March 9, 2266 — Uruguayan Coast , South America
The first rays of the sun cut through the horizon like molten silver, casting a fragile glow across the endless expanse of the Uruguayan coast. A lone figure stood perfectly still atop the shallow water, silver hair catching the morning light, his suit gleaming like polished metal. The waves lapped gently around him, but he didn't sink. He didn't even disturb the water.
Hayato Kurogane smiled faintly.
He took a single step.
The world around him blurred violently. Sea and sky melted together. And in the next heartbeat, he was no longer on the coast, no longer in South America. He was back home, standing in the quiet of his private estate.
Who else could it be, after all?
He took a quick look at the updated calculations of his current speed.
[ System: Distance covered: 22,000 km.
Approximate travel duration: 0.58 seconds.
Calculated speed: 13,585,000 km/h. Equivalent to Mach 11,000.
Note: Host G-force tolerance maintained through passive neural-muscular adaptation, equivalent to surviving 1,000,000 g's without injury. ]
Hayato paused, letting the reality sink in. In less than a second, he had traversed nearly two-thirds of the planet's circumference. Even the most advanced orbital satellites would blink and miss him.
Ten years had passed since his quirk, Speed Domain, had first awakened. Eight years had been spent in unrelenting training, experimentation, and expansion. When he first met Daigo Arashiyama, the System had labeled his initial level "below baseline"—but even then, he had potential. Eight years later, potential had become a force beyond imagination.
Hayato exhaled. His reflection in the polished glass of the estate's atrium shimmered back at him. Silver hair, piercing eyes, lean and impossibly fast-moving muscles. His Speed Domain no longer stopped at a few kilometers. Today, it could easily cover all of Japan—and a little beyond.
He shifted his perception, feeling the faint vibration of the city far below, the irregular patterns of cars and pedestrians, the flutter of birds taking off from a rooftop. Normally he restrained the Domain to reduce mental load, but even that restraint felt like holding back a tidal wave with a paper cup. His perception of time was subjective—a single second for him could stretch into minutes of detailed analysis for others.
[System — Current Stats Check]
Name: Hayato Kurogane
Age: 14
Quirk: Speed Domain (Enhancement / Perception-Field Hybrid)
Abilities: Passive Speed Enhancement, Temporal Perception Expansion, Limit Break, Forced Extension, Speed Clones, Phase-Shifting, Void Running, Enhanced Intelligence, Spatial Awareness, Multi-Target Tracking, Presence Nullifier… etc.
Combat Rating: Planetary-tier, capable of countering most known superheroes and quirk-enhanced threats.
Notes: Passive growth plateauing; active skill development ongoing; system-assisted analysis complete.
Hayato tilted his head, brushing a strand of silver hair from his eyes. The System's numbers were impressive, but even he didn't internalize them fully—they were abstractions. He could feel the difference. The world was no longer a straight path or a blur; it was an intricate mesh of probabilities, masses, and potential vectors. Every movement of every being within his domain was a gentle pulse in his mind, every shift in wind and vibration, every hint of momentum mapped and analyzed subconsciously.
He stretched, flexing his fingers. Running on water and air was trivial. Phasing partially through solid matter to dodge obstacles was instinctual. Creating speed clones to overwhelm, confuse, or scout? Simple. The System had helped him refine the mechanics, but the creativity was all his. Each ability had a practical application, derived from years of observing heroes, villains, and the impossible feats from his previous life's records.
[System — Passive Domain Check]
Current domain radius: ~4,200 km (Japan + surrounding regions).
Metabolic strain: Minimal due to long-term adaptation.
Neural processing speed: ~30,000x baseline human perception.
Notes: Cognitive fatigue negligible; temporal perception artificially expanded; further expansion may risk local spacetime destabilization.
He let his eyes drift over Tokyo from his perception matrix. The city hummed in slow motion, but to him it was a living blueprint: cars, trains, pedestrians, signals, even minor air turbulence visible as small distortions. This level of perception allowed him to react to anything, almost instantly, and he knew it.
"System… what about reaction time? Where am I now?"
[Reaction latency: 0.0001 sec effective. Processing speed and motor output exceeding any recorded human benchmark. Absolute minimal delay. Biological limits accounted for. Maximum potential fully unlocked.]
Hayato grinned. It was almost boring. In two heartbeats he could cross continents; in ten he could circumnavigate the globe in a straight line. Teleportation might remain the only counter, but otherwise? Nothing on the planet could touch him.
Hayato's thoughts drifted back to All Might and All For One. With his perception, he could pinpoint their positions in Japan, sense their live location, and calculate exactly how to neutralize them. Yet he refrained.
[ System: Host lethality control active. Target analysis complete. Engagement possible but not recommended without situational necessity. ]
His thoughts drifted to abilities beyond raw speed. He had developed:
Speed Clones: Partial temporal duplicates moving independently at reduced but still extreme velocities to overwhelm, mislead, or explore.
Phase-Shifting: Briefly slip molecules through solid objects—like phasing through walls or avoiding strikes.
