Chapter 34 - The Culling of U.A.
"I take it you all now understand why Haki isn't something we're prioritizing over everything else, correct?" Aizawa asked.
"Yes sir!" the entire class responded in unison.
It had only been a few minutes since Katsuki had fought against Mirio, yet the fight had left the students feeling… invigorated, in a sort of way.
"As Mirio mentioned, he was practically quirkless throughout his first year at U.A, and one of the weakest students in his class as a result." Aizawa said, "So remember: each one of you has the potential to be just as strong as him, depending on what you make of your quirk. Class dismissed."
"Wait, Mr. Aizawa, we're still having that training for Haki after school, right?" Kirishima asked.
"Yes. I've called in a special instructor who has experience utilizing the technique." Aizawa said, continuing his way out of the classroom, "So you all better be ready when the time comes."
Finally having completely exited the classroom, Class 1-A was left to their own devices for a short period of time.
"A special instructor?" Tokoyami questioned.
"Would that mean they're from the Grand Line?" Tsuyu questioned.
"But Mr. Aizawa said that coming to Japan from the Grand Line is illegal." Ojirio interjected.
"Then who do you think it is, Ojiro?" Toru energetically asked.
"I-I'm not too sure myself-" Ojiro stuttered.
"What makes you think that there aren't people on the Seven Continents who know about Haki?" Ryuko asked, recalling that in her own fight against Stain that he had used the Shave technique, and now, she had also seen Mirio use a subsidiary of that same technique, "Maybe Aizawa's found someone who thought it was their quirk or something."
"Are you dumb?" Katsuki interjected, "Aizawa said the technique takes people years to learn… no way someone could pick it off from pure talent alone."
Katsuki said this without realizing the irony that he had used Conqueror's Haki in the Sports Festival through talent alone already… but, for Armament and Observation, he was mostly correct… mostly.
"Yeah, well, I don't see you suggestin' anything!" Ryuko countered, but Katsuki instantly fired back.
"Yeah, I'm not, because there's a lot we don't know about the Blue Sea." Katsuki stated, "We heard earlier that Aizawa served as a Marine… in other words, the World Government contacted someone from the Seven Continents. That's not even mentioning the fact that they sent their robot freak after All Might and Deku, or the fact that bastard Luffy joined our elementary school for a bit… the guys on the Blue Sea know about us, but not the other way around… how do we know that there aren't people who settled here after living on the Blue Sea? How do we know there's not international organizations who work in both the Blue Sea and the Seven Continents? There's just too much left up to chance to make an accurate prediction."
Katsuki brought up a lot, and from his arguments, Ryuko merely scoffed.
"Heh. Not a bad point ya got there…" Ryuko commented, "How long have you been saving that one?"
This time it was Katsuki who scoffed.
"Two seconds, because that's all the time I needed to think of a counter argument to your dumbass." Katsuki responded.
"Oh yeah? You trying to start something?" Ryuko shouted, preparing her Binding Cloth.
"Sure, why not… it sounds like fun to stomp an extra like you!" Katsuki responded, preparing explosions in his palms.
"Knock it off, both of you." Shoto interjected, getting in the middle of the both of them and pushing them apart, "We ought to get ready for our next class."
Seeing Shoto's interjection, Ryuko realized her rash actions and nodded. Meanwhile, Katsuki merely smirked. The result for both was the same though, as they returned to their seats.
After that, the rest of the day was almost entirely normal. The students of Class 1-A took their traditional high school classes in the morning (English, Modern Literature, Math, etc), which were a bit of a slog to get through due to the lack of practical components. Aizawa then returned for their heroics class in the afternoon, where instead of an action filled class the students were hoping for, Aizawa hammered them with paperwork on the legal necessities behind rescue work.
"You all need to learn these basics before we get out into the field." Aizawa stated, "If you can't, you're going to get someone else or yourselves hurt… remember, you're all just kids."
By the end of the class, Aizawa had assigned a test for the students two days from then, something which caused them an immense amount of distress… but, overpowering all of that was something else at the end of class.
