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CHAPTER 80
Shouto unleashed his left side, flames burst through his skin. The air around them heated rapidly, it was as if the forest itself were bending under the pressure. The collision of fire and ice created a massive blast of wind, a shockwave that shook the trees, scattered debris, and ruffled anything that couldn't anchor itself to the ground. Even threatening to uplift the onlookers, who had to take extra care to anchor themselves.
"Ah, I remember this," This had been done by Shouto at the Sports Festival when he faced Izuku. He had created immense wind pressure by rapidly heating the large amount of ice he created. The pressure only became more volatile when Izuku threw his own punch back when he couldn't control the output, that burst had been enough to knock back the stadium's audience. In the category of spectacles, those two would've won first place for their performance. Shouto especially made an impression on the class, one that was pressed so deeply in their minds it wouldn't fade. At the time, their ideals were simplistic.
Output equals rank in power. No one believed they could win against Shouto because of his quirk, and no one believed that anyone else could defeat Shouto either. Sakura had torn the veil and revealed that behind the quirk was a human, full of blood, skin, and vulnerability.
The ice beneath Sakura's feet melted away, leaving her momentarily suspended in the air. She spun mid-fall, caught in the aftershock of Shouto's devastating move. However, she regained control and found land once again, easier than the young man felt she should've. Despite her talents, he thought that perhaps he would've at least floundered her for longer than a few seconds. But Sakura was not one to relinquish control unless to lure in her opponent.
For a fleeting second, Shouto was struck by déjà vu. The memory of his match against Izuku at the Sports Festival came rushing back—the same explosive collision, but this time, it was different. This time, his flames were more controlled, precise, and deliberate.
This type of power was devastating on its own, but Shouto was taking extra care as he didn't look at Sakura as if he were facing an enemy.
"I told you to come at me like you wanted to kill me, did you forget?"
He stared at her silently. Shouto was not talented in reading people and often took everything at face value, therefore he had no idea how to engage with Sakura after she asked that question, as she made her eyes particularly unreadable.
"Or are you afraid you might give me a scar to match your own?"
Shouto's eyes visibly went wide in shock. 'Why would she-
As the steam cleared, the sound of movement broke through. Tenya's engines roared as ran across the ground that was no longer covered in ice. The others joined in as well, taking the clearing as their chance to strike long before Shouto could decide to block their path with ice. But he had been taken in by his thoughts. Yuga, Tsuyu, and Momo all took their own action to intercept Sakura.
"Look's like everyone found their footing. Let's see how long that lasts," Sakura tilted her head, her lips curved upwards with a tinge of a new sharpness. Her voice cut through the oppressive silence, almost playful. "Shall we?"
That was the spark that lit the fire.
Momo moved first, her hands already working, pulling materials from her body. She pulled a net to throw at Sakura, keeping a distance. She hurled the item, aiming to entangle her, but Sakura moved with the fluidity of water slipping through cracks in stone.
"Keeping your distance, huh?" Sakura said, dodging another net. "Smart. You're a walking arsenal, but in hand-to-hand combat, you're at a disadvantage against me."
Momo's hands stilled for a fraction of a second. "What are you talking about?"
It was precisely her quirk's nature that Momo had practiced in different weapons. What was the point of being able to create them if she couldn't use them? Was Sakura insinuating that she was lacking in her combat skills? Compared to her, that would be a fair assessment, but Momo was starting to realize that measuring by Sakura's standards was vastly different. And for your own sake, should be avoided.
"You hold yourself back. Not just with your thoughts but with your principles. Tell me, can't your quirk create things like poisons?"
Momo's expression shifted, composure cracking. "This is only training!" she retorted, her voice shaking slightly. Sakura was certainly unorthodox but this was pushing through boundaries firmly set not only in the school's policies but society itself.
This had Momo caught in her head, so Tenya chose to take the lead, running full pace towards Sakura. Intending to snatch the bells before she could react. A tactic that made for his best option. It's how his family also operated, moving too fast for villains to see, and quicker than disasters could occur.
He had shifted to high gear, but it wasn't nearly fast enough to combat the kunoichi's agility. And it became a back-and-forth dance.
