The next battle was Bakugo versus Todoroki.
Out of all the semifinal matches, this was arguably the one that attracted the most attention.
Both students possessed incredibly destructive Quirks.
One commanded explosions.
The other controlled both ice and fire.
It was a clash between two monsters of the first year.
The crowd was excited.
The noise inside the stadium increased noticeably the moment both names were announced.
Many spectators had already placed their bets.
Most of them favored Todoroki.
Partially because of his overwhelming performances throughout the tournament.
Partially because Bakugo's personality made him far from the public's favorite.
Still, nobody doubted that he was strong.
Very strong.
The moment both entered the arena, the atmosphere became tense.
Even the four Yonkou stopped eating for a moment and focused entirely on the battlefield.
"This should be interesting," Mirio muttered.
Below, both fighters took their positions.
Neither moved.
Neither spoke.
They simply stared at each other.
The silence stretched.
Ten seconds.
Twenty.
Thirty.
Almost a full minute passed.
Neither wanted to be the first to commit.
Neither wanted to reveal their hand.
Eventually, Todoroki moved first.
The temperature around the arena suddenly dropped.
Frost spread across the floor.
Then, in an instant, an enormous wave of ice erupted from the ground.
The attack expanded across nearly the entire battlefield.
Gigantic frozen spikes rose toward Bakugo from multiple directions.
It looked as though Todoroki intended to end the fight immediately.
Unfortunately for him, Bakugo was not an opponent that could be defeated so easily.
The blond student brought both hands together.
A bright flash appeared.
Then—
BOOM!
A massive explosion detonated from his position.
The ice shattered apart instantly.
Huge chunks of frozen debris were launched across the arena.
Some of them even flew back toward Todoroki himself.
Without hesitation, Todoroki raised another wall of ice to block the fragments.
At the same time, he pushed himself sideways.
The frozen ground beneath his feet allowed him to move almost as if he were skating.
Smooth.
Fast.
Efficient.
But Bakugo wasn't giving him a second to breathe.
Explosion after explosion propelled him forward.
Every blast pushed him closer.
Every blast destroyed more of the battlefield.
The crowd watched in amazement.
Todoroki's expression remained calm, but internally his thoughts were racing.
His ice had overwhelmed nearly every opponent so far.
Yet against Bakugo, it seemed almost ineffective.
Entire sections of the arena disappeared beneath glaciers of ice.
Seconds later, they were reduced to fragments by explosions.
He generated more.
Bakugo destroyed more.
Again.
And again.
And again.
The exchange was becoming increasingly one-sided.
Not because Todoroki was weaker.
Because he was refusing to use half of his power.
Above the stadium, Raiden crossed his arms.
"He still refuses."
Tamaki nodded.
"He could end this much faster if he used both sides."
Meanwhile, Bakugo continued advancing.
His movements were becoming sharper.
More aggressive.
Every explosion was carefully controlled.
Unlike many people believed, he wasn't simply spamming attacks.
Each blast served a purpose.
Some increased his speed.
Others altered his direction.
Others destroyed obstacles.
The closer he got, the more dangerous he became.
After all, close combat was Bakugo's preferred battlefield.
Todoroki understood that.
Which was precisely why he continued trying to keep his distance.
More ice emerged.
Thicker walls.
Larger structures.
Entire frozen barriers appeared between them.
But Bakugo simply carved a path through everything.
Explosion after explosion.
Step after step.
The distance between them kept shrinking.
The audience could see Todoroki gradually being pushed backward.
For the first time in the tournament, he looked pressured.
Bakugo was forcing the pace.
Forcing the rhythm.
Forcing the fight into the exact scenario Todoroki wanted to avoid.
The blond student blasted through another frozen wall and appeared much closer than before.
The crowd gasped.
Todoroki immediately created another barrier.
Bakugo shattered it.
Another.
Shattered.
Another.
Shattered.
The arena was becoming a battlefield of ice and fireless explosions.
Frozen debris covered the ground.
Smoke filled the air.
Craters appeared everywhere.
And through all of it, Bakugo continued advancing relentlessly.
Using a combination of martial arts, combat instincts, and controlled explosions, he forced his way through Todoroki's defenses one layer at a time.
Explosion after explosion.
Meter after meter.
The distance continued shrinking.
