The bathroom door slid open. Steam carrying the scent of pine and antiseptic soap billowed out, mingling with the cool air of the hallway.
Fuse Yasushi stepped across the wooden threshold of his room, wearing nothing but loose black shorts. The remnants of his shower still clung to his pale skin, glistening as they caught the light of his room's lamp. His dark red hair appeared denser from being wet, a few droplets falling onto his shoulders as he roughly scrubbed his head with a thick white towel.
He walked with silent bare feet toward his wardrobe. As he swung the wide wooden doors open—
Ting.
In an instant, the silence of the room was shattered by a sound.
It was a short, ringing notification.
Fuse froze. He turned slowly, tilting his head with narrowed crimson eyes.
On his study desk, his smartphone screen lit up, casting away the shadows in the corner of the room. Without bothering to put on a shirt first, he approached the desk.
The phone screen displayed an incoming message from Denki Kaminari. Fuse unlocked the screen, his thumb swiping across the glass with a lazy motion.
[KAMINARI]: Hey, class rep! Are you busy?
A vein twitched at Fuse's temple. He scoffed, his fingers beginning to type furiously.
[FUSE]: As the future number one hero, of course I'm always busy contemplating the balance of the world. Why do you ask?
It only took a few seconds before a reply appeared.
[KAMINARI]: Haha! So typical of you! I'm so bored right now, I feel like my head's gonna explode if I just sit in my room. Wanna go out? Just hang out and chat casually! We could talk about all sorts of fun stuff, maybe look around the city! Way better than rotting at home, right?
Reading that, Fuse's brows drew together, creating a small valley on his forehead. He stared at the screen with an evaluating gaze.
[FUSE]: I'm not sure. I have many crucial matters to attend to. Formulating strategies, for instance.
[KAMINARI]: Heh… you're really boring outside of school hours, huh. I didn't expect you to be the type of old grandpa who just likes sitting around doing nothing.
Fuse's eyes gleamed. His ego pricked by that simple sentence.
[FUSE]: Actually, I'm just reluctant to waste calories, especially if I have to spend time alone with you. That would lower my aesthetic value.
[KAMINARI]: Don't worry about that, Your Majesty! I'll invite the others too! You won't have to listen to my rambling all day. Come on!
Fuse fell silent for a long time.
In an instant, the memory of that morning's event with Midoriya at the beach flashed through his mind.
Though he felt his muscles were somewhat tired, an idea was beginning to bloom in his head.
[FUSE]: Whatever. Invite them. If you fail to gather a worthy force, I won't dignify you with my presence.
After sending that message, Fuse set his phone back on the desk with a soft thud.
He returned to the mirror and gazed at his own reflection. "A social stage, huh," he murmured. "Let's see what kind of drama they can offer."
...
One hour later, Fuse's red eyes narrowed as he stared at the building facade before him.
He stood in front of the designated meeting place.
It was none other than an exposed-brick style café with large glass windows and an elegant black canopy.
One of Fuse's hands gripped his phone, double-checking that the GPS coordinates shared by Kaminari matched the reality before him.
The place is well-maintained. Quite impressive for that idiot's choice, Fuse thought, appraising the café's interior from outside.
He took a deep breath, slipped his phone into the pocket of his new windbreaker jacket, and stepped inside.
The sweet chime of a silver bell rang as Fuse pushed the glass door.
Instantly, he was greeted by the warmth of climate-controlled air, the rich aroma of roasted coffee beans, and the sweetness of butter from the pastry grill. His senses felt pampered.
As he walked in, his eyes immediately caught a group of familiar figures in the corner of the room. Kaminari, Kirishima, Midoriya, and Fumikage sat in a circle around a large wooden table.
They seemed to have noticed Fuse's conspicuous presence as well—Kaminari and Kirishima immediately waved their hands cheerfully, like puppies seeing their master.
But Fuse didn't head straight toward their table. Maintaining his own rhythm, he walked to the cashier counter first, ordering a cup of black coffee with no sugar.
After receiving his order—a white porcelain cup radiating warm steam—only then did he approach their table with slow, authoritative steps.
"Fuse!" Kirishima called out, his voice slightly too loud for the quiet café. "Over here! You're walking so slowly, like you're on a red carpet. What's wrong with you?! Are your legs hurting?"
