Chapter 50: The Price of Stubbornness
"THE SECOND ROUND WILL BEGIN SHORTLY!" Present Mic's voice echoed through the stadium speakers, keeping the audience hyped during the brief intermission.
Deep within the stadium corridors, Midoriya left the waiting room and made his way toward the entrance tunnel. His mind was focused, mentally preparing himself for the monster of ice he was about to face.
As he turned a corner, he abruptly stopped. A wall of intense heat hit his face. Standing right in the middle of the narrow hallway, arms crossed, was the towering figure of the Number Two Hero.
Midoriya gasped, taking a startled step back. "Endeavor?! What are you doing here?"
Endeavor looked down at him with piercing, intimidating eyes. "Ah, there you are."
Midoriya tensed, unsure of what the blazing hero wanted from him.
"I watched your fight," Endeavor stated smoothly, his deep voice echoing in the concrete hall. "You have a fascinating Quirk. Creating that much wind pressure with just a flick of your fingers... if we are talking about raw power alone, your Quirk is comparable to All Might."
Midoriya's heart skipped a beat. A cold sweat broke out on his neck. What is he getting at?! Does he know? No... he's just comparing the output. He can't find out about One For All!
Deciding it was best to escape the conversation, Midoriya lowered his head and started walking past the massive hero. "I... I have to go. My match is starting."
He walked right past Endeavor, intent on ignoring him. But as his back was turned, Endeavor spoke again.
"My son Shoto is the one who will surpass All Might," Endeavor said, his voice dripping with absolute certainty. "Make sure you prove to be a good stepping stone for him. That's all I wanted to say. I apologize for bothering you right before your match."
Midoriya stopped dead in his tracks. His fists clenched tightly at his sides. The sheer arrogance in Endeavor's words—treating him as a mere tool, and treating Todoroki as nothing more than an extension of himself—lit a fire inside Midoriya's chest.
Midoriya turned his head, glaring back at the Number Two Hero with a fierce, unyielding expression.
"I am not All Might," Midoriya said, his voice surprisingly steady and sharp. "And Todoroki... is not you."
Endeavor's eyes widened slightly.
"I will be myself," Midoriya continued, fully turning around to face the flaming hero. "I will aim for the top, and nothing will stand in my way. Not you, and not your son."
Without waiting for a response, Midoriya turned back around and marched down the tunnel. He left Endeavor standing in the hallway, completely speechless and shocked by the sheer intensity radiating from the seemingly timid boy.
Outside, massive pillars of fire erupted around the concrete stage. The crowd roared in absolute frenzy.
"THANKS FOR WAITING, EVERYBODY!" Present Mic screamed. "THE FIRST MATCH OF THE SECOND ROUND IS A MASSIVE ONE! FROM THE HERO COURSE, THE BOY WITH THE INCREDIBLE EXPLOSIVE POWER... IZUKU MIDORIYA!"
Midoriya stepped out of the tunnel, his eyes locked onto the stage.
"VERSUS! ALSO FROM THE HERO COURSE, THE ICE-COLD ELITE... SHOTO TODOROKI!"
Todoroki walked out from the opposite side, his expression completely blank, his breath already visible in the cold air he was generating. Both boys stepped onto the concrete ring, stopping a few meters apart.
Up in the stands, Iida and Uraraka watched closely, discussing among themselves how the match would play out and what strategy Midoriya would use against Todoroki's overwhelming ice. Bakugo sat beside them with his arms crossed, glaring intensely at the stage, waiting to see what the nerd would do.
A few seats away, Zoro was completely oblivious to the impending battle. He was fast asleep, arms crossed, with a rhythmic snot bubble expanding and popping on his nose.
In the hero seating area, All Might leaned forward, his hands clasped tightly together. Show him, Young Midoriya. Show him the hero you want to be.
Standing in the shadows of an entrance tunnel, Endeavor watched his son with intense scrutiny. Stop acting like a rebellious child, Shoto. Use my power.
"START!" Present Mic roared, his voice echoing through the entire stadium.
Todoroki didn't waste a millisecond. He stomped his right foot onto the ground, unleashing a massive, jagged glacier of ice that shot across the stage directly toward Midoriya.