'I can't go any faster without losing control!' If only they weren't on such uneven grounds, then he could release the full fruits of his training! No that was just an excuse. He couldn't do it because he didn't know if it would be enough against her.
Tenya often thought about the way Sakura stood against Stain and the way she fought that villain alone in Kamino. Coming from a family of heroes, Tenya always thought he knew what it meant to be a hero. Until his older brother nearly lost his life as one. And then he watched one of his classmates, someone he knew, step deliberately in the line of fire to protect another life.
Tenya often clashed with Sakura's ideals, the statements she made, and her beliefs that stood against the rules that were so firmly engraved in society and his heart. But all those doubts of her position, of her place at UA, vanished when he remembered how she stood in front of villains and those who threatened others.
She was a pillar of another light to the one he wanted to stand under, but he couldn't help but admire it for the new tone it shone over everything he knew.
Tsuyu had moved quietly, attempting to reach Sakura camouflaged, in the hopes that her attention split between so many of them would be enough to thin out her focus so she could strike. She became invisible and began by climbing up a tree at a safe distance but not out of her tongue's range. She kept a close watch on Sakura and the bell. Sakura was avoiding Tenya, and she turned, she heard the ring of the small item and took her chance. Her mouth opened and her tongue extended, reaching towards the bell.
But Sakura's voice cut through the stillness as took a small jump to get out of her way. "Nice try, Tsuyu."
'She noticed!'
A kunai was drawn and currently swinging between her fingers, as if there wasn't a sharp blade at the end. "You're actually better at hiding than Toru, did you know that?"
There was a pause, the faintest ripple of confusion from Tsuyu. "Toru has too much presence. She doesn't know how to make that invisible. You? You're almost perfect. Almost. I think it's because of animal instinct,"
Kakashi had them perfect this technique of hiding their presence, it was a challenge, especially for Naruto. However part of his explanation was the natural instinct of animals, the hunters and the hunted. Both needed this in order to survive. And shinobi were no different. They had the ability to sense intent and that's why you had to be able to mask it and vanish into nothing even when you stood in front of your opponent.
The ground trembled faintly as Tenya charged forward, his engines roaring like a thunderstorm, he came at Sakura like a projectile, unwavering in its course. At the last second, she sidestepped him, her movements so fluid it was like she'd read his intentions before he even committed to them. She grabbed his arm, pivoted, and swept his legs out from under him.
Tenya flipped through the air in an almost graceful arc before landing flat on his back with a thud that echoed through the clearing.
Yuga was next, firing his belly laser, the beams streaking through the air in light threads. The kind of light you would only see in storm clouds. That was the best way to describe them, only far more disciplined.
Whether it was all at once or at a time, Sakura weaved through all of their attacks like a phantom, through ice, flames, speed, lasers, and nets remaining untouchable.
Shouto clenched his fists, his ice forming beneath his feet as he launched another attack. Massive walls of frost surged forward, attempting to box Sakura in, but she moved faster than he anticipated.
His left side ignited, flames roaring to life as he unleashed his Flashfire move. The heat was immense, the air around them warping from the sheer intensity of it. Ice and fire collided, creating an explosion of steam and wind that blanketed the area.
But when the haze cleared, Sakura was gone.
Shouto's eyes darted around, searching for her, but it was too late. She reappeared behind him, her fist striking like a hammer against his back. The force sent him hurtling into a tree, the impact rattling the very ground beneath them.
Shouto coughed, the wind knocked from his lungs as he slumped to the base of the tree. The cold bark bit into his skin, and for a moment, all he could do was breathe, ragged and uneven.
The others paused, their movements faltering as they regrouped, their eyes fixed on Sakura.
"Well, that was fun. Shall we go again?"
Then it hit them all at once, a sensation that felt like the air had been sucked out of their lungs. A suffocating weight pressed down on them, like being caught in the eye of a storm that was moments from unleashing its fury. Their gazes locked on Sakura, who stood at the center of it all, her posture relaxed but her presence anything but. She wasn't just standing—she was commanding, her very existence pulling the strings of their fear.
Bloodlust.