"I'm testing your observational skills—whether you noticed my aura or not," Fuse answered flatly as he drew near.
He stood before their table, staring at the grinning Kaminari.
"Do you often frequent a classy place like this, Kaminari?" Fuse glanced around the room, observing the other patrons who appeared to be office workers or college students. "The building is impressive, the layout is very neat, and I'm certain the numbers on the menu here are also expensive. I didn't expect you to be hiding that much wealth."
Kaminari laughed stiffly, scratching the back of his neck. "Not really. I usually just meet up with my friends outside, at the park or in front of a convenience store. Depends on who I'm hanging out with. But it doesn't feel right to wait outside when the weather's getting hot, right? Besides, we're coming as a group anyway. Ah, and before you assume anything further, I'm not treating you guys, okay? Order your own stuff!"
"I overestimated your financial capacity. I should've known. You would never treat us," Fuse shrugged elegantly. "You know, Kaminari? Stinginess will never make you popular with girl."
Fuse set his coffee cup on the table with a soft clink, pulled out a chair, and settled his body into it.
Kaminari's face flushed with irritation. "How am I supposed to do that when I don't even have extra allowance?! Not everyone in this world has a wallet as thick as yours, Your Majesty!"
"Now, now, don't play the poverty card as a defense. It's very uninteresting and ruins the aesthetic," Fuse ignored Kaminari's whining and chose to sip his coffee slowly. He then shifted his gaze to Midoriya sitting across from him.
"How about the fractures in your fingers, Midoriya? Have they recovered properly?"
"Ah, yes, Fuse-kun!" Midoriya startled slightly, then smiled with relief as he raised his right hand, showing his fingers free of bandages. "I was treated properly by the medical staff right away, and my bones are back to normal, though I still feel very exhausted."
Hearing the conversation, Kirishima immediately raised his eyebrows high. "Hah? Injuries? What happened to you two? Were you attacked by villains again?! Or just a pathetic accident from cutting onions wrong in the kitchen?"
"Uh, n-no, no!" Midoriya exclaimed in panic, waving both hands. "W-we were just training together this morning at the beach! And, well, you know how my quirk always ends up hurting my own body, right? Well, Fuse-kun here tried to train me to control it. I agreed because he... he's incredibly strong."
"Heh, that's completely unfair!" Kirishima slammed the table, making Fuse's coffee cup rattle slightly. "How could you two train together in secret without inviting us? What do you take us for? Background extras who just walk by?"
"It seems we've been sidelined from the main group," Kaminari nodded dramatically, patting Kirishima's back. "And this is only a few days since the U.S.J. incident. Our friendship is already crumbling."
Fumikage, who sat at the corner of the table with his arms folded across his chest, shook his head slowly. "I didn't expect it, truly didn't expect it. I am the friend who has known you since the suffering-filled days of middle school, Fuse. And you have excluded my darkness from your training banquet."
Midoriya looked increasingly panicked at his friends' reactions. "E-eh, that's not what I meant! It was just something that happened suddenly without thorough planning!"
Kirishima slammed his fist into his palm again. "Whatever your reason, that can't be left alone! I refuse to forever be a background character who just stands there! Let's train together starting now! As one complete team!"
"Yeah, that would be great! We could come up with some deadly combos!" Kaminari nodded enthusiastically.
"I agree. It would make everything easier if someday we're once again confronted with a gang of villains like before," Fumikage nodded with his characteristic deep, serious tone.
Fuse set down his cup. He looked at them one by one, letting out a long sigh as if the weight of the world had just been placed on his shoulders. Strangely, there was an odd satisfaction in seeing them demand to be trained by him.
"Hah, what can you do. The demands of the people must be heard," Fuse said arrogantly. "Besides, training only with someone who constantly breaks their own bones is quite boring. Just make sure you don't whine or beg for mercy when I press your bodies relentlessly without compassion."
"It'll take more than your best effort to break my spirit and body!" Kirishima punched his own chest. "I'm incredibly tough! My hardness is unmatched!"
"How about we make a group chat?" Kaminari suggested, immediately digging into his pocket to pull out his phone.
Fuse propped his chin with one hand. "Are you sure?"
