Chapter 310: Iida’s Challenge Again!

"What are you guys laughing at?" Mineta asked in frustration.

"Uh… don't you watch Pokémon?" Kyoka asked, tilting her head in confusion.

"How can you compare it to the sexy Midnight and Mt. Lady?" Mineta scoffed, crossing his arms.

Still, he secretly memorized the term "Bonsly" and made a mental note to look it up later.

BOOM!!!

Suddenly, a loud explosion echoed through the area, startling everyone. Kaminari and the others turned toward the source of the sound and saw a plume of thick black smoke rising from the top of a rocky hill in the distance.

"What happened?"

"Could there be villains?!" Mineta shouted in horror, immediately recalling the USJ attack.

"Impossible. This is I-Island—there's never been a crime here," Kaminari replied casually.

Still, he stood up and looked at the four girls. "Want to go check it out? We didn't come all this way just to sit around drinking and chatting, right?"

"Okay!" The girls had no objections, rising to follow Kaminari.

At the back, Mineta hesitated for a moment before reluctantly tagging along, worry written all over his face.

"'No crime has ever occurred'—yeah, right. U.A. had never been attacked before either, but look what happened."

Deep down, Mineta figured that if villains did attack, it was safer to stick with Kaminari and the others rather than wait around for pro heroes who might not arrive in time.

—

"Hey, I see some familiar faces."

As they approached the rocky hill, Kaminari and the others spotted Midoriya, Melissa, and Iida standing by a railing with their backs turned.

Instead of greeting them immediately, they followed the gaze of the nearby crowd, looking up toward the top of the rock formation.

Two large virtual screens were mounted on either side of the hill. As the black smoke in the footage gradually cleared, a familiar red silhouette appeared on screen.

"Kirishima-kun!" Uraraka exclaimed in surprise, her voice carrying over to Midoriya and the others, who turned to look.

"Uraraka-san! Asui-san! Momo-san! You guys came to I-Island too?"

Melissa clasped her hands behind her back and curiously asked, "Are they your classmates too?"

"Uh, yeah…"

Just as Midoriya was about to introduce them, a loud voice from the speakers interrupted.

"Completion time: thirty-three seconds! Eighth place today!"

"Next up, our challenger is…!"

The host raised a hand toward the entrance and to Kaminari's amusement, the next participant was someone they all knew.

"Kaachan?!" Midoriya's eyes widened in shock. He had no idea why Bakugo was even here.

"Oh, this looks interesting. Iida, want to give it a shot? Speed is your specialty." Kaminari smirked, nudging Iida.

"What about you, Kaminari-kun?" Iida hesitated for a moment before turning the question back on him.

Kaminari raised an eyebrow. "Am I supposed to take that as a challenge?"

"That's right. We haven't competed against each other since the Sports Festival," Iida responded seriously.

Their conversation quickly caught the attention of Kyoka and the other girls, but their focus soon shifted to Bakugo, who was stepping onto the stage in his combat gear.

"Ready to go! Attack the villains! Ready—go!"

At the host's signal, Bakugo took two steps forward, extending his arms behind him.

The grenade-shaped gauntlets on his arms ignited with a burst of fire, instantly channeling the explosion into a concentrated blast that sent him rocketing into the air.

BOOM!

With black smoke billowing behind him, Bakugo propelled himself toward the Imaginary Enemy Machine Area atop the hill, his face twisted in fierce determination.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

As always, his combat style resembled a battlefield, complete with deafening explosions and thick, acrid smoke.

But there was no denying his skill—within seconds, the six imaginary enemy targets scattered across the rocky terrain were obliterated.

"This is incredible… only fifteen seconds—first place!!" The host was momentarily stunned before shouting the result at full volume.

"Wooooaahhh!!" The crowd erupted in excitement.

"Hey, isn't that Midoriya over there?!"

Just as Bakugo was soaking in the cheers, Kirishima pointed toward the railing.

BOOM!

Bakugo immediately locked onto Midoriya. Without hesitation, he blasted himself toward the railing, landing with a loud thud as he glared at his childhood friend.

"Why the hell are you here, you damn nerd?!"

"Whoa, calm down, Bakugo! There are a lot of people watching!" Midoriya panicked, quickly taking two steps back and waving his hands defensively.

"So what?!" Bakugo snapped.

Kaminari, watching the commotion unfold, let out an exasperated sigh before turning back to Iida.

"You first, or me?"

Iida had initially planned to break up the brewing argument, but when Kaminari spoke, he immediately turned back and smiled.

"I'll go first!"

With that, he stepped forward and placed a firm hand on Midoriya's shoulder, speaking in his usual serious tone.

"Kaminari-kun and I are going to challenge this next. Please calm down and conduct yourself properly."

"What? That lightning bastard wants to challenge me?"

Hearing this, Bakugo stopped yelling at Midoriya, his focus shifting entirely to Kaminari.

Kaminari met his glare with an amused smile before turning to Midoriya, who was sweating nervously.

"Why don't you join in, too? Looks fun."

"Ah, um…" Midoriya hesitated. He wasn't the type to seek out competition.

Meanwhile, Melissa, watching Kaminari with a mixture of awe and curiosity, thought to herself, Is this guy really a high school student? His Quirk and personality both seem so impressive… Are all U.A. students like this?

"Hmph! You guys don't stand a chance!"

"I'm the strongest one here!" Bakugo declared, gripping the railing with an overconfident smirk.

"That's not necessarily true."

Before anyone else could respond, Kyoka pouted and shot back at him.

In her eyes, Kaminari was the strongest in Class 1-A, no question about it.

"Yeah, and how will you know if you don't try? Midoriya-kun is strong too! He has that move called Full Cowl, right?" Uraraka chimed in, tapping her chin.

"Uh… well…" Midoriya tried to protest, but Uraraka's words left him with little room to refuse.

"Plus, in a speed-based challenge like this, Iida's Quirk is a huge advantage," Momo added logically.

Hearing this, a vein twitched on Bakugo's forehead.

The thought of being challenged, especially by Midoriya, only made him angrier.

"Fine! Bring it on!"

"You're all gonna get wrecked!"

(To be continued.)

***

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