Chapter 39: The Roar of the Crowd
The two weeks leading up to the U.A. Sports Festival were nothing short of a silent, grueling war. Every student in Class 1-A knew that the eyes of the entire country—and the scouting interest of every major pro hero agency—would be fixed entirely on them.
At the now-clean Dagobah Municipal Beach Park, Izuku Midoriya grunted loudly, his boots sinking into the sand as he sprinted along the shoreline. Later at home, he relentlessly lifted weights, his muscles straining to their absolute limits. He was desperately trying to visualize how to control the overwhelming power of One For All without shattering his own bones every time he used it. He wasn't just training for himself anymore; he was training to prove to All Might, and to Zoro, that he belonged at the absolute top.
Meanwhile, in the quiet seclusion of the old dojo, the air was sliced by a sharp, rhythmic whoosh.
Zoro stood in the center of the wooden training hall, a thick black blindfold tied tightly over his two eyes. He was shirtless, his scarred, muscular torso glistening with sweat. Across from him, Master Kenji was systematically firing small, hard pebbles with a wooden slingshot from different angles around the room.
Thwack! A pebble hit Zoro square in the forehead.
"Concentrate, Zoro!" Kenji barked, moving quietly to a different corner and loading another stone. "Don't try to 'see' with your physical eyes. Sense the intent! Feel the air shift before the stone even leaves the sling!"
Zoro let out a long, controlled breath. He centered his spirit, completely ignoring the stinging pain on his forehead. Suddenly, the world around him went dark, but a strange, flickering 'presence' appeared in his mind. He felt a sharp, aggressive ripple of intent to his left.
Zip!
Without moving his head, Zoro tilted his upper body just an inch to the right. The pebble whistled past his ear, missing him by a hair's breadth.
"Better," Kenji smirked, dropping the slingshot. "The door to Observation Haki is heavy, but you're starting to push it open."
Zoro pulled off the blindfold, his sharp eyes filled with fierce determination. "It's not enough. I need to be able to do this in the middle of a chaotic battlefield."
"You will," Kenji said, walking toward him. "But remember, a sword is an extension of your soul. If your soul is calm, the world will reveal its secrets to you."
The day of the festival finally arrived.
The area surrounding U.A. High School was a scene of absolute chaos. Tens of thousands of spectators lined the streets, and a sea of news vans and eager reporters created a massive blockade near the main gates. Security bots hovered overhead, and pro heroes like Mt. Lady and Kamui Woods were clearly visible near the entrances, managing the massive, roaring crowds.
"It's like a national holiday," a reporter shouted into her microphone, fighting to be heard over the noise. "The school that survived a villain attack is about to show the world its unyielding strength!"
Inside the massive U.A. Stadium, the atmosphere was electric. The deafening roar of the crowd could be heard even through the thick concrete walls of the student waiting rooms.
In the 1-A Waiting Room, the students were dressed in their blue and white U.A. gym uniforms. The tension was so thick you could cut it with a knife. Uraraka was taking deep breaths, trying to calm her shaking hands, while others stretched nervously.
Zzzzz...
A loud, rhythmic snore echoed through the quiet room.
Everyone stopped and turned. There, slumped comfortably in a chair in the corner, was Zoro. His arms were crossed over his chest, his head was tilted back, and he was fast asleep.
"HOW CAN HE SLEEP AT A TIME LIKE THIS?!" Mineta shrieked, his eyes practically popping out of his skull. "The entire country is waiting outside and he's dreaming about food?!"
Bakugo, who was leaning against the opposite wall with a murderous scowl, aggressively kicked a nearby chair out of his way. He stomped over to the sleeping swordsman. "OI! MOSS-HEAD! WAKE THE HELL UP!"
Zoro's eyes snapped open. He blinked slowly, looking around the room as if he had no idea where he was. He looked up at Bakugo with a bored, incredibly unimpressed, half-lidded gaze.
"Huh? Is the food ready yet, Sparky?" Zoro asked, yawning loudly.
