"You've never worked out before?" The one asking was Kaminari, his face full of doubt. Judging by Sato's frame, he didn't seem particularly weak.
Of course, Sato's so-called frailty and lack of strength were only relative to people like Bakugo and Kirishima. In truth, his physique was far stronger than that of most adults.
"Well, I've done some exercise..." Sato scratched the back of his head in embarrassment, and now everyone understood.
"This is what they call wasted talent! Damn it, why wasn't I born with this kind of wasted talent?!" Mineta muttered, consumed by jealousy. The envy twisted his expression into something borderline terrifying.
On the other side, Kaminari lowered his head in thought, then spoke to Aizawa, who was silently observing.
"Sensei, I think we may have misunderstood Sato-san's Quirk up until now."
Aizawa lifted his eyes slightly. He didn't say anything, but his gaze signaled Kaminari to continue.
"Previously, Sato's training focused on eating sweets repeatedly and using his Quirk to build up resistance to sugar and reduce the cognitive side effects."
"But judging from what we just saw, his Quirk should be considered a physical-type with supplemental enhancement, similar to Midoriya, Jurota Shishida, and Kaibara."
At this moment, Momo nodded in realization and smiled. "I see. While some of us have Quirks that interact with our physical abilities, there are actually two different development paths."
"As long as students like Sato continue physical training, the effects of their Quirks will improve too!"
"So Sato-san's Quirk is actually a 'simple amplification type'. He shouldn't have been grouped with me for training, but with Tiger, right?" Kyoka said, suddenly understanding.
"Exactly. His Quirk, 'Sugar Rush,' works by consuming sugar to temporarily increase his strength fivefold for about three minutes, though it comes with temporary cognitive impairment after the effect ends," Kaminari continued.
"If he improves his base physical strength, the effect duration could increase, and the side effects would naturally be delayed. To test this theory..."
"Let Sato activate his Quirk now. If the recent training has helped, it proves the current plan is working. If not, then your hypothesis is correct."
After Kaminari finished, Aizawa silently reached into his pants pocket and tossed a candy toward Sato.
"Eh? Mint flavor?" Sato caught the candy instinctively and glanced at the wrapper.
"This one's for students doing night classes. As for the flavor, it's a punishment," Aizawa said expressionlessly.
"Well, I think mint is pretty good." Kaminari muttered.
"Yeah." Todoroki nodded in agreement.
Soon, the truth about Sato Rikido's Quirk came to light. The result? It was no different from before his training.
"Your training plan will be adjusted starting tomorrow. For the revised program, speak with Tiger tonight. It'll focus mainly on physical training," Aizawa said, turning toward Tiger.
"Got it! Leave it to me!" Tiger gave a thumbs-up with a grin. Among the present Pro Heroes, he was undoubtedly the most experienced when it came to physical training.
Sato felt a little uncomfortable. His previous training had been relatively easy, but those carefree days were clearly over starting tomorrow.
Still, he didn't resent Kaminari. He knew it was for his own good, and deep down, he was grateful.
Kaminari turned to him and said, "Sato-san, your Quirk is actually really powerful. In terms of potential, it's on par with Kirishima's 'Hardening'."
"If your base physical strength is one, and your Quirk increases it to five, then if your base strength becomes ten… how much would it increase to?"
"Fifty... Fifty..." Sato muttered, eyes wide.
"Exactly. So don't waste your Quirk. You've got the potential to be a top-tier Pro Hero." With that, Kaminari turned his attention to the next arm-wrestling match.
Class B's Kosei Tsuburaba versus Class A's Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu. Tsuburaba was exactly the kind of 'pure amplification type' that Kyoka had just mentioned.
His Quirk, 'Solid Air', could harden air into barriers or footholds. However, the volume of air he could solidify was entirely dependent on his lung capacity.
In other words, if his lung capacity rivaled the fire-style users in Naruto, he could probably blow out a mini-tornado.
In the end, he lost the match decisively. It couldn't be helped—his opponent was Tetsutetsu.
This was just arm wrestling. If it had been a thigh-wrestling contest, his leg might have snapped…
Next up was Group 5: Jurota Shishida from Class B versus Koji Koda from Class A. Shishida's Quirk, 'Beast', turned him into a large, muscular creature with enhanced senses.
His Hero name was equally dramatic: "Gévaudan," named after the legendary wolf monster from French folklore—a literal giant werewolf.
So naturally, everyone thought Class A would struggle against that kind of power Quirk.
But the result was another shock—Koda won. And not just that, he won easily. His expression barely even changed.
"I used to wonder how Koda passed the entrance exam, but now I finally get it!" Kaminari exclaimed.
"Seriously. With that kind of strength, he could probably flatten an 'imaginary enemy' with a few punches," Tetsutetsu agreed.
"But then again, Toru Hagakure… how did you pass the entrance exam?" Ashido asked, turning toward the floating gloves.
"Ah, um..." The gloves flailed a bit, and a shy voice came out.
"Actually, it was Ojiro who helped me. He scored some rescue points too..."
"That's right!" Class A's students all nodded in sudden realization, though Mashirao Ojiro looked a little uncomfortable.
"Don't sell yourself short. While it's true we teamed up during the entrance exam, it's not like I carried you the way people might think!"
"You guys probably didn't notice, but Toru's physical abilities are actually pretty good. During the test, she was able to easily jump onto an 'imaginary enemy' and take out its power supply!"
"What?!" Kirishima and the others were stunned. Even Todoroki, usually calm, looked up at Hagakure.
"Now that I think about it, in the physical fitness test when we first entered, Toru didn't place at the bottom. She was ranked above Midoriya and a few others," Kaminari added thoughtfully.
"Wait, really? Am I that strong? No way, hahaha!" Hagakure laughed awkwardly, waving her gloves.
"Next up, Group 6! Class B's Yosetsu Awase and Class A's Eijiro Kirishima, please come forward," Mandalay announced in front of the platform.
"Alright! My turn at last!" Kirishima stepped up with excitement. Just watching the others was getting boring.
"If you lose, I'm gonna laugh at you the whole trip," Tetsutetsu joked.
"Don't worry. I'm definitely winning this one!" Kirishima said confidently, staring down his opponent. He was aiming to be the toughest Hero of the new era.
Yosetsu Awase wore a blue-and-white striped headband. His Quirk, 'Weld', allowed him to fuse objects at a molecular level.
"Start!"
At the signal, Kirishima and Awase began to exert force. But to everyone's surprise, Awase held his ground.
As the struggle continued, both of their expressions grew more intense, and their forearms bulged with effort.
"No way?!"
The usually slender-looking Yosetsu Awase was actually holding his own against Kirishima Eijiro!
(To be continued.)
***
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