Once Shinobi, Now Hero

Chapter 13: Stroke of Lightning

Midoriya is glad he's able to call for help but knows the won't arrive right away. Somehow, he's got to hold out.

'I have to get Tenya and that other hero away from them. I can't attack with full strength if I don't.'

An ingenious idea comes to his head. If only one of them could take one hundred percent of his power than he could still use it, just sparingly. One for All shrouds his body as he bends down in preparation to attack.

'One for All—Full Cowl: 5 Percent!'

The sight seems to amuse Blade as he smirks. "And here I was thinking you were boring. You've got fight kid, I respect that. Still, just that won't be enough to beat me. You need to have to will to kill me."

"What are you talking about?"

"Heh, you heroes aren't true heroes, but not in the way Stain is talking about. Personally, I don't care how you fools want to live but, I just can't help wanting to kill you guys when you lot prance around like this is some circus act. I've saved more lives than any of you, wouldn't that make me a hero?"

"Y-you may have saved lives before but now you're a villain! You just killed a hero!"

Suddenly, Midoriya no longer sees the man and then it feels as though he's about to throw up his own stomach. He grabs ahold of his stomach in agony and drops to his knees, gagging.

"Don't get it twisted, kid. I don't wanna be some dumbass hero. I just want to prove a point of mine." He places his foot onto Midoriya's head and begins to put pressure on it as spittle leaks out of his mouth. "So, how about this. I'll let you beat me if you can show me that your willing to kill me to do so. You heroes claim that you will save anybody who's in trouble but none of you are willing to get your hands dirty to due so. I wanna see how far you'll go and if you can break this cycle. So, come on. On your feet. It's time to be a hero, right?" He laughs.

Despite his pain, despite his fear, and the fact his face was being smushed to the pavement, he spoke. "A real hero doesn't need to kill to save everyone. I-If you were that type of hero, I feel bad for you."

Not expecting that, he moves his foot off Midoriya and lifts him by his collar with a single hand. "And what makes you say that, brat?"

Most Shinobi didn't view themselves that way. He didn't either. It didn't change the fact that they saved people when they fought during the war. They prevented invasions, liberated towns, and serviced the Villagers as a whole. In this world, that would make someone a hero. But, unlike the heroes, they were willing to kill and did so. These heroes wouldn't cross that moral event horizon. They wouldn't go beyond their morals to actually save someone. But it would be interesting to push someone to kill to save someone. He already found his target that could potentially help him. A detour wouldn't be bad. It wasn't like the war was just going to end so quickly after he was gone, he'd only been gone a week.

"B-because, a true hero saves everyone. E-even a villain needs saving sometimes."

Those words... he couldn't stop himself from laughing. "Heh, you really are something different, kid. I like you. But let's see if you can beat me sticking to that thinking of yours. That's the only way to find out."

"Yea, you're right."

He sees a green spark come from the kid before looking down and seeing another finger glowing red. He recognizes it. A shockwave blows through the alleyway and the ground beneath him cracks and splits open, causing him to stumble violently and nearly fall.

His costume rips as he breaks from the hold but he doesn't think twice on it and dashes toward Tenya. Stain, however, makes himself known and steps between them with a grin, brandishing his sword. Midoriya won't stop, he want to try and dodge. He doesn't know that Stain's reflexes and instincts are the reason he can kill and maim heroes with better quirks than his. Stain makes a forward stab and Midoriya loses speed dodging to the side slightly. Stain grins and shifts his feet, enabling him to turn and slash Midoriya on his back.