Chapter 44: The Quicksand Trap and the Ice Prince
The battlefield didn't give them a single second to catch their breath. The moment they evaded the first all-out attack from the other teams and landed safely back on the ground...
Suddenly, a strange, suffocating sensation washed over Zoro. His Observation Haki flared, but this time, it wasn't sensing an attack aimed at his body. It was sensing a shift in the environment itself. The earth directly beneath them was changing.
"Jump! The ground is turning to liquid!" Zoro barked.
"What?!" Midoriya gasped. His body moved on instinct, channeling every ounce of his grueling physical training into his legs.
Just as they leaped into the air, the solid dirt beneath them turned into a bubbling, swamp-like quicksand. Juzo Honenuki from Class 1-B had placed his hands on the ground, using his Softening Quirk to sink anyone who stepped too close. Riding on Honenuki's shoulders, Tetsutetsu's entire body turned to solid steel, ready to strike.
"Damn it, they noticed!" Tetsutetsu roared in frustration. "Get back here!"
"They dodged Juzo's trap?!" a Class 1-B student yelled in disbelief. "How did he even know?!"
As Team Roronoa landed safely on a solid patch of ground a few meters away, Midoriya wiped the sweat from his cheek. "That was too close... Zoro-kun, you saved us! But wait—look out! On the right!"
Charging toward them like a massive tank was Mezo Shoji. But as Midoriya analyzed the approaching threat, his eyes widened in confusion.
"Shoji-kun? But... he's by himself!" Midoriya yelled over the roar of the crowd. "Where is the rest of his team?!"
"Heh heh heh... We're right here, Midoriya!" a muffled, high-pitched voice echoed from inside Shoji's massive web of arms.
Suddenly, Shoji's arms opened slightly, revealing Minoru Mineta clinging to his back, already holding a handful of his sticky purple spheres.
"Is that even legal?!" Midoriya cried out, looking up at the referee's stand.
"It's a brilliant use of Quirks and biology!" Midnight announced cheerfully into her microphone, cracking her whip. "Completely legal! I'll allow it!"
"Take this!" Mineta yelled, unleashing a rapid barrage of his Pop Off spheres, aiming to stick Team Roronoa's feet to the ground.
But he wasn't alone. From the other side of Shoji's arms, Tsuyu Asui popped out. "Ribbit!" With lightning speed, her long tongue lashed out like a whip. But she wasn't just aiming for Zoro—she expertly curved her tongue to swipe at both Zoro's ten-million-point headband and Tetsutetsu's headband in one fluid motion.
Tetsutetsu cursed, barely ducking his steel head to avoid her tongue.
For Team Roronoa, it was a nightmare scenario. Sticky traps raining from above, a lightning-fast tongue coming from the side, and quicksand behind them.
Zoro didn't panic. His eyes remained sharp, his Haki mapping out the trajectory of every single sticky sphere and the exact curve of Tsuyu's tongue. Time seemed to slow down for him.
"Tokoyami, guard our blind spot!" Zoro ordered calmly. "Hatsume, full reverse! Midoriya, drop your right shoulder!"
As Mineta's purple spheres rained down on them, Zoro's hands blurred to his hilts. In a flash of steel, he drew the Wado Ichimonji and Sandai Kitetsu. He knew cutting the sticky spheres directly would only glue his blades, so he swung both swords in a rapid, cross-shaped arc. The sheer physical force of his swing generated a fierce blast of wind pressure—a miniature cyclone that violently blew the spheres off course, scattering them harmlessly into the dirt around them.
At the exact same moment, Hatsume fired her reverse thrusters, and Midoriya tilted his weight. They moved backward by a mere fraction of an inch—just enough for Tsuyu's tongue to snap harmlessly past Zoro's face.
"He blew my spheres away with pure wind pressure?!" Mineta screamed in pure frustration.
"We're clear!" Midoriya panted, his legs burning from the intense coordination.
But their relief was brutally cut short. A shadow loomed over them, blotting out the stadium lights.
"DON'T YOU DARE LOOK AWAY FROM ME!"
A feral roar echoed from above. Katsuki Bakugo was descending like a vengeful comet, his palms glowing with blinding, crackling light. He had launched himself out of his team's formation, leaving Kirishima behind, aiming a massive explosion directly at Zoro's face. "DIE, MOSS-HEAD!"
Zoro finally smiled, a wild, thrilling grin. He didn't use the sharp edge to cut the student; instead, he swung the blunt side of the Wado Ichimonji upward with terrifying, monstrous physical strength.