Midoriya had anticipated it. He channeled One For All into his middle finger. SMASH!
With a devastating flick, a shockwave of air pressure collided with the glacier, shattering the ice into a million pieces and sending a freezing gale through the stadium. Midoriya winced as the bones in his finger shattered, turning purple instantly.
Todoroki didn't flinch. He sent another wave of ice. Midoriya broke another finger to destroy it.
The match quickly turned into a brutal battle of attrition. Todoroki sent relentless, towering waves of ice to bury his opponent, and Midoriya sacrificed his fingers one by one to blow them away.
But as the minutes ticked by, something began to change.
Midoriya, panting heavily with three broken fingers on his right hand and two on his left, noticed a shift in Todoroki's attacks. The ice was moving slower. The massive glaciers weren't as thick as before.
He looked closely and saw frost spreading rapidly across the right side of Todoroki's body. The half-cold boy was trembling, his breath coming out in ragged, freezing gasps.
His movements are getting sluggish, Midoriya realized, his tactical mind racing. His Quirk has a limit. He's freezing his own body by only using his right side! If he used his fire, he could regulate his temperature, but he refuses to do it!
Todoroki gritted his teeth, his vision blurring slightly from the intense cold gripping his muscles. I don't need that damn old man's fire. I will win with mom's power alone!
Driven by sheer, blind stubbornness and rapidly depleting stamina, Todoroki realized his long-range attacks were losing power. Panting heavily, he coated his right arm in a thick layer of sharp ice and charged directly at Midoriya in a desperate physical assault.
Midoriya stood his ground. His fingers were shattered and throbbing in absolute agony, but his legs and his arms were still completely fine. He watched Todoroki close the distance, his mind racing.
I need to hit him, but I can't afford to destroy my arm, Midoriya thought. The microwave... remember the microwave at home! Don't let it explode. Imagine the egg not popping!
Midoriya took a deep breath, focusing entirely on his right arm. Control it. Just a fraction of the power...
A sudden, faint surge of red electricity sparked around his skin. He felt the immense power of One For All welling up, but this time, he mentally clamped down on it. He contained the output, pulling his fist back as Todoroki lunged at him with his frozen arm.
"SMASH!"
Midoriya drove his fist squarely into Todoroki's gut.
The sheer force of the impact shattered the frost armor on Todoroki's body. A powerful shockwave rippled through the air, completely lifting the half-cold boy off his feet.
Todoroki was sent flying backward like a ragdoll. He skipped across the concrete, tumbled uncontrollably, and rolled right past the white boundary line, coming to a halt on the grass outside the ring.
The stadium was engulfed in a stunned, breathless silence.
Todoroki lay on the ground, gasping for air, his eyes wide with shock as he realized he had lost. His stubbornness, his refusal to use his left side, had cost him the match.
In the center of the ring, Midoriya stood tall. He looked down at his right arm with an expression of pure, stunned disbelief. It was steaming slightly from the exertion, but the bones were completely intact. He hadn't broken it. His eyes widened as he flexed his hand, shocked that the desperate gamble had actually worked.
Midnight raised her whip, breaking the silence. "TODOROKI IS OUT OF BOUNDS! MIDORIYA ADVANCES TO THE SEMI-FINALS!"
The stadium erupted into a deafening, earth-shaking roar.
Up in the stands, Endeavor's face twisted into an expression of pure, unadulterated rage. Flames violently erupted from his shoulders, melting the railing near him. YOU FOOL! he roared in his mind. If you had just used your left side, you would have crushed him effortlessly! You lost because of your own childish tantrum!
All Might, however, let out a massive sigh of relief, a proud, beaming smile spreading across his face. A fluke or a spark of genius, Young Midoriya... you managed to keep your arm whole.
Up in the Class 1-A seating area, the deafening roar of the crowd finally popped the snot bubble on Zoro's nose. He woke up with a grunt, rubbing his eyes.
"Hah? What's going on?" Zoro grumbled. He looked down at the ring, seeing Midoriya standing alone in the center with mangled fingers, and Todoroki lying outside the boundary line.
"Oh, I really missed a lot," Zoro smirked lazily, leaning forward. "Midoriya advanced, huh... He's determined to prove himself. I like that."
