Chapter 29 first battle of the war

It was a quiet early morning. The sun had just begun to show itself and the forest was silent with the exception of the tired moans of an unfortunate group of high-schoolers. Suddenly the peace and quiet was interrupted by a giant explosion that rocked the forest.

"The hell?" asked Kirishima

Another explosion rocked the forest as a streak of green light flashed over the top of a nearby hill.

This was immediately followed by a skyward-bound stream of lightning. Seeing this, the students began muttering to themselves as they watched on in awe.

Aizawa sighed as he saw the spectacle put up by his two most problematic problem children.

"Keep moving. We're close to the training area" said Aizawa

"Wait, we're going to the same place as those two?" asked a kid from class B looking somewhat nervous

"No, this in a different place that I had Madara create. We get that and they get the rest of the forest" said Aizawa

This seemed to calm the nerves of class B. Well, mostly, but that situation was easily rectified.

Meanwhile, Katsuki was seething. Yet again it was shoved right in his face the fact that he was inferior to Izuku and Madara. Small sparks danced on his palms as his rage threatened to consume him yet again, but he pushed that feeling down.

This was neither the time nor the place to get angry. He could do that later after he learned all he needed to from the teachers here.

I watched in silent fascination as a swirling bright blue ball of chakra came into existence above

Izuku's outstretched hand. I honestly couldn't have imagined that he would be able to form a full Rasengan within a mere day since I began teaching it to him. It really makes me wonder as to the depths of his chakra control.

"Hey, Izuku" I called out

"Yeah?" he responded

"Have you done any other chakra control exercises other than what I showed you?" I asked

He turned his head to me and blinked, seemingly confused at the question

"Of course I did. I've been trying to upgrade my chakra enhancement technique beyond just take chakra and add One For All. I've read your research notes and I had been trying to get better at summoning wind chakra, but I hadn't made much progress" said Izuku

This surprised me. had no idea that he was that far advanced in his chakra control exercises to begin attempting nature transformation. Still, that leaves one question

"Why wind?" I asked

"Huh?"

"Why did you choose wind style as your first nature transformation to train? Your natural affinity is for lightning, which means that wind and earth will be the hardest elements for you to master. Wouldn't it hand been better, to begin with, fire, water, or even lightning?" I asked

Izuku grimaced, clearly understanding my point

" I didn't want Todoroki to feel bad if I used fire, water leads to a lot of collateral damage, especially in cities and I didn't even think about lightning" he said

nodded in understanding

"Ok then. So should we being lightning nature transformation training?" I asked

"Yes, please!" shouted Izuku as he let the Rasengan dissipate

I won't focus too much on already acquired skills and techniques. Izuku is smart enough to know that he has to keep up training and improving.

He's still a long way's away from the level of power he needs to be at

As I continued working with Izuku, our shadow clones were working on refining hand seals and several of our fuinjutsu theories. You see, the problem with the hand seals that I invented is that they're mostly gibberish. So far I have well over 40 hand seals and hand seals combinations and while it works fine for me, it relies too much on having near-perfect control over the nature transformation that the jutsu falls under. It's impractical for anyone wanting to learn my jutsu and not just create their own. This first came to my attention when Izuku tried my hand seals and ended up with a completely different effect than what I could produce. To solve this issue, we are working on recreating the Narutoverse 12 hand seals. Not that Izuku knew that this was precisely what we were doing.

I may have lived with him for the entirety of this life, but I still don't feel comfortable telling him that I am a reincarnation or that I have intimate knowledge of the deeper aspect of chakra.

Now, back to the problem of hand seals. The trick is finding the right ones and in the right combination. Several more iconic hand seals, like the shadow clone hand seal, work in the usual plug-and-play fashion because I lifted it directly from the Narutoverse. This being said, after 15 years with nothing to help me recall or stimulate my memories of the Narutoverse, that knowledge is starting to degrade. Little things like how this and that hand seal was formed were among the first to be forgotten. Still, our work is progressing nicely, even if it is tiresome. We managed to recreate two hand seals and Izuku was beginning to create his own hand seal gibberish. It wasn't much, but he could now use a few jutsu without having to rely on his scientific ninja tool, or as he liked to call it, his jutsu launcher.

