started out with a look to them all, "how we feeling?"
"Tired," answered Azujima.
"Sore," added in Ryu.
"I never want to see an obstacle course again," admitted Doza.
"Spirit intact…body not so much," Wasuke tried, but failed, to boast.
"Meh," Ueno noted with his head wobble before.
Oshibu let out a sigh of both relief and pain, "I wish I could heal as fast as I can run."
Sanda made to speak, but faltered, "I can barely talk…which is honestly rare for me…"
"Not that I don't mind the quiet," joked Ikaim.
Tonen looked at Goya, who matched his eyes for a moment before he made a wave of his hand to show he was fine enough and didn't need to speak.
Someone wasn't there though, Tonen counted heads and tried to see who was missing, only to realize something a bit too late.
"Oh please don't—" he began but was soon cut off.
Because a form emerged from being submerged in the spring in the loudest possible way, it was Anno, who was very clearly the most re-energized of the lot, "Behold the shark!"
"We behold you! Now stop splashing water on us!"
"Don't be mad at the shark for being in his natural environment!"
"My dear shark, no species of yours exists within hot springs!" pointed out Wasuke with splash to his classmate.
"Ah…good point. But there are some who like to live near geothermal vents on the ocean, so it's close!"
Annoyed, Ikaim shot some of his ink at Anno, "Will you please just sit down and enjoy the waters like the rest of us? You heal better in water, duly noted, I wasn't kidding about liking the quiet."
With a grumble, Anno lowered himself back down into the water, much to the enjoyment of his classmates. Ikaim meanwhile looked at the wall that separated the boys from the girls.
"So guys, do you wonder—"
"No!" overrode Tonen with a stern look and point that he then directed at all of them. "Don't even think about it."
Oshibu couldn't help but chuckle at this outburst, "Not the spying type, TK?"
"I respect our female classmates enough to give them the space they deserve right now. And if anyone even TRIES to go up the wall? Tonight, or later in the week? I'll air blast you off the wall and won't instruct anyone to catch you on the way down. Got it?"
He again surveyed the guys, and one by one they all gave a nod of acceptance. Tonen exhaled in relief and then started up another conversation to get the guys relaxed as they soaked up the water more.
10pm soon came and they went to their lodges and went to bed. They were all out within minutes, but just before that point, they wondered what would be next.
The morning dawned, and much like the day before, they got up, dressed, went to breakfast, and then prepared for their morning training session.
The teachers wished them well in their personal training and the students went off to their stations. But as Chuya went to hers, someone called out.
"Chuya Taki," came the voice.
She turned to see Armed Guard approach, his usual blunt look upon his face.
"Something wrong, sir?" she asked her teacher.
He shook his head in reply, "No, but I did want to let you ask the question you've had since yesterday."
"Sir?"
"About why you're a leader in the team exercises."
Chuya failed to contain a recoil at the statement, because she indeed did want to ask about that. The three other leaders of their class were natural picks for all sorts of reasons. But she, at least in her mind, was not.
"Yes, I do wish to ask about that. Who made that suggestion to have me as the fourth leader?"
Armed Guard smirked at the question, "I did."
"You did?" she redirected, face full of shock.
"I know full well of your…personal mission…in regards to your father, and yet ever since the Sports Festival you have tried to be more…flexible. You have at least attempted to be more social with your classmates, even getting some of their trust."
"That doesn't mean I'd make a good leader."
"It does not. But, your training with your father does give you certain edges in leadership, edges that will come into play today. And to be as blunt as you know I can be, if you were to get out of your own way, you could be a better leader than all of others."
He didn't wait for her to reply, but rather, turned and departed, which left Chuya in yet another shocked state. She always thought of herself as a soldier, while she always thought of her father as a leader. Chuya had no aspirations to match her father's leadership ability, but now, she couldn't help but wonder…should she try to?
With a shake of her head, she put the building questions out of her mind and went to her personal training session.
As this was the third day of the training, each of them felt they were getting at least a little better at it. Some of them even got improvements or modifications to their tests in order to add new barriers or skill levels to push through and master.
A few hours later, the sessions were stopped, and the usual rest period, along with the snack period, began, much to the students delight.