"What do you mean?" Kaminari tilted his head in confusion.
Fuse stared at his friends in turn, his eyes gleaming red. "Circle of Friendship."
They looked at each other, bewildered by Fuse's words.
"If you don't want to, then forget it," Fuse sighed, waving his hand as if shooing a fly.
Kaminari was still confused, but he shook his head and refocused on his screen, creating a group chat and sending invitations to everyone. The sound of simultaneous notifications rang from each of their pockets.
"In that case, given your burning enthusiasm, why don't we just do it now? The training, I mean," Kaminari challenged, pocketing his phone.
Hearing the challenge, Fuse couldn't help but think. Though he had trained with Midoriya that morning, that session had been entirely one-sided.
Only Midoriya had benefited from the control lesson.
And himself? He hadn't even had the chance to continue his crucial training on "automatic defense" because their battle had been so brief!
In fact, blocking that Delaware Smash earlier couldn't even be called a warm-up that made his muscles tense.
Besides, could that brief morning scene even be called a combat training session?
He felt that incident was merely a pathetic display of Midoriya getting battered without being able to touch a single hair on his head.
But now, with many people participating and possessing diverse quirk types, perhaps this was a golden opportunity for him to truly train!
Previously, in the dead of silent night, he had practiced automatic defense using nails and iron to attack himself randomly, while controlling other objects to disrupt his focus.
Even so, because he was the one controlling his own attacks, his subconscious mind could still predict the direction of the falling metal.
Of course, the purpose of that deadly training was to acclimate himself to fast, unpredictable attacks. Making the iron around him react on pure reflex to block, creating shields in a fraction of a second before the strike could even scratch his skin.
If he were attacked by a third party—by these people who possessed free will—his training would become far more perfect and realistic!
There was no downside at all!
This was a win-win solution. Once they became strong pawns, he as their commander would become even more untouchable.
Without further deliberation, Fuse immediately agreed. He lifted his cup, drained the remaining bitter coffee in one long gulp, and stood up from his chair.
"Let's go. Time is a blade that must be sharpened."
...
The sea breeze swept across their faces, carrying the sharp scent of salt and rust. The five of them now stood at the Coast, surrounded by monuments of old iron and piles of industrial waste that hadn't been fully cleared.
"Do you two always train in a giant dump like this?" Kaminari asked. He gaped at the surroundings, careful to avoid stepping on broken glass.
Fuse walked to the center, kicking a small pebble. "No. Originally I just liked training alone in the silence. Here it's too easy to find scrap iron in massive tonnage. It's an environment very regrettable for nature, but very useful for my quirk."
Midoriya nodded, looking around with a nostalgic gaze. "Yeah, me too. I like training here alone every morning. I like it because the place is very quiet and gives me space to scream without bothering anyone."
Then the two of them looked at each other, full of question marks.
"Why have we never crossed paths before? This doesn't make sense statistically," Fuse asked, narrowing his eyes at Midoriya. "Do you secretly possess stealth abilities like a ninja?"
Midoriya laughed awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck. "Maybe just because of the difference in timing and the area of the beach we use. The beach is quite long, and I often just run while pulling weights. So we never collided."
"I always make a deafening racket of metal. You should have noticed my presence if you had ears," Fuse snorted softly, rejecting that rational explanation.
Fuse then stepped away from the crowd of his friends. He positioned himself standing exactly in the center of a sand basin surrounded by scattered piles of iron like pillars of a colosseum.
He turned slowly. His red eyes swept from Kaminari on the far right, across Midoriya and Fumikage, to the sturdy figure of Kirishima on the far left. Then, he smiled. An arrogant smile ready to swallow the world.
Fuse spread both his arms. "Well, I suppose we should begin soon, shouldn't we? What are you waiting for, you sluggish extras? Attack me at once, all of you. Use your best techniques, whatever they are, no need to hold back. I'll face everything from right here."
Hearing that unfiltered pure arrogance, Kaminari felt irritated. A vein on his temple twitched. "Seriously? You're really asking to get beaten! You're not even giving us a signal or anything, huh?!"
"A hero must be ready to react in any sudden situation," Fuse smiled mockingly.
Kirishima punched his own hands, which were beginning to harden. "Then don't ever cry and regret it when your handsome face gets bashed in, Mr. Conceited!"