Limit Break & Forced Extension: Explosive bursts of power, expanding the domain to unthinkable size, temporarily altering temporal perception beyond normal limits. Dangerous, yes, but perfectly within his experimental range.
Running on Liquids & Air Currents: He could literally sprint across water or glide slightly on wind using minimal surface friction.
Enhanced Intelligence: System-assisted cognitive upgrades allowed him to process multi-threaded calculations at the speed of thought, extrapolate enemy behavior, and optimize battle strategies in real time.
Presence Nullifier: Capable of completely concealing his presence — whether visual, auditory, olfactory, or even detectable by sixth senses. He can entirely hide himself from all forms of perception.
[System — Note: Active ability applications are virtually limitless; user creativity and experimentation primary constraints.]
[Flashback]
Two years earlier, Hayato had been deep into research publications. By the age of 12, his papers on Quirk Singularity Theory, Quirk: In-Depth Analysis, high-speed neuromuscular adaptation, and several other advanced topics had begun circulating in both hero and scientific circles. His reputation as a prodigious mind was growing—but little did he know that his life was about to change in a very personal way.
Hayato's 12th birthday was unlike any other. The Kurogane Estate buzzed with music, chatter, and the faint shimmer of quirk displays lighting up the night. Wealthy families, high-profile researchers, and quirk users from various backgrounds—some aspiring heroes, some simply exceptionally talented—mingled in the grand halls. The estate's gardens had been transformed with floating light displays, miniature water constructs, and other small quirk-driven spectacles. It was in this dazzling celebration that Hayato would meet her for the first time.
Hayato moved through the crowd with quiet observation. He'd been raised to be polite, but his mind was always scanning: quirk classifications, potential combat applications, social hierarchies, subtle hints in behavior.
Amid the crowd, he noticed a girl standing slightly apart, her dark hair in a tidy braid, her eyes sharp but curious. A small group surrounded her, but she seemed more interested in the conversations than the display.
"Are you Hayato Kurogane?" she asked politely as she approached.
Hayato tilted his head, overcome with mischief. "Depends on who's asking."
"I'm Momo Yaoyorozu," she replied. "I… I've read your papers—your work on Quirk Singularity Theory. I wanted to meet the author."
Hayato studied her for a moment, noting her composure, the spark of intelligence in her eyes. "So you actually read them," he said with a small smile. "Most people just skim abstracts and nod."
Momo laughed softly. "I wanted to understand the details. Some of the ideas… they might help me think differently about my quirk."
"That's ambitious," Hayato said, tilting his head again. "But fine. Let's see if your curiosity can keep up with the math."
The conversation drew them to a quieter corner of the garden, away from the crowds. They spent hours discussing quirk theory, energy efficiency, and strategic applications.
"You calculate everything," Momo said thoughtfully. "Your approach… it's like you can see the quirk in action before it even moves."
Hayato shrugged. "Not exactly. I just try to remove the blinders. Theory predicts outcomes. Execution… that's another problem."
By the end of the evening, they exchanged contacts and promised to continue their discussions. It wasn't an instant friendship—it began with mutual respect and fascination. Over the following months, they met occasionally: sometimes to test small experiments with their quirks, sometimes to debate new theories Hayato published. Slowly, the bond deepened.
Two years passed, and their friendship grew even stronger. Hayato helped Momo push her understanding of quirk mechanics, refining the efficiency of her Creation Quirk. By age 14, Momo had already mastered several techniques she would later use at UA, many of them subtly influenced by Hayato's guidance.
[Present Time]
Hayato let the sun wash over him. His mind wandered to the past decade: from the trembling, cautious child trying not to strain himself, to a man capable of practically godlike feats. He thought of Daigo, his first mentor, who had taught him restraint, control, and subtlety over raw speed. He remembered his new friend Momo, whom he had guided, strengthening her future self with knowledge no one else had.
And now… it was their turn. Both of them had applied for U.A. High's Recommendation Entrance Exam. Written tests, practical obstacle courses, and interviews awaited them.
"Practical exam…" he mused. "Three kilometers, six students at a time, quirk-assisted… I'll finish in less than a second if I want. But that's not the point."
Hayato's smile widened. The point wasn't speed alone. Control, application, precision—all the things he had spent eight years perfecting—would show just how dangerous he could be in a fight, even without fully unleashing his active abilities.
[System — Future projection: Candidate's performance virtually unbeatable at standard U.A. Recommendation Exam parameters. Human reaction limits irrelevant. Stress minimal.]
He flexed his hands. The estate, the world, and even the bounds of known human limitation existed within his perception. And yet, even knowing he could destroy or outpace anything, he felt something he hadn't felt in years: anticipation.
He allowed himself one final deep breath. In the next heartbeat, he could begin the new chapter of his life: the canonical timeline, where his preparation, his genius, and his overwhelming speed would finally meet the world.
The sun rose higher over Japan, but for Hayato Kurogane, the day had already begun.