As they finished the snacks, The Trainer came forward and got their attention, "Alright everyone, your next test is ready. In fact, it's something familiar to you, we're doing the obstacle course again!"
"NOOO!" roared the class all at once, which knocked The Trainer off balance.
"That was a joke! OK? It was a joke…"
"BOOOO!" the class answered.
"Tough crowd, tough crowd, ok, here's the real test. Tsuru, Hirota?"
He motioned to them, as they were a bit behind him, with their three combined arms all out of sight for an unknown reason. But as they approached, their reared their arms, and within them…were paintball guns.
This got a much more excited reaction from the class.
"Oh, you like that huh? Good! Because today, we're going to have a very special set of games…featuring paintball."
"Define 'special set'!" demanded The Twins, suspicious of what peril may await them.
"Fair enough," admitted The Trainer with a chuckle. "Alright, so, yesterday was all about the physical nature of our world, getting pushed to the limit and seeing how far you can go. Today, we're going to look at the more mental and strategic parts of our job. Hirota?"
"Your teams will be put into a special section of the forest. One that has a circular path all around it so that you know where the boundary is. The goal in and of itself is as you would expect, eliminate other students so that your team is the last one standing."
"But…?" wondered Kuroda, as she sensed the twist coming.
"But…," repeated Angel Wings with a smile, "there's going to be a key difference in how you play. Because only one member of each team will be able to use their Quirk."
"How limiting," noted Ueno with his usual head wobble.
"That's where the strategy comes in, Ueno. Your leaders will be the ones to choose who gets to be the Quirk user each round. Then, you all will work on a strategy that builds around that so you can win."
"And to be clear on something," chimed in The Trainer, "once one of you is deemed the Quirk user, you can't go again until the first set of five matches are done. All of you must be the Quirk user once."
"AND…" started out Armed Guard, "the other thing to be wary of is teamwork. If you go off without a strategy, you're likely to get picked off. So think about how to win the match and not just get personal glory."
"Indeed, overall team performance will affect your team scores."
"We're still doing that?" questioned Tonen with a tilt of the head, "You didn't even tell us the scores from yesterday!"
The Trainer flipped through his clipboard, "I didn't? Oh, right, you all were too exhausted. I'll skip over the little details and just say that Team Eri is in first, Team Kuroda in second, Team Tonen in third and Team Chuya in fourth."
The students talked amongst their teams to note how well, or potentially poorly, they were doing. The Trainer blew his whistle to get their attention.
"Just so you know, the difference between each slot is less than ten points. So today's test is crucial as you can either build upon your lead, or get taken over by another team. Now, leaders? You'll be given a special bracelet. On it is a list of your team. Once you're put into your spots, you'll have a short amount of time to formulate a strategy. When a notification appears on your screen, you'll need to tap one of your teammates to let us know who is the Quirk user in the battle. We'll be watching to make sure no one cheats. Any other questions?"
Anno raised his hand and was called on, "What defines an elimination? Single hit? Multiple hits? Does friendly fire count as a hit?"
"Very good questions, Anno, I can answer that," replied Angel Wings. "A direct hit is an elimination. So if one grazes you? You'll be allowed to continue. If there's any "judgment calls", you'll hear our voice over the loudspeakers in the forest. Each team will have different colored paintballs, so if you do accidentally get hit by a friendly, you can just call it out and we'll know if it was or wasn't."
"And with that," ordered The Trainer with a point, "let's move out!"
The students arose and followed the three down a different pathway than before, and indeed came to a stretch of forest that had a rounded path surrounding the place. Before they went to their spots, they each got a paintball gun, a bag of 100 bullets, and a helmet.
Once armed, Angel Wings took two groups, and Armed Guard took three, and they went down opposite paths to help set everyone up. Once a team was dropped off, they were told to remain silent until given a signal to discuss the plan. They were being watched via camera by The Trainer to make sure no sneakiness was had.
Eventually, all five teams were placed at their spots, and the leaders were told via their special bracelets that they had five minutes to plan and pick their Quirk user for the round.
Kuroda immediately went to work, "Ok, who wants to go first? I'm open to volunteers."