After that shout, Kirishima's Hardening quirk was fully activated. His body transformed into sharp stone, and he immediately sprinted with all his might, charging through the sand toward Fuse like a wild bull!
Fuse, with both hands comfortably tucked into his pockets, stared at the approaching Kirishima without blinking.
Instantly, hundreds of nails and small sharp iron pieces scattered across the sand expanse rose into the air. The objects froze for a moment around Fuse's body, then in a flash, the metals spun around Fuse and shot straight toward Kirishima with bullet-like speed.
It was a deadly consecutive attack!
"Don't underestimate me with pebble tricks like this!" Kirishima roared.
Kirishima crossed his arms, blocking all the impacts of the small iron pieces. Ting! Trang! Sparks flew from his stone skin. He survived the first wave, and he immediately accelerated, forcing himself forward toward Fuse.
But for some reason, from behind the rain of metal, Fuse seemed to be smiling even wider. And this made Kirishima's instincts go on high alert.
Suddenly, the iron pieces that Kirishima had successfully blocked against his chest and arms—which should have been knocked far away and fallen to the sand—began to vibrate. The objects rose into the air again, making sharp turns, and attacked Kirishima again from his blind spots—his back and his calves!
The aerial assault kept repeating endlessly. The metal was blocked, knocked away, then pulled back and flew toward Kirishima like bloodthirsty boomerangs.
So in the reflection of Fuse's red eyes, Kirishima—who had been running full of confidence—now appeared overwhelmed and was forced to stop moving. The red-haired young man could now only focus on blocking the attacks, crossing his arms to cover his face. All the iron flying toward him blindly from every side forced him to defend with great difficulty.
He was struggling immensely to move even a single inch!
Fuse chuckled softly, his laughter cutting through the howling wind. "You have a hard body, Kirishima. Durability worthy of a thumbs-up. I admit that. A direct attack from you would certainly be very painful for me. But that's IF... you manage to hit me. Of course, your toughness becomes meaningless if you can't even get close to me. Right now, you're not a threat at all, but merely a training target."
Fuse tilted his head, staring at his friend's suffering. "Instead of trying to attack, merely defending yourself from getting stabbed feels difficult, doesn't it? This training is perfect for your weakness. Try forcing yourself to advance and attack me while you endure this storm!"
Fuse's magnetic attacks grew more intense and dense. Even Kirishima's Hardening was gradually weakening from wear, and a few sharp iron tips began to breach his defense, scraping the skin on his arms and shoulders, leaving red lines of blood.
Seeing Kirishima helpless, trapped in the iron storm, Kaminari couldn't just stand by. He immediately ran in a wide arc, approaching quickly!
He intended to attack Fuse from another angle, from a blind spot he thought was wide open!
Fuse, thanks to his magnetic perception field, was clearly aware of Kaminari's movement. But he didn't even bother to turn his head slightly toward the electric young man.
Kaminari frowned at feeling disregarded, and continued running toward him. He intended to use a close-range Electrification shock to stun Fuse's nervous system!
As Kaminari ran closer and prepared to release his electricity, a dark shadow suddenly covered the light from above him.
Kaminari looked up, his eyes wide with shock and panic.
A construction iron beam, extremely long as well as wide, suddenly plummeted from the sky with killing speed!
Kaminari stifled a scream and immediately stepped back, throwing his body backward.
BAM! The massive beam struck the sand right in front of his shoes.
Then he stared at Fuse, prominent veins of irritation appearing on his forehead. "Hey! That's completely cheating, damn it! Since when was that thing up in the sky?!"
"You have a brain, don't you?" Fuse lifted one shoulder casually. "As if I'd let a chaos-spreading electric human like you freely approach me."
The corner of Kaminari's lips twitched violently, suppressing anger. "You're seriously trying to stop me by dropping beams like this? Even a baby could come up with a better strategy than dropping heavy objects!"
Unwilling to give up, Kaminari quickly got up and tried to run from another side, but the moment he moved, another giant iron beam dropped from the clouds. BAM! Kaminari growled in frustration, cursing under his breath, but he didn't waste time and spun to run to another side.
BAM! A third iron pillar came down, blocking his path.
