Inumaki Toji kept staring at Midoriya.
Midoriya Izuku stood there, frozen like a stone statue, his heart pounding rapidly, and his eyes widening with awe of the situation. In front of him, the giant test robot raised its huge foot, about to crush Uraraka Chako under its heavy debris.
Everyone around him was frozen in place, in addition to a strange boy sitting nearby her, but he didn't even try to save her; he just kept watching as if time had suddenly slowed down. But inside Midoriya, something ignited — a burning flame of irresistible determination. That mysterious power crept into his legs, and determination and challenge were painted on his face.
He closed his eyes for a moment, then opened them wide, focusing all his strength in his feet. He felt as if the earth itself was pushing him forward, propelling him to launch at incredible speeds, like a rocket soaring through the sky.
His toes became a solid pivot point, and he jumped into the air with a smooth and strong movement. At that moment, he raised his right hand charged with enormous energy, shouting at the top of his voice: "Detroit Smash!"
The air around him gathered into a violent wave, and his fist struck the giant robot's head like a devastating lightning bolt. Sounds of cracking and screeching filled the place until the massive machine shattered into scattered pieces in all directions.
Midoriya fell from the air quickly and before he could hit the ground hard, Ochako used her power to make him fall to the ground safely before Ochako collapsed.
Midoriya smiled despite the pain, feeling an indescribable warmth inside. Before he could collapse face-first, Uraraka controlled her power and slowly lowered to the ground.
Finally, Midoriya felt what it meant to be a hero, and just as he was about to complete his feeling of victory, he heard that:
"Clap... clap." The boy with white hair clapped enthusiastically before speaking.
"Oh damn... it's just like anime," said the boy Inumaki.
His eyes gleamed with excitement.
Neither Aechika nor Izuku could move due to their injuries.
"Hey, you bastard," Inumaki heard an angry voice from nearby.
At that moment, another short boy approached, Minoru Minet, with purple hair, trembling with anger. He pointed his small fist at Inumaki, his voice a mixture of anger and despair.
"What were you doing, you idiot?" Mineta shouted. "That girl was about to be crushed, and you did nothing! You just sat there watching! You're not a hero! You're a coward!"
Inumaki stopped clapping, raised his eyebrows, and looked at Mineta coldly. He said nothing but put his hand over his mouth in a silent gesture.
Mineta continued shouting, "How can you be so cold? Didn't your heart realize that a girl was in danger?"
Whispers started to rise among the watching students, spreading like wildfire:
"True, what was that boy doing?"
"He was just sitting there like watching a movie!"
"If Midoriya hadn't done that, the girl would have been crushed. He should be kicked out of the test."
"He's a coward. He has nothing qualifying him to be a hero."
"He had no intention to help. Just a spectator."
Inumaki kept looking at the rest of the students before speaking.
"Can you shut up?" Inumaki said annoyed.
"What did you say—" Before Mineta could finish, he felt a sudden pain in his jaw.
Boom.
The sound of the hit echoed like a slap breaking the silence, and Mineta fell to the ground stunned, mouth open, blood trickling from its corner.
The students retreated silently, shocked by the unexpected violent attack.
Mineta fell to his knees trying to catch his breath, but he couldn't control himself from shock and pain.
His breath was broken, and his eyes wet with tears as he coughed up the blood gathering in him.
Inumaki stood firmly in front of him, a cold icy look on his face, and said in a low, cold voice: "I haven't started yet."
Inumaki smiled coldly, then suddenly raised his leg and delivered a strong painful kick to Minoru's stomach, hitting him hard enough to make him stagger back several meters, writhing in pain, clutching his stomach to steady himself.
Inumaki raised his gaze to the crowd of gathered students, his eyes filled with deep contempt.
"You... all of you..." he said slowly, his voice sharp piercing the silence.
"When that giant robot was trapping us, you were running away like cowards, afraid even to look at it. And now you dare to stand here and talk about heroism?"
He continued in a harsh tone:
"I'm disgusted by you. If you want to be heroes, first learn how to face danger, not how to run away from it."
"Besides, I never spoke about being a hero because I don't care about that stupid thing in the first place."
The students froze in place, Inumaki's strong voice and immense confidence broke the wall of fear and doubts but at the same time embarrassed and shocked them.
Then Inumaki turned to Mineta, saying in an unarguable tone:
"Remember, this was just a warning."
Before anyone could continue speaking, Inum
aki coldly turned toward the exam hall.
Minetta's picture in the comments