As strange things start happening with One For All, Class 1-A, 1-B and a new candidate to the Hero Course Hitoshi Shinso band together to a joint exercise pitching one group against the other.
Izuku has a strange dream in which he witnesses the backstory of One For All's creation, and has the first wielder talk directly to him, which shouldn't be possible, before waking up to see he's activated One For All in his sleep and destroyed his room. But he doesn't have time to investigate it before Class 1-A and Class 1-B are put together for a training exercise with the companionship of Hitoshi Shinso, who is being tested to join the Hero Course. Each battle involves the teams trying to capture the other team and put them all in the 'prison' area. Shinso will spend one battle on 1-A's side and one on 1-B's, but the outnumbered team shouldn't complain too hard because for all his training, Shinso is inexperienced in actual combat and working in a group. Also, the game ends if four team members are captured, so the larger team isn't going to be harder to beat just because they have an extra guy.
First battle
Tsuyu Asui, Koji Koda, Denki Kaminari, and Eijiro Kirishima + Hitoshi Shinso vs Kosei Tsuburaba, Hiryu Rin, Jurota Shishida, and Ibara Shiozaki.
Team 1-A contemplates strategy, but while that happens they're ambushed by Team 1-B, who used Shiozaki as a stalking horse (she's a bit put out by that, but it's necessary because she can't lie, or deceive in any way), finding them with Shishida's enhanced sense of smell.
But then Shinso unveils a new trick- his mask has what he calls 'Persona Chords'. You see, Shinso has always had an Achilles' Heel in that his opponent must respond to him for his Quirk to work, and if they're smart enough to shut up, he's right screwed. His mask fixes that; it's fitted with artificial vocal chords that can alter his voice but not replace it, allowing him to trick others into responding to him.
This isn't enough to stop team 1-B, but Tsuyu is able to capture Tsuburaba with her tongue, although Kirishima and Koda are captured by 1-B. Oh, and Tsuraba can breathe cubes to imprison people now, and they're a lot stronger than they were in the sports festival.
Team 1-A eventually wins by using Tsuyu's mildly poisonous mucus (which Midoriya and Mineta recognize, because she told them about it in USJ). When Shinso and Kaminari are covered with the mucus, they smell like Tsuyu, confusing Shishida. Kaminari is able to regain some of his dignity after his humiliating Sports Festival defeat by using himself as a decoy to lower Shiozaki's guard and make her unknowingly respond to Shinso's voice, brainwashing her. With communications between the remaining two members of Class 1-B destroyed Tsuyu picks off Rin while Shishida goes after Shinso. Shinso proves that he can use Aizawa's capture scarf, and he and his teammates capture the other team members and end the fight.
Winner: Team 1-A, with two teammates captured
Tsuyu needs to focus on recovering from her mistakes, Koda needs to be better able to utilize insects, Kirishima needs to be able to force his opponent into close combat (his quirk was rather useless against Shiozaki's vines), and Kaminari needs to quit with his Let's Get Dangerous! shtick- he should be able to fight effectively before half his team's K-O'ed.
Second Battle
Yuga Aoyama, Momo Yaoyorozu, Toru Hagakure, and Fumikage Tokoyami vs. Manga Fukidashi, Shihai Kuroiro, Itsuka Kendo, and Kinoko Komori.
This one's a somewhat lighthearted grudge match between Itsuka and Momo. Kendo feels like she's always both lumped together with Yaoyorozu ever since their joint internship with Uwabami, but she feels like she can't catch up to the class 1-A girl. So Itsuka wants to use this match to prove herself and distinguish herself from Momo.
After a pitched battle involving innovative tactics from all sides (Kuroiro merging with the shadows, and Dark Shadow, and countering him using the light from Aoyama's laser, for example) and a flashback to Tokoyami's internship with Hawks, Class 1-B ultimately wins due to a save from Kinoko Komori, whose Mushroom quirk is way more dangerous than it looks. She manages to distract team 1-A, separate them and give her class a reprive, and take out Tokoyami by growing mushrooms in his throat. Yikes.
Team I-B wins 4 to 0, but Kendo still thinks it's a Pyrrhic Victory.
