Chapter 59 : Strategy Against a God and Taming a Volcano

Returning to U.A. after a week of internship felt like returning to a different world. The air that had been filled with the scent of the sea and the tension of a secret mission was now once again filled with the smell of chalk and the typical hustle and bustle of school life. However, something had changed. The bond formed by our shared trauma at the USJ had now deepened, reinforced by our individual experiences in the world of professional heroes. There was a new maturity in my classmates' eyes, a quiet awareness of the harsh reality that awaited us beyond the safe walls of this school.

Of course, that tranquility didn't last long. Aizawa-sensei's announcement about the Final Exams, where we would be paired up to fight the teachers, sent a shockwave through the entire class. And when the pairs were announced, the most profound silence fell when my name was called.

"Team Ten: Tatsumi and Bakugo."

The entire room fell silent. Even Bakugo, who was usually always making a racket, just stared ahead blankly for a moment, as if his brain was trying to process the nonsensical information. Me, the calm strategist, paired with a walking volcano. This was no longer just an exam. This was a cosmic joke.

"And your opponent..." Aizawa paused for a moment, and I could have sworn I saw a flash of sadistic amusement in his tired eyes. "...is All Might."

If the room was silent before, it was now a complete vacuum. I could see Kaminari and Mineta turn pale, as if they had just heard their own death sentences, even though it wasn't their exam. Kirishima looked at us with a mixture of horror and admiration. "Wow," he whispered. "The two strongest in the class... against the strongest of the strong. This is insane."

In her seat, I saw Momo frown, not in fear, but in deep concentration. 'The most unstable combination against the most unbeatable opponent,' she was thinking, I could almost hear her. 'This isn't a random test. This is a message designed by Nezu. He wants to see what happens when uncontrollable power meets absolute strength.'

Aizawa told us to gather with our partners and start strategizing. I turned and saw Bakugo was already staring at me, his red eyes blazing with fury. "I don't need a strategy," he growled, his voice loud enough for half the class to hear. "And I sure as hell don't need help from a cheater like you. I'm gonna blast All Might to bits by myself."

"You can't 'blast' All Might, Bakugo," I replied calmly, though internally I felt a surge of frustration. "He's fought villains far stronger than you for decades. Trying to fight him with raw power is like trying to put out a forest fire with a water pistol."

"WHAT DID YOU SAY, HUH?!" he roared, small explosions already popping in his palms.

"I said we need a plan," I said, refusing to be intimidated. "And you won't be able to win without me, just like I won't be able to win without you."

Our heated debate became the main spectacle in the class, until Aizawa finally dispersed us with a threatening glare. Clearly, our path to cooperation was going to be a very, very rocky one.

That night, I couldn't stop thinking about the upcoming fight. I knew I had made great progress in controlling Incursio, but I had never tried it in a fight against someone on All Might's level. Then, as I drifted off from mental exhaustion, the dream came again, clearer than ever.

I was in the middle of ancient ruins, wearing the Incursio armor, which felt perfectly fitted, as if it were my second skin. In my hand, there was a spear—Neuntote—that felt like an extension of my arm. At my side, Akame moved without a sound, her sword ready at hand. Before us, a giant Danger Beast, a type of manticore with a scorpion's tail, roared. I felt no fear. I felt absolute trust in my partner. "I'll get its attention from the front!" a voice shouted in my head, my voice, but not my current voice. "You attack from its blind spot!" Akame nodded, and we charged together in perfect synchronization. I could feel the thrill of battle, the adrenaline, and most importantly, the unbreakable bond of camaraderie.

I woke up gasping for breath, my heart pounding. I could feel the faint sensation of the spear's hilt in my hand. The dream had felt so real. It wasn't just an echo; it was a complete memory. A memory of the original Tatsumi. And it gave me a crazy idea.

The next day, I looked for Momo in the library. She was reading a book on the application of subatomic particles in material engineering. I sat down in front of her, and without any preamble, I presented my problem to her as a tactical puzzle.

"Imagine a scenario, Yaoyorozu," I said. "There are two allied assets, Asset A and Asset B. Asset A has incredible close-range destructive power but is extremely aggressive and difficult to control. Asset B is more versatile, capable of both defense and offense, but his power is unstable. Their opponent, Asset C, has absolute strength, speed, and experience. They can't win in a direct fight. How can Asset A and B win?"

