While Zoro was still searching for the right path toward the safe evacuation zone, Bakugo carried his irritation with him at every step, still bothered by what he'd seen a moment ago. He walked ahead with nothing in his hands, indifferent to everything around him, muttering out loud every so often. Behind him, as always, Kirishima and Kaminari, each carrying a victim they'd found along the way.
At the same time, Midoriya had already reached the evacuation zone, the child still in his arms. The area was packed with victims. He began setting the boy down carefully, checking once more that he was unharmed before letting go.
Then, suddenly.
BOOM.
An explosion shook the wall directly in front of them.
Midoriya spun toward the sound in complete confusion, unable to process what had happened for a moment. Smoke rose into the sky and a massive gap tore open in the wall. In the same instant, he grabbed the child and tried to shield him with his own body.
The victims around him started screaming. "What is that? What's happening?"
Every eye turned toward the source of the blast.
And when the thick smoke cleared, Gang Orca stepped through it.
"Rescue and combat, together." His voice came out deep, carrying its own particular weight.
He looked closer to an actual villain than a professional hero. A massive frame, a sharp white suit, a red sash moving behind him with the wind. The pupil of his left eye widened to something terrifying as he swept the group with a look that assessed more than it threatened.
"Can you handle everything at once?"
Midoriya stood frozen. "Gang Orca...!"
Before he could finish the sentence, figures began appearing behind him. Matching black suits, masks concealing their faces completely, weapons in their hands. At a single signal from him, they launched toward the area in perfect coordination.
In that moment, Mera's voice rolled across the entire arena.
"Villains have appeared and begun their assault." A brief pause. "Candidate heroes are to continue rescue efforts while suppressing the villains at the same time."
Reactions spread instantly across every zone.
Shoji asked Iida with visible disbelief, "Continue rescue during combat?!"
Mineta grabbed his own head with both hands and shouted, "Oh my god, are they serious?!"
In the observation deck, Aizawa said to Miss Joke in a calm voice, "This is going to be difficult even for professionals." A pause. "Going this far for a provisional license..."
Zoro had already gotten close to the evacuation zone when the echo of the explosion reached him. It hadn't occurred to him at first that this was villains, he assumed it was just the usual demolition protocol for the zones. But the moment Mera started speaking, he stopped running.
"Quiet for a second." He said it to the actor on his shoulder. "What did he say? Did you catch it clearly?"
The actor began trembling, fully in character. "V... villains?! We have to run!"
But Zoro's reaction came from an entirely different place.
The irritation that had been sitting on his face slowly dissolved. His head lowered slightly, and his right hand moved on instinct toward Wado Ichimonji's hilt. The corner of his mouth rose into that same predatory smile anyone who had ever faced him would recognize, and his eyes lit with a gleam that was impossible to miss.
"So that's how it is." He said it low, barely containing something close to excitement. "They should have included this part from the start."
"W... what are you saying, you idiot?!" the actor screamed in terror. "They're villains! You're supposed to protect me!"
Zoro ignored him completely. He tightened his grip on the man, and instead of the slow jog he'd kept up until now, he dropped into a launch stance and the ground detonated beneath his feet.
He shot forward at double the speed toward the evacuation zone, the wind slamming into his face.
"Save your breath and hold on tight." Zoro said. "I'll throw you somewhere safe. Running around like an ambulance isn't my style. Sounds like someone's waiting for me to finally cut something."
Gang Orca closed in step by step on the evacuation zone, his helpers advancing behind him in a tight formation.
"What are you going to do?" he asked, his voice carrying a quiet threat. "Fight or protect? Help or run?" He paused, his eyes sweeping the students in front of him. "What will you do, heroes?"
In other zones across the arena, students noticed the thick smoke and heard the announcement clearly.
In the mountain zone, Mina stopped abruptly and looked up at the smoke filled sky with obvious worry. Ojiro and Tokoyama stood beside her.