"Thirty minutes from now, all of the other students should be out of school, so we'll be able to learn Haki uninterrupted." Aizawa said, "Go to the changing rooms and get into your Hero Costumes. Be out on the P.E. field at 16:50 sharp, not a moment earlier or later."
The students followed Aizawa's orders, eagerly discussing the potential content of their training exercises while they changed.
"Oh, hey, it seems you all decided to leave at this time too!" Kirishima noted, as it was 16:45 (4:45pm) right now.
"Of course… Aizawa told us not to be early or late, so this is the only real time we could leave." Momo reasoned.
"Let's all go together then!" Kirishima suggested.
"I don't see why not…"
But when Class 1-A came out onto the P.E. field, they encountered something they didn't expect… a single person, with their back turned to not only the entire class, but Aizawa as well.
"It's… a girl?" Kaminari questioned.
"She doesn't look any older than us!" Sero noted.
"I was totally expecting some old hermit with a white beard…" Ochaco noted.
"That one's just your overactive imagination, kero." Tsuyu replied.
"Kids, this is Satsuki Kiryuin." Aizawa said, "She's the heir to the Kiryuin conglomerate, and is the one I got to teach us Haki."
"Wait… the clothing company?" Kirishima questioned.
"Fashion power." Ochaco let out.
"I don't think that's a real thing." Ryuko laughed.
"I'll hand it over to her now." Aizawa said, "How should we start, Ms. Kiryuin?"
After Aizawa's question, Satsuki finally sought to respond. Turning around slowly, she slammed her sheathed sword onto the ground once she had turned around all of the way, which in and of itself caused her monstrously powerful presence to become known.
"This is all of your students, correct?" Satsuki asked.
"...Yes, this is everyone." Aizawa noted.
Satsuki closed her eyes, emotionlessly scanning the battlefield for any potential interruptions, and when she couldn't find any…
"Then let the battle begin."
From the shadows at speeds that Class 1-A could barely comprehend, various students from Honnoji Academy wearing Goku uniforms began to pop out of practically thin air.
"Three star Goku uniform…" four students in particular all stated at the same time.
"Shackle Regalia!"
"Probe Regalia."
"Symphony Regalia!"
"BLADE REGALIA!"
"WHAT?!" Mina shouted.
"Mr. Aizawa, was this part of the plan?" Shoto asked his teacher… but he was too lost in his own world to respond.
"I'm an idiot for trusting them!" Aizawa thought.
"STUDENTS OF U.A. ACADEMY!" Satsuki Kiryuin shouted, "As the student council president of Honnoji Academy, I challenge you to a battle to test which one of our schools is stronger! The winner will gain the privilege of having one demand fulfilled by the losing school. If you choose not to participate… THEN PREPARE TO BE TRAMPLED UPON BY HONNOJI ACADEMY'S MIGHT!"
From this one line alone, the entire dynamic of the lesson changed… as it seemed a pop quiz had been sprung upon the students of Class 1-A.
"One demand?" Kirishima nervously chuckled, "What kind of game show is this?"
"Alright then, time to kick some-" Katsuki tried to shout, but Aizawa put a hand in front of him.
"No… I'll handle this!" Aizawa said, as he took off his regular clothes to reveal his Goku uniform underneath, "Two Star Goku Uniform: Erasure Overload!"
Aizawa's Goku Uniform held quite the simple design, mostly being focused around his eyes.
Replacing his golden goggles designed to hide his Erasure quirk's activation window was now a set of flashy, red goggles which allowed Aizawa to constantly output his quirk through the Goku Uniform's power. His hands and feet were also coated by the very same flashy red substance that his goggles were made out of, albeit this substance was much thinner.
"You kids run! I'll hold them back-"
Before Aizawa could muster another word, he was blasted by an attack in the form of sound waves from the Symphony Regalia. Instantly overpowered, Aizawa could merely put his arms in front of his face as his only form of defiance.
