"Ohhh, so that's why! No wonder you knew about it.
Actually, if you hadn't gotten one, I had two extra invitations and was planning to give you one. But since you already have one, I'll give them to other classmates instead."
Yaoyorozu Momo sounded a little disappointed.
Ezaki Kitazawa wasn't sure why.
"Still, I appreciate it, Yaoyorozu. Thanks for thinking of me when such a great opportunity came up."
"It's nothing! Classmates should look out for each other.
By the way, are we taking the same flight to I-Island?"
Yaoyorozu Momo's tone softened.
Ezaki Kitazawa hesitated.
If he joined Yaoyorozu Momo's group, it would be full of girls.
A lone guy tagging along with them?
He had a bad feeling about that.
"I've already made plans with someone else. Our schedules might not match up,"
he said.
Ezaki Kitazawa explained, "I see... Alright then. If there's nothing else, I'll hang up now."
"Mm, bye-bye! See you on I-Island!"
With that, Ezaki Kitazawa ended the call. Then, he headed toward the forest. Since there was still time before going to I-Island, he wanted to work on mastering his ability to gather nature's energy—ideally, reaching a point where he could enter that state in just one second.
As soon as he entered the forest, Ezaki Kitazawa sat down cross-legged and began to focus. But now that no one was preparing food for him, and he had forgotten to bring any, he would have to find his own meals after practicing for a while.
And just like that, after practicing on and off, the first day passed.
The next day, he brought food with him, which saved more time for training.
After a few days, Ezaki Kitazawa sat cross-legged on a rock. About twenty seconds later, he suddenly opened his eyes—he had entered Sage Mode.
"Even though the improvement isn't huge, I've cut the time in half compared to the final combat exam."
He muttered to himself.
It might not seem like much, but that difference could completely change the outcome of a battle.
For the time being, Ezaki Kitazawa stopped training on his own because All Might had already told him yesterday that they would be flying out this afternoon.
After returning home, he took a shower, changed into clean clothes, packed his battle suit into his suitcase, and headed to the airport.
When he arrived, just as he expected, All Might was there. And, of course, Midoriya Izuku was as well. It wasn't hard to guess—since Midoriya was All Might's successor, there was no way All Might would leave him behind.
"This way, over here!"
Midoriya Izuku waved toward him.
As Ezaki Kitazawa approached, All Might asked, "Ezaki, did you bring your battle suit?"
"I did!"
Ezaki Kitazawa nodded.
"I heard from your parents that you've been training like crazy lately."
All Might smiled.
"Yeah, there are some techniques I'm still not familiar with, so I took the time to practice a little."
"Hahaha! Nothing in this world comes easy! You earned your top spot by working hundreds of times harder than others, Ezaki!"
All Might gave him a thumbs-up before turning to Midoriya Izuku.
"Midoriya, you should really learn from Ezaki! His strength isn't just luck—it's the result of his hard work."
"I'll do my best, All Might!"
Midoriya responded firmly.
At first, Midoriya had thought of himself as someone who worked hard. But after hearing All Might talk about Ezaki Kitazawa, he realized that compared to him, his own efforts were nothing.
And someone as self-disciplined as Ezaki Kitazawa was truly rare.
Ezaki Kitazawa simply smiled and didn't say much about All Might's praise.
After chatting for a bit, it was time to board the plane.
During the flight, Ezaki Kitazawa kept his eyes closed, resting for most of the trip.
It wasn't until the announcement sounded over the speakers that he opened his eyes.
"This flight is about to arrive at I-Island. Please prepare for landing."
"Alright, Ezaki, Midoriya, it's time for you two to change into your battle suits."
All Might reminded them.
"Got it!"
Both of them nodded.
Before long, the plane landed on I-Island. After that, they went through the immigration check.
This place was extremely advanced in technology, and the entire process was fully automated with scanners.
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