A few seats away, Bakugo gritted his teeth so hard his gums ached. Small, angry explosions popped in his clenched fists as he glared at the green-haired boy. Deku... you damn nerd. Even if you got past half-and-half, you won't escape me when we meet.
Uraraka cheered loudly, jumping up and down with a massive smile. "He did it! Deku-kun actually won!"
Beside her, Iida pushed his glasses up his nose, smiling proudly at his friend's victory. An incredible display of willpower, Midoriya-kun, Iida thought, his expression tightening with a fierce, competitive edge. But if we face each other in the next round... I will be the one who wins.
Down on the stage, holding both of his hands—each with several purple and swollen fingers—close to his chest, Midoriya turned and walked off. He refused the stretcher from the medical robots, choosing to head toward Recovery Girl's office on his own feet. As he passed through the tunnel, he moved with a steady, determined gait, proving to the world, and to Endeavor, that his words in the hallway were not just an empty threat. He was going to the top, on his own terms.
Meanwhile, as the second match between Tenya Iida and Ibara Shiozaki was about to begin, All Might slipped away from the hero stands and made his way to the infirmary.
He found Midoriya sitting on a bed. Recovery Girl had just finished treating his hand.
"Young Midoriya!" All Might said, entering the room with a look of concern and intense curiosity. "Are you alright? That match... what happened out there? How did you throw that powerful Smash without exposing your arm to any damage?"
Midoriya looked down at his newly bandaged hand, a genuinely confused expression on his face. "I don't really know how, All Might. I just... I thought about the microwave at home, and it just happened involuntarily. Could it be... have I started to figure out how to control my power?"
All Might smiled warmly, placing a heavy, reassuring hand on the boy's shoulder. "I don't have all the answers yet, my boy. But you are currently on the exact right path. I am so incredibly proud of you. You are finally starting to show the world who you really are."
"You had five broken fingers," Recovery Girl interrupted, sighing sharply as she put her medical supplies away. "I healed them for now, but how are you going to keep dealing with this? You always pull these suicidal stunts."
Midoriya stood up, clenching his healed fist. His eyes burned with an unbreakable determination. "I will never give up. I'm ready for the next round, no matter what it takes."
All Might looked at the boy, a deep sense of pride swelling in his chest. What incredible courage and strong will, the Symbol of Peace thought. I haven't regretted making him my successor for a single second.
Suddenly, Present Mic's booming voice echoed through the speakers, announcing the start of the Iida versus Shiozaki match.
All Might turned toward the door. "Rest up a little, Young Midoriya, and get ready for the next match."
Midoriya nodded, watching the screen. "My next opponent... might be my friend this time."
Out in the stadium, the scene shifted to the concrete ring. Iida and Ibara stood facing each other, waiting for the signal.
"START!"
The match was over in the blink of an eye. Refusing to give the vine-haired girl any time to set up her defenses, Iida immediately activated his engines to their absolute maximum output.
"Recipro Burst!"
Moving in a blinding blur of speed, Iida completely bypassed Ibara's spreading vines. Before she could even react, he got behind her, grabbed her firmly by the shoulders, and used his overwhelming momentum to push her right out of the ring.
"SHIOZAKI IS OUT OF BOUNDS! IIDA ADVANCES TO THE SEMI-FINALS!" Midnight announced, raising her whip.
The crowd cheered for the swift victory. But then, the atmosphere in the stadium shifted. The air grew heavy, and a tense silence fell over the audience as the holographic board updated.
"AND NOW, THE MATCH YOU'VE ALL BEEN WAITING FOR!" Present Mic screamed, his voice vibrating with pure hype. "THE RUTHLESS SWORDSMAN, RORONOA ZORO! VERSUS THE MASTER OF THE DARK, FUMIKAGE TOKOYAMI!"
Zoro stepped out of the tunnel, his eyes sharp, his hand resting calmly on the white hilt of the Wado Ichimonji. On the other side of the stage, Tokoyami stepped forward, the shadowy beast known as Dark Shadow manifesting behind him with a low, intimidating growl.
The wind howled across the stadium. The clash between the silent swordsman and the shadow beast was about to begin.
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