"This… strength!" Aizawa thought, clenching his teeth as he narrowly held himself in place, "I thought my experience as a pro might give me an edge… but these high schoolers… is the gap in our strength this much?! They're just as intimidating as the Nomu from USJ!"
"Don't flatter yourself… even with a Goku uniform on your side, none of you can hold a candle to us." Nonon Jakuzure, the owner of the Symphony Regalia, taunted, before turning her attention to the rest of Honnoji Academy, "Now… what are you losers waiting for? Attack!"
With that announcement, the students of Honnoji Academy knew what they had to do, as with a roar, they went to attack Class 1-A.
"These guys are batshit crazy…" Ryuko noted.
"Jiro! Help Mr. Aizawa!" Shoto ordered, as Jiro, realizing what Shoto meant, nodded.
Rushing to Mr. Aizawa's side, she placed her earphone jacks into her legs in an attempt to begin emitting a counter to Nonon's "quirk", but before she could, she was about to be attacked by a horde of One-Stars.
"ENGINE BOOST!" Tenya shouted, as by utilizing his enhanced speed, he was able to effortlessly dispatch the One-Star students who were approaching Jiro, a testament to his awakened desire to save people instead of merely fight villains.
"Counter-balance!" Jiro thought, as she began to emit a frequency of her own in an attempt to balance out Jakuzure's.
"Ha! You think that wimpy white noise is really gonna be able to compete with my symphony?!" Nonon questioned, as before Jiro could even attempt to get stronger, Nonon upped the power of the sound she poured out, causing Jiro to instantly clutch her ears and fall to the ground, "Don't get cocky… BRAT!"
"Jiro!" Kaminari shouted.
"Don't worry about your classmate right now." the green haired Uzu Sanageyama stated, who already pinned Toru Hagakure below his foot, "Worry about us!"
"Fine, you want me to worry about you?!" Kaminari shouted, rushing towards Sanageyama, "Then take this, 1.3 MILLION VOLTS: INDISCRIMINATE-"
"Don't think I'll let you attack!" Sanageyma said.
Vanishing behind Kaminari before he could react, all it took was a single strike to the back for him to take the fledgling hero down.
"Kaminari…" Toru muttered, weak and on the ground.
"See?! You're all too weak to even do a thing to us!" Nonon sadistically laughed.
"Don't be so sure."
Having used the brief period that Jiro had counterbalanced Nonon's attack in order to escape from it, Aizawa now found a place behind Nonon Jakuzure, prepared to launch an attack on the girl to protect his students.
"No, I think our confidence is very much warranted."
Before Aizawa could launch any counterattack from this position, he was kicked in the back by Hoka Inumuta, and his accompanying Probe Regalia, launching Aizawa away from the field.
"That's not to say you're weak… I've already collected quite the interesting data from your fighting style." Inumuta noted, "Though… your hopelessness is also quite notable. I have no idea why Lady Satsuki saw to it that us elites were dispatched here; we're just too strong for you!"
"What the hell is this guy made out of?!" Sato questioned nervously.
"Even despite his large appearance, he snuck up on us…" Shoji commented, "He's impressive."
"Yes… Lady Satsuki requires a large and diverse skill set from her elites." Ira Gamagori, owner of the Shackle Regalia, stated, "And as her impenetrable shield… I WILL SEE TO IT THAT I EXEMPLIFY THAT SKILLSET IN ALL!"
Before Sato or Shoji could react, Gamagori unleashed his climax of the Shackle Regalia, as the Scourge Regalia was revealed, mercilessly beating everything in its path, instantly KOing both Sato and Shoji (though since the latter was tougher, he took less damage), and going further, interfering with other battles in the process.
"MEN! DOU! KOTE! MEN! DOU! KOTE!" Uzu Sanageyama repeated.
The target of his constant attacks was none other than Shoto Todoroki, who was using his newfound mobility he learnt at Endeavor's internship to keep up with Sanageyama's attacks. Ice below to allow himself to narrowly slip away from Sanageyama's attacks, creating icebergs to block them, and using fire to propel himself out of the way, it was by no means effortless, but Shoto was certainly far more mobile than he was before.
