Since the Entrance Exam had concluded with the practical aspect ending, Takezushi took to helping the wounded attendees in the immediate vicinity. His near mastered Yang Release when paired with a Chakra Control Stat rated as "Absurd," bordered on miraculous, as he healed all kinds of wounds from mild to severe equally fast and with no drawbacks towards his "patients" to speak of. Even Recovery Girl, the fabled Youthful Heroine how cured Heroes with her healing quirk, had to stand in awe of Takezushi healing prowess. She even mistook him for possessing a healing-oriented quirk, as she could not oversee the attendee's progress as a proctor with her job of healing the attendees after the event concluded and thus, did not know of the outstanding achievements he had accomplished while the test was underway.
…
As Takezushi continued on with healing attendees even after clearing his district as Recovery Girl had requested his assistance, in the teacher's lounge — where the various teachers of the school had convened and rigged up a viewing platform to watch this year's batch of attendees — the various teacher's of U.A. High were at a loss for words after witnessing Takezushi's performance.
"What a monster..." A small rodent-esque creature broke the ice.
A scantily clad woman who donned a hero costume fashioned in the style of S&M apparel, added, "He's got the nerves, strength, and compassion of a true hero and even most pros would lose out to the performance he just put on..."
"H-he must have earned at least 400 points, right?" A blocky grey-toned man asked to make sure he had tallied up the boy's score properly.
The same rodent creature from before corrected, "If you only count villain points, then he earned 437 points. But with rescue points added to the mix… We'd have to individually rewatch his performance and critique all of his rescue efforts, but it should add up to at least another hundred or so points."
"Heh, it seems like this year of teaching will be quite interesting." A man with long black hair and a half-dead expression that overtly conveyed a helpless case of sleep deprivation commented. Much to the other teachers' shock, the man had was smiling maniacally.
Sitting quietly to the side of the teachers who were still mesmerized by how strong Takezushi was, All Might was currently looking at the ground; his trademark smile replaced with an expression that could only be described as half laughing and half crying. 'Should I let them know that he wasn't even using a hundredth of his true strength? Would the fact that he handicapped himself so badly break their perception of reality?' With thoughts like those plaguing his mind, All Might didn't dare recklessly say anything.
He was the only person who knew about the true nature of his Quirk as the only reference the teachers had to go by was his fight with Takezushi's. Since he only used his physical strength and a chakra enhanced augmentation for his physical strength in that fight, everyone had assumed that Takezushi possessed some sort of strength-enhancing quirk and would thus be subject to unfathomable shock if the truth were to suddenly be revealed.
…
The day was coming to an end. With the test over and done with, Takezushi would have to wait a week just like all the other attendees for the results of the Exam to come out. At the moment, he was walking with Izuku as they were both leaving the school's campus.
"Seriously… Did you really have to waste three whole limbs to take out one 0-Pointer? With the progress you've made in the last two weeks, I'm confident you could have come out with just a broken finger or two if you flicked the robot at full power..." A bit worried as he had just finished healing Izuku — who was in the direst state of any attendee he had healed — Takezushi spoke honestly.
"I know, it's just… I moved without really thinking. There was a girl trapped by some rubble who was going to get crushed and I just thought, 'Protect her with all your strength!'" Knowing he was in the wrong, Izuku still tried to defend himself as it really played out how he described it; he had acted without consciously deciding how best to use his power as only the safety of that girl was on his mind at the most critical point in time.
"As long as you know, then I guess it's fine." Stopping as they had finally exited the school's campus, Takezushi looked at Izuku and smiled before saying, "Anyway, are you still going to continue on your training at the usual spot?" He asked, as Izuku said the training was specifically for the purpose of preparing himself for U.A.'s Entrance Exam.
"Of course," Izuku replied without hesitation, his eyes were practically burning with the amount of passion locked inside.
"Alright. See you tomorrow then," Takezushi said as he and Izuku would be going in separate directions to get to their respective homes. Returning a, "Right!" Izuku waved as he entered a jog that would last until he reached his home. Smiling, Takezushi continued on his path and eventually settled into his room.
He had taken his first steps to become an official hero and while he knew that he would definitely enter the best Hero School in Japan, he refused to let himself grow complacent. There were still many things he was lacking and aspects of his quirk that needed to be developed, not to mention his undying wish to see his mother once more. Thus instead of taking a moment to celebrate this small advancement in his path, he retreated to his world which had revolved around training since he had awakened.
Aside from occasionally interacting with All Might and training with Izuku daily, over a month had passed by with nothing much happening. Only three major things were worth mentioning, and going in the order of least to most important, a week after the Entrance Exam concluded, All Might told him that he passed with the highest score on the practical exam since the school's inception. Then, two weeks after that, was the due date for him to submit his requests for a tailor-made hero costume. And finally, today, at 6:00 AM on the opening day of the academic school year, Takezushi had finally completely mastered Yang Release Shape and Nature Transformations; he could finally begin training in Sage Arts.