"Me," said Iha to the surprise of everyone.
"Wait, really?"
"My Quirk is limited here. Use that."
Sanda snapped his fingers as he understood her intent, "Right, because everyone else will likely try and use a heavy hitter the first round! Not to mention we don't know what it's like to be in that forest for this kind of thing and as such we might accidentally throw away a good Quirk by—"
"Sanda!" yelled the group.
"Right, sorry, sorry!"
"I think it's a good plan," admitted Fenella, "and like Sanda was rambling on about, we learn the forest in this round, and pounce on it next round."
"If that's the case then I volunteer for the second round," interjected Ryo. "My powers will only slightly work here. So get me out of the way and we'll do two rounds of "getting our bearings" and then try to pounce with you three in the final rounds."
Kuroda thought about it, "Yeah…that could work…but I still think we should try our best in these first two rounds…and I have an idea on that front…"
With Eri, she planned for the now, and that included who she wanted as her ringer, "Azujima, you're our first Quirk user."
Azujima was shocked by this, "Wait, what?"
"I'll bite, what's the angle?" asked Ikaim.
"It's simple, Azujima's senses are going to be a godsend in that thick forest. We'll stick together this round, protect Azujima, then he uses his senses to let us know when the others are around, then we'll pick them off one by one."
"Sneaky, I like it!" praised Ryu.
Ebirima was on board too, "Yeah, that's really clever, as long as it works, of course."
"It'll work," said Eri confidently. "We just have to work together, which is part of the plan here. So, here's what we'll do…"
Tonen, like Kuroda, looked at his team and put it to them to suggest who should go first, "I'm all ears for ideas."
"Given my training," started Ueno and his head wobble, "I could start, make sure none of the paintballs hit me. That would be productive, right?"
"I definitely don't want to go first," pointed out Kanagita with some worry. "Brick Break will be loud in there, plus…"
"She's huge," finished Doza with a laugh, "and thus would be easier to hit."
"…yeah."
"It's fine, Kana" said Tonen consolingly, "we can use you last if you want. How about you, Shifty?"
She smiled in a very knowing way, "Well, if it's all the same to you, I'd like to go first, mainly because I have something that might guarantee a win…"
Chuya meanwhile thought as strategically as she could to determine how to handle things, "Despite our very good power sets, this forest setting does hurt us."
Oshibu shifted uncomfortably at this, "Yeah, my speed will be limited at best. I'll have to do controlled bursts, which might leave me open to attack."
"And my shark form will make me easy to spot and hit," lamented Anno.
Wasuke formed his shield for a moment before he broke it apart again, "While I could block on the shots in theory…those would still count as hits I'm afraid."
"I see no restrictions to me," boasted Goya.
"Which proves you weren't listening," bit back Chuya. "This isn't about individual glory, it's about team strategy and effort. If you go out there flexing your psychic muscles you'll get everyone on you in a heartbeat. Plus, as Wasuke said, if you get hit in your psychic field? You'll likely be counted out as that is a 'part of you'."
"Bah."
"Can it, you," Anno said with a stomp to Goya, but then focused back on Chuya, "what do you think we should do then, Chuya?"
Chuya gazed at the forest, and wondered how her father would handle things. She knew that he would prefer a careful approach to start, to learn the area and terrain, then go and expand a plan of action as he got more information.
Confident in this approach, she focused back on her team, "You want to be first, Goya? Fine. But you're playing this by my strategy…"
Eventually, the buffer ended, and all the leaders put in their first Quirk user so that the teacher would know who to look out for, and who to reprimand for breaking the rules.
Another countdown began, and when it hit zero, a blowhorn blasted from where The Trainer and the teachers were, and so, the class warfare began.
At first, no matter their true team strategy, they all walked carefully into their section of forest. Many felt it might have been the same general size of the coliseum that they used for the Sports Festival, which meant there was plenty of room to move, hide, and set traps in.
The only team that had a true sense of everything was Eri's, as per their plan, they used Azujima to be their radar, and at the start of the competition, it worked in their advantage.
While his eyes weren't the best due to the thick forest in front of them, his sense of hearing could pick up the others as they moved around, talked to one another, and so on.
