My Hero Academia: Thunder God

"It's about to start!"

Faced with the obstacle of the cement wall, Tetsutetsu immediately activated his Quirk, Steel, and charged forward.

"Ah!"

Kirishima followed close behind, activating Hardening, but their actions took completely different approaches.

Tetsutetsu, slightly ahead, adjusted his direction and swiftly passed by the right side of the cement wall, while Kirishima, still behind, threw a punch straight at it without hesitation.

BOOM!!

With a heavy impact, the spot where Kirishima struck dented slightly, with cracks spreading outward. However, the wall remained standing.

That was expected. Even though it was created by Cementoss, back in their original training sessions, it took both Kirishima at full Hardening and Sato at five times his normal strength striking twice at full force to actually break through!

"What are you doing, you red-haired idiot?!" Tetsutetsu shouted, veins popping in frustration as he noticed Kirishima's reckless move.

"No… wait! Shouldn't we just smash through it together?!" Kirishima scratched his head awkwardly and laughed.

"The cement wall didn't block off the entire path, why waste energy breaking it? We could just dodge to the sides!" Tetsutetsu gave Kirishima a look as if he were an absolute fool.

That said, perhaps he didn't even realize it himself, but if this had been earlier, he might have acted just like Kirishima, enthusiastically smashing any obstacle in his way. However, after spending time with Kaminari, he had started thinking more tactically about combat.

Kirishima was left momentarily speechless before sighing and running around the wall from the left.

BOOM!

BOOM!

BOOM!

But before they could get too far, another cement wall sprang up ahead—no, not just one. There were multiple this time. Tetsutetsu didn't even bother counting how many.

"You have zero teamwork, and you still have the time to argue when facing an opponent? Looks like I haven't been applying enough pressure."

Cementoss crouched down on the road, pressing his hands against the cold concrete surface as he spoke in a deep voice.

Meanwhile, in the monitoring room, Kaminari furrowed his brows in confusion as he stared at the screen.

"Wait… does that super-compressed weight thing actually affect Cementoss at all?"

Midoriya, Kyoka, Uraraka, and the others paused, stunned for a moment before realizing—yeah, Cementoss only needed to touch the ground to activate his Quirk. Carrying extra weight shouldn't hinder him in any way.

"It does have an effect," Recovery Girl suddenly spoke, smiling slightly without turning around.

"The super-compressed weights make Cementoss, who isn't skilled in close combat, even less capable of fighting up close. So, if Tetsutetsu and Kirishima manage to break through the 100-meter mark, they'll pass the exam."

"Ohhh! That makes sense!" Midoriya and the others nodded in realization. However, Kaminari remained expressionless, he wasn't entirely convinced.

At the same time, back on the battlefield, Tetsutetsu and Kirishima found themselves in serious trouble. Not only were they dealing with multiple cement walls, but square cement pillars were also rising from the ground, launching attacks at them.

BOOM!

CRACK—

Kirishima chopped down two incoming pillars with his hardened hands, but as he tried to keep up with the endless barrage, he shouted in frustration, "Damn it! Every time we break one, two more pop up! This is endless!"

Tetsutetsu, wearing his white hero suit and flowing cape, didn't respond. It wasn't just because he was busy dealing with the onslaught of cement attacks, he was deep in thought, searching for a solution.

BOOM!!

He kicked away an incoming pillar from the front, then spun around and shattered the ones closing in from the sides.

"No! If this keeps up, we'll just get worn down until we lose!"

Both Kaminari in the monitoring room and Tetsutetsu on the battlefield thought the same thing in perfect sync.

"I don't know if Cementoss can keep this up indefinitely, but I do know he can last longer than we can!"

Even though their Quirks were strong, both Tetsutetsu and Kirishima had limits. Kirishima's Hardening couldn't be maintained indefinitely, and Steel had its own issue—metal fatigue. If they kept up this battle of attrition, they would lose for sure.

They needed a new plan.

CRACK!!

Tetsutetsu and Kirishima kept pushing forward, smashing through cement pillars and walls as best they could, but in the time it took them to advance barely ten meters, exhaustion was already setting in.

"Am I really going to fail this test? After all this training… after everything I've worked for…?"

"Didn't I swear to myself that I'd keep up with Kaminari? That I wouldn't fall behind?"

Kaminari is definitely going to pass. There's no way he's failing not with Todoroki as his partner.

That wasn't arrogance. It was just fact.

Tetsutetsu clenched his fists.

"If Kaminari's passing, then I can't be the one to fall here!"

"The situation looks bad," Kyoka murmured, watching the screen.

"Yeah," Kaminari said grimly. "And this is with Cementoss holding back."

"Holding back?" Uraraka blinked, confused.

Even Recovery Girl, still facing the monitors, perked up slightly at Kaminari's words.

"Yeah. If Cementoss wasn't holding back, he could just create a ton more walls and pillars and bury them alive," Midoriya explained.

"Or he could just control the ground beneath their feet and trap them in place," Kaminari added. "Even if their combined strength is over 380, they wouldn't be able to break free from an endless ocean of cement."

Kyoka frowned, troubled. "That's… insane. Are the teachers too strong?"

"Of course they are," Kaminari shrugged. "But if you think about it, All Might said they'd be holding back. The weight limiters aren't the only handicap, they're probably leaving a deliberate path open for us to pass."

Hearing that, Kaminari turned to Kyoka and said, "You should keep that in mind for your test, too. If you hit a roadblock, don't just charge ahead blindly, look for another way through."

"Yeah, I get it," Kyoka nodded firmly.

"Huh?"

A small gasp from Uraraka brought everyone's attention back to the screen.

On the battlefield, Tetsutetsu and Kirishima had regrouped.

And Tetsutetsu was saying something.

"Kirishima! I've got an idea! I don't know if it'll work, but right now, we don't have any better options!"

"Then quit stalling and spit it out!!" Kirishima shouted as he continued chopping down cement pillars.

"Listen up—"

***

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