Aquí tienes la versión corregida, expandida y manteniendo el mismo tono narrativo y los mismos acontecimientos principales:
And with every step Bakugo took forward, it became increasingly obvious to everyone watching.
If Todoroki continued refusing to use his fire, he was going to lose.
However, that was something Todoroki already knew.
For most of the audience, the battle was practically decided already.
From Todoroki's perspective, though, this fight had become something entirely different.
It was a reality check.
When he first entered U.A., there had been little doubt in his mind that he was one of the strongest students in his generation. His Quirk was overwhelming, his control was excellent, and very few people could even challenge him.
But things had changed.
Slowly, almost without him noticing, his classmates had started catching up.
They had trained.
They had grown.
They had improved.
And now he was struggling against someone from that very same class.
Bakugo wasn't being overwhelmed.
He wasn't being held back.
He was forcing Todoroki into a corner through pure skill, determination, and power.
Deep down, Todoroki knew the truth.
If he stopped holding back, the situation could very well be the opposite.
But that didn't make the decision any easier.
There were people who noticed this.
Not only the professional heroes watching from the stands.
The four Yonkou noticed it as well.
The first one to comment, while casually eating another slice of pizza, was Nejire.
"His body looks unbalanced," she said, tilting her head. "Strained, even. Is he holding himself back on purpose?"
Mirio narrowed his eyes.
"I was thinking the same thing. Look closely. Every now and then his other arm twitches. It's like he wants to use it, but he's forcing himself not to."
He pointed toward the arena.
"It doesn't make much sense. He's the one losing right now."
"Exactly," Raiden agreed.
"You only think about holding back when you're winning, not when you're losing."
"Unless you want to lose," Tamaki added while quietly munching on pizza.
A second later, he frowned.
"But he doesn't look like someone who wants to lose."
And he was right.
Todoroki was genuinely trying to win.
Nobody could mistake that.
His movements were desperate at times.
He was constantly looking for openings.
Constantly trying to regain control of the fight.
Several times his left arm moved slightly.
Several times it looked as though he was about to do something.
Yet every single time, he stopped himself.
"His movements are getting slower," Mirio muttered.
"Yeah," Raiden replied.
"I think it's a side effect of his Quirk. The cold is catching up to him. He's resistant to low temperatures, but he's not immune."
The others immediately understood.
Todoroki had been generating enormous amounts of ice throughout the entire battle.
Normally, his other side would compensate.
But since he refused to use it, the cold was beginning to accumulate.
His body was slowing down.
His muscles were stiffening.
His reactions were becoming less precise.
Whatever he was holding back, it was hurting him more than Bakugo was.
"Whatever it is," Nejire said, taking another bite of pizza, "the best thing he could do right now is use it. At least if he wants to win."
Below them, the battle continued.
Bakugo pressed forward relentlessly.
Explosion after explosion.
Todoroki kept retreating.
More ice appeared.
More explosions destroyed it.
Again.
And again.
And again.
Until eventually Todoroki found himself cornered.
There was nowhere left to retreat.
One more step and he would be outside the arena.
The crowd realized it.
Bakugo realized it.
Even Todoroki realized it.
For a brief moment, silence fell over the battlefield.
Then Todoroki clenched his fists.
His expression twisted.
And he yelled.
"AAAHHH! THIS MEANS NOTHING! I WON'T ACCEPT IT!"
His voice echoed throughout the entire stadium.
At that moment, he looked toward the audience.
Toward a specific place among the spectators.
And then—
Fire erupted.
A massive wave of flames burst from his left side.
The sudden heat instantly melted the ice covering part of the battlefield.
Steam exploded upward.
The temperature shifted dramatically.
The audience erupted into cheers.
Todoroki's frozen side began recovering immediately.
His movements sharpened.
His posture straightened.
The stiffness disappeared.
For the first time since the battle started, he looked complete.
And then, from the audience, a familiar voice exploded louder than everyone else's.
"SHOOOOOTOOOOOOO!"
The scream echoed across the stadium.
Everyone immediately recognized it.
The Number Two Hero.
Endeavor.
Upon hearing it, the four Yonkou all spoke at exactly the same time.
"Ahhh... so that's why."
Everything suddenly made sense.
The fire.
The hesitation.
The refusal.
The internal struggle.
The moment they saw Todoroki's flames and heard Endeavor's voice, they immediately connected the pieces.
