Chapter 13: Limits of Logic
The heavy metal door of the observation room slid open.
Sakazuki stepped inside. He had retrieved his pristine white cap from the ruined concrete floor of Ground Beta, and it sat firmly on his head once more, casting a familiar, imposing shadow over his sharp eyes. Aside from a faint dusting of crushed concrete on his dark brown cloak and the microscopic, already-sealed scratch on his right cheek, he looked entirely undisturbed.
The moment he crossed the threshold, the low murmur of the class died instantly. A heavy, suffocating silence fell over the room. The students instinctively parted, creating a wide, clear path for him. They looked at him not just as a classmate who had scored first in an exam, but as a walking natural disaster that had effortlessly dismantled two of their strongest peers.
Sakazuki ignored the stares. He walked directly past the massive monitor consoles and headed straight for the water cooler positioned in the back corner of the room.
His internal temperature was still running uncomfortably high, his throat feeling like a dry, cracked desert bed. He took a small paper cup, filled it to the brim with ice-cold water, and drained it in a single gulp. He immediately filled a second cup, drinking it just as quickly to replenish the fluids his quirk had so aggressively vaporized.
"Excellent work, Young Sakazuki!" All Might's booming voice broke the tense silence. The Number One Hero stood at the front of the room, his hands on his hips. He looked over the class, his trademark smile firmly in place, though his eyes carried a sharp, evaluative gleam. "Now then, class! Before we move on to the next match, who can tell me who the MVP of this battle was?"
The students exchanged uncertain glances. Most of them were still processing the sheer destruction they had just witnessed.
Momo Yaoyorozu raised her hand elegantly, her expression serious and composed. "Sir. I believe it is actually quite difficult to definitively name a single MVP for this match, as everyone displayed significant flaws."
All Might raised an eyebrow, intrigued. "Oh? Please, elaborate, Young Yaoyorozu!"
Momo placed a hand thoughtfully against her chin, her dark eyes analyzing the data. "First, regarding the Hero team. Sero was unfortunately rendered entirely ineffective. The ambient heat and humidity completely neutralized his tape, making him a non-factor in the engagement."
Standing near the back, Sero winced, a heavy drop of sweat sliding down the back of his neck. "You really don't have to be so brutally honest..." Sero muttered, scratching his cheek awkwardly.
"Secondly, Shoji," Momo continued, entirely unfazed. "While his sensory capabilities are exceptional, his spatial awareness was completely overwhelmed by Todoroki's surprise attack. He was neutralized before the actual combat began." She gestured vaguely toward the door, acknowledging the fact that Shoji was not even in the room; he had been immediately escorted to Recovery Girl's office by the training staff to treat his frostbite and bruises.
"Thirdly, Todoroki," Momo said, her tone remaining flawlessly objective. "His initial strike to breach the wall and bypass the chokepoint was undeniably impressive and highly effective. However, when faced with overwhelming opposition, he actively chose to hold back a significant portion of his power despite facing certain defeat. A hero cannot afford to restrict their own capabilities when the objective is at stake."
Todoroki, who had just entered the room quietly from the medical bay, stopped near the doorway. He looked down at the floor, his jaw clenching slightly at the undeniably accurate critique.
"And finally, Akainu," Momo concluded, shifting her gaze toward the tall boy in the white suit standing by the water cooler.
The rest of the class held their breath, terrified of how the intimidating teenager might react to being criticized.
"For the vast majority of the exercise, Akainu operated with flawless tactical precision," Momo explained calmly. "He utilized a highly controlled application of his quirk to seal the doors, funnel the heroes into a chokepoint, and efficiently protect the nuclear weapon. However... at the very end of the encounter, his logic faltered."
She lowered her hand, her gaze firm. "It seems even the rational and calculating Sakazuki possesses a limit to his patience. When he prepared his final, full-scale attack, the sheer thermal buildup threatened the structural integrity of the entire room. If the timer had not expired, that level of widespread destruction would have posed a massive risk to his incapacitated teammate, and more importantly, it would have completely compromised the nuclear weapon he was supposed to be protecting."
A pin-drop silence followed her words. The class slowly turned their heads toward Sakazuki, bracing for a terrifying reaction.
Sakazuki stood quietly, holding a crushed paper cup in his black-gloved hand. He did not glare at the girl. He did not scoff or offer a defensive excuse.
Instead, beneath the brim of his white cap, he closed his eyes and let out a slow, steady breath.
Her assessment is entirely accurate, Sakazuki acknowledged internally, genuine respect forming in his mind for the black-haired girl. I allowed his arrogant refusal to use his full power to irritate me. My temper flared, and I abandoned the primary objective of protecting the payload in favor of a full-scale execution strike. It was a severe lapse in operational discipline.