Speaking of seals, apparently, Izuku is trying very hard to follow in the footsteps of Minato Namikaze. His theories on the relationship between chakra and the surrounding space-time continuum are brilliant and it won't take him long to figure out how to manipulate the fabric of space-time to his will. If he succeeds, the Flying Thunder God will be an invaluable tool in our arsenal against All For One and his minions. As far as I know, the hero side does not possess any kind of teleportation quirk, making it difficult for the heaviest hitting pro-heroes to move around swiftly and respond to threats that are not in their immediate vicinity. This leads to many openings that villains could take. After all, they would think twice about committing crimes if they knew that the likes of All Might and I could be summoned at literally a moment's notice to take them out.

Even with all this progress, I can't help but worry.

Izuku is far from ready. He still thinks too much and while he is an excellent combatant, he can also be classified as a one-trick pony. This is because most of his chakra must go towards tempering One For All when in use, leaving him with a tiny amount to use for only the most basic of jutsu, such as the replacement, body flicker, or flash step. The Rasengan may be too much of a drain on his resources if he still wishes to use One For All in combat to its fullest potential. Still, the sheer power boost that One For All gives its user may just be worth forgoing the use of any other chakra-based ability.

As he was working on his jutsu and hand seals, I too was training. My reserves may be huge, but that means close to nothing if I can't put them to good use. Seeing as we're far away from any kind of civilization, I thought that it was time to try and recreate Kirin. Long story short, it will take me some time to get it right, even if I can currently summon lightning from the sky. It's simply not powerful enough. This is what I would classify as an Ultimate Move, for it is destruction incarnate.

On our fourth day in the forest Aizawa finally decided to let the kids have a bit of fun. The pussycats had organized a 'test of courage' which I found frankly laughable. Still, I didn't put up any kind of resistance to this idea. These were, after all, kids that we were training and I didn't want them to think that it was all work and no play from here on out in spite of what I had preached on that first night around the fire. From what I'd seen, that speech was sufficient to light a fire under their buts and make them train harder. I didn't need 40 exhausted kids, especially since...

My thoughts trailed off as my senses picked up a pulse of chakra from the direction of the forest.

Immediately I dialed up my sensory range and I nearly recoiled in surprise as I sensed 5 new chakra signatures just now entering the boundary I set up. They were closely followed by a sixth with an oddly familiar signature. My eyes widened as I deciphered what it was. A Nomu.

"Everyone, back to the lodge now!" I yelled

"What? No way, we were just about to begin our run" complained Uraraka and Asui

"Mandalay, order everyone back! We've been found and villains have breached the perimeter" I said

This seemed to wake everyone up as Mandalay obeyed the order. In that exact moment, Pixie Bob was flung towards the bushes outlining the clearing we were in and was instantly knocked out by a villain. I turned to them Sharingan blazing and was greeted by a total lack of chakra in either of their bodies.

I stepped forward as I began to exert my presence on the area around me

"Who are you?" I demanded

"We? Oh, we're the League of Villains Action Squad and we're here to cause some chaos. My name is Magne and this here with me is Spinner" said the transgender person named Magne

This name feels familiar, maybe there is something about it in the hero database

"So, you are the mighty Rikudou, huh? I'm not interested in you, but in your brother, the one Stain deemed worthy" said the lizard, Spinner

I narrowed my eyes as my Sharingan glowed and spun a bit. This action made the two villains take a step back and look away from me. It was all the opening I needed as I flash-stepped close to Magne and shoved a Chidori through his/her chest. Spinner gasped in surprise at my action and watched as the Magne that I stabbed through the heart slowly turned to mud.

"I see. These are clones, the result of someone's quirk. Your leader was wise to send clones against me, but ultimately he overestimated your abilities.

Now surrender and bow down like the dogs that you are" I said

"Why, you! I am Spinner, the follower of Stain who will make his dreams a reality! I will not bow to the likes of you-

He didn't finish his sentence as Izuku came in and took off his head with a well-placed Lariat.

"Nii-san, we've got a problem" said Izuku

"I am aware" I replied as I studied him

He must have come barreling at full tilt towards me as soon as he sensed the chakra pulse from the boundary I set up on the first day. Evidently, he was either meditating or asleep seeing as he was barefooted and had only a pair of sweatpants on.

In the background I could see some girls leering at him. I mentally snorted. It seems that my little brother will have quite the fangirl following if he continues to forget his clothes.

"Rikudou we must gather the other students in the forest. They're sitting ducks over there" said

Mandalay

"Understood. Send a message to them and order them to take the shortest route back to the clearing. Tell them that they are permitted to use their quirks in any way they see fit to help them get back as soon as possible" I ordered

With a simple hand seal, there were now three of me. The clones instantly headed off into the forest.