Bakugo's face instantly turned a deep, violent shade of red. Small, angry explosions crackled in his palms. "WHO ARE YOU CALLING SPARKY, YOU DAMN EXTRA?! GET UP BEFORE I BLAST THAT STUPID MOSS OFF YOUR HEAD!"
"Quiet down, Hedgehog," Zoro grumbled, casually stretching his arms. "You're giving me a headache with all that barking. Are you a hero or an angry Pomeranian?"
"I'LL KILL YOU!" Bakugo roared, lunging forward with explosive intent, only to be grabbed around the waist by a frantic Kirishima.
"Whoa, Bakugo! Chill out, man! We're about to go out into the stadium!" Kirishima pleaded, struggling to hold the explosive boy back.
As the comedic chaos settled, Iida suddenly stopped, pushing his glasses up his nose. He pointed a rigid, robotic finger at the three hilts resting at Zoro's waist.
"Wait a moment, Roronoa!" Iida chopped the air forcefully. "Support items and real weapons are strictly prohibited in the Sports Festival unless a formal request is submitted and approved! Why are you carrying your actual live blades into the arena?!"
The rest of the class turned to look. It was a completely valid question; bringing three deadly, razor-sharp swords into a student tournament seemed utterly insane.
Zoro casually rested his hand on the white hilt of the Wado Ichimonji. "I got special permission. The rat principal and Aizawa signed off on it yesterday."
"They allowed it?!" Midoriya asked, his eyes wide with surprise.
"Since I don't have a flashy Quirk, my swords are my entire fighting style," Zoro explained, rolling his shoulders. "Taking them away would be like telling 'Sparky' over there to fight without sweating. But the administration gave me a strict condition: if I fatally injure or permanently maim another student, I'm instantly disqualified and expelled from U.A."
Zoro smirked, a confident glint in his eye. "So don't worry. I'll just use the blunt edges of the blades against you guys. That'll be more than enough to crush you."
"Such arrogance!" Iida gasped, though he understood the logic behind the school's decision.
Suddenly, the door slid open, and Iida, who had stepped out for a brief moment to check the schedule, rushed back inside. "Everyone! It's time! Get in line for the entrance!"
The class began to file out of the room, their hearts pounding in their chests. However, as they reached the main hallway, Zoro confidently turned left, heading straight toward a door heavily marked 'Faculty Only'.
"ZORO! THE STADIUM IS TO THE RIGHT!" Midoriya, Iida, and Uraraka screamed in unison.
"I knew that!" Zoro barked, pivoting on his heel with a frustrated, embarrassed scowl. "I was just... checking if the teachers were ready. Stop yelling at me!"
As they finally reached the dark tunnel leading out to the main field, the temperature suddenly dropped. Todoroki stepped directly in front of Midoriya, his heterochromatic eyes cold and unfeeling.
"Midoriya," Todoroki said, his voice echoing in the tunnel. "Looking at it objectively, I think I'm stronger than you. But All Might has his eye on you and Roronoa. I'm not trying to pry into what that's about... but I will defeat both of you."
Midoriya looked taken aback by the sudden declaration of war, but he didn't back down, clenching his fists in response.
Zoro walked past them, his hand resting casually on his sword. He didn't even bother to stop or look at Todoroki.
"Talk all you want, Half-and-Half," Zoro said, his voice a low, dangerous rumble that echoed off the tunnel walls. "But don't get in my way. I didn't come here to play games."
The lights at the end of the tunnel grew blindingly bright. The sound of tens of thousands of people screaming hit the students like a physical wave.
"STARTING NOW!" Present Mic's booming voice erupted over the stadium loudspeakers. "THE U.A. FIRST-YEAR SPORTS FESTIVAL!!"
Class 1-A stepped out of the shadows and into the blinding sunlight, and the entire world held its breath.
.
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The final showdown of the one VS one sports festival is about to begin. Who will be Zoro's first opponent? And what will he do?
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