Kaminari grew even more frustrated, his breathing ragged, and he jumped toward the last remaining open side.
BAM! The fourth iron came down, striking the earth.
Kaminari collapsed, grabbing his head with both hands and roughly messing up his blond hair in frustration. He was trapped tightly between four long iron beams planted in the sand like prison bars.
"Hey! Isn't this completely unfair?! I can't even climb out!" Kaminari shouted from inside his cage.
"What's with all your whining?" Fuse's voice bounced back with thick mockery. "Didn't you just say a baby could think better than me? You'd better figure out how to use your electric quirk from a distance so you don't keep relying on physical movement."
Just as Fuse finished lecturing Kaminari, he suddenly narrowed his eyes and turned swiftly.
His eyes widened for a moment.
He couldn't see Midoriya's silhouette anywhere on the sandy arena!
There, before him, only Fumikage Tokoyami stood still. A shadow cloak was beginning to envelop his body, releasing the Dark Shadow entity, but the bird-headed young man hadn't moved a single inch from where he stood.
"Aren't you planning to attack?" Fuse asked with a slight smile, challenging.
At that moment, like a ghost released from hell, Dark Shadow immediately elongated and shot toward Fuse with claws wide open.
Instantly, responding to the threat, two large iron plates launched through the air toward Dark Shadow to crush it.
However, Dark Shadow swung its claws, batting away all the heavy iron with ease. The dark shadow closed the distance, creeping swiftly toward Fuse.
"I expected that a shadow without physical form would be difficult to handle with solid objects," Fuse sighed. And he smiled even more mysteriously. "But... that doesn't mean it's impossible to overcome."
Instantly, instead of attacking the shadow, a cluster of sharp irons that were hovering abruptly changed course and launched fiercely toward Fumikage's physical body in the distance!
Fumikage, his concentration divided, noticed the unexpected attack and quickly leaped to dodge. But once dodged, the iron pieces that had passed his body immediately veered, flying in a loop back toward his back.
He had no choice but to cancel his defensive posture and run frantically away, twisting his body while continuously pursued by the swarm of killer iron.
Dark Shadow, which had nearly reached Fuse's face, noticed the threat targeting Fumikage. The shadow turned sharply, looking at Fuse's wicked smile, then at Fumikage in danger, alternating between the two.
With a frustrated growl, Dark Shadow was then forced to cancel its attack on Fuse and decided to shoot backward, protecting Fumikage's physical body by swatting away the nails.
"You'd better, before you think too hard about attacking your king, use your logic to keep your original body safe from counterattacks first," Fuse said while yawning widely, bored by the easily broken tactic.
Fuse then lowered his hand, narrowing his blood-red eyes, and scanned the surroundings of the scrap piles.
"I know you're hiding somewhere around here, holding your breath, Midoriya," Fuse called out, his voice echoing across the chaotic arena.
Then he let out a long sigh, feigning disappointment. "Actually, it doesn't matter to me if you feel too scared and don't want to come out. But... isn't hiding the pure action of a coward who doesn't deserve to dream of becoming a hero?"
Fuse spread both his arms. "Your friends are fighting desperately, being destroyed by the future number one hero, and you're just cowering in fear? Pathetic."
Behind the long iron pillars that formed the outer wall of Kaminari's cage, Izuku Midoriya stood pressed against the metal. His body trembled and he swallowed with great difficulty. Cold sweat dripped from his nose.
He stared at his own palms, still wrapped in thin bandages, and slowly clenched his fists tightly.
Midoriya took a long, trembling breath and closed his eyes. A few seconds later, he opened them. There was no more fear there; what remained was only steel determination, full of conviction.
At this moment, Midoriya forced his legs to step out of the safe hiding place, and he stared sharply toward Fuse.
Fuse's eyes immediately caught Midoriya's green silhouette, and he slowly turned his head, welcoming the challenge.
At this moment, Midoriya began to walk. His shoe steps were firm. He gradually increased his pace, then lowered his body and started sprinting with all his might, courting death that stood before him.
Seeing that reckless action, Fuse was slightly surprised, then he grinned widely.
"Charging at me head-on without activating your quirk power even slightly?" Fuse pointed his palm at the approaching Midoriya. "It seems you're truly tired of living and underestimating me."