"We're the only group fully sticking together," he said after getting a literal sense of the area.
Eri was pleased with this, "Good, guide us to the closet people to take out. We pick them off and move to the next."
"Huh, that's weird…"
"What?"
"One of the others just disappeared, I think it was-"
A loud noise caught their attention, it came from a far part of the forest.
"What was that, Azujima?"
Azujima looked at Eri with worry, "Someone's going overboard…"
On the other side of the forest, Goya ripped up a set of trees and took their branches as protection for both himself and Wasuke, who was right behind him.
"I know she told us to 'be loud' at first, but that might have been too much!" he chastised.
"Quiet," Goya answered with a dismissive wave. "it's going to be fine, my powers will lead us to victory."
"Glad YOU think so, I'll bet you this backfires on you."
"Deal."
As they treaded ahead, the sound of shots being fired got their ears, and sure enough, the pellets hit the branches that Goya had set up.
"Excellent, prey."
While he kept his front protected, Goya used some of the other branches to launch an attack on their shooter.
Ryo had to jump out of some bushes that she used as cover to get away from the branches, and when she did, Wasuke lined up a shot and took her out with a bolt to the arm.
"Ow!" she said as she grabbed her arm. "Dang it."
"Excellent shot, Mr. Wasuke," came the booming voice of The Trainer through some intercoms. "The first person has fallen, who will be next? Ms. Ryo, please leave the forest, and keep your hands raised so that everyone knows you're not a threat.
The first damage dealt, the various teams buckled down and enacted their strategies as best they could to try and pull through.
As they all had different ways of doing things, the ones who got taken out early on were the ones not protected by others, or who made key mistakes to get themselves exposed. In fact, for much of the match, the only group that didn't have a single casualty was Eri's group. As Azujima's senses kept them in the know of what was around them.
Mostly, that is.
There was a close call midway through when Iha managed to get close enough to drain Azujima's powers, but he called out her position quickly enough for the others to get out of the way of her shots and then fire back, taking Iha out.
Chuya's team only took one loss early, and that was due to Oshibu getting caught off guard by a burst attack from Kuroda and Fenella.
Chuya and Anno were able to get out of the line of fire though and fight back. A tense firefight occurred, and Fenella got taken out, which forced Kuroda to flee.
Tonen's team took a more spread-out approach, which worked to their advantage in part as that meant they could take out others in more stealthy fashion. But, as Ueno, Kanagita, and Doza found out the hard way, it also meant that if they were in the wrong spot at the wrong time, they could get sniped.
The match went on, and more "casualties of war" followed. The lack of knowing the terrain played a huge part in everything, as many had to go slow and do their best to find the best cover in a place where everything was cover.
Sanda got picked off by Eri's squad. Anno got hit by a bolt from Tonen, who hid from sight afterward as he didn't want Chuya to come after him.
Goya and Wasuke kept up their "defensive barrier" tactic for some time, and as the match went on, both felt confident in their strategy.
"I'll give Chuya credit, this is working wonderfully," bragged Goya with a laugh.
"While I agree on the concept, we're not the victors yet," cautioned Wasuke.
"Relax, with our defenses, nothing will—"
Before he could finish, two bolts from above them hit both Goya and Wasuke square in the chest. Neither could believe it, as they didn't even see where the shots came from.
"WHO DID THAT?!" roared Goya.
"It doesn't matter," noted The Trainer. "You both got hit, and you both are out."
Furious, Goya threw the branches in all directions. Nearly hitting Wasuke in the process. Despite being yelled at for this, Goya didn't care, and stomped off.
The field thinning, the conflicts were getting more intense. Which was proven when Kuroda and Chuya got into a rematch, and traded fire with one another.
"For the record, Chuya," Kuroda said as she hid behind a tree, "this is just me trying to get a win, nothing personal!"
"Agreed, I'm not seeking payback here," Chuya replied as she shot at the tree Kuroda hid behind to try and force her out. When she didn't see her move, she grimaced and hid behind a tree herself, "Well, maybe a little…"
Their fight went on for a while until they both jumped out from behind their spots and shot directly at each other, both landing a hit on the other.
