"Come on, guys! There's still a lot to do!" encouraged Pixie-bob, who was supporting the teenagers who were training hard, each in their respective assigned exercises or practices. "Remember that all this effort is to make you stronger! Give it your all, kids! Plus Ultra!" she shouted the last part enthusiastically.
"Plus ultra!" and the students responded with the same shout.
In a secluded area, Mt. Lady, Mirko, Ragdoll, and Ryukyu were keeping an eye on one of the teenagers, Naruto, who was sitting alone in an open field, meditating with his eyes closed and breathing slowly. The boy was so passive that several birds perched on his shoulders and head.
"How do you train someone who's already trained?" wondered the dragon heroine, who couldn't see any way to help the boy. What could they offer? The Uzumaki was physically stronger than anyone present, and his skill in hand-to-hand combat was such that only All Might could emerge victorious in a fight.
"The brat is already skilled, we should just focus on the others," Mirko said indifferently, looking with interest at the small animals surrounding the Uzumaki. "What is this feeling?" the rabbit woman wondered, her animal instincts triggered by her peculiarity. She felt something strange surrounding the teenager; she couldn't describe it, but it was strangely attractive.
"Awwww! A bunny!" Mirko snapped out of his trance at Ragdoll's scream, who squealed when he saw a brown rabbit emerge from the forest, approach the shinobi, and land on his lap.
"Isn't it cute?" Mt. Lady asked Ryukyu with a smile, looking at the Uzumaki meditating surrounded by small animals. "One would think he has a peculiar way of calling those animals, but having seen monks in that state on television, perhaps he was raised in one?"
"You watch too much television," she said, dismissing her partner's silly hypothesis. Mt. Lady and Mirko exchanged annoyed glances. While they battled with their eyes, a thoughtful Ryukyu rubbed her chin and, snapping her fingers, smiled.
"I know what to do!"
...
Leaving the heroines aside, we focus on a small group that was training, namely Itsuka, Yui, Ibara and Pony, where the first two had a friendly fight between them making use of their peculiarities and as for the religious teenager, she was constantly lengthening her vine hair, either underground or simply around her.
"Awesome, Ibara-chan!" The pony girl watched in amazement as her vine-haired friend had a wall of strands of her hair swirling around her, and to the amazement of the other girls, whips of the same hair formed and struck several trees around her. "Ohhhhh!" the blonde gasped as she witnessed her friend's perfect skill.
"..." silently and with a focused expression, the religious girl continued to show off her skills, until finally, with a sigh, she dropped her defense, "Mmm?" looking around, she noticed the stares of all the students.
"Wow, you're great!"
"I didn't know you could do that!"
"Your skills are amazing, Shiozaki-san!"
"Thank you!" the blushing, religious teenager shyly acknowledged her classmates' compliments. Minutes later, she was taking a break, sitting in the shade of a tree and watching the shinobi in the distance, meditating alone. "Lunchtime is almost here. Should I make him something?" she thought excitedly. She could do something special for him. He'd been trying so hard to fit in these past few days, and she should support him through this time of change.
"What are you thinking about?" The religious girl almost jumped in surprise when a static Yui appeared sitting next to her.
"Yui-chan, I already told you not to do that!" the teenager exclaimed, clutching her chest. Her friend had the ability to appear out of nowhere without making a sound; sometimes that was creepy. "Weren't you training with Itsuka-chan?" she questioned the cold, black-haired girl.
"I beat her..." Pointing to the meadow, the pretty teenager pointed to a knocked-out orange-haired girl lying on the ground.
"Oh…" Blinking in confusion, Ibara shrugged. It wasn't for nothing that the expressionless, blue-eyed girl was the strongest in the class. She was very physically skilled, and although her Quirk of increasing the size of objects was incredible, she rarely used it.
"Are you spying on Mr. Whiskers?" Changing the subject, the dark-haired, blue-eyed girl noticed that her friend was 'spying' on Mr. Whiskers.
"What?! No, of course not," the girl denied, offended.
"How do you call it when you see someone from a distance without them knowing?" Kodai asked innocently, tilting her head.
"Emmm... friendship?" the teenager replied hesitantly, shifting uncomfortably.
"I would call it harassment."
"Please, that's enough."
"Well," without seeing the point of continuing this discussion, Yui just sat down next to her friend to keep her company. "Where did you learn that trick with your hair?" she asked curiously.