"Does that suicidal confidence come from thinking I'm overwhelmed dealing with the three of them at once?" Fuse smiled mockingly.
Midoriya didn't respond. He didn't say a single word. His teeth were clenched tight, and he kept pumping his legs, cutting the distance between them.
The small sharp iron pieces that had been flying passively around Fuse seemed to gain a life of their own, instantly shooting through the air in a flash toward Midoriya's face and chest.
Midoriya, with reflexes sharpened by pain, dodged. He managed to avoid them. Of course, his defense wasn't perfect; a few sharp iron tips managed to slip through and hit the skin of his face and arms, tearing fabric and creating bleeding scratch wounds. But Midoriya endured the stinging pain, didn't reduce his speed, and kept closing in.
"Are you truly an idiot who learns nothing from your mistakes this morning?" Fuse tilted his head, feeling déjà vu.
At this point, Fuse decided to end the performance. The iron pieces hovering around Fuse grew even more numerous. Hundreds of metal fragments gathered, flying silently to form an iron storm cloud.
Then, like bullets from a machine gun, the iron pieces rained down with insane speed toward Midoriya.
Midoriya, who was running, suddenly lowered his body posture even further, concentrating power in his thighs, then pushed against the sand with a killing thrust from his legs.
In the blink of an eye, a kinetic explosion occurred at his foothold. Sand scattered to form a small crater, and Midoriya's body launched through the air, cleaving space toward Fuse with extremely terrifying speed, like a green rocket!
He had used One For All on his legs and propelled himself beyond the limits of normal human speed!
Fifteen meters of distance was reduced to zero in an instant. The wind generated by the super-speed thrust swept away all obstacles. All the small sharp iron pieces that had been flying toward Midoriya were instantly shattered and flung to the sides by the storm-force gale he had created.
Fuse's eyes widened wide.
In midair, Midoriya endured the agonizing pain spreading from the bones of both legs, which were now fractured from bearing the uncontrolled explosion's output. He bit his lower lip until it bled. But that physical suffering didn't stop the chain of actions he had planned next.
At this moment, at extremely close range, the blood vessel network on his right arm seemed to ignite, radiating blinding red light. He activated One For All in his right hand, ready to destroy his opponent's face.
Seeing that fist ready to strike, Fuse—who had been wide-eyed with shock—quickly regained his composure. A cruel sneer tore across his face. He was ready for this.
A fraction of a second before the fist landed, ten pairs of thick iron plate walls and giant concrete pillars suddenly exploded upward from beneath the sand. The iron pieces planted themselves firmly in rows above the sand, absolutely blocking Midoriya's punch trajectory. Between each iron plate were a few centimeters of gap space to absorb the destructive force.
Midoriya, flying through the air at full speed, intended to change direction and evade the thick defense. But because the muscles of both legs had been destroyed and gone numb from the thrust, he couldn't change momentum in midair. He wouldn't be able to execute a spinning attack like before.
Therefore, with no other way out, he decided to risk his life and resolve this iron obstacle in one frontal, destructive punch!
Midoriya's right hand, cloaked in the savage energy of One For All, suddenly collided with the nearest steel plate.
KRAAK-BOOOM!!!
The first iron layer shattered instantly into fragments. His punch's momentum kept pushing forward. The iron behind it slowly exploded one by one—trang, klang, bam—under the raging power. But his kinetic force kept declining. Until finally, the fist stopped, leaving exactly one last iron plate layer still intact before Fuse's face.
His suicidal attack had been blocked perfectly.
Because of the law of action-reaction from the massive collision, Midoriya was instantly flung hard backward after his attack was foiled. His body was hurled like a ragdoll, rolling miserably across the rough sand for several meters before friction finally stopped his momentum.
He lay collapsed. With labored breaths, he glanced toward Fuse, who stood upright—apparently without having shifted even a single centimeter from where his feet had been planted since the beginning. Midoriya bit his lip hard. His face contorted severely, tears escaping from his eyelids, visibly enduring unbearable pain throughout his body, which was now ruined.
Seeing that foolish suffering, Fuse held his head with one hand and shook it slowly, as if witnessing a very bad tragicomedy.
