On s, Todoroki stood on a high ice pilr, his expression cold and resolute. "Alright, Kaminari," he muttered, "I won't hold back."

  With a surge of power, a massive wave of ice exploded from Todoroki, creating a t iceberg that surged forward like an unstoppable force.

  "Stop!!"

  toss, the teacher responsible for overseeing the match, reacted immediately. He smmed his hands onto the ground, activating his Quirk. Thick t walls rose up oer another between Todoroki's iceberg and Kaminari's "Thunder Aegis." In his rush, he created nearly ten stacked barriers to absorb the impact.

  "Whoa… that's the power of a pro hero…" oudent murmured, awed by toss's quick thinking and strength.

  On the big s, viewers could only watch as Todoroki's ice crashed through wall after wall, advang relentlessly toward the golden "Thunder Aegis." But then, as the ice met the electrified shield, the csh of extreme cold and intense heat produced a massive cloud of steam, engulfing the eadium in thick white mist.

  "It's so… cold…"

  "What a spectacle!"

  Hundreds of thousands of spectators, along with the heroes iands, rose to their feet, trying to see through the fog that now filled the stadium. The whole se looked like something out of a dream or a fairytale ndscape.

  "These three… they're all first-years?"

  "That's insane. I don't think even many third-years could pull off moves like that!"

  While the audience held their breath, the timer on the big s tio t down. Finally, when it hit 00:00, the s dispyed two bold letters:

  TIME-UP

  But Present Mic, who was supposed to annouhe results, was unusually silent. Like everyone else, he was staring into the fog, eagerly awaiting a glimpse of the aftermath.

  "What happened?"

  "Did the 'Thunder Aegis' hold up?"

  All around the world, viewers watg on TV or online shared the same thought. Kaminari's parents sat forward in their seats, ay etched across their faces. Todoroki's iceberg had been so massive that even those outside the stadium could see its peak rising above the walls.

  As the miicked by, the fog slowly started to dissipate, but the se within was still unclear. Impatience spread through the crowd, and someone shouted, "'t toss do something to clear the mist?"

  "Yeah, who won? We want to know!"

  Just as the tension hit its peak, a gentle breeze seemed to arrive from nowhere, swirling through the stadium and helping to clear the lingering mist.

  When visibility returhe entire audience gasped at what they saw.

  On the s, the golden "Thunder Aegis" was gone. In its pce y fragments of metal scattered around Kaminari, Tetsutetsu, Momo, and Kyoka. Surrounding them on all sides were t walls of ice, still radiating an intense chill even uhe hot summer sun.

  From above, the se looked like a perfect circle—a small "valley" of safety amidst Todoroki's frozen wastend.

  "That was… close," Kaminari muttered, climbing down from Tetsutetsu's shoulders. He gnced around, taking in the near-disastrous se. Then he looked toward Todoroki, who stood in the distance, eyes wide with surprise.

  "If toss hadn't put up those walls to absorb some of the impact… we might've been seriously hurt."

  WHOA!!!

  A deafening roar rose from the crowd, the bined cheers of 120,000 spectators eg through the stadium. The overwhelming noise momentarily stunned Kaminari, Todoroki, Bakugo, and the others, leaving them with the odd sensation of being almost deafened.

  Finally, Present Mic regained his prabbed his mid let out aed shout.

  "EVERYBODY!"

  "DID-YOU-SEE-THAT?!"

  "Kaminari's 'Thunder Aegis' withstood Todoroki's 'Iceberg' attack!"

  "He wasn't kidding! That move really is an 'absolute defense!' Not even some pro heroes could break it head-on!"

  The crowd erupted into even louder cheers. ing from a veteran hero like Present Mic, his endorsement of the "Thunder Aegis" left an impa both the audiend the professionals watg.

  Iands, pro heroes from across Japan exged looks, nodding in agreement. None of them spoke up to disagree, they all khe truth of what they had witnessed.

  A few of the pros, already makial notes, began to speak excitedly among themselves.

  "We o get him to intern with us!"

  "When he graduates, we're him a job no question about it!"

  They reized the value of Kaminari's unique skill set. Not only could he bolster his team with support, but he also had an incredibly resilient defense. In the hero world, that kind of versatility was rare and highly prized.

  Meanwhile, ihe stadium, Momo was still processing everything that had happened. She turo Kaminari, a bit dazed. "We… won? Just like that?"

  Kyoka nodded, sharing her bewilderment. "It feels like we didn't even have to do much…"

  "Yeah!" Tetsutetsu grumbled with a ugh. "I didn't eveo show off my 'steel warhorse' durability! I just stood there like a statue!"

  Kaminari g them, shaking his head with a small smile. "Hey, a win's a win, right?"

  But in his mind, he thought to himself, Was it really that easy? We almost didn't make it out of that…

  As the crowd's cheers tinued, Present Mic's voice rang out once more, announg the final results.

  "And now, the top four teams!"

  "In first pce, Team Kaminari!"

  "Kaminari Denki has delivered on his promise! Fwless performance!"

  "Sed pce goes to Team Bakugo!"

  "Damn it!!" Bakugo, who had been sitting on the ground, pounded his fists against the floor in frustration, looking like he'd just lost a championship rather than pced sed. Behind him, Kirishima, Sero, and Ashido exged helpless gnces.

  "Third pce, Team Todoroki!"

  Todoroki stared silently at Kaminari from across the arena, his expression unreadable. His left side, where his Quirk produced heat, began to melt the frost still ging to his right. Iands, Endeavor watched his son with a hard expression, his displeasure clear.

  "And in fourth pce… Team Shinso? Wait, when did they make it in?" Present Mic asked, sounding genuinely fused.

  In the crowd, Shinso, a student from the General Studies department, just gave a quiet, fident smile. While Kaminari and the others had domihe spotlight, Shinso had quietly been making moves of his own.

  "Phew, we did it!" Midoriya sighed in relief, jumping off Tokoyami's shoulders. He celebrated with Uraraka and their teammates. Even if they hadn't reached the top four, they had done well, and that was something to be proud of.

  "And now, folks, we'll be taking an hour-long lunch break!"

  "Get ready, because this afternoon, it's time for the final showdown!"

  As the announcer's voice faded, Mic turo his partner, Aizawa, who had just settled bato his seat with his usual sleepy look.

  "Hey, Eraser Head, wanna grab a bite together?"

  Aizawa simply muttered, "Sleep…"

  ***

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