Sakazuki crushed the paper cup completely and tossed it into the bin. He did not speak a word, but he gave Momo a very subtle, almost imperceptible nod of acknowledgment. It was a silent admission of her intellect and the absolute validity of her critique.
All Might clapped his massive hands together, breaking the tension. "An incredibly thorough and accurate analysis, Young Yaoyorozu! We must always remember that raw power must be guided by clear objectives! Now, let us proceed! Match number two! Team A will be the Heroes, and Team D will be the Villains!"
The screens flickered, displaying the names: Izuku Midoriya and Ochaco Uraraka against Katsuki Bakugo and Tenya Iida.
Sakazuki turned his attention fully to the massive monitors. He watched as Bakugo stormed into the training building, his face twisted into a mask of pure, unadulterated hostility.
The match that followed was not a tactical engagement; it was an explosive, deeply personal clash of sheer willpower and raw emotion. Sakazuki stood like a statue, observing the chaotic, destructive battle unfolding on the screens.
He watched Bakugo completely abandon the nuclear payload, separating from Iida purely to hunt down Midoriya. He watched the ash-blonde boy unleash devastating, lethal explosions in enclosed hallways, screaming with a furious, unhinged desperation to prove his superiority over the quirkless boy he had always looked down upon.
And he watched Midoriya. The green-haired boy was terrified, trembling, and heavily outmatched in technical combat skill. Yet, he refused to stay down. He refused to surrender.
The climax of the battle arrived with terrifying intensity.
On the screen, Bakugo leaped into the air, aiming the massive, grenade-like gauntlet on his arm directly at Midoriya. "I'll blow you away!!" Bakugo roared, pulling the pin.
Midoriya, battered and exhausted, looked up. He did not dodge. He gritted his teeth, a fierce, unbreakable light igniting in his green eyes. He channeled the catastrophic, bone-shattering power of his quirk directly into his right arm.
"Detroit..." Midoriya screamed, but instead of aiming his fist at Bakugo, he violently swung his glowing arm directly upward, aiming at the ceiling above them. "...SMASH!!"
The impact was cataclysmic. A devastating, localized hurricane of pure kinetic wind pressure erupted upward. It violently shattered the concrete ceilings of every single floor above them, creating a massive, vertical wind tunnel that blasted straight through the roof of the building.
High above, on the fifth floor, the sudden, violent updraft sent debris flying everywhere, creating the perfect distraction for Uraraka to bypass Iida and secure the papier-mâché nuclear weapon.
The monitors showed the aftermath. The building was thoroughly destroyed, its structural integrity completely compromised. Midoriya stood amidst the smoke and rubble, his right arm completely broken, mangled, and colored a deep, sickening purple. Both of his sleeves were shredded, and he was gasping for air before his eyes rolled back, his broken body finally collapsing heavily onto the ruined concrete.
Bakugo stood opposite to him, completely unharmed physically, but staring down at his trembling hands in absolute, mind-shattering shock. He had lost.
"THE HERO TEAM WINS!" All Might's voice boomed over the speakers, officially ending the violent display.
In the observation room, the students were speechless. The sheer scale of the destruction and the raw, terrifying emotion displayed by the two boys had left them completely drained.
Sakazuki watched the screens in utter silence. His dark eyes analyzed the broken, unconscious form of Midoriya and the paralyzed, hyperventilating form of Bakugo. The sheer destructive potential possessed by both of them was undeniable, yet it was completely unrefined, driven entirely by childish rivalries, inferiority complexes, and a terrifying willingness to permanently destroy their own bodies to achieve a technical victory.
The sun began to set over U.A. High School, casting long, golden shadows across the campus.
The students, exhausted both physically and mentally, gathered back in the observation room one final time. Midoriya was not among them, having been rushed to Recovery Girl for emergency treatment. Bakugo stood in the corner, his head bowed, surrounded by a dark, impenetrable aura of defeat.
All Might stood before the weary class, the bright yellow fabric of his suit glowing in the setting sun.
"Good work, everyone!" All Might announced, his booming voice attempting to lift the heavy atmosphere. "Aside from Young Midoriya's injuries, there were no major casualties today! You all stepped into the shoes of heroes and villains, and you all experienced the incredible pressure of live combat!"
He raised a massive fist into the air. "You took your first true steps toward becoming professional heroes today! Take the lessons you learned, reflect on your mistakes, and prepare yourselves! Because the path of a hero is long, and it requires you to go... PLUS ULTRA!"
Sakazuki stood near the back, his white cap pulled low. He did not cheer. He simply adjusted the strap of his bag, his mind already shifting away from the chaotic, emotional displays of his classmates. The training was over. His shift at the bakery started in exactly one hour, and he needed to secure the next inventory order.