Momo looked at me, her eyes sparkling at the intellectual challenge. She took a piece of paper and started drawing a diagram. "Interesting," she murmured. "Absolute power usually comes with a single weakness. Asset C, based on your description, sounds like a symbolic hero. Correct?" I nodded. "In that case, his weakness isn't his physical strength. His weakness is his mentality as a 'hero'."

She continued, explaining her theory. "A true hero is bound by an unwritten rule: they must prioritize civilian safety and never ignore someone in danger. If Asset B can act as a 'bait' and pretend to be a helpless 'civilian' or a severely injured hero, it would force Asset C to divide his attention. It would create an opening, a split second where his guard is down, which Asset A can then exploit to land a decisive blow." She looked up, her eyes shining. "You don't fight the fighter. You fight the symbol."

A lightbulb went off in my head. She was right. Absolutely right. I thanked her and left with a crazy plan beginning to form in my mind. Now, for the hardest part: convincing Bakugo.

I found him in one of the private training facilities, Gym Gamma, venting his anger on an endless stream of training bots. Explosions shook the room.

"Bakugo!" I yelled over the noise.

He turned, grinning. "You come to get destroyed before the exam starts, huh?!"

"I came with a plan," I said, walking closer. "A plan where you get to be the real hero and land a punch on All Might."

He paused, intrigued despite himself. I knew I had to play this right. I had to manipulate his mountain-sized ego.

"I've thought about it," I began, my voice calm and calculating. "I've analyzed All Might. I've analyzed you. And I've analyzed myself. And the conclusion is... you're right. In terms of pure destructive power, you're the strongest between us. No one can deny that."

The unexpected praise caught him slightly off guard. "Of course I'm the strongest! I don't need you to tell me that!"

"And that's the problem," I continued. "All Might knows that. He won't fight you in a direct power contest. It wouldn't test anything for him. He'll use his incredible speed and decades of experience to play with you. He'll make you look like a child. You'll lose, and it won't prove anything other than that you're still a novice."

I could see my words hitting home. I had touched on his greatest fear: looking weak.

"But," I said, offering the bait. "I have a different plan. A plan that doesn't focus on winning by passing through the gate. A plan that focuses on one goal: giving you one golden opportunity. One perfect opening to land your strongest attack—Howitzer Impact—right in All Might's face."

Bakugo's eyes widened. The idea was clearly very appealing to him.

"I will be your distraction," I explained. "I will be your bait. I will be your shield if necessary. My entire role in this fight is to create that split-second moment for you. To let you show the world that you, Bakugo Katsuki, are the only student capable of hurting the Symbol of Peace." I looked at him. "I don't care about passing. I'm already the festival champion. This is your stage."

The lie tasted bitter on my tongue, but it was necessary. I watched him process it. His immense ego, his desire to be number one, and the chance to land a blow on All Might were all at war with his reluctance to work with me.

After a long, tense silence, he finally grunted. "Fine," he growled. "We'll do it your way, you damn strategist. But if your plan fails, if you make me look like an idiot, the first person I'm destroying after All Might is you. Got it?"

"Crystal clear," I replied with a faint smile. A very unstable and dangerous partnership had been formed.

The night before the exam, I was reviewing every detail of our complex plan in my room. Suddenly, my phone vibrated. A message from an unknown number. No name. No subject. Just a set of GPS coordinates and one short sentence.

The coordinates pointed to a location in a city that had been in the headlines for the past few days. Hosu City.

And the sentence read: "He's here."

I froze. The phone felt cold in my hand. It was a message from Akame. And I knew exactly who she meant by "he." The Hero Killer: Stain.

I stared at my phone screen, its blue light illuminating my conflicted face. Tomorrow, I had the most important exam of my life, a fight against All Might with my most unstable partner. But tonight, in Hosu, a real battle was taking place. Iida was hunting for his revenge. Midoriya would likely get involved. And Akame... Akame was giving me a choice. Join her, or stay on my path.

My fingers hovered over the 'delete' button. My mind screamed at me to ignore it, that this was too dangerous, that it wasn't my business. But the echo of the warrior's soul inside me whispered something different. It whispered of protecting comrades, of eradicating evil, of never turning away from a fight. The decision before me felt heavier than any fight against All Might.