Chapter 10: The Zero-Point Giant
"Boom!!!"
"Boom!!!"
"Boom!!!"
Inside Venue A, explosions echoed continuously as flames and smoke filled the air.
At the center of the chaos, Bakugo Katsuki used his Quirk recklessly, blasting imaginary enemies apart one after another.
His score rose rapidly.
In the blink of an eye, it had already surpassed fifty points.
Meanwhile, Izuna's score stood at thirty-two.
"It looks like I need to speed up a bit," Izuna muttered.
Although he didn't particularly care about competing with Bakugo, that didn't mean he intended to lose.
"Whoosh!"
"Boom!"
"Hey, hey! Those two are destroying all the robots. What are the rest of us supposed to fight?!"
Several candidates in the testing area wailed in frustration.
Both Izuna and Bakugo were defeating enemies at incredible speed, practically destroying one robot with every attack.
"It's not fair!"
Many candidates began complaining, as their scores had yet to even reach double digits.
"Boom!"
After destroying another robot, Bakugo turned toward Izuna, who stood not far away.
"Pink eyes!"
"What?" Izuna asked casually while smashing another robot apart without even turning around.
"What exactly is your Quirk?" Bakugo demanded.
Ten months earlier, he had heard that Izuna's Quirk was Hypnosis.
But hypnosis couldn't possibly allow someone to destroy robots with their fists.
Something was definitely wrong.
"Guess," Izuna replied lightly.
As he spoke, another robot collapsed into pieces.
Unlike Bakugo's explosive and destructive attacks, Izuna targeted the robots' weak points.
Because of this, while Bakugo's body was now covered in dust and his breathing had grown uneven, Izuna still looked completely relaxed.
"Guess this!"
Bakugo's explosions suddenly grew larger, the shockwave kicking up massive clouds of dust and forcing nearby candidates to shut their eyes.
At this point, he had practically begun imagining that the robots were Izuna himself.
"Hah…"
After destroying the final robot nearby, Bakugo stood there breathing heavily.
He looked somewhat disheveled.
In contrast, Izuna still appeared calm and composed.
That fact only made Bakugo even more irritated.
"Look! What is that?!"
Several candidates standing near Izuna suddenly stared ahead in shock.
"Hm?"
Bakugo followed their gaze.
In the distance, an enormous giant robot slowly appeared.
"That's the fourth type of enemy," Izuna said as he stepped forward calmly.
"It's meant to interfere with us. Even if you destroy it, you won't earn any points."
"But… isn't it a little too big?" one candidate muttered nervously while staring upward.
The massive machine towered over the buildings.
It was easily thirty meters tall, if not more.
"Boom…"
The giant robot suddenly took a step forward, its massive body crushing nearby buildings and leaving destruction in its wake.
"We can't fight that thing!"
"Run!"
"Help!"
As soon as one candidate started running, the rest followed immediately.
Within moments, the once crowded battlefield was almost empty.
"Tch."
Bakugo remained where he stood, lowering his stance slightly as a grin spread across his face.
"A bunch of cowards."
He then pointed directly at Izuna.
"Pink eyes!"
"Watch carefully."
"I'll show you how I destroy this thing!"
"Bang!"
Bakugo launched himself into the air with a powerful explosion beneath his feet.
"Ha!"
"Boom!"
He struck the giant robot with all his strength.
But the attack did nothing.
The impact barely left a mark.
"What—"
Bakugo flipped backward in midair and landed steadily.
However, his pupils suddenly shrank as he noticed the enormous mechanical fist descending toward him.
Not far away, Izuna narrowed his eyes slightly.
The three tomoe in his Sharingan slowly rotated.
In the next instant—
His figure vanished.
"Whoosh!"
"Boom!!!"
Bakugo suddenly felt the world shift around him.
When he regained his senses, he was no longer standing where he had been before.
The giant robot's massive fist crashed down onto the spot he had just occupied.
He had somehow been moved to a safe location.
"Ring—!"
A bell suddenly echoed through the testing ground.
"Alright, candidates. The exam is now over."
A slightly lazy voice sounded through the broadcast system.
The moment the announcement ended, the giant robot immediately stopped moving.
"The results of the practical exam will be announced within a week. Please proceed to the classrooms for the written test."
"…It's over?"
Bakugo's forehead twitched with frustration.
He suddenly turned around—
And found himself staring directly into a pair of scarlet eyes.
"You?!" Bakugo stepped back instinctively, glaring at Izuna with dissatisfaction.
"Who asked you to interfere?"
"If I hadn't," Izuna replied calmly while dusting off his clothes, "you would've been crushed into the ground."
Then he turned and walked toward the exit.
"I'm heading out."
"We'll know the results in a week."
"…"
Bakugo stared at Izuna's departing back in silence.
About two minutes later, he glanced back at the spot where he had been standing earlier.
His fists slowly clenched.
"That pink-eyed Quirk…"
"It's definitely not just hypnosis."
"I'll defeat that guy someday."