Winner: Team 1-B
Third Battle
Tenya Iida, Mezo Shoji, Shoto Todoroki, and Mashirao Ojiro vs. Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu, Sen Kaibara, Juzo Honenuki, and Pony Tsunotori.
Iida, being the straightforward, honorable, deep-immersion actor that he is, doesn't quite get each team being the heroes to themselves and the villains to the others, and has a bit of a mental breakdown over playing both roles at once.
Both teams fight a hard battle. Iida unveils his new special move, created by pulling his own mufflers out (allowing his Engine quirk to grow a new set suited for an adult), Recipro Turbo, which lasts for ten minutes and is faster than anything he could do before, but leaves him a bit out of control. Sen Kaibara gets to show that spinning body parts is, in fact, a hero-worthy quirk. Todoroki gets a lesson in character development from the School of Hard Knocks, courtesy of Tetsutetsu.
Tetsutetsu's been training his Quirk so he can withstand extreme temperatures, and he puts Todoroki on the ropes. Fire is the best way for Todoroki to defeat him, but he's still unskilled with using said fire and won't use it at full power because of his lingering Endeavor issues. Ultimately, they get a mutual knockout, and Honenuki knocks out most of the rest of the combatants (including himself) in a Taking You with Me maneuver. Only Pony and Shoji are left. Pony knows that she can't defeat Shoji, so she chooses to force a stalemate by using her horn-telekinesis to fly out of his reach until time runs out.
Winner: Draw
Fourth Battle
Katsuki Bakugo, Kyoka Jiro, Hanta Sero, and Rikido Sato vs Kojiro Bondo, Yosetsu Awase, Setsuna Tokage, and Togaru Kamakiri
Monoma thinks that Setsuna Tokage is the best person to hand Bakugo a defeat, but Bakugo has other plans. He wants to give 1-A its first 4-0 victory of the training session. His strategy is simple: The others support him. He does have a better idea than Leeroy Jenkins, though- he wants to seize the initiative before team 1-B can, and he knows he's the team's biggest offensive powerhouse.
Of course, they still fall into Tokage's fairly good trap. However, she failed to account for just one thing- Bakugo had all the 'I work alone' Leeroy Jenkins tendencies beaten out of him several arcs ago. The plan would have worked perfectly for the 'leave-Iida-to-fry' Bakugo of the Battle Training arc, or even the Sports Festival arc, but he's had some character development since then. He's now willing to actually act to save his teammates, and to fall back and let them take care of things he isn't suited for. Like letting Jiro zap Awase with sound waves through his suit of armor, rather than trying to attack it head-on himself, and handing his teammates his grenades so they can destroy Tokage's body parts before they can reconnect with her main body.
Bakugo leads his team to the 4-0 victory he wanted, and Tsunderes at Midoriya when the latter praises him for it.
Winner: Team 1-A
Fifth Battle
Izuku Midoriya, Ochako Uraraka, Mina Ashido, and Mineta Minoru vs. Reiko Yanagi, Nirengeki Shoda, Yui Kodai, and Neito Monoma + Hitoshi Shinso
It's the moment you've all been waiting for- Izuku's battle against Monoma. Monoma sympathizes with Shinso, since they both have 'non-heroic' Quirks. But while Monoma embraces his Anti-Hero nature, Shinso isn't content with that. But they both agree that Midoriya needs to be taken out or at least pinned down- he's his team's heavy hitter.
Izuku's team worries about the issues he's been having with One for All (spoiler alert: they're right), but he brushes it off (he shouldn't). Gran Torino remembers something he really should have told All Might earlier, and tells him in a phone call as Monoma tries to rile Izuku up so he can use Shinso's Brainwashing against him, and the others face off against each other.
But while that's interesting to watch, what Gran Torino has to say is more plot important- Nana once had a dream of one of the One for All vestiges, who told her "it's not time yet".
And as Midoriya aims a Delaware Smash: Air Force at Monoma, apparently it's now time.
Wait, what's happening
Wasn't One for All supposed to be a strength enhancer? Then why has Izuku's glove just broken and what are those black tentacles coming out of his arm? Most importantly, can anyone stop them? As the tentacles rampage outside of Izuku's control, Uraraka tries to use a Cooldown Hug, and backs it up with Shinso's Brainwashing. When Midoriya is brainwashed, the tentacles retract, and Midoriya has another vestige dream.