"Todoroki!" Ryuko shouted, grabbing him with her Binding Cloth, as due to that, Shoto was able to narrowly avoid the attack of the Scourge Regalia.
"Gamagori! What the hell man, don't steal the people I'm fighting!" Sanageyama shouted.
"My discipline knows no bounds… and I will cast judgement onto whoever I or Lady Satsuki see fit!" Gamagori replied.
"Fine! Let's show these punks the might of Honnoji Academy together then!" Sanageyama reasoned.
"LET'S!" Gamagori shouted.
It wasn't just the Three-Stars either, as the Two and One stars of Honnoji Academy were also on the battlefield.
"Shit!" Katsuki thought, dodging backwards with his explosions.
"What's the matter?" the two-star Katsuki was fighting taunted, "You too scared to challenge the might of Takaharu Fukuroda, president of the Boxing Club?"
"Or maybe you've been skipping practice." another who Katsuki was also fighting stated, "As the president of the Tennis Club, Omiko Hakodate, I'll have to make sure you're properly punished."
"Quit the crap, I ain't associated with any of you!" Katsuki shouted, as he scoffed, "Nor do I wanna be… ugh."
"Wha- SUCH INSOLENCE!" Fukuroda let out, firing a left hook forwards that Katsuki leapt up into the air to effortlessly dodge.
"I'm stuck over here fighting the extras, while everyone in the center can't keep up with Honnoji Academy's Big Four." Katsuki thought, "Mr. Aizawa's got one of those uniforms too though… so it's not hopeless… but when they're all together…"
It's chaos.
Ira Gamagori's Shackle Regalia made the students need to be extra cautious of where they were firing due to its absorption properties… and even then, it didn't really matter, because Gamagori would whip himself to activate his Scourge Regalia after enough time had passed, which would cast a flurry of attacks onto all of Class 1-A… and that was the member who was the least impactful.
Hoka Inumuta's Probe Regalia was able to camouflage itself perfectly, which combined with the might of All Might on his side, meant that he could effortlessly dispatch anyone he wanted to. In fact, he could've easily killed or knocked out any of Class 1-A at any moment, and the only reason he didn't was for the sake of 'collecting data'.
While those two were acting as support in a way, Uzu Sanageyma's Blade Regalia and Nonon Jakuzure's Symphony Regalia were on full blown offensive duty.
Uzu Sanageyama would single out targets and attack them until they were knocked out from the might of his Blade Regalia, whereas Jakuzure focused her efforts on wide ranging attacks which aimed to hit the entirety of Class 1-A with its large radius… they were each beasts on their own, but together? They were invincible.
"How disappointing." Satsuki noted, "If none of them can hold a candle to even this… they'll have no chance at learning Haki."
Nonetheless, the students of Class 1-A weren't so intent to give up just yet.
"Creati!" Tokoyami shouted, referring to the hero name of Momo Yaoyorozu, "Can you create something to cast me in a blanket of darkness?"
"A blanket of…" Momo questioned, thinking to herself, "Y-yes! But-"
Before Momo could speak another word, she was almost hit by an attack from Gamagori's Scourge Regalia, but Ryuko had intervened, knocking Momo out of the way with her Binding Cloth.
Before another moment passed, Ryuko had pulled Momo into her arms, helping her dodge a soundwave attack from Nonon Jakuzure. This had the unintended side effect of leaving Tokoyami separated from Momo, leaving a potential plan to defeat one of the members of the Elite Four snuffed out.
"Damn…" Tokoyami muttered.
Cutting off his line of thinking was a massive explosion in the distance.
"PANZER MINE TIMES EIGHT!" Katsuki had shouted just before the attack had gone off, as with an AP Shot, he had lit a clump of ten shakes worth of sweat, (with at least two making up a Panzer Mine), causing that aforementioned massive explosion.
Katsuki wasn't entirely sure if even that Panzer Mine was enough to take out the Two-Stars he was fighting, but even so, he didn't have time to stick around and find out.
