The walls and ceiling of the spacious room creaked and trembled before opening like the petals of a flower, revealing a much larger space for the competition that would take place at Takoba Stadium.
The rules were explained, and the limited number of participants allowed to pass this stage was announced. Only 100 out of the slightly more than 1,500 young prospects would move on to the next round.
It was extremely disconcerting for most and placed immense pressure on the aspiring Heroes.
The countdown began, and many scattered quickly, seeking the terrain that best suited their abilities.
In the stands, Aizawa and Emi discussed various matters. Through his spying devices, Garaki hoped to obtain new results. In an office at another location, the President of the HPSC kept an eye on her screen from time to time, looking for potential recruits for the Commission.
And on the testing field, Mei and Tetsumaru posed as if they were carefree protagonists who already had everything figured out even before starting.
The blue dress and reddish-brown hair billowed to the rhythm of an unnatural manifestation of energy. The dark blue tunic suffered the same effect, its color helping to hide the dancing dark particles swirling around the shinobi.
—Start!!— the announcement rang out. Quirks were unleashed, bodies lunged forward, and storage seals were flung wide open.
—I'm in no mood for games today, Tetsumaru— Mei warned her other half while a platform of Satetsu lifted them several meters into the air.
—... Agreed— the black-haired youth responded complacently.
The spheres flew in a matter of seconds, hundreds of them heading toward the tempting targets that were Tetsumaru and Mei.
From the stands, Aizawa sighed at his students' audacity. Beside him, Emi chuckled, equally bewildered by the boldness of the Champion and the young man who had fought alongside the Pros in Kamino.
—Aren't they being a bit arrogant, Shota?— she asked playfully. —It would be super funny if they ended up being the first ones to lose!
Aizawa shook his head, gesturing with a nod toward the scene unfolding before their eyes.
—Far from it. It's just that I didn't think they were going to eliminate so many in a single move— he said in a bored tone. At his words, Emi's suppressed laughter stopped, and she fixed her gaze in the same direction.
Her jaw nearly dropped as she witnessed two massive torrents of water crashing down on the participants' heads, while tendrils of Iron Sand whipped around like tentacles, catching the spheres thrown at the Terumi siblings.
The twin waterfalls descended with force, cracking the ground upon impact, fortunately without directly hitting any of the students. The sheer volume of water would have crushed them to death.
However, the water did not disperse as Emi expected.
Too far away to be seen clearly, Mei calmly wove hand seals, pouring a considerable portion of her chakra into the move she was able to replicate thanks to Nezu's technology.
Suiton: Suishōha (Water Release: Water Shockwave).
Both masses of water swirled around themselves before bursting into a single, massive, unnatural wave, capable of slightly altering its direction apparently at the kunoichi's will.
Emi choked on the spot. She had already seen Terumi Mei's capabilities at the sports festival and thought that was the maximum level of area-of-effect attack she could achieve.
This was bigger and more controlled.
The wave moved from side to side, sweeping away countless students in its relentless advance. The Heroine even felt a twinge of fear that someone might drown by accident.
Mei is essentially terraforming the arena, turning a land-based exam into a naval disaster for everyone else.
After swallowing a large portion of the bold students who had remained in the center of the battlefield, the wave stopped abruptly and scattered in all directions, as it should have done from the start.
Confused and slightly bruised, students from various Academies were unable to react to the hail of sand-guided projectiles that Terumi Tetsumaru unleashed upon them.
For her part, Terumi Mei leaped between the masses of Satetsu her brother had strategically placed, allowing her to land her own spheres.
In less than twenty seconds, just over two hundred participants were eliminated, and UA secured the first members to advance to the next round.
Emi stood there stunned, tremulously asking Aizawa if he had brought Professionals instead of students.
Aizawa himself maintained a calm posture and a condescending gaze for some reason that the woman chose not to interpret.
Mera Yokumiru's announcement came several seconds after the event, equally bewildered by the absurd speed with which the Terumi siblings had passed.
He was well-informed about the events in Hosu and Kamino, and the HPSC had a clear estimate of their capabilities. Or so they thought.
The Commission President set aside the files she was reviewing, her sharp gaze drilling into the screen as if it could offer her some explanation.
Back at the stadium, almost all the participants froze in place at the sound of the voice announcing the first two to pass, as well as the number of students who had lost their chance in a matter of seconds.
Most had been able to see the massive wave and the source of the attack in the air. None expected such a result.
As if they hadn't just shocked everyone around them, nor shattered the hopes of hundreds of young people just because they could, Tetsumaru picked up Mei on his sand platform, and they headed toward the area where they would wait for the other 98 successful candidates.
Tetsumaru reflected on the statement they had both just made. They had never bothered to display such a level of superiority, not even when facing real Villains.
They didn't do it at the USJ, they didn't do it at the Sports Festival, nor during the first attack on their home by the League. They didn't do it during the training camp, which resulted in the loss of two children.
Mei didn't do it in Hosu, and Tetsumaru didn't do it in Kamino, though that was because he couldn't due to the interference with his Magnet Release.
But today, by Mei's mere whim, they demonstrated the true disparity between themselves and the students they were being compared to.
For her part, Mei couldn't care less about what would come after this. In fact, she hoped her performance here would grant her some leverage in her imminent reunion with the HPSC President.
No matter how much interest the kunoichi might have, she wasn't about to betray her principles or her other half just to go and spill all her secrets to that old hag.