If villains like Magne and Spinner were all there were here, even clones should be fine.

"Wait! What about Kota?" asked Izuku

"Who?" I couldn't help but ask

"My nephew" said Mandalay, who was now a

curious cross between irritated and worried

lignored her and returned to Izuku

He nodded back. Itwitched my head to the side and he vanished in a body flicker towards the area that he knew the boy to be in. I too took off into the forest.

The main priority of my clones was to evacuate the kids from the line of fire. My main priority was to find and kill the one creating the clones. Such a force multiplier should never be allowed to fall into the hands of villains and if the hero side can't have it, l'll make sure that no one will.

Izuku managed to reach Kota just in time to save him from being reduced to a red paste by the villain in front of them.

"Kota, are you ok?" asked Izuku

'He's trembling'noticed tzuku

"Oi, what's this? Are you interrupting my fun? At least have the decency to wait patiently for your time to die" called out the villain

Turning to face him, Izuku was left speechless as he finally recognized the villain.

"You're Muscular" growled out Izuku

Muscular cocked his head to the side and grinned.

"Ho, you recognize me"

"What are you doing here? Have you come to finish the job you started with the Water Hose duo?" asked Izuku again

"Finish what I started? Wait, don't tell me that little kid over there is their son. HA, HA, HA, man, what a day! I mean, I didn't originally plan to kill him, but I guess I'm going to now!" roared Muscular as he charged towards Izuku

Acting on instinct, Izuku shoved his arm forward and green fuinjutsu lines spread out to form the seal for Rho Aias. Muscular's fist smashed down on the shield with seven layers. The first two layers were instantly shattered. Izuku grit his teeth as he felt Rho Aias fail him. Grabbing Kota, he replaced himself with a bit of ruble just as Rho Aias failed completely and Muscular's fist smashed the ground where they were standing to pieces.

"You're a fast one, aren't you? Makes sense that Shigaraki wants you dead" said Muscular

This made Izuku snap to attention.

"What are your goals?" asked Izuku as he charged

One For All in his body

"My goals? I just want to rampage. Oh, right before I kill you can you tell me where to find a kid named Bakugou?"

'Katsuki?'"What do you want with him?" asked

Izuku

"Fuck if I know. Now, enough talk, let's do this!" said Muscular as he kicked off at Izuku

Izuku met him midway as he tried to trade blows with the muscled maniac in front of him.

Unfortunately, it wasn't enough and he was blown back 'Shit. He took my 20% like it was nothing, what a stupid powerful quirk'

"Is that it? I admit, you're fast kid, but you lack strength!" yelled Muscular as he wet on the offensive yet again

Izuku instantly flash-stepped away, picking Kota on the way and body flickering out of there.

'I'm not enough. Dammit! I thought that I'd gotten stronger, but that guy is too strong for me right now and I can't use my jutsu without worrying about what Kota will do. I doubt that he will listen to me if I tell him to stay put'thought Izuku

A roar was heard through the forest, coming from the mountain where Izuku had left Muscular, making Izuku stop behind a tree.

"Hey Kota, I need to get back there. Can I trust you to hide here?" asked Izuku

"No, you don't have to, let's just run" whimpered out Kota

Izuku felt Kota cling harder to him, unwilling to let him go

"I have to go, Kota. I have to stop Muscular"

"Why? Why do you have to? Let's just run, it's not worth it, you can't throw away your life like that!"

Izuku brought up a hand to the back of Kota's head. He moved his head so that he could look into the child's watering eyes.

"I have to do this, Kota. There is no other way"

"Why you?"

'And isn't that the million-dollar question'thought

Izuku bitterly. He originally wanted to be a hero because they were cool. They saved people and while he might have this innate desire and instinct, Izuku couldn't help but feel sick at the sheer amount of politicking that a pro-hero, any pro-hero had to do. Still, he couldn't back down. He didn't want to back down, even if he didn't have One For All, even if he was quirkless, he just couldn't sit back while others suffered.

"Because someone has to do it, so why not me.

Kota, people like Muscular, evil people, they're all the same no matter what they might say, no matter what justification they may have, all they want is to see the world bun. People like your parents, like me and my brother, we stop them" said Izuku

"But you'll die! All heroes die! That's all they're good at" cried Kota

"I won't die" replied Izuku with a smile "I'll win, you'll see"

Izuku set Kota down in between the roots of the tree

"Stay here, ok"

Kota nodded

Returning to his full height, Izuku stretched and took off.

It was time to face Muscular.