"ICY-HOT!" Katsuki shouted, addressing Shoto, who was currently in a fight with Sanageyama, and was about to get hit due to having his attention shot to Katsuki.
Intervening, Katsuki shot ahead via Shave, grabbing Shoto and then leaping over Sanageyma, "ICE ME, STRAIGHT TOWARDS THE MUMMY-LOOKALIKE!"
"Are you sure-"
"DO IT!"
"Fine."
Leaping to Katsuki's right, Shoto fired an ice wall directly in front of him, one which shot Katsuki straight towards Ira Gamagori and his Scourge Regalia. Finishing his task, Shoto afterwards needed to immediately focus on dodging the next attack from Sanageyama, but he had already done all Katsuki needed.
"HAPPY KWANZAA!" Katsuki shouted, as propelled by the ice wall behind him, he was shot towards Ira Gamagori and his Scourge Regalia.
"What the-"
Planting his feet directly into Gamagori's side, Katsuki continued to be shot forwards, only now, Gamagori was alongside him. His legs were hurt from just how hard he had been slammed into Gamagori, but Katsuki persevered nonetheless, as both he and Gamagori were shot away from the main battlefield… and immediately, the battle got just a little bit easier for all of Class 1-A.
"So that's his game…" Shoto realized, as immediately, Aizawa did too.
"Ochaco, Shoto, get the green one out of here!"
"H-huh?!" Ochaco questioned, "I mean… yes! Shoto, let's go!"
"Right!" Shoto responded.
"Here's a tip: don't plan while your foe is in earshot." Inumuta said, materializing out of nowhere and in front of Ochaco, but both Aizawa and Ryuko quickly intervened, both shooting their respective binding cloths at Inumuta, and while he was able to dodge them, Ochaco still was given the perfect opportunity to attack.
"Change of plans." Shoto said, "Get this guy instead."
"Yes!" Ochaco said, as she quickly touched Inumuta, causing him to float.
"Ohhh, so this is how your quirk feels." Inumuta said, "No matter, activating-"
Before Inumuta could touch any switch on his body, Kirishima came out of nowhere and punched Inumuta squarely in the face.
"Perfect!"
Unleashing an iceberg, Inumuta was forced to be shot away due to the combination of both Zero Gravity and the Heaven's Piercing Ice Wall… but unlike Gamagori, he wasn't just shot into another corner of the P.E. field, but instead, out into the far off distance.
"Oh? They've removed Inumuta from the battlefield…" Satsuki noted, "Seems they're more impressive than I thought… but it won't last."
"Don't release your quirk for ten more seconds." Shoto ordered, "This guy's got powers on par with All Might, so he could make it back here in a millisecond."
"Yeah… so he can definitely survive the fall… but probably not space, so I don't wanna hold on too long." Ochaco explained.
"Exactly."
"No… that won't work." Aizawa interjected, "Kirishima, get Tsuyu, Mina, Koda, and Shoji, and then go to where he just flew off to."
"Why? Isn't that guy gone already?" Shoto questioned.
"He was planning to use countermeasures to Uraraka's Zero-Gravity. He'd have used them the second he was fired away…" Aizawa began to say, before being forced to dodge a soundwave blast from Nonon Jakuzure, "We don't have time. Get the rest of those five together and go!"
"Right!" Kirishima shouted, as he rushed off to find the four members of his team.
"Now… we just have to hope we're enough to take these guys on." Aizawa stated, as Ryuko walked up to Mr. Aizawa.
"Don't worry, Mr. Aizawa." Ryuko said, "I ain't so intent on losing to guys in goofy outfits like these."
Hopefully, Ryuko would be right but… at the very least, her side had the numbers advantage, as there was one fight where no such advantage was present.
"So… you've isolated me." Gamagori said, his cold voice permeating the area, "But what exactly do you intend to do because of that?"
"Beat you." Katsuki responded, "Or buy enough time for someone who can."
