Chapter-68
"Bakugo Katsuki is the winner!" Present Mic shouted, still stunned by the turn of events. After receiving orders from the higher-ups, he announced Bakugo's victory. "This year's tournament winner is Bakugo Katsuki!" The spectators came out of their shock to celebrate the champion.
"..." Falling to his knees, Katsuki clenched his fists until they bled. Frustration overwhelmed him, and he had to close his eyes to keep from crying in anger. "I defeated myself," he thought bitterly, remaining on his knees and ignoring his surroundings.
In the spectator seats, Ibara hurriedly ran down the stairs to reach the locker room. When she found Naruto's locker empty, she left the room and searched through the stadium's halls, worried. As the minutes passed, she gave up, unable to locate her friend.
Back in the stadium, they were awarding the top three places. Shinzo claimed third place, second place remained vacant, and first place went to a unusually quiet and serious Bakugo, who was heavily bandaged, including his arms.
"Do you think he left?" Uraraka asked, observing the professional heroes discussing on the platform about how to handle the situation. Naruto had essentially disappeared, leaving the second-place spot empty.
"Maybe," Momo replied, frowning. She noticed Ibara returning to her seat with a despondent expression. Sighing, she knew the shinobi had indeed left.
"Breaking news! Uzumaki Naruto has left the premises and is disqualified from the tournament, making way for Shinzo Hitoshi in second place and Tenya Lida in third place!" Present Mic reported as he read the judges' decision. There was no hesitation in removing the shinobi from the festival. "Now, we have a special guest for the awards ceremony who is familiar to many!"
"I'm here!" Descending from the sky, All Might landed in a 'heroic' manner, wearing his iconic hero costume from the Silver Age. An attendant handed him the medals, and he started presenting them. "Congratulations, young Lida," he said to the first-place winner, who seemed somewhat distraught but still accepted the medal graciously.
"Thank you," Lida responded, bowing his head as the medal was placed around his neck by the symbol of peace. All Might continued with the awards ceremony, finally reaching Shinzo, who was visibly awestruck in the presence of one of his greatest heroes.
"You have a great future Young Hitoshi, I know you will be a great professional hero" smiling, the number one hero gave the silver medal to the teenager who nodded his head while smiling slightly, reaching position one. All Might worried the seeing the gloomy look of the blonde boy, "You must be proud Young Bakugo" taking the gold medal he was about to put it on the boy, but he shook his head.
"That belongs to the Uzumaki... not to me" was the whisper that only All Might managed to hear, understanding the situation of the adolescent sigh.
"Then improve until you are worthy of it," smiling, he took the medal and placed it on the teenager who raised his head to look at the older blonde who only smiled brightly, "If you don't feel worthy of it, improve, train, try hard, all of you."
"The days until when you face Young Uzumaki again, show that you are worthy of wearing this medal" patting the teenager's shoulders he saw that he only nodded his head.
…..
"Naruto-chan, shouldn't you be there?" Yumi Toho, a woman in her twenties with brown hair and dark eyes hidden behind rectangular glasses, asked. She had a slender yet strong figure, C+ cup breasts, a small waist, and good hips. She was dressed casually in a purple sweater and dark pants. At the moment, she was in a booth, watching the end of the tournament on television.
Glancing out the window, she spotted Naruto. He was donning a helmet and a cloth to cover the lower part of his face. Concerned, she noticed bandages covering the wounds he had sustained in his last UA tournament fight.
"I got bored of playing with children," was Naruto's simple response as he picked up a steel beam and placed it on his shoulder.
"If I were in your place, I might have broken that explosive boy's jaw. I could swear he's from Iran, the grandson of Osama bin Laden," commented a tall man with brown hair and a thick beard. This was Isao Toho, Yumi's father and Naruto's boss. He was the foreman of the bricklayers and had a strong, robust physique from years of hard work.
"Oto-san! What have I told you about racist jokes?" Yumi scolded from the window of the mobile home parked in front of the construction site where her father worked.
"But, honey, it's how us men talk, right, one-eyed blonde?" He directed the question to Naruto, who responded without emotion while carrying a steel beam in each arm.
"Whatever you say, you piece of Irish trash," Naruto retorted, maintaining his serious demeanor despite the dry laugh from his boss.
"Ha! You see, this boy understands me. It's not my problem that everyone's turned into crybabies who get offended by any comment." With a smile, the bearded man put his helmet back on and resumed work, leaving his son disgruntled. Such 'manly' conversations would surely get them into trouble with lawsuits for racism.
"Naruto-chan, please don't entertain my father." Yumi returned to her office, where she resumed handling paperwork.
"Hai," was Naruto's simple response. He continued working alongside his colleagues who were congratulating him for his performance in the tournament, which they had watched during their break. They thought he was invincible. If only they knew that he had to keep the second inner gate open to enhance his body's resistance against Bakugo's explosions. But it wasn't necessary for them to know. Naruto smiled slightly, just enjoying being among people who appreciated his style.
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