This time, it's the bald, Goggles Do Nothing wielder he saw in his dream. The man chews him out for not controlling his emotions, and reveals exactly what happened- those tendrils are his quirk, Black Whip. One for All stores everything, including the Quirks of its users. There are seven in total, including the original power storage (Izuku and All Might being Quirkless), and Izuku's eventually going to get every one of them. But until he's mastered his main Quirk more, he doesn't think he can use Black Whip.
Winner: Hitoshi Shinso against Black Whip
Resuming battle
Aizawa wants to see his students' progress, so the battle resumes after Midoriya's brief lapse into unconsciousness (and spirit scolding). Uraraka proves her Action Girl credentials by defeating Monoma after Monoma makes the mistake of using a One for All copy, which proves to be a dud. Izuku manages to defeat Shinso using a brief spurt of Black Whip (before he decides to wait a bit before he adds it to his arsenal) and using Shinso's own capture weapon against him. Shinso and three members of team 1-B are captured, giving 1-A another 4-0 win.
Winner: Team 1-A
Shinso is allowed to join the hero course, and Izuku has a sort of mental block against using Black Whip again. The two classes socialize, and Monoma tries to hide his disappointment (he doesn't do all that well).
Tropes
- Always Someone Better:
- Aizawa admits that given Class 1-B being able to work together without having gone through any of the additional life or death struggles 1-A did, or the brutal training he put them through, that Vlad is a better teacher than him.
- Despite defeating Momo on an individual basis, Kendo admits she was the better team leader, managing to counter all the tactics she came up with.
- Defied with Tetsutetsu towards Kirishima. Kirishima thinks Tetsutetsu is this given his Quirk allowing him to withstand the heat from Shoto's fire attacks, but Tetsutetsu states that is merely because his Quirk allows him to transform into heat resistant substances, and that he actually has a limit to how tough he can make his body, unlike Kirishima.
- Badass Boast: Bakugo not only boasts his team will get a clean 4-0 sweep, but none of them will take any real injuries. He lives up to that boast.
- Breather Episode: After the intense high stakes of the Pro Hero arc, this arc has almost no stakes beyond bragging rights. At least it was until Chapter 210.
- The Bus Came Back: Shinso returns, this time with the focus on him, as he has started a request to join the Hero Department
- Character Development: Besides showing off Class 1-B the arc also displays Class 1-A's development, such as Momo's growing confidence in strategic planning and Bakugo's ability to be a team player.
- Chekhov's Boomerang: Bakugo's grenades end up being important items again, one hundred chapters after their first use in the Provisional Hero License Exam.
- Chekhov's Gun: One that was ready to fire waaay back during the USJ Arc. Remember when Tsu mentioned her poisonous mucus when explaining her Quirk to Midoriya and Mineta? She covers Kaminari and Shinso with it to disguise their scent so they can ambush the B Team.
- Commonality Connection: Monoma's backstory is revealed, where he is told that he cannot be a hero due to having to rely on others. He bonds with Shinso over this who's Quirk also requires him to be quick-thinking.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: The fourth match is easily the most one sided. Team 1-A takes no real injuries, easily beating their opponents in 1-B.
- A Day in the Limelight: For class 1-B who have only had a smattering of focus in other U.A. centered arcs. And of course for Shinso who finally has some significant story development instead of his scant smattering of appearances in prior arcs.
- Dead Person Conversation: Deku once more encounters a predecessor of One For All who provides him some advice regarding the Quirk.
- Dénouement Episode: Chapter 217 deals with the aftermath of the training itself. It confirms that Shinso was accepted into the Hero Department and paperwork is in its way, confirms that Monoma is unable to use Eri's quirk, has Shoto reaching out to his father in order to learn about the flashfire (a point made before his turn) and hints again at a connection between Midoriya and All For One, this time on how One For All is starting to mimic the latter's quirk by holding many quirks at once.
- Forgot Flanders Could Do That: Monoma had been reduced to comic relief after his debut. This arc reminds the audience that despite his obsession with 1-A, he's not stupid and is very crafty.