To the general public, it wasn't obvious.
To most spectators, this simply looked like a son finally using the second half of his Quirk.
But among heroes?
It was practically an open secret.
Everyone knew Endeavor.
Everyone knew his reputation.
Everyone knew he was, for lack of a better word, an asshole.
And suddenly Todoroki's resistance made perfect sense.
Todoroki struck forward with his fire.
A massive wall of flames erupted from his left side and surged across the arena toward Bakugo, engulfing everything in its path. The heat alone was enough to make the spectators in the front rows feel it from the stands.
Bakugo reacted instantly.
Using an explosion beneath his feet, he propelled himself upward and narrowly avoided the attack.
The sea of fire passed beneath him, scorching the battlefield and melting what remained of the ice scattered around the arena.
However, Bakugo didn't waste the opportunity.
While airborne, he immediately accelerated toward Todoroki.
Seeing him approach, Todoroki answered with another blast of flames.
This time, Bakugo didn't dodge.
He answered with an explosion of his own.
Both attacks collided in midair.
The resulting detonation shook the stadium and sent smoke, fire, and debris in every direction.
But Bakugo had already planned for it.
Using the momentum of the collision, he spun through the air and triggered another explosion, changing direction abruptly.
Instead of charging directly forward, he repositioned himself to Todoroki's flank.
Todoroki immediately noticed.
Without hesitation, he generated ice beneath his feet and slid sideways, creating distance while simultaneously launching several spikes of ice toward Bakugo.
The blond boy zigzagged through the air.
Explosion.
Turn.
Explosion.
Turn.
Each blast altered his trajectory, allowing him to weave between the frozen projectiles with surprising precision.
The audience could barely follow the exchange.
For a moment it looked as though Bakugo had regained the initiative.
However, there was something he failed to notice.
While maintaining the exchange, Todoroki had quietly pressed one hand against the ground.
The moment Bakugo entered the ideal position, Todoroki acted.
A gigantic pillar of ice erupted upward.
The attack was instantaneous.
The frozen structure rose like a glacier exploding from beneath the arena.
Bakugo's eyes widened.
A fraction of a second later, he was completely trapped inside a massive block of ice.
The crowd gasped.
For the first time in the battle, everything became still.
The frozen prison stood in the center of the arena.
Inside, only Bakugo's eyes remained visible through the translucent ice.
Todoroki finally took a breath.
His chest rose and fell heavily.
The fight had pushed him harder than he expected.
For a brief moment, it looked like the battle was over.
Then Bakugo smiled.
His hands began to glow.
A bright orange light spread through the ice.
Cracks appeared.
One.
Ten.
Hundreds.
And then—
BOOM!
The entire structure exploded.
Ice fragments were launched in every direction like shrapnel.
The blast was so powerful that even Todoroki was forced to react immediately.
A wall of fire erupted before him, vaporizing countless pieces of flying ice before they could hit him.
Steam engulfed part of the battlefield.
Visibility dropped dramatically.
But Todoroki had no intention of standing still.
Using his ice, he propelled himself across the arena.
The steam and flames created the perfect cover.
For the first time since the battle began, Bakugo lost sight of him.
Only for a moment.
But that was enough.
Todoroki emerged from above.
Bakugo looked up.
Too late.
For once, Todoroki had completely caught him by surprise.
Fire exploded from his left side.
The blast struck Bakugo directly and drove him downward toward the ground.
The blond student crashed onto the arena floor.
Yet even then, he wasn't defeated.
The instant his feet touched the ground, Bakugo bent his legs and prepared another explosion.
Everyone could see it.
He was about to launch himself back into the fight.
About to counterattack immediately.
But before either of them could continue—
"STOP!"
Present Mic's voice echoed throughout the stadium.
The entire arena froze.
Bakugo looked down.
His eyes widened slightly.
One of his feet was touching the grass outside the combat area.
During Todoroki's final attack, he had been pushed beyond the boundary line.
The match was over.
For several seconds, silence filled the stadium.
Then the announcement came.
"OUT OF BOUNDS! TODOROKI SHOTO WINS!"
The crowd erupted into cheers.
Below, Todoroki stood breathing heavily, surrounded by melting ice and fading flames.
Across from him, Bakugo clenched his fists.
Not because he thought the result was unfair.
But because he knew just how close the fight had been.