"Defeated? Just like that… more than fifty people?"
"Is this really an exam? It feels like his strength completely overwhelmed them from beginning to end!"
"Those candidates who joined the fight were suppressed the entire time. Most of them were frozen before they could even act. What kind of Quirk is that?!"
"Is this the gap between us…? That's terrifying."
"What has he been through…?"
"Is this U.A's strongest freshman? This is insane!"
The candidates who hadn't participated in the battle watched everything unfold, their eyes shining with shock and awe. For many of them, this was the first time they had ever witnessed a student this powerful. Against absolute strength like that, numbers meant nothing—only power decided the outcome.
And strangely enough, that realization only strengthened their desire to enter U.A.
Inside U.A's monitoring room, several teachers replayed the footage of Shinso Hitoshi's strange behavior over and over again.
"What happened here? Why did he suddenly attack his own teammate?" Present Mic pointed at the screen, frowning. "He was clearly preparing to support against Shina a second ago. Then out of nowhere, he turns and hits someone?"
U.A's campus was equipped with countless hidden cameras, capturing every angle of the battle in real time. Thanks to that, none of the instructors had missed the shocking moment.
"This…"
The room fell silent.
If not for Shinso Hitoshi's unexpected strike, which led directly to Shoto Todoroki's defeat, the outcome of the battle might not have been decided so quickly. But no matter how they looked at it, his actions made no sense. There was no benefit—only harm.
Even the experienced teachers couldn't immediately explain it.
"This student… Shinso Hitoshi… his Quirk is worth paying attention to."
At that moment, Principal Nezu spoke up, holding a stack of documents. On top was Shinso Hitoshi's Quirk profile: Brainwashing.
"Brainwashing?" Aizawa Shouta's eyes widened slightly. Then realization struck. "So that's it… A mental-type Quirk. That explains everything—and also the flaw in our exam. Against machines, it's useless. That means in the standard entrance test, he'd probably only qualify for General Studies."
A Quirk like that could only target living beings. In the right situation, it was incredibly powerful—even dangerous. But against U.A's robot-based exam, it had no application.
"Exactly." Principal Nezu nodded. "That's one of the reasons I introduced the boss battle. If I'm not mistaken, Shinso attempted to use his Quirk on Shina… but instead…"
"…he was brainwashed himself?" All Might looked genuinely surprised.
"If that's true…" Midnight frowned, "then what caused him to attack Todoroki?"
"Replay the footage," Principal Nezu instructed. "Focus on the exact moment Shinso activated his Quirk—and zoom in on Shina's face."
Present Mic immediately complied.
The footage rewound.
Shoto Todoroki was gathering everyone together. Then Shinso stepped forward and said, "Let me handle this." He called out Shina's name—his Quirk activating at that very moment.
The camera zoomed in.
Everyone in the room held their breath.
They saw it clearly.
At the instant Shina Etsuha looked at Shinso Hitoshi, his eyes turned blood-red. Three tomoe rotated slowly within them, radiating an eerie, almost hypnotic presence.
Even watching through the screen, the teachers felt a faint chill run through their minds—as if something was tugging at their consciousness.
The next second—
Shinso's eyes went blank.
Like a puppet, he turned and struck Shoto Todoroki without hesitation.
"This… what is that?!" Midnight gasped. "Don't tell me he has a third Quirk?!"
Those eyes… they carried a presence that felt like it could reach directly into a person's soul.
"This kid is hiding something big…" Aizawa Shouta sighed, rubbing his forehead. "What's worse is that he doesn't even try to hide it. He just shows it openly… Is that really okay?"
"It's hard to say," Present Mic added. "Could it be related to some kind of genetic modification? That kind of ability has an extremely high ceiling."
"Genetic modification…" Principal Nezu murmured thoughtfully. "That is a possibility."
For professional Heroes like them, entertainment media wasn't something they paid much attention to. They might watch films or read light novels, but rarely anything like comics—especially those popular among teenagers.
If they had, they might have recognized the nature of those eyes immediately.
But Shina Etsuha didn't care.
Hiding his abilities was never an option. In fact, the more people witnessed them, the stronger the impact—and the greater the benefit for him.
That much was obvious.
After the battle ended, Etsuha released the ice binding the defeated candidates.
As the frost melted away, he felt something unusual.
His energy… was increasing faster than before.
"Is it because of U.A's live broadcast…?"
Etsuha muttered to himself, slightly surprised.