BOOOM!
He didn't hit Bakugo. Instead, the massive burst of air pressure from Zoro's swing acted like a physical wall of force. It slammed into Bakugo's explosion, violently pushing the fire back and blowing the blonde boy completely out of the sky.
Bakugo cursed loudly as he spun backward through the air, falling toward his team at a dangerous speed.
"I got you!" Uraraka yelled.
She quickly tapped her fingertips together, activating her Quirk. She caught Bakugo in her zero-gravity field just in time, instantly stopping his violent fall. With a focused breath, she gently guided his weightless body down, letting him land smoothly back onto Kirishima's sturdy shoulders before releasing the effect.
"SEVEN MINUTES HAVE PASSED!" Present Mic's voice suddenly boomed through the stadium speakers, cutting through the chaos. "Let's take a look at the current rankings on the big screen!"
The crowd went dead silent as the holographic board updated. Present Mic nearly choked on his own excitement. "W-WAIT A MINUTE! WHAT IS THIS?! ERASERHEAD, ARE YOU SEEING THIS?!"
Aizawa adjusted his bandages, his gaze sharp. "Class 1-B... they've been playing the long game."
The screen was a massacre of expectations.
1st: Team Roronoa (10,000,400 Pts)
2nd: Team Monoma
3rd: Team Tetsutetsu
4th: Team Kendo
5th: Team Todoroki
6th: Team Rin
At the very bottom, flashing in a humiliating red:
Team Bakugo: 0 Points.
"Ah, looking for this?"
Bakugo looked up to see Neito Monoma twirling a familiar headband around his finger with a sickeningly sweet smile. During the chaos of Bakugo's obsession with Zoro, Monoma had ghosted past them, snatching their points with a casual flick of the wrist.
"Class 1-A is so... simple," Monoma laughed, his eyes glinting with malice. "You're all so focused on the target at the top that you forgot to watch your own backs. Tell me, how does it feel to be at the bottom of the trash heap?"
Bakugo didn't scream. He didn't roar. He stood perfectly still, but the ground beneath his feet began to crack. A dark, terrifying heat radiated from him, so intense it made the nearby students back away in fear.
"Kirishima... Uraraka..." Bakugo's voice was a low, murderous whisper. "Change of plans. We're not going for the ten million yet. We're going to erase these idiots from existence first."
As Bakugo's team charged at Class 1-B in a blind rage, Midoriya's mind was working at lightning speed. He watched as the dynamic of the battlefield completely shifted.
Monoma's brilliant strategy had not only stolen Bakugo's points but had successfully taken several headbands from other Class 1-A teams while everyone was fixated on the ten million.
The situation has completely changed, Midoriya deduced, his eyes brightening. With Bakugo now solely focused on revenge and the rest of the teams scrambling to recover their stolen points from Class 1-B, the overwhelming attention on Team Roronoa had finally fractured.
"Zoro-kun!" Midoriya called out, leaning forward. "The pressure is off! With everyone distracted, escaping is going to be so much easier for us now—"
His words were instantly cut short.
A sudden, chilling drop in temperature froze the air in Midoriya's lungs. Stepping directly into their path, blocking their only escape route, was Team Todoroki.
"HALF THE TIME IS UP!" Present Mic announced loudly over the stadium speakers.
Up in the stands, the atmosphere was incredibly tense. The Number One Hero, All Might, leaned forward in his seat, his eyes glued intensely to Team Roronoa. On the opposite side of the stadium, the Flame Hero, Endeavor, stood with his arms crossed, his fiery gaze locked dead onto Todoroki and the opponents standing before him. The pros were holding their breath.
"THE CAVALRY BATTLE IS ABOUT TO ENTER ITS SECOND HALF!" Present Mic roared, hyping up the crowd. "In this unexpected rise of Class 1-B, who will wear the ten million points in the end?!"
Down on the battlefield, the noise of the cheering crowd seemed to fade away.
Shoto Todoroki looked up, his dual-colored eyes locking directly into Zoro's sharp gaze.
"I'll be taking those now," Todoroki said, his voice cold and absolute.
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For Advanced Chapters:
Chapter 52 is Available Now
( Blind Rage and the Boiling Point)
The first round of the semifinals has ended. The second round between Bakugo and Zoro will begin. How will Zoro deal with Bakugo's powerful explosions? It will be a fiery showdown.
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