Alas, school would start in an hour, so without much of a choice, Takezushi had to put off the start of his Sage Art Training to get ready and arrive early. He had learned from the grueling studies in the past year how much the Japanese cared for punctuality and respect, so he couldn't risk being late on the first day or sending a shadow clone in his stead as there was no telling if there was a member of the school's staff that could detect energy constructs through their quirk.
Reaching the school grounds within ten minutes of having stopped his training, Takezushi wandered through the relatively empties halls of U.A. until he reached his homeroom; Class 1-A. Unsurprisingly, he was the first to arrive as classes didn't start for another 45 minutes. So, without thinking, he chose a seat in the middle of the room and began reviewing the information he had on training Sage Mode.
In the field of Sage Arts, there were three governing Styles: Toad Style Sage Arts, Snake Style Sage Arts, and Slug Style Sage Arts. Each would grant Takezushi a unique Sage Mode with separate yet equally tantalizing benefits, so even after minutes passed, Takezushi remained undecided on which Style to start learning first.
Suddenly, Takezushi's thoughts were disrupted by the sounds of the room's doors opening. Turning to look at who would arrive nearly as early is he had — as the person had only arrived a minute after him — Takezushi was met with the sight of a small girl; relative to him, she was small anyway. The girl had long dark-green hair which was tied into a bow by its ends, large hands, and a bestial posture.
"Good morning..." Takezushi greeted. Aside from Izuku and All Might, he barely interacted with the rest of the world, but he still knew from his education how to respectfully behave himself in a social environment. As someone with horrific strength and countless abilities, it was no surprise that during this exchange with the first female peer he had encountered in life, he wasn't nervous or awkward.
"Oh? Good morning. I didn't expect someone to get here before me, but I guess this is what's to be expected from this school… Well, my name is Tsuyu Asui. Nice to meet you." The girl stared at Takezushi almost eerily hard, but he didn't seem to mind as he returned the introduction, saying, "I'm Takezushi Sak… Otsutsuki. It's a pleasure to meet you too." He had caught himself before revealing his true surname and corrected himself rather quickly.
After learning of the dangerous implications of carelessly throwing around his surname, Takezushi had decided to take on the name of his Quirk as his temporary surname. All Might had been confused as to why he would pick such a random thing to take the place of his surname — Otsutsuki literally meant Big Bamboo Tree. He wanted Takezushi to take on some sort of ridiculous "powerful-sounding" surname, but the boy's insistence on Otsutsuki won out in the end.
"Ho? You're the guy that got 610 points on the practical exam?!" Tsuyu took a step back as she couldn't immediately imagine the calm boy before her being the supposed powerhouse he was described to be by the results of the Entrance Exam.
"Right." Without anything to add coming to mind, Takezushi replied taciturnly.
"Whoa," Tsuyu said as she approached him. She took a seat to his immediate left and continued the conversation by asking, "How'd you do it? I've been dying to ask what kind of monstrous quirk would allow someone to get such a high score since the results of the Exam were announced to the public."
"How? Well, I mainly accomplished it with just Taijutsu and my Byakugan, but I guess I'd be lying if I didn't say I cheated in the very end when I was forced to use my Wind Release..." Takezushi sighed. He wasn't exactly experienced when it came to explaining his methodology, so without consciously realizing, he had just spat out a bunch of terms most people wouldn't know of.
"Taijutsu? Byakugan? Wind Release? Oh! Where are my manners..." Tsuyu said as she grew a bit flustered. She added, "It's only fair for me to tell you about my quirk when asking about yours..." Seeing Takezushi nod absentmindedly, Tsuyu said, "I call my Quirk, Frog. Basically, I can do anything a frog can do. I can stick to walls, extend my tongue for several meters, my leg strength is much greater than adults, and I can make a mild numbing poison."
"Frog?" Takezushi repeated out loud, 'Must be fate, I guess...' Right then and there, his undecidedness when it came to picking a Sage Art Style was resolved. Toads and Frogs certainly aren't the same thing, but it was close enough and for a coincidence this large to play out before Takezushi's very eyes, he felt it was the right choice.
"Yes?" Tsuyu asked rather nervously. She had grown used to some kids in elementary and middle school bully her, calling her ugly or disgusting for looking and acting like a frog. While she may have expected a similar reaction in high school, deep down in her heart, she hoped it wouldn't come to that as U.A. should be above that.
"Oh nothing, I just thought of a funny coincidence just now. Anyway, you asked about my quirk right?" And at that exact moment, the door flung open to reveal a pair of new faces. It would take a while longer for Tsuyu to learn of Takezushi's Quirk, but at least her initial worries of the boy were quelled.
Woke up prematurely, found 606 collections; here's your second chapter for the day~
I'll probably go to sleep again soon, so if I see — I don't know — 680 collections tomorrow I'll post two chapters in a row.
P.S. More reviews would be appreciated, even 1 or 2 star reviews, so long as you criticize what part of the novel you don't like~