He slowly lowered the remains of his iron shield, stepping forward to approach the helpless Midoriya. He stopped near him and let out a long sigh laden with manufactured pity.
"I truly still don't understand that hard head of yours, Midoriya," Fuse said coldly. "Is it really that enjoyable to see your own blood and injure yourself until you're destroyed like this?"
Fuse stared sharply from above. "Do you actually have a mental disorder—are you a masochistic lunatic?"
Fuse squatted down gracefully. "This morning, I already told you very clearly that your mortal vessel of a body cannot contain the concentrated explosion of your raw power. So you always end up pathetically like this. Instead of concentrating and detonating all your energy on a single point of a fragile limb... why don't you try using a little of your brain, and just spread the ripples of your power throughout the nerve network across your entire body? Distribute the pressure."
"Your main problem is... you overly idolize that perfect figure of All Might," Fuse accused, his voice rising above the crashing waves. "That's why your attack patterns, your ambitions, and even your way of arguing are exactly like that old man's shadow. You're trying to mimic his giant punches."
"Mimicking someone's greatness is the beginning of learning, not a sin. But it becomes a foolish act if you only mimic blindly without daring to modify it to suit your own body."
Under Fuse's shadow, Midoriya could only wipe his sweat and tears. He struggled to rise, supporting his body with his intact left arm, enduring the burning pain in his legs and right hand.
Fuse stood back up, staring at Midoriya who looked pathetic trying to sit up on the sand.
"If I were to borrow a term from the RPG game system," Fuse began his analogy casually, folding both arms across his chest, "there's a main stat focused entirely on movement. That's Agility. Someone who maximizes agility can move incredibly nimbly, bouncing around, vanishing and attacking without being caught by the naked eye. Honestly, for an enemy like me, an opponent with high agility is far more annoying and difficult to kill than a muscular giant."
"That's very different from you standing before me right now. Your movements, your intentions—everything is so obvious and easy to read. The only thing you can boast about at this point is your suicidal punch, which purely focuses entirely on Strength alone."
Fuse shook his head. "Sure, focusing on Strength isn't absolutely bad. Destroying an enemy in one punch is efficient. It just... makes you an inflexible fighter. Easy to predict. Easy to break."
"If I were you holding that godly power, I would make that 100% Strength destructive power purely a secret finishing move. I would never use it at the beginning of a fight, before I was mathematically certain that absolute victory was before my eyes. Besides, an attack that sacrifices yourself is nothing but a double-edged sword; it might be the key to victory, but also the key to your defeat if it misses."
Fuse stared at the horizon for a moment, letting the wind caress his face. "On the battlefield, there's no harm in playing tactically for the long term. Lower your attack output to something weaker and tolerable for your body, while the rest of your energy is used to maximize your Agility for maneuvering."
He looked Midoriya straight in the eye. "Better learn balance. Balance is key."
"Balance is the only law that keeps a hero alive to see tomorrow."
Fuse then raised his right hand high. He snapped his fingers with a loud click.
Instantly, he released his absolute control over his magnetic quirk. All the remaining iron bars trapping Kaminari, the nails chasing Fumikage, and the beams battering Kirishima fell lifelessly onto the sand expanse.
Then, Fuse turned his body, staring at his other friends in the distance. They were all sitting or kneeling, their bodies drenched in sweat. They exhaled desperate breaths, their chests rising and falling roughly from physical and mental exhaustion.
Except for Kaminari, who had now managed to escape his iron cage, walking with a limp. The blond young man's face appeared very confused by the state of his friends who were battered and bruised, not understanding what had just happened to Midoriya and the philosophical lecture Fuse had just delivered.
Seeing the sight of a group of young heroes exhausted and absorbing their defeat, Fuse couldn't help but smile widely. His smile was so genuine and arrogant. He felt extremely satisfied with today's results.
Even though technically, in the midst of all this chaos, he hadn't gotten a focused opportunity to train his own "automatic defense"—but for some reason, guiding them onto the right path gave him a euphoria.
He felt incredibly happy, like a king who had ensured his kingdom would be filled with tough knights in the future. Knights who, of course, would always remain in his shadow.
...
A/N: Oh my... it was so difficult to visualize the fight scenes. But I suppose this is roughly what was in my head while writing this chapter.