"Did anyone see what happened?!"
"What… what just happened?! Can someone explain?!"
"What was that?!"
"I blinked, and what did I miss?! How did Kato In fall?!"
The crowd was still reeling from Kato In's boast of letting Kaito Ren have three moves, followed by Kaito Ren's immediate attack, and then… nothing. When they looked again, Kato In was on the ground, unconscious.
"I think Kato In took a punch from Kaito Ren and fell!"
A voice called from the corner.
"Bullshit! Kaito Ren couldn't knock out Kato In with one punch!"
The student who spoke realized his mistake; the person he'd just contradicted was the school principal, Nanako.
He'd insulted the principal. But Nanako had no time for that now; her attention was entirely on Kaito Ren.
Even she hadn't seen exactly what happened, only a blur of motion: Kaito Ren moving, Kato In standing confidently, taking the punch, and the sudden end to the match.
Could Kaito Ren have been hiding his strength? Was he incredibly powerful?
If so…
Nanako stared intently at Kaito Ren, her mind racing. If he was truly that strong, how could she recruit him?
But first, she needed to understand what had happened to determine if Kaito Ren possessed the strength to instantly defeat Kato In or had used some underhanded tactic.
"The matches are temporarily suspended. We'll announce the resumption later."
Nanako took a deep breath and decided to halt the competition. She would review the recordings from the Z-city Hero Association to clarify the situation.
"Teacher! I knew you could do it! Haha! You held back, right? Otherwise, he wouldn't have just fainted!"
Saitama was the first to approach, more excited than if he'd won himself.
"Yes, I held back about 70%."
Kaito Ren nodded. He'd reduced his power at the last moment, but the remaining 30% was still enough to break six or seven of Kato In's ribs.
"Amazing, Teacher! I wish I could be as strong as you someday!"
Saitama exclaimed, his eyes filled with admiration. He'd been training diligently, feeling his strength increase, hoping to close the gap with his teacher, but he still had a long way to go.
"You used that same technique against me, didn't you?"
Zombieman approached, staring intently at Kaito Ren. He'd been caught off guard; he'd expected a direct confrontation but hadn't anticipated Kaito Ren's tactic, which had temporarily incapacitated him. He only learned of the match's outcome from others.
"Yes."
Kaito Ren readily admitted.
"I hope next time you won't use that technique. Let's have a proper fight."
Zombieman clenched his fist. He wanted to fight a strong opponent like Kaito Ren to improve his skills. After yesterday's fight with the Tiger-level Middle monster, he'd felt a significant increase in strength.
"There will be a chance."
Kaito Ren nodded; he wasn't planning on fighting Zombieman anytime soon.
"Your fighting style is unique. A wave of energy momentarily incapacitated your opponent. Are you a power user? My database has no record of this technique."
Genos consulted his database, finding nothing similar to Kaito Ren's technique.
"This…"
Kaito Ren groaned internally. This was not going as planned. He'd intended to quietly improve his strength, but he'd attracted too much attention.
What to do?
As Kaito Ren pondered how to cover this up, at the Z-city Hero Association branch, the sound of hurried footsteps echoed in the empty corridor. Nanako rushed towards the data room.
"Vice-President!"
The staff in the data room respectfully stepped aside.
"Get the security footage from the Reserve Hero School training ground."
Nanako went to the monitors, and the staff quickly retrieved the footage. They located the match between Kaito Ren and Kato In and played it frame by frame, repeatedly, but found no underhanded tactics. Could Kaito Ren really be that strong?
"Vice-President, look here!"
A staff member pointed to a spot near Kato In.
Nanako squinted, finally noticing a tiny black shadow on the screen.
"You mean…"
Nanako frowned.
"I believe it's an insect, possibly a mosquito. The moment Kaito Ren attacked, Kato In was distracted, leaving him open."
"In other words, Kaito Ren was lucky. Kato In was caught off guard. This doesn't diminish Kaito Ren's strength; he's clearly strong enough to be in the Reserve Hero School. But defeating Kato In was a coincidence; with proper preparation, Kato In wouldn't have lost."
The staff member presented their analysis.
"Kato In's defeat was because of a mosquito?!"
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