Chapter 20

Semi-finals of the knockout tournament.

The first match was between Midoriya and Todoroki.

It was as crazy as one would expect. The two started with Todoroki using ice in an attempt to freeze Midoriya while the latter broke his fingers to generate devastating gusts of wind to counter the two-face boy.

I could feel the vibrations in the air and understand their conversation.

'The Dao of protagonists and talk-no-jutsu is strong in this one.'

Midoriya truely knew what to say to a person. He could possibly become a negotiator or a motivational speaker. Sitting amongst my fellow batchmates, I was watching the battle with immense interest and it had certainly wowed the entire stadium... almost.

I had resigned to the fact that I made the girls around me horny from my presence. Until Recovery Girl and the support department came to a solution, the girls would be at the mercy of my pheromones.

I zoned all the fidgeting out and focused on the battle.

As Todoroki finally decided to use his fire, I knew that the battle was going to he over soon. Midoriya stomped and channeled 'One for All' in his leg and his arm. Cementoss and Midnight were about to stop them when Midoriya launched himself towards Todoroki.

Breaking apart the walls created by Cementoss, their attacks clashed in an enormous explosion that shattered the ring. When the dust settled, Midoriya was seen unconscious while Todoroki stood tall.

Todoroki had advanced to the finals.

There was a break during which Cementoss recreated the ring and the medics check up on Midoriya and Todoroki. I left the fidgeting girls and the open perverts in the form of Mineta and Kaminari and left for the preparation room.

When the ring was ready to be destroyed again, Present Mic announced, "Yeaaaah!!! Are you all ready for the next battle? Glue your eyes to the ring, because this will be a battle of speed. First up, he's a frog, he's a man, he's the embodiment of a perfect assassin, Asui Tozen!!!"

Present Mic's introductions were getting better and better.

"Aaaand!!! He has the engines of race cars in his very legs. He is the speedster, Iida Tenya!!"

The crowd cheered for the two of us as we stood facing each other in the ring. While Iida had speed, he was severely lacking in proper techniques.

"Start!!"

Iida's engines roared and he sped towards me. As I braced myself, he came at me with an overhead kick. It was a stupid decision to begin with a direct attack against someone like me. Questioning his decision in my mind, I simply dodged and hit him in the face with a reverse hook kick.

I could feel the people in the audience wince as my foot struck cleanly against his jaw and sent him spinning into the ground. I ran towards him to quickly finish it off, but, Iida managed to stumble away.

The kick to his face had done a number on him and his legs wobbled under him.

"You can quit, you know?"

Rubbing his jaw, he said, "I-I know. You are far too strong for me to beat. But, I will not quit without trying my best!"

He began running around me in circles. I already knew what he was going to do.

"Recipro burst!"

He overclocked his engines and rushed at me with a burst of speed. Too bad I knew how to counter it.

Exactly... As he kick at my head, I used 'Counter' and used his immense momentum against him. I grabbed his leg and quickly redirected him towards the boundry.

He flew over the bounds and landed hard against the ground.

"Winner, Asui Tozen!!"

The audience cheered loudly and Present Mic announced, "Asui Tozen has advanced to the finals and will face Todoroki Shoto!! There will be a short break of ten minutes!! Stay glued to your seats as the best of the first years will fight for the number one spot!!"

I was standing beside Iida's bed in the infirmary along with Midoriya and Uraraka.

"Does it still hurt?"

Iida gave me a mock-glare and said, "You knocked my wisdom tooth out. What do you think?"

"Uhh.. I saved you a trip to the dentist?"

"Not funny."

I wished him well and walked out of the room.

Having lived with so many eyes on me because of my ability, I had develoved a kind of sixth sense. I knew when someone was looking at me. And, as I was leaving, I could feel Uraraka's eyes following me until I was out of her visual field.

I took a deep breath and made my way to the entrance as Present Mic announced, "What an amazing event this has turned out to be, folks! From the thrilling obstacle race to the intense cavalry battle and the blood pumping knockout tournament. Through the crucible of such challenges, two students have managed to emerge at the top. But, a sheath can only have one sword! Cheer for these young warriors, as they face each other for the top spot!!"

"First up, is the destroyer, the young man who decimated his opponents like a phantom from the shadows, Asui Tozen!!"

Present Mic really knew how to boost the anticipation of the audience.

"Aaand!! He is hot and he is cold. Here to sing his song of Ice and Fire, Todoroki Shoto!!!"

The audience gave a loud pop as the two of us climed the stairs to the ring. I had a lot on my mind at that moment. But, when the battle began, all other thoughts left my mind.

I had learned to enter the trance at will.

"Start!!!"

I dodged the incoming ice and threw four water shurikens at Todoroki. The shurikens flew towards him in wide arcs and Todoroki had to create a wall of ice to block them.

The shurikens exploded against the ice and broke the ice wall easily. Todoroki barely managed to dodge a shuriken that got through, cutting at his cheek and drawing blood.

He winced in pain and ribbed the blood off before sending another wave ice towards me. I used 'Shadow sneak' and bonked on his head so hard that seemed to sink into the ring due to the force.

For a moment, I got worried, thinking I might have broken his skull. Fortunately, it wasn't the case. Disoriented and in immense pain, Todoroki tried to freeze my feet, but, I used 'Quick attack' to move away from him.

As he rubbed the top his head and got up, I said, "You're embarrassing yourself. Just give up. You used your fire against Midoriya and yet, you refuse to use it against me. Your resove to be a hero seems to be pretty fragile. For someone who aims to be number one, you are quite pathetic."

He ground his teeth and said, "That won't work on me."

I sighed and said, "Oh well, ridiculing you seemed like good a way to provoke you. Too bad it didn't work. So, you're going to give up or... Should I beat the shit out of you before you realise that you overestimate yourself a lot? You're not that strong."

Like a roaring engine, ice travelled across the ring faster than ever and I had to use 'Quick attack' to dodge.

"Now am I strong enough?"

"So provocation works. Good to know."

Once again, he used ice in an attempt to trap me. But, I was too fast for him.

'Scald.'

Todoroki saw the jet of water speeding towards him and he used his quirk to freeze it... Only for the clash to produce a lot of mist. A dense fog enveloped the ring, obscuring everyone's vision.

"You'll never become the top hero. Do you know why? You lack the fire and the reslove to protect. Your personal vendetta is more important to you than saving lives. Did you forget? I can hear a lot better than normal people. If you look at yourself close enough, you're just like Endeavour."

Todoroki's eyes widened like saucers. Before he could react, I used 'Mach punch' and sent him flying into the barricade of the stadium.

The fog dissipated and everyone could see a lone figure stading victorious in the ring.

"Winner, Asui Tozen!!!"