The sensation made Shouto's heart lurch in his chest, the jarring echo of familiarity and terror that he experienced when he fought against the Hero Killer. As if a snake had wrapped itself around his neck and was slowly coiling, chipping away at his air. He was not alone in this notion. Momo did not enjoy reliving the sensation she felt when she was merely ten feet away from All For One.
Is that even something a person can control?
Sakura didn't get to find out if anyone would gather the strength and wits to make a move against her with the awareness of a phantom blade hanging over their heads now. They likely felt the same way she did when she had her first glimpse of the real world of shinobi, and the killing intent that came to it's individuals who chose to take that path. But there was an interruption that cut through the scene.
Izuku and Ochaco emerged from the skies and fell onto the stage. They had followed the trail of ice Shouto had left behind in his first onslaught against Sakura. Thus creating, a frozen breadcrumb trail leading them here to their target.
Izuku lunged from behind, his body a blur of green and black, his fist crackling with the power of One For All. But Sakura was faster—always faster. Another side step, as if she had seen him approaching her from the front. Their eyes met, and she gave an unsettling calm look to her new opponent.
"Predictable, Izuku," Sakura held her arms at her side until Izuku tried to go in with a kick, and she raised her forearm to block and push back watching Izuku slide back in a deliberate retreat. "Did you forget we've trained together? You're like an open book, and I've read this chapter before."
Izuku didn't let her words waver him. He already predicted something like this. "I can say the same for you,"
"No, you can't,"
Sakura's occupancy with Izuku allowed a moment for Ochaco, darting forward with a burst of speed that came with becoming weightless. She held her fingertips together activating her quirk. She aimed a swift kick at Sakura, her martial arts training evident in the precision of her movements. But Sakura countered effortlessly, literally single-handedly swatting all her skills off of her like dust on her shoulder's. Ochaco attempted to close the gap between them, her palms showing every time she reached for Sakura.
"You've improved, Ochaco," She was definitely better than at the sports festival. She shifted her feet, pivoting out of Ochaco's range again, "But I can see it in your stance, in the way you move. You're trying to be someone else. You've borrowed someone else's style, haven't you?"
Ochaco's eyes widened, her breath catching in her throat. Sakura's words struck a chord, and for a moment, doubt flickered across her face which did not go unnoticed. Sakura pressed on to jab through Ochaco's resolve.
"It's not a bad thing to learn from others," she said, her gaze sweeping over the group as Shoto, Tenya, Momo, and the others emerged. "But you have to make it your own. So many of you are trying to replicate someone else's strength instead of forging your own. And that's why you can't beat me."
That's when Sakura retreated with a back flip, again and again, and again, in which Izuku attempted to reach out and disrupt her rhythm but she took a leap backward, lifting high as if she was a leaf in the wind, landing on a high ridge overlooking them all. "Your quirks are powerful, but you've forgotten that you have more at your disposal. Your minds, bodies, and spirits. I know what your Quirks can do, I know exactly what to expect. It's like reading the same book over and over again. It's the same way you're approaching this training, predictably,"
Izuku frowned, wondering what she was implying about this.
Her gaze shifted to Momo, a hint of a smile touched her lips. "Momo, you're the closest to understanding the truth."
"What?" When on the verge of receiving the answer, someone like Momo would always be tempted to reach forward even at the risk of losing a finger. But she wasn't the only one who had been caught up in that apparent riddle.
They didn't realize it until it was too late, but Sakura had managed to defeat them again, ensnaring their minds with her words, that kept them from considering their next move, their next attack. The muscles in her arms, legs, and back tensed, and then kicked off from the ground. And she kicked off high. Several meters above ten. Her shadow went over the forms of her classmates and fell to the ground on the other side of the river. Her fists met with the ground, and some were met with a familiar impact. The grounds lifted, as easily as a tablecloth being lifted from the table, except the dishes included trees, shrubbery, earth, and water threatening to fall over all of them.
"TODOROKI!"