Iran at full tilt into the forest. Through the link with my clones, I could sense that they were approaching the first sites where students were supposed to be. Thankfully most of class A was spared and they were now either at the lodge or near enough to it that their combined power will deter any villain assault. This was, of course, if the clone quirk had some limitations. I don't like that assumption. Ideally, I would see this as some sort of shadow clone copy. When I struck the villain in the chest with Chidori I felt less resistance than when I do it to a normal flesh and blood person.

Going by this, it's safe to assume that the clones are physically weaker than their real counterparts.

Now, as to any limitations concerning the numbers it could produce... I'll assume it has none. And that's scary.

I slowed down as I reached the front of the poison gas cloud. Folding a few had seals I took a deep breath

Wind Style: Breath of the Wind God

From my hands and mouth, a massive stream of air shot forth, blowing away the gas cloud. I resumed running and when I reached the middle of the cloud, I found two students and an unconscious villain.

"Kendo, Testutestu, are you all right?"

"Rikudou! Yeah, we're fine" began Kendo, but I cut her off

"Now's not the time. Head back to camp. Assist any students you may see, but do not waste time.

Get to the camp as soon as possible!" I ordered

"Understood" they replied and ran off

approached the knocked-out villain and reached in my pocket for a restraining seal. It is a fairly new design, made to restrain both the quirk and the body of downed opponents. It was without a doubt one of Izuku's finer works. I slapped the seal on the kid's chest. God, he was even wearing a middle school uniform and he felt scrawny under his clothes. He can't be older than 15, 16 at most and now he'll get to spend the rest of his prime years in jail if he gets out at all.

I pulsed my chakra

Fuiniutsu: Heaven and Earth Temple Five Point

Seal

I twisted my hand and blood-red fuiniutsu lines spread across his body, jerking his arms backwards and locking them together near his lower back. His legs were locked together as well.

Once that was done, the lines disappeared, though Iknow that on his chest the chakra will have branded the Heavenly Temple Five Point Seal into his skin, thus making him unable to use his quirk until it was released and even then, those scars will remain with lingering traces of my chakra for years to come, making the remote reactivation of the seal a possibility.

I stood back up and looked towards the section of the forest currently on fire. That will be my next stop.

Muscular was pissed, Izuku noted as he watched from the treetops as Muscular punched tree after tree in an attempt to find Izuku and Kota. If Izuku wanted to win this, he'll have to be smarter, not stronger. One For All has proven that it cannot stand alone against Muscular at this level Izuku had to get creative with his chakra. Unfortunately, all he had on was a pair of pants and some underwear, and carving a seal with chakra into the ground would give away his position due to the light show that usually came with constructing a seal out of pure chakra. In the end, there really was only one solution.

"Fire Style: Great Fireball" yelled out Izuku as he blew out a ball of fire the size of a small car

Muscular noticed this and dogged the projectile, making quick work of the distance between them and grabbing Izuku by the throat

"Nice attack kid! Hasn't anyone told you that shouting gives away your position" said Muscular

Izuku grinned as he gripped the hand that Muscular had around his throat

Lightning Style: Lightning Palm

Muscular screamed as the current passed through his ody, immobilizing him

"Fire Style: Great Fireball!" came a voice from behind

Being paralyzed by the electricity flowing through him, Muscular couldn't doge the second fireball and thusly he was hit with the full force of the jutsu. Unfortunately, the heat was too much for the clone in Muscular's hand and it popped. This allowed Muscular to regain some semblance of control over his body as he pushed his quirk for all it was worth to take the brunt of the damage.

When the fire subsided, all that was left in its wake was a truly angry Muscular

"You!" he hissed

Izuku, wisely decided to flee as Muscular came roaring after him, cursing and promising to tear him apart limb from limb

'Man, this guy can talk. Now, just a little more...' thought Izuku

While he was busy roasting Muscular another one of his clones had prepared a trap for him and Izuku was the bait that was leading Muscular right to it

'Not yet, not yet... now!'"Fuinjutsu: Chains of Heaven!"

From the ground, five golden chains sprouted as the seal lit green under Muscular. Four of the five chains each pierced one of Muscular's limbs, rendering him immobile, while the last was attempting to wrestle him to the ground with little success.

Taking a leap, Izuku charged a Rasengan in his hand and brought down the volatile ball of chakra straight onto Muscular's damaged back. The man screamed as the Rasengan shredded flesh and bone, severing his spine and detonating in his belly, making it explode and spread his guts across the forest floor.

