"Run!!"
All three of them shouted at the same time, their expressions changing instantly as they bolted down the hillside.
"Mm… go ahead and run slowly. I've prepared a special nutrition pack just for your development," Mt. Lady muttered to herself as she started the timer.
Etsuha and the others plunged into the forest. Thick weeds covered the ground, and tangled branches twisted overhead, ready to snag at anyone careless enough to push through without caution. In terrain like this, blindly running was clearly not a good strategy.
And for Etsuha, simply escaping wasn't even his forte.
"Man… give me a break. My Quirk isn't suited for running away at all," Gojima Ryōzō groaned.
Yaoyorozu Momo quickly composed herself and began analyzing the situation. "That's exactly why Mt. Lady made the three of us work together. If I'm not mistaken, as long as we don't get caught, we succeed—right? Then… based on Etsuha's combat ability, couldn't we just defeat Mt. Lady directly? If we beat her, the pursuit ends."
"That's definitely the most straightforward approach," Etsuha replied, nodding. "But it's not the optimal one. If we misjudge our strength, we risk total failure."
It wasn't that Etsuha doubted his ability to defeat Mt. Lady—in fact, he was fairly confident he could. But from a strategic standpoint, the risk was too high.
Yaoyorozu Momo's plan relied heavily on assumptions—especially her estimation of both Etsuha's strength and Mt. Lady's capabilities. If everything went perfectly, they would win easily.
But if even one variable was off—
The result could be disastrous.
"This… I may have been too overconfident," Yaoyorozu Momo admitted, startled. After thinking through Etsuha's reasoning, she nodded slowly, a thoughtful expression forming.
Her initial plan had seemed solid—but now she could clearly see the flaws.
Still, she didn't give up.
Following Etsuha's logic, she quickly adjusted her strategy. "In that case… it might be better to focus on delaying Mt. Lady instead."
"I agree!" Gojima Ryōzō raised his hand immediately. His Quirk was particularly useful for slowing down opponents—this approach suited him perfectly.
"I have no objections," Etsuha said, nodding.
By now, they had already covered a considerable distance. The ten-minute head start Yu Takeyama had given them was almost up.
"Hah… it's about to begin," Yaoyorozu Momo breathed out, wiping sweat from her forehead.
Her body hadn't undergone intense training yet, so her stamina was still relatively weak. Even ten minutes of sprinting had left her winded.
Etsuha, however, remained completely composed.
When he glanced back toward the hillside, he immediately spotted Mt. Lady—already in her giant form. And without hesitation, she was charging straight toward their position.
"How does she know exactly where we are?!" Gojima Ryōzō's expression changed drastically.
"There's no time to figure that out—move!" Etsuha said sharply.
The two nodded and prepared to continue running—
But suddenly—
A swirling purple portal appeared right in front of them.
"This is… a Quirk?" Yaoyorozu Momo and Gojima Ryōzō froze, seeing something like this for the first time. They couldn't immediately process what was happening.
Etsuha's eyes narrowed instantly. His tone turned cold and steady.
"You two—get behind me."
At this point, he had no idea whether the enemy had already deployed Nomu. If they had…
He might only be able to protect one person.
"Yo. U.A.'s little trainees."
A group of figures stepped out of the portal—dozens of them. Their appearances were exaggerated, dressed like violent street punks, each radiating open hostility.
"What's this? We were told to take this seriously… and it's just a bunch of brats?" A blond thug with a spiked bat sneered, looking at Etsuha and the others with clear contempt.
"Villains?!" Yaoyorozu Momo reacted a beat late, but quickly understood the situation.
They had encountered real criminals.
"Correct." The surrounding thugs licked their lips, grinning maliciously. "Kids like these probably don't even know how to use their Quirks properly, huh? Break their limbs and take them."
"That girl's mine. First time I've seen someone develop that well."
"Hahaha! Are they frozen in fear?"
"Hey, kid." The blond thug smirked, pointing his bat at Etsuha. "Beg me nicely and I might let you—"
Bang!
Before he could finish speaking—
Ice erupted violently from the ground.
In an instant, the blond thug was completely encased.
A perfectly formed ice sculpture stood where he had been.
The entire scene fell into an eerie silence.
..
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