"Young Midoriya, it seems you've learned a lot frran Torino," All Might said, giving a big thumbs-up.

  "Yes, sir!"

  Midoriya brushed the dust off his uniform, stood up straight, and nodded early. "Gran Torino has been sparring with me every single day for the past seven days..."

  As he spoke, memories of the past week, both the trials and the overwhelming exhaustion fshed through his mind.

  In just seven days, Gran Torino had gohrough four microwave ovens, two televisios, and tless kit utensils. The destru was borderline ridiculous.

  Midoriya had even suggested finding a more spacious training area to reduce the colteral damage, but Gran Torino had ft-out refused, dismissing the idea as "too much trouble."

  And so, Midoriya had no choice but to relent. After all, it wasn't his house beiroyed, and he didn't have to pay for all the repts, right?

  From this alo retty clear that Gran Torino wasn't g for money, he must have made a small fortune ba his heyday.

  But why did Midoriya describe this so-called "workpce experience" as pure "hell"? Why did the word "pain" immediately e to mind? The answer was simple.

  If someone spent every waking moment. aside from eating, sleeping, and taking bathroom breaks beilessly beaten, wouldn't they feel like they were trapped in their own personal nightmare?

  A, Midoriya had endured aire week of this.

  The worst part? Gran Torino didn't belong to any hero agenor did he take on any missions like patrolling or apprehending vilins. The man was essentially retired and had all the time in the world.

  With so much free time, how could Midoriya not be pushed to his limits?

  "Uh… I uand you perfectly," All Might said, notig the flicker of unease in Midoriya's eyes. He immediately knew what the boy was feeling.

  No one oh could rete to Midoriya's current state of mier than All Might himself.

  Midoriya had sparred with Gran Torino for just seven days, but All Might? Ba his youth, he had trained with Gran Torino for several years as preparation to take down All For Oer the vilin had killed his predecessor, the previous wielder of One For All.

  And that was why All Might, even now, would sometimes shudder at the mere mention of Gran Torino's he lingering trauma had nothing to do with his strength, it was etched into his psyche.

  Oher side of the s, Bakugo's mood grew darker. Watg Midoriya ugh and chat with All Might filled him with frustration a.

  "While I wasted my time during workpce experience… like some plete idiot… he was…"

  He ched his fists tightly. Right now, Bakugo deeply regretted choosing to intern with Best Jeanist. At the time, he had thought w with a top-ranking Pro Hero would give him the opportunity to grow stronger.

  But iy, Best Jeanist hadn't taught him anything useful. Instead, he'd just lectured him endlessly about discipline and appearance.

  To be fair, Endeavor would've been a much better fit for Bakugo both their Quirks and their bat styles aligned far more naturally.

  Meanwhile, Kaminari was focused on somethiirely different: Midoriya's incredible jump. He was mentally paring it to his own Quirk's "high-voltage mode".

  In terms of pure burst speed, Midoriya's leap was definitely parable to his high-voltage output. But when it came to sustainability, it was clear that Midoriya's teique was limited to short bursts for now.

  This realization eased some of Kaminari's tension.

  "Phew… okay, that makes sehere's no way he could achieve that kind of power sistently after just a few days of training, right? It took me years to master my abilities."

  But even as he forted himself, Kaminari couldn't help but feel uneasy. Midoriya's growth rate was truly terrifying. Every time they met, it seemed like he had improved dramatically in some way.

  What Kaminari didn't realize was that many of his cssmates felt the same way about him. His steady progress ofte others marveling, but he was too close to see it himself.

  The first round of the test officially cluded as Ashido Mina, the st partit, finally reached the finish line.

  "Well done!" All Might gratuted the group, then turo the remaining students.

  "Sed group, step onto the field!"

  As the five testants moved into position, Momo tilted her head slightly, watg their preparations.

  "Hmm… this group doesn't seem to have great mobility, does it?" she observed.

  "Yeah, it doesn't look like this is going to be a particurly exg round," someone else chimed in.

  "You still need someone as dazzling as me to make these games truly shine!" Aoyama said, dramatically adjusting his red gsses and tilting his upward.

  Unfortunately for him, the rest of the css well-acquainted with his personality pletely ignored his ent.

  "Especially Kirishima aetsu," Hagakure said with a teasing grin. "Those two are definitely going to burn out fast!"

  "Maybe," Kaminari replied with a quiet ugh, his eyes fixed on the s where Tetsutetsu was waiting to begin.

  "Alright! Sed group, get ready!" All Might's voice rang out again, loud and anding.

  Without aation, he pressed the button to start the timer.

  "START!"

  As soon as the signal was given, Shoji leapt from a high ptform. Using the wing membraretched across his two extra arms, he began gliding gracefully through the air.

  "Whoa!"

  "That's incredible—Shoji actually fly!"

  Uraraka's cheeks flushed with excitement. She had always yearo fly. Teically, her Quirk allowed her to, but the intense dizziness it caused usually made her feel sick.

  Her helmet ecifically desigo help reduce that effect, but even so, flying wasn't her forte.

  "If I could fly, this kind of test would be a breeze!" she said wistfully.

  "Definitely. I'm jealous of people who just take to the air like that," someone agreed.

  Iingly, Shoji had used this gliding ability before during the Sports Festival obstacle race, but back then, no one had noticed.

  Of course, being able to fly was only part of the equation, speed mattered just as much, which expined why Shoji hadn't achieved a standout performance during that event.

  "Hey, look at Mia!"

  Asui Tsuyu poi the s, drawing everyone's attention.

  Sure enough, Mia was leaping nimbly from one of his sticky "grape" balls to another. He threw eaew one ahead as he bounced, maintaining a surprisingly fast pace.

  "Wow, that's actually really impressive!" Kaminari said, nodding in approval.

  "It's not easy to accurately throw those grapes to the nding spot while mid-jump," Momo houghtfully.

  "Exactly. He has to calcute both the location and distance of his step and make sure his grapes nd in the perfect spot," Kaminari added. "And then, when he jumps, he has to adjust his bance so he doesn't overshoot or slip."

  "Especially in an enviro as plex as this ohe fact that he's able to keep going without aation is seriously impressive," Momo tinued, a hint of admiration ione.

  For the first time, the group began to see Mia in a different light.

  "Hard to believe, but Mia-san's IQ might actually be really high," Momo cluded, her analysis surprising even herself.

  ***

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