Izuku could do nothing but watch in horror at what he had done. Looking down, he saw his hand shaking and stained red un until halfway to his elbow. Unable to hold it anymore, he sunk to his knees and vomited, his whole body shaking as he struggled to get to grips with what he had just done. What would All Might think of him? What would his mother and his friends and teachers?

"I have to find ni-san. He'll know what to do"

With shaky legs, Izuku stood up as he left in search of Kota. He had to get him back to the camp and find his brother. That single line of thought was what was holding him together. He could do this, jusMike his brother had taught him. As for the rest, he'll figure it out later.

Unbeknownst to anyone, for a brief moment,

Izuku's eyes flashed red.

As I arrived at the location of the fire, I couldn't sense anyone in the immediate vicinity. Now it was all but confirmed. This group of villains truly was working with the league and had access to Kurogiri. They weren't some copy-cat group hoping to make a quick buck from the league's reputation.

Folding several hand seals, I brought my hands to my mouth and let loose the technique

Water Style: Waterfall

The deluge of water that came from me was enough to nearly drown the entire area as it swept away the burning trees, extinguishing them and bringing untold devastation to the forest.

I vanished once again in a body flicker as I headed to the location where one of my two clones was popped. Katsuki and Todoroki were fighting against a villain. If I remember correctly, Moonfish was a cannibal sentenced to death. That was not an easy enemy to deal with.

As soon as I arrived, I let loose a stream of Sith Lightning from my fingertips.

Yes, I know how that sounds, but I don't care. That jutsu looks exactly like Palpatine's Sith Lightning and I shall call it as such.

Moonfish went down in mere seconds.

"Is anyone hurt?" I asked

"We are fine. Thank you for your assistance" said

Todoroki

"Tch, we had it handled" grumbled Katsuki

I let a small smirk appear on my face. Honestly, if it wasn't for his abrasive personality and stupid inferiority complex, we could have been best friends and maybe Izuku wouldn't have been so lonely growing up with only me around.

"Of course you did. Is there anyone left on the course?"

"None that we could find. We don't know where Ragdoll is, though" said Todoroki

"She'll be fine. She's a trained pro hero" I dismissed his thoughts

Just then, from the front Izuku appeared with a Dark Shadow possessed Tokoyami and Shogi.

Izuku and Shoji appeared to be guiding Dark Shadow towards Katsuki and Todoroki. Those two reacted instantly, creating enough light to help get Dark Shadow under control.

"Are you all right?" I asked

As looked them over, my eyes stilled over Izuku.

His right hand was covered in dried blood and he was trembling. His eyes were wide and his pupils dilated. He was clearly running on adrenaline alone

"Ni-san I-" he began

"Save it!" I ordered in a clipped tone that made everyone straightened "We'll deal with it later.

Now we have to get back to camp!"

Izuku nodded stiffly as he changed his focus. I can't let him crash yet, not while we're deep in enemy territory and vulnerable to attacks from all sides. Besides, I can guess what this talk will be about and it's not one that I will relish having with him.

We positioned ourselves in a defensive formation with me at the back and Izuku taking point. Katsuki grumbled a bit, but he relented to being the left flank guard.

Suddenly a familiar pulse of Chakra appeared on my senses as two warp gates opened both in front and behind us

"Defensive positions!" I yelled

They were quick to do so. I shared a look with Izuku. Without waiting another moment we both burst into motion.

I had arguably the harder task as my gate spat out a Nomu alongside a villain with burns on his face.

With my lightning chakra armor I instantly closed the distance and beheaded the Nomu with a Lariat. Izuku, much the same was busy breaking the horde of clones that were coming from his, still open portal. I dogged a blast of fire and sent out a Water Style: Water Jet that cut through the clone of the fire user that most likely started the forest fire.

"Kacchan!" screamed Izuku

My head snapped up to reveal a villain in a yellow trench coat, top hat and mask holding a cane and a small blue ball. From the chakra emanating from that ball, I could guess who was in it. He waved at us as he stepped back through a portal.

"NOOO!" yelled Izuku

Suddenly black whip-like strands erupted from his hand and began trashing the surroundings. It lasted for only a moment as Izuku pushed One For All down and under, forcefully deactivating the quirk and holding it at bay with his own chakra.

looked on at the spot where the masked villain disappeared as Izuku screamed in what I could only assume to be a mix of rage and pain. I balled my fist as I took stock of the students still with me.

I feM a sick thankfulness that only Katsuki was taken.

I shook my head to remove those thoughts.

"I can't falter now. Others still need me'