Chapter 147: Stage Time

Impressed by the ambush that ended the red assault, Karasuma observes that Nagisa carries a born talent for killing. Korosensei agrees, noting that although Karma outranks Nagisa academically, Nagisa will prove the tougher opponent of the two. From cover, with Karma squarely in his sights, Nagisa hears his rival provoke him into settling the war with fists instead of paint. Realizing a simple gunshot would leave the red team feeling cheated of a real conclusion, Nagisa steps out of the brush and takes the challenge, drawing the rest of the class in for a closer look.

As Maehara guesses that Nagisa's unpredictability gives him the edge, Okuda openly cheers for Karma despite wearing blue, moved by how hard he has worked. Terasaka muses on how many hidden sides his classmates carry and says either outcome would sit fine with him. The two fighters drift into memories of their time together. Karma recalls sensing something dangerous under Nagisa's harmless surface, remembering the moment Nagisa startled him with a poke to the back and shattered his image of a timid little mouse, a shock that made Karma start keeping his distance until Nagisa assumed he had simply grown bored.

Both boys privately frame themselves as performers sharing a single stage of assassination, and each silently vows to bring the other down. Korosensei senses their hunger for victory has outgrown even him, and that whatever answers they seek now lie in the fight ahead. The chapter runs in Volume 17.