- Foreshadowing: Shinso's desire to join the Hero Course was shown from day one, and it was implied various times that he's been training under Aizawa. This finally pays off now.
- Hidden Depths: Monoma is revealed to have some insecurities about his power and recognizes he has to be broad minded to succeed.
- History Repeats:
- It's the second time a cold but well meaning hero in training has told everyone, specifically Midoriya, that I'm Not Here to Make Friends. It's lampshaded by Sero that Shinso behaves like early Todoroki.
- Shinso and Midoriya are fighting again, as are Kaminari and Shiozaki.
- Iida and Ojiro are once again teamed up against an opponent who can make them lose their footing.
- Innocently Insensitive: Pony is a little mean-spirited when comparing Shoji to the octopi she avoids in an aquarium due to how unsettling they are, to which he responds that he is used to that reaction. This notion is a foreshadowing to his backstory, which is explored much later in the series and explains why that is the case.
- Irony: It's funny to think that Izuku Midoriya started the series with no Quirks, only to learn that he now has the equivalent of seven Quirks in One For All.
- Know When to Fold 'Em: Pony knows she can't defeat Shoji when their battle ends up being the defining one among their teams. She decided to place herself out of his reach to force a stalemate, making it so that, while her team won't win, neither will his.
- Mid-Season Upgrade: Iida reveals he underwent one by pulling out his mufflers, which while painful, allowed for him to train so stronger, more effecient mufflers grow in their place. This improved his upgraded his Recipro Burst to Recipro Turbo, which grants him a greater speed boost and can last for ten minutes. Izuku deems his speed to be on par with Gran Turino's. Juzo actually gives up on trying to take out Iida until he's out of options, and his leads to him getting knocked out as well.
- No-Sell: Chapter 214 implies that One for All cannot be copied; making Monoma's attempt useless. It turns out that he can copy it, but he has the Logical Weakness of copying powers at their base state, and thus being unable to utilize quirks that require storing up power (for a non-OFA example, Monoma couldn't copy Fatgum's quirk because it relies on a resource – fat deposits – that Monoma doesn't have much of), because he only has five minutes to do the stockpiling before the quirk runs out. One for All is also an extreme case of Magikarp Power, as it's only so ridiculously strong because the first wielder's quirk-transfer quirk allowed it to continue stockpiling power uninterrupted for nine generations.
- Oh, Crap!:
- Monoma's reaction to seeing Bakugo actually act as a team player, something he never thought could happen.
- Just as he readies a wind blast at Monoma, Midoriya barely has time to look down or react in any way other than shock to notice Blackwhip fully manifesting itself before it bursts out of his arm.
- I Shall Taunt You: Monoma (using Shinso's quirk) antagonises Midoriya about Bakugo causing the retirement of All Might; He does so as he is trying to get Midoriya to respond.
- Something Only They Would Say: During the first 1-A vs 1-B fight Shiozaki refers to Shishida as "Apocabeast" as appose to his actual hero name "Gevaudan". When communications between the team gets broken down due to Shinso's presence Rin tries to get Shishida to dodge by calling him Apocabeast which Class 1-A doesn't know about. Unfortunately for both of them Shishida only just realizes the implication of being called that before Tsuyu slams Rin into the back of his head, knocking them both out.
- Superpower Meltdown: Just as Deku is about to fire a wind blast towards Monoma, One for All goes completely haywire. Black tendrils of energy start to pour out of Deku's arm, literally dragging him around and attacking everything around blindly.
- Took a Level in Badass: Shinso had previously relied entirely on his Quirk. Training with Aizawa allowed him to fight without it.
- We Win, Because You Didn't: During the end of the third match, only Pony and Shoji are left standing. Pony realizes she's not strong enough to defeat Shoji alone and wouldn't be fast enough to run back to her team's cage with his unconscious teammates. So instead, she uses her horns to fly herself and her own unconscious teammates into the air out of his reach to run out the time limit, because ending on a draw is better than losing. As Shishida points out, in the field, retreating when you can't win is a totally acceptable option.
- Wham Episode: Chapter 213 reveals that One For All was storing other Quirks of the predecessors all along and bolstering them. All six Quirks will soon manifest within Izuku for the first time, with the first being Blackwhip.
