Of course, Igarashi Masata wasn't stupid.
As mentioned before, he simply didn't bother analyzing problems that could be solved with his fists.
But Mirio Togata's Quirk was different.
This… might actually qualify as an invincible ability.
With most villains, no matter how high their defense, they still possessed a physical body. As long as Masata kept increasing his strength and destructive power, he could always overwhelm them eventually.
But Mirio?
He might not be able to land a hit at all.
"Alright… let me see just how strong you really are, senpai."
Masata stopped talking and focused completely on the battlefield.
"Charging straight in? That's an interesting idea!"
After Midoriya's kick passed through his body, Mirio turned his head and praised him cheerfully.
But before Midoriya could react—
The rest of Class A attacked.
Boom!
A sharp cone of ice erupted from the floor. Mina Ashido's acid splashed forward. Sero's tape shot across the space, sealing off Mirio's possible escape routes.
Their coordination was solid. The retreat paths were completely blocked.
A cloud of smoke exploded upward from the combined impact.
"Everyone's improved so much…" Yaoyorozu murmured from the sidelines. "It's only been half a year, but it feels like we've grown more than we did in the past ten years."
Masata yawned lightly.
"It looks flashy. But it won't hurt him."
To the others, the teamwork was impressive.
To Masata, the attacks were straightforward and predictable—avoidable even without Observation Haki.
The smoke cleared.
"…He's gone?!"
The students who had launched the assault stared at the empty ground in disbelief.
"Watch for sneak attacks!" someone shouted.
They began shifting into defensive formation, instinctively closing distance and preparing to stand back-to-back.
Then—
Mirio's voice echoed.
"First rule—maintain distance!"
Behind Jiro, who had been positioned for long-range support, the ground suddenly rippled.
Mirio rose straight up from beneath the floor.
Before anyone could react, he struck cleanly, using Jiro's own earlobe jacks to bind her in a single fluid motion.
"He teleported?!"
Panic flickered through Class A.
In an instant, one teammate was eliminated.
"Not just phasing through objects?" Kirishima muttered in shock. "That's way too broken!"
He had been standing near Jiro but hadn't sensed Mirio's approach at all.
From the corner of the gym, Tamaki Amajiki watched with faint disapproval.
"Mirio's Quirk isn't flashy… what makes it overwhelming is his technique," he muttered quietly. "As expected. First-years are still rookies."
He had known Mirio since childhood. He understood the real secret.
A Quirk didn't have to be inherently powerful.
In the hands of someone exceptional, even a seemingly simple ability could become terrifying.
Mirio didn't pause after neutralizing Jiro.
His body sank into the ground again.
Then—
He reappeared.
And disappeared.
And reappeared again.
Within a handful of seconds, nearly half of Class A was down.
Four seconds.
That was all it took.
In what felt like barely two breaths, Mirio had incapacitated nearly half of U.A.'s elite first-year Hero course.
"As expected of the leader of the Big Three," Masata said calmly. "His Quirk usage is refined. And his physical base is strong."
Unlike the fallen students—who barely knew what had happened—Masata had tracked Mirio's movements clearly.
Mirio's so-called "teleportation" was actually a byproduct of his permeability.
Masata had seen it.
Mirio wasn't vanishing.
He was sinking directly into the ground.
However, while Masata understood how Mirio disappeared, he still couldn't fully grasp how Mirio precisely controlled his re-emergence point.
One thing was certain:
It wasn't simple teleportation.
And beyond that—
Mirio's raw physical strength was exceptional.
Because Quirks existed in this world, human baseline durability was much higher than normal. Even villains could survive injuries that would be fatal elsewhere.
If Masata burned a hole through someone's stomach with magma, in this world, timely medical treatment might still save them.
Yet Mirio was dropping trained Hero students with single blows.
That required serious conditioning.
"So we were never on the same level to begin with…" Yaoyorozu whispered, stunned.
The sheer speed of the defeat felt unreal.
It didn't feel like fighting a senior two years ahead.
It felt like fighting a seasoned Pro Hero.
Aizawa-sensei had observed everything silently.
No surprise.
No change in expression.
He had expected this.
As disappointment and shock settled across the remaining students, Aizawa finally spoke.
"This is a rare opportunity. Learn from him."
He paused.
"Mirio is the person closest to No.1 that I know. Including all Pro Heroes."
The statement hit harder than any punch.
"Closest to No.1…?"
Todoroki muttered under his breath.
The current No.1 was his father.
That title carried weight.
If Mirio was truly the one closest to that position—
Then surpassing his father meant climbing over Mirio first.
And that mountain…
Suddenly looked very high.
...
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