My Shinobi Academia: Naruto x ATLA x HxH x MHA

Chapter 15: Reactions to the Attacks

News of the explosions and the subsequent skirmishes with the pro-heroes were on every television in Musutafu and the rest of Japan. Following the hero-killer's defeat at the hands of Endeavor, it was believed that there would be a lull in terrorist activity as the League of Villains recovered from their loss. The most striking issue that majority of the news casters focused on was the apparent recruitment of children who were barely teenagers into the ranks of the league. Videos of All-Might's takedown of 15 child villains at the beach were viewed over ten million times across the major streaming platform - HeroWatch, and shown several times across the news. Kamui Woods, Mountain Lady and Wash had also received some acknowledgement for their presence on the scene.

On the largest news network, the HNA, the hosts of Good morning Japan were at odds with each other on how to process the situation. The female host, Shimizu Ryoko (first name Ryoko), an All-Might fan, gushed at how gentle he was in dealing with the children, taking his time to save them, despite their involvement in terrorist activities. "That's so like him."

Kawai Shigeo, her fellow caster, dissented. "Those children made their beds once they decided to engage in terrorist activities." He argued that more pragmatic heroes would have dealt with the situation faster, hinting to the Hosu incident. Shigeo was also one of the few announcers who doubted that they were involved with the league. "I think we're giving them too much credit. What do we have that connects them to the hero killer besides a grainy video? I really don't believe that they went from a bunch of misfits from the USJ to the Hero Killer and then child terrorists."

"Yes, but villains don't have to make sense," Ryoko said. "That's why they're villains."

"But wouldn't it have made more sense to debut their army of child soldiers during their attack on the USJ instead of a bunch of random hooligans?" he wondered. "Why not pit the abilities of their own proteges against Japan's best? And even if they for some reason decided to keep that piece, why reveal their hand now in such a random series of attacks? They're basically throwing them away at this point."

In a dark, dank, brown-walled bar, an angry Shigaraki turned off the television furiously before turning to Kurogiri who stood behind at the bar. "First the Hero Killer, and now a bunch of kids..." he grumbled. "Everyone is using our name whenever they want and we get nothing," he fumed. "I should kill those brats for meddling where they don't belong."

Kurogiri, who was much more pensive, remained quiet as he considered the news. If they hadn't been responsible for the attacks, who was? And what threat did this person pose to their organization if they were able to plan an attack so impactful with kids younger than the ones at UA?

"Maybe we should focus on figuring out who sent a squad of children out to battle pro-heroes in the city where All-Might lives," he suggested. "They were clearly confident enough to think the children worthy."

Shigaraki grumbled, scratching his neck with both hands as he considered Kurogiri's words. "We're not working with a bunch of brats!" he declared. "I already had enough of them at the training facility."

Kurogiri shook his head. "I'm just saying we should try and find out where they came from... And if there are more of them." His eyes fell back on the TV as he made his point. "They wouldn't be on the news if it was just a minor incident... Especially if it took top pros to deal with them. They might have information on All-Might which would explain why they could hold out that long."

Shigaraki growled. "Fine!" he accepted begrudgingly. "But only because if there's one thing I hate more than brats... it's All-Might!!"

Many people around Japan and the world were still reeling from the idea that children had been turned by the League of Villains. Amongst them, those who worried the most were perhaps those parents who had their children in pro-hero programs. There was something unnerving about thinking there were kids who carried the same resolve as their children on the side of evil.

"U.A. will protect our children though," Mineta Minoru's worried mother muttered as she turned from the TV to continue washing dishes. She tried to convince herself of this fact, but she couldn't shake off her worry. She glanced at the clock and grumbled. "Minoru, you're going to be late for school."

There was no answer. She huffed. "Minoru, you better not be on that weird website again," she called out. This time there was an answer.

"I'm getting dressed!" Minoru shouted. There was a brief pause. His voice came shouting again. "Also, Redtail is not a weird website. It's a place for enlightened people to hang," he noted. "Even the PSIA recruits from there."

In his room, Minoru was watching the news on a website called Redtail. Unlike the mainstream, there were several hundred videos of different parts of the action that were circulating, videos that could only be taken by people at or very close to the scene. Minoru however was ogling over a big-boobed news caster on his favorite news show, The Enlightenment Hour, Ebina Karin. The topic of discussion is whether All-Might still deserves the No. 1 spot given he nearly tied with a mere child, referring to a video of his final clash with Naruto. "Whilst Endeavor is out there blasting the real villains, he's playing house with a bunch of kids?"

Alongside All-Might's defeat of the child squad, other images were circulating on the site of a beaten up and electrocuted Gang Orca walking out of a charred building dragging a dark-haired boy along the ground. More popular than that was a video simply titled "Charger-Boy" which showed a five-second clip of the white-haired Killua tanking a bolt of lightning. It had quickly been made into a meme that was circulated amongst kids seeking to express their shock to their friends.

Haruki Noya was the current director of the Public Service Intelligence Agency (PSIA), Japan's CIA equivalent and she had been monitoring the public forums on Redtail for information about the attacks the day before on six simultaneous screens. As the director, the last couple of days had made them look very bad as the League of Villains and other criminal groups had been made to run rampant. She partially blamed the over-fixation on pro-heroes and the Ministry of Defense's adamant desire to make the public security a spectacle.

She grumbled as she took a sip of her coffee, wearing her suit and buttoning up. "Even the villains have their own child squad, and the governor thinks that starting a school for espionage quirks is too out there." Fixed on her screen was a video of Sasuke's hand-to-hand bout with Orca, a loop of All-Might trying to capture Gaara and Naruto, and Azula's attack on Katara and Toph in the alleyway.

"Why can we have hero schools and not young spies? All they care about is their flashy costumes and their stupid All-Might," she complained as she walked out of her apartment, turning off the lights but leaving on the computers.