"Naruto-kun gave me a long lecture on how to make the most of my Quirk. He told me I have a special ability with many ways to exploit it, like having absolute defense and being able to attack at the same time," the girl explained with a smile, crossing her arms and leaning her back against the tree for comfort. "It's amazing how he's acting now. He seems more open, calm, and even cheerful, as if a great weight has been lifted from his shoulders."
"Hmm," the blue-eyed girl nodded understandingly and continued listening.
"When we were on our way to camp a few days ago, he asked me about my interests and even if I wanted to do anything outside of the academy!" the religious girl squealed happily. "I thought about going to the mall or going to the movies, but since Naruto-kun doesn't like being in crowds... maybe we could just go for a walk somewhere I know." The girl never stopped smiling as she shared her idea of what to do in response to her friend's offer.
"Ibara-chan…" Interrupting her friend, Yui's eyes met Shiozaki's, creating an awkward silence. Before the green-haired girl could ask anything, the pale girl spoke again. "Do you… like him?"
"That?"
"Do you have feelings for Naruto?"
"..."
...…Hours later ...…
Night had fallen, and all the students were gathered once again, but this time, along with their teachers and pro heroes, they were sitting in a circle around a campfire, where some chatted amongst themselves or just waited patiently for the meeting to begin.
"…" With a passive expression, Naruto held a wooden stick with several marshmallows on it. Taking them from the fire, he gave them to Ibara, Shiori, and Momo, respectively. The girls, like several other students, were exhausted and just wanted to rest. But they didn't refuse their friend's offer of something to eat.
"Thank you..." whispered a tired Momo as she took the marshmallow and ate it in silence.
"How can you be as fresh as a daisy?" Mina asked, annoyed. She had dark circles under her eyes; training during the day and then studying with her sensei at night was exhausting, and seeing her teammate's condition, she couldn't help but feel envious.
"I can go days without sleeping," was Naruto's simple reply as he took another marshmallow from the fire and threw it to the pink girl, who simply thanked him and ate it.
"Well, I need you to listen to me," Ryukyu said, drawing everyone's attention. Standing tall, she became the center of attention. "Tonight I have something planned, something fun and necessary at the same time..." Smiling, she pointed to herself. "Today we will define the meaning of being a hero."
"Ohhhhhh~" Some of the teenagers couldn't help but gasp excitedly.
"That's why I'm going to ask each of you what being a hero means to you," she said thoughtfully, looking at the children around her. "Is there anyone who wants to share their perspective on what it means to be a pro hero? Remember, there are no wrong answers." The silence was somewhat awkward, as some didn't know what to say or simply weren't interested in answering. Seeing this, the dragon heroine's smile faltered. "Kids... don't make me repeat myself. Why do you want to be heroes?" she asked this time with a charming and sweet smile that sent a shiver down the spines of more than one student.
"To be known!"
"To be number 1!"
"To save people!"
"To have many women with big breasts!"
"..." A vein throbbed on the forehead of the pro hero dragon, who glared at the perverted dwarf, but after taking deep breaths and calming herself as best she could, she saw the panic in the students' eyes. Perhaps she shouldn't have frightened them.
"Well, I suppose the quietest ones are the most sensible, Uzumaki-san. What can you tell us about being a hero?"
"It's crap." Not many were surprised by that answer. "I've only been at that hero academy for months, trying to be a 'hero,' and all I've managed to do is be hated and looked down upon like the Black Death," said Naruto with a blank expression as he stoked the campfire.
"Well, that's not true," the dragon heroine said, almost losing her composure as she tried to calm the tense atmosphere.
"There's a kind of UA page where you can search what the population thinks of 'future prospects.' Put my name in." With that request from the shinobi, he continued looking at the fire, while Ryukyu, using the device on her wrist, made a holographic screen appear, allowing everyone to see the search results with their own eyes.
"Uzumaki Naruto…" Writing that name, the silver-haired woman got instant results, and they weren't good at all.
"Allowing that crazy little boy to be a hero is stupid."
"Is UA really that desperate to recruit that sociopath?"
"Uzumaki Naruto is a danger to society. How far have we fallen to let that son of a bitch roam free? He's nothing but a murderer."
"Just because he stopped a train, he thinks he's a hero? That's pure bullshit. That idiot probably did it to gain the trust of the real heroes, and he'll betray them when he gets the chance."
"That demon is a villain."
"It's a monster!"
"They should wax it!"
"I hope that son of a b-"
[ If you want to read advance Chapters then go to Pat reon and support me there as I have already uploaded advance Chapters there.
PAT REON I'D:- Skythe ]