"Ha! How presumptuous of you to think that you can do either." Gamagori laughed, "Kids like you… make me want to punish myself… because when I do… I know it feels… I know how good it feels… TO BE DISCIPLINED!"
With an eyebrow raised at how… odd… Gamagori's statements were, Katsuki could barely react to the shift in demeanor that occurred once Gamagori's Goku uniform shifted into its Scourge Regalia state.
Dodging the first and second tentacle with ease, Gamagori observed Katsuki's movements.
"I see, you're intent on fighting back against the disciplinary process…" Gamagori observed, "THEN I'LL JUST HAVE TO PUNISH YOU EVEN HARDER!"
With a burst of Conqueror's Haki radiating off of him, Katsuki felt the same ambition from Gamagori that he had felt from himself and Deku back at the Battle Trial and the Sports Festival… this power… it wasn't only held by the two of them?!
That wasn't the only thing that shocked Katsuki however, as in an instant, Gamagori's tentacle attack sped up in both frequency and intensity, causing various lacerations to begin appearing all over Katsuki's body before he could register he was even hit. These lacerations continued to appear until Gamagori's tentacles retracted, and he returned to his Shackle Regalia form.
"Wh-what the hell… so… so he was holding back…" Katsuki said, breathing heavily to himself, as he was exhausted from just that single attack, "He's… even stronger than Mirio!"
"I'm impressed… you're still standing." Gamagori said, "Most would've fallen to their knees by now."
Even despite all that he had been feeling up until that point… that one line from Gamagori had awakened a fire inside of Katsuki.
"I… will NEVER kneel to someone like you."
Just like what Gamagori had displayed earlier, Katsuki subconsciously displayed his own Conqueror's Haki… and however untamed and weak it might've been, Gamagori took note.
"Conqueror's Haki… eh?" Gamagori noted, "Let's see if you've got the power to back all that up."
END OF CHAPTER NOTES
Ongoing Battles
1. Katsuki Bakugo vs Ira Gamagori
2. Shota Aizawa, Tenya Ida, Ryuko Matoi, Shoto Todoroki, Fumikage Tokoyami, Ochaco Uraraka, and Momo Yaoyorozu vs Uzu Sanageyama and Nonon Jakuzure
3. Tsuyu Asui, Eijiro Kirishima, Mina Ashido, Koji Koda, and Mezo Shoji vs Hoka Inumuta
Offscreen Battles
Mashirao Ojiro and Hanta Sero vs Various Two-Stars
Ojiro and Sero tackle the other sixteen two stars while the rest of 1-A fights against the Three-Stars… how are these two even holding on?!
Current KO's
Honnoji Academy
Only a few one stars left out of the 1,343 originally present (most taken out by Katsuki Bakugo)
14(?) two stars out of the original 16 remaining
4 three stars out of the original 4 remaining
U.A. Academy
Toru Hagakure (heavy damage dealt to by Sanageyama. Won't be able to exert herself much, but she's gotten a decent bit away from the battlefield)
Denki Kaminari (one shot by Sanageyama. Will be knocked out for a decent amount of time)
Kyoka Jiro (ears bleeding due to Jakuzure's attack. She's mostly out of commission but could show up to make a clutch play or two)
Rikido Sato (only hit by a few of Gamagori's attacks, like Shoji. Should be up sometime soon, and he would've been up sooner if he was strengthened by his quirk)
Yuga Aoyama (?)
Oh and by the way, Toru won't be able to leave the battle and go get help.
There are other reasons that won't be brought up until this arc ends, but there are two main ways I can bring up now that if the Elite Four don't have Observation Haki, they could sense and stop Toru.
At the very least, Inumuta probably has a warning system setup around U.A. for if anyone decides to run, and Sanageyama could 'see' through Toru's invisibility partially (he can't see her, but he can still sense her faintly; think of it like an unawakened version of his Shingantsu… that can't have just come out of nowhere.)
They also have the strength, and by proxy the speed of All Might, so reaching Toru and getting past the other students of Class 1-A would be a non-issue.