They hit the ground, saw their "wounds", and then left the left the grounds together.
"Nice shot," praised Kuroda.
"Same to you," Chuya mirrored with a small smile to Kuroda.
The last teams standing were Team Eri and Team Tonen. Eri still had her whole squad thanks to Azujima, Tonen…not so much.
This became very apparent when Tonen found a small clearing in the forest, much to his surprised, and then found himself being aimed at by all five members of Eri's team.
"It's over Tonen," called out Eri. "Put your hands up and we won't fire on you."
Tonen sighed and dropped his gun instead, "You are right, Copycat, it's over."
From a tree behind him, five bolts went out and hit all five members of Eri's team.
"What the heck was that?" demanded Ryu.
"My ace in the hole. Right, Shifty?"
He looked back, and from a tree just out of their sight, Shifty emerged from a large branch. Her skin was very much like bark, and helped her perfectly blend in with the surroundings around her.
As she jumped off the tree branch and onto the ground, her normal form appeared, and that got Azujima to facepalm, "I knew I forgot someone! Hana vanished from my radar early in the match, but I had no idea why!"
"My camouflage likely screwed with your senses," noted Hana with a smile and a shrug, "especially if you focused just on hearing. I did my best to do sniper points and not move around too much. I got Goya and Wasuke the same way."
"Guess we win round one," Tonen said with a smile and a laugh.
"Well played, Tonen," Eri admitted as she came over and shook both his and Hana's hands.
"Your strategy was incredible, Eri!" praised Hana, "No one else could've done that and survived."
"I had my own ace in the hole."
"Well done, Azu!" exclaimed Tonen with a thumbs up to his friend.
Azujima rubbed the back of his head nervously as he soaked up the praise of his friends. The intercom interrupted further chatter though as The Trainer made to speak, "Well done, everyone! The winner of the first round is Team Tonen! With Team Eri a close second. Proceed to the outer paths and make your way to the front area of the forest. You'll be placed in different spots for the next rounds so that are all on unfamiliar territory once again. Use this first round to make better strategies for the second one!"
With that, the remaining students went back to the path, rejoined their teams, and then got sorted into new locations.
The rounds that followed were not just more intense, they were definitely more calculating in terms of the plans grown by each team.
For example, in round two, Kuroda had Ryo be her Quirk user, and had her go off on a solo mission, much like Iha before her. But with the twist of using her Quirk to find the tech bracelets all the leaders had. She was able to snipe Tonen and Eri due to this. Much to their surprise and dismay.
When it was Ebirima's turn to be the Quirk user, she holed up in key spots in the forest, and set bubble gum traps to literally get people stuck, and then pick them off.
Wasuke's time as the Quirk user was punctuated by him trying to slices off branches and bark to put up obstacles that made it hard to follow him or get to him easily.
Ueno was Tonen's second pick, and he cleverly used a big tree to protect his back so he could focus on the other directions with his Quirk, easily repelling all bolts that came his way. It was this strategy that led to him winning. Not because he took everyone out…but because he kept firing the bolts away until the remaining two people, Chuya and Fenella, ran out of ammo.
Tonen's streak ended there though. As round three had his team getting eliminated first thanks to combined Quirk efforts of Sanda, Ryu, and Anno…who went Super Shark to straight up frighten people into letting their guards down so that he could fire upon them. They even picked off Doza before he could use his Quirk on that turn.
The third round went to Eri's team, who won through a bit of trickery as they literally hid Azujima in bushes and the others picked the rest off.
Round four saw Fenella, Ikaim, Kanagita and Chuya all use their Quirks, and the results varied from person to person. Including Kanagita getting picked off early due to some resistance from Brick Break in regards to how to get through the forest. Ikaim had better success via inking up the area to cause issues, but was eventually caught by Chuya, who had the most victories of the round, and despite Fenella's best efforts to put her down, she got the victory.
Round five saw Kuroda's team finally take the edge, as the leader used her material abilities to cause the forest to be what she wanted it to be. And while Eri, Tonen and Oshibu were good in how they handled their own Quirks that round, it wasn't enough, Kuroda personally eliminated a good chunk of the students, and soon there was none left.
