—The problem is All Might— Mei said openly to both UA teachers.
Kan and Aizawa stopped looking at the papers they had been reviewing, which contained notes and observations about the students in both classes.
Night had fallen on the camp, and both classes had dropped dead in their futons, victims of the torture they were so suddenly subjected to.
—Oh, really? Explain yourself, Terumi Mei— Kan demanded with a snort. He still didn't accept the fact that two first-year brats had such preferential treatment. Worse, those brats were from Aizawa's class, not his.
What was he supposed to tell his Class 1-B students when they questioned him about it?
—Everyone with a strengthening Quirk, or harder bodies, wants to rush in headfirst like idiots. They have no strategy, no technique. Only Ojiro and Kendo are saved from that, but the rest are a lost cause— the kunoichi said while taking a sip of coffee.
—Not everything is solved with a strong punch, and the fact that they have more strength doesn't mean they should use it so crudely.
Kan was about to retort, but he calmed down when he noticed that Mei included Kendo Itsuka in her personal list of approvals. At least, it showed that she wasn't biased toward her classmates.
—Would you mind joining us then? It seems you have some good ideas to share— Aizawa invited both of them.
Regardless of Ragdoll's suspicions and discovery, he couldn't deny that Tetsumaru and Mei's ability was far superior to their peers. Tetsumaru's talk to Kaminari and the others earlier that day left a deep impression on Aizawa.
Since they passed the entrance exam with disdainful ease, he assumed they weren't your typical talented kids. That control over their Quirk and those outrageous combat skills aren't something you're born with.
It is something that is forged.
Tetsumaru sat next to them and took Sato Rikido's file, indifferently reading the description of the young man whose place in Class 1-A he had unknowingly taken.
Mei also took a seat, choosing among some files from Class 1-B.
Ideas and suggestions flew back and forth across the table. Kan and Aizawa had already seen many things to have enough experience, while Tetsumaru and Mei drew on their knowledge of many fictional works to propose some wild ideas.
For Sero, it was inevitable not to suggest intensive gymnastics training, something that would complement his Quirk if he were to use it in urban environments. Obviously, they were thinking of Spider-Man when they suggested that.
For Sato, whose main focus was increasing his duration time, they suggested that he use his Quirk in minimal amounts throughout the day, instead of stuffing his face without stopping.
It could be more effective to have a little more strength for a long time than to swell with power for a few minutes, only to end up passed out at the end. In the long run, his threshold would increase.
And so the hours passed. Mandalay and Tiger joined a little later, with the bulky and out-of-place cat man casting interested glances at both siblings.
He clearly wanted to test them in a fight, especially Tetsumaru, whose Quirk seemed to force him to be too still for the man's liking.
However, Mei spoke before Tiger could express his idea.
—Aizawa-Sensei, if you don't mind, we'd like to go out and train for a while.
The teacher looked at the kunoichi with dead eyes, a strange glint appearing in his gaze before asking.
—Do you need to train? And at this hour?
—We still have a lot to improve, Aizawa-Sensei. And this time is as good as any other, if not better— Tetsumaru added.
Aizawa looked at his students in silence for a couple of seconds. That statement indicated that the Terumi siblings did not like to be seen during their training.
In fact, despite their mastery over their respective Quirks, they never had any incidents related to the use of those abilities throughout all these years, until the day the League attacked them at their home.
—Fine, but Ragdoll will go with you. It's dangerous to let you wander around alone— Aizawa said.
—Dangerous for whom?— Mei raised an eyebrow, but didn't wait for the teacher's answer.
The three left the cabin and Tetsumaru created a sand platform that carried them to a secluded spot.
The Pussycat almost fell off it when she got too excited about the experience of flying, laughing like a maniac and demanding to go faster. The shinobi was forced to tie her up with sand.
**********************************
The icy night air slipped between the trees, swaying the branches and tossing Mei's long hair, cooling her skin and sending a tingle down her spine.
Her mind returned to concentration, searching, feeling, molding, and directing the energy within her throughout her body.
Beside her, Tetsumaru was also meditating, each trying to reach the same result with different methods.
Slowly but surely, the chakra descended through their points, strengthening their legs immensely, and a little reserved for their spine, arms, and neck.
The process could not be rushed. Doing so would invite disaster and perhaps even paralysis. In the worst-case scenario, even death. At least, that was their theory.
Despite training hard every day, despite knowing more about chakra than many real shinobi in that world, thanks to their spectator status, there were still secrets they couldn't uncover.
Many of those secrets were simple, almost absurd, but none of them were capable of solving.
Mei was the first to try it. She opened her eyes, fixing her gaze on the other end of the clearing, about twenty meters away.
Her muscles tensed, her chakra stirred, and her breathing flowed calmly.
She kicked the ground, trying to compose that simple technique that she had seen used so many times, but whose fundamentals she couldn't discover even now.
Her speed was explosive, an acceleration that had nothing to envy a Cheetah. It only took her two seconds to reach the other end of the clearing.
—Tch, it's no use— she complained with a grimace, returning to her position and ignoring the penetrating and surprised gaze of Ragdoll, who remained obediently silent.
What they were trying to do was recreate the Shunshin technique. They had set that as the first Jutsu they should be able to recreate, given its apparent simplicity.
They were terribly wrong.
Sending chakra to your feet and moving? Ha!
Things weren't that simple. Ninjutsu wasn't that simple.
They hadn't taken the Deity's warning seriously; the Deity hadn't spoken to them in years. They believed that by receiving such exceptional control, recreating the techniques wouldn't be so complicated.
Everything they did, whether with sand, water, or steam, was with pure and raw manipulation. A superior, one-of-a-kind manipulation.
In theory, having such good chakra control should make it easier for them to use Ninjutsu, even if they didn't know all the seals... Right?
Yes and no.
Yes, because their external and internal chakra manipulation was so easy that it almost seemed an insult to the great Shinobi.
No, because they didn't count on a small, tiny, and insignificant detail, whose value went to hell towards the end of the series: the location of their chakra points.