"Oh my god, are they serious? The evacuation zone is under direct attack!" Mina said, real tension in her voice.
Tokoyama nodded firmly, Dark Shadow coiling around him in readiness. "We need to move fast. Protecting the wounded there is the priority now."
"Right, let's go now." Ojiro added, aiming his tail to launch himself forward.
In the valley zone, Tsuyu stood beside Todoroki and another student, watching the distant explosions shake the ground.
She pressed a finger to her chin. "Even if this is just a test, it looks really dangerous, kero. We should get over there now."
Todoroki said nothing, but his usual calm sharpened into focus. He launched toward the source of the smoke, ice forming beneath his feet to give him an extra burst forward.
Back at the evacuation zone, the situation was growing heavier by the second.
Gang Orca closed in with his broad strides, his helpers tightening the encirclement further.
Midoriya's veins lit up in a reddish green glow, sparks of Full Cowling scattering around him as he dropped into an offensive stance, ready to launch at the enemy.
But Shindo stepped in front of him and put a firm hand up, blocking his advance.
"Midoriya! Stay behind me and protect the victims here!" he shouted, his eyes confident. "Don't let them get near the wounded. I'll handle slowing them down."
Midoriya pulled back a hesitant step, but he understood Shindo was right. Guarding their backs mattered more right now.
Shindo pressed both palms flat against the shattered ground and pulled everything he had.
"Great Pressure!"
The instant his hands touched the ground, the concrete fractured and split like violent ocean waves. Powerful shock waves tore the earth in half and dropped Gang Orca's helpers one by one, stripping every one of them of their balance completely. The villains' attack formation collapsed in a matter of seconds.
Shindo smiled, breathing a little hard, looking at the wreckage he'd created. "That should stop them."
But from the thick, scattering dust, that massive frame emerged untouched. Gang Orca hadn't been affected by the shockwaves at all.
He closed the distance in one terrifyingly fast step, and before Shindo could process what was happening, Gang Orca grabbed him by the collar and lifted him off the ground with one hand, his face inches from Shindo's.
"Good attack." He said it with total coldness. "But not enough."
A low, choking hum began building from his jaw, gathering for a supersonic release from a distance that offered no chance of escape.
Shindo froze in his grip, and Midoriya understood with real fear that stepping in now would be too late.
Suddenly, at a speed no eye could track, a black shape cut across the air above everyone's heads.
Zoro landed hard in front of the group, the actor he'd been carrying on his shoulder the entire way still hanging there, his face pale from the last stretch of speed.
Without a second of hesitation, Zoro set him down and pushed him directly toward Midoriya.
"Midoriya." He said it in a tone that left no room for discussion. "Take care of this."
Midoriya caught him with confused arms, not even given the chance to ask where exactly this man had come from.
Zoro didn't wait for a reaction. His eyes had already been locked on the scene in front of him from the moment he landed. Gang Orca was still holding Shindo suspended in the air, his jaw beginning to vibrate, preparing to release his wave from a range that offered no mercy.
Zoro's right hand moved slowly toward the hilt of one of his swords.
Shhk.
The blade began sliding from its sheath in one deliberate motion, his eyes never leaving the massive hero in front of him. That smile spread across his face, the one anyone who had ever faced him would recognize instantly, a smile carrying no hesitation and no mercy.
"Oh." He paused for a moment, as though pulling up an old image from memory. "The whale."
He finished drawing the sword in one steady motion.
"It's been a long time since Kamino."
.
.
For Advanced Chapters:
There are 9 advanced chapters On Pat re on
The Shie Hassaikai arc is about to get intense. real fights, real danger. And for those wondering... a certain legendary Black Blade might just make its debut soon. Is Shusui finally here? The real action is just starting!
Hope you enjoyed this chapter! If you can't wait to see what happens next, you can read advanced chapters right now over on my Patreon.
Your support really means the world to me and helps me keep writing and updating regularly. Check the link below, and thank you so much for reading!
Pat re on.com/AZTh