The shockwaves that rippled through his body caused Izuku to wake up, he dismissed whatever anxiety he had been holding onto about his quirk and stepped in to help his friends. Shoto had also snapped back to reality. Both of them made it to the frontlines of the others. Using his quirk at the highest percentage that would keep him from injury, Izuku countered the wave of the unnatural disaster pouring towards them, though it did little more than delay instead of push back that amount of power Sakura conjured.
Shoto then stepped in, creating a high wave of ice, right in front of them. However the grounds were still shaking and the sock was strong enough to crack the foundation of the ice, but it had slowed down the debris, in which everyone else took the chance to act.
When the shocks receded and the dust settled back on their feet, the landscape was unrecognizable. The stream that had once wound through the forest now flowed in a new direction, its banks torn asunder. The group stood amidst the wreckage. This was not the first time they had witnessed this kind of sheer power, but the air tasted of a different intent than before.
Sakura was nowhere in sight.
What was left in her wake was a wasteland of shattered earth and uplifted trees, along with a faint tang of ozone on their tongues and the scent of damp soil in the air. The group stood overlooking the wreckage as if they had just endured a natural disaster. This was a power Sakura rarely displayed in the same field as her comrades likely for the fear of them being swept up with her enemies in the aftermath.
Tsuyu's wide eyes scanned over everything, though her voice remained in its neutral hold, her classmates could already read her emotions underneath, "I can't believe she unleashed something like that… It's like she wasn't even trying before."
Yuga nodded, his usual flamboyance replaced by a rare seriousness. "Mon Dieu, that could've been disastrous," he said, beads of sweat glistening on his forehead. It wasn't just the heat of his armor costume—his hands trembled slightly as he adjusted his belt that had fallen out of place.
Tenya had to readjust his glasses that had fallen askew, his legs shaking, "This… this is the kind of power she used back in Kamino,"
It was the kind of display of power he would've admonished her for demonstrating as a hero since the implications of risks were fairly visible. However, the first time she truly showed it off against a villain, Tenya felt it was more than justified when that villain tore through her like paper as she protected Katsuki. The sensation was different when you were standing on the other side of things, however.
"So she's decided to start fighting us seriously," Shoto said.
Ochaco clenched her fist to her chest, her knuckles white. "Does that mean she's telling us we don't stand a chance?"
Tsuyu's froglike eyes narrowed as she turned to the group. "Was this ever really about getting the bell?"
No one had the chance to run the tracks to find the answer, because a thunderclap of noise hit their trains of thought and pulled their eyes in the direction of the sky. Katsuki came barrelling through the air fittingly like a firecracker. He wasn't the only one to appear as the dust settled over them. Not far behind were Eijiro, Denki, Hanta, Mezo, Rikido, Fumikage, Minoro, Mina, Toru, Jiro, and Mashirao. From the separate directions, it was clear no one had come from the same place but Sakura's previous exit had made for a flashy signal to everyone in the area. The entire class had gathered, drawn by the massive dust cloud and the ground-shaking impact of Sakura's attack.
"What the hell happened here?" Hanta asked, his eyes wide as he took in the destruction.
"Sakura, obviously," Rikido replied.
Toru waved her arms and they could make out the movement as the dust particles cleared in the motion, "Are you guys alright?"
Denki brushed a hand through his hair, "Is she trying to kill us or something? This is way beyond training!"
"Can we opt out of this? This feels less like training and more like a survival trial!" Minoru trembled.
Was her intentions behind this training true? Izuku couldn't help wondering. It felt as if they were being led on by a noose they didn't know was tied around their necks. Pulled in the direction of her choosing and believing that they were the ones who decided how to move. Before he wouldn't believe that Sakura would do something like that but he learned from their training sessions that she fought like the weaker party. Manipulating her opponent in combat. It was hard to retain this thought because of Sakura's overwhelming strength, but she showed a habit, leading her opponent to dismiss the thought of deception by centering her as a direct fighter. Perhaps she was taking her tactics further than just using them in combat.
"About damn time!" Izuku didn't have to look at Katsuki to hear the smile on his face, the disturbingly widespread grin that carried a hint of sadistic satisfaction into his eyes. But he had thought missing Sakura would make the blonde more angered than excited. "She's not pulling her punches anymore. Looks like the closer we get to the end, the more she's willing to cut loose."
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