With the fifth round completed, they all exited the forest and again were addressed by The Trainer and the teachers.
"Well done, all of you, those were five really great rounds," The Trainer said as he looked over the stats on his clipboard.
Armed Guard gave an appreciative nod to them all, "I was impressed by many of the strategies employed, both large and small."
"And it was honestly rather well balanced in terms of who won!" came the happy voice of Angel Wings.
"It was fun," acknowledged Tonen with a soft laugh. "So what now?"
The Trainer got a very familiar look on his face, one of knowing a joke but not telling it, "Simple. You just did a five-round battle…now you're going to do another five rounds."
The class groaned. They knew they should've saw this coming, but they didn't.
"With each round you got better, more clever, more inventive," pointed out Armed Guard with a motion to them all. "Now imagine what you can do with a FULL match set under your belts? You likely won't use the same strategies again, or will you? It's up to your leaders, and your teams' input. But by the end of this, you'll see just how important strategy and adapting to situations is in our line of work. Now UP and at them!"
With another groan, the students arose, and the matches began anew.
New techniques and strategies were put out by the students, which included variations on past plans, like Eri's tactic of using Azujima as their trump card. When it was his turn, they didn't go and find everyone, instead, they forced everyone to come to them, so Azujima could always hear them coming. They won that round when they enacted that.
Other standouts were Goya and Chuya, who each won their rounds when they were the Quirk user. Making Chuya the only dual-winner of the two sets. And Goya listened to Chuya's strategy before his own round to ensure that his arrogance didn't cost him, and it didn't.
Fenella, Ryu, Ueno, Kuroda, Hana and more continued to evolve throughout the matches, and even though ones like Ueno, Hana and Kuroda didn't get repeat wins during their Quirk runs, it was because of how others had adapted to counter what they could do.
Which included Tonen getting the sole victory for his team in the second set when he overwhelmed Kuroda with his air pressure so that she couldn't shift anything in their rematch.
Overall, everyone did incredibly well. And when the second set of matches were done a long while later, they were once again tired, but in an ironic way, not like they were the previous day.
The Trainer blew his whistle when they were done, "Alright, everyone! I'll call that a day. You all did great."
A collective sigh of relief came from them at this. It was still late out, but not as late as the previous day, and that meant they could relax for a good while before they had to sleep.
"Before I forget, allow me to tell you the rankings now. In terms of the test we just did, the most wins went to Team Chuya and Team Tonen with three wins a piece. Team Kuroda and Eri both had two wins."
The class clapped at the successes of each team.
"However, that wasn't the only metric to measure. We also graded you on team performance and how well you and your leaders enacted your plans. To that end, the winner of this round…was Team Chuya.
"What?" Chuya said shocked.
The Trainer was amused by this, "Don't be so taken aback. It's true you didn't do well in the first match, but you adapted mightily. You yourself Chuya was one of the last ones standing in multiple rounds on both sets. You were also the only Quirk user to repeat as victor, and even got a certain team member of yours to listen to your plans so that victory could be had."
Goya grunted but didn't say anything out loud.
"Your team did very well, and because of that, when you calculate the new point totals…the new ranks are thus. Team Eri is in first place still, but now Team Chuya is in second, and Team's Kuroda and Tonen are literally tied for third in terms of points overall."
This shift got the class talking, all except for Chuya, who was amazed that because of her leadership and strategies, her team had jumped to second overall. As she raised her eyes, she noticed Armed Guard had his gaze upon her, and a rare smile graced his lips as he nodded to her proudly.
Chuya smiled and nodded in return.
"Maybe he's right," she said to herself, "maybe I can be a leader…like my father. And working with the others…it wasn't so bad."
"Ok, enough talk!" ordered The Trainer with another blow of his whistle. "You all did well today, but tomorrow is a different challenge, and one that'll be much more Quirk-focused. So be ready for that. Your dinner should be ready by the time you change and clean up. Then hit the hot springs to heal up. Dismissed!"
The class happily got up and moved out, they were in much brighter spirits this time around, and with the progress they could tell they had made, were eager to see what was their next test was, and how it could potentially make them better Pro-Heroes.
*credits*
