Battle On, Challengers!

With the stadium finally dug out from Shoto Todoroki's ice, the bracket resumes on Ibara Shiozaki against Denki Kaminari. Present Mic's introduction labels her an assassin, which she politely corrects, describing her work as spreading good and promising she has no intention of killing anyone. Denki, more interested in asking her out than in strategy, leads with Indiscriminate Shock, and her vines absorb it and wrap him up while he short circuits. The match is over almost before it begins. Neito Monoma seizes the chance to needle Class 1-A until Itsuka Kendo hauls him back, and Mt. Lady muses that Ibara would make an ideal partner for Kamui Woods, who tells her to return to the job.

The fourth bout goes sideways. Tenya Ida turns up loaded with support gear that Mei Hatsume claimed to offer for fairness, and Midnight, charmed by his sportsmanship, permits it. Mei then spends ten minutes demonstrating her inventions to the scouts in the stands rather than fighting, and steps out of the ring herself once the pitch is complete. Tenya is left thoroughly deflated at having starred in a commercial. Ochaco Uraraka quietly slips out of the stands.

Mina Ashido meets Yuga Aoyama next, and her time as his Battle Trial teammate pays off: she skates across the ring on Acid, waits out the stomach ache his big laser costs him, melts his belt and lands an uppercut. Fumikage Tokoyami then buries Momo Yaoyorozu under Dark Shadow before she can settle on a plan, pushing her out behind the shield she manages to create. Eijiro Kirishima and Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu, running near identical Quirks, simply hammer each other for ages.

Backstage, Izuku offers Ochaco a route to beating Katsuki, and she refuses it. Leaning on him during the Cavalry Battle already embarrasses her, and she intends to face Katsuki on her own terms. In the ring, the two hardened brawlers flatten one another simultaneously; Midnight rules it a draw and defers the result to an arm wrestling tiebreak. The last first round fight is called: Ochaco Uraraka against Katsuki Bakugo.

Ibara Shiozaki, Mina Ashido and Fumikage Tokoyami all advance with decisive wins over Denki Kaminari, Yuga Aoyama and Momo Yaoyorozu respectively.

Mei Hatsume converts her match against Tenya Ida into a ten minute advertisement for her support items, then forfeits by walking out of the ring, sending Tenya through to the next round.

Ochaco declines Izuku's tactical advice for her upcoming bout, choosing to fight Katsuki without his help. Eijiro Kirishima and Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu knock each other out simultaneously, forcing an arm wrestling tiebreaker to decide who advances.

The twenty-first episode overall and the eighth of season two, this installment adapts Chapter 35 alone within the U.A. Sports Festival arc. It aired in Japan on May 20, 2017 and in the United States on October 6, 2018, framed by Peace Sign and That's Why I'm Not Alone.

Because a single chapter carries the whole runtime, the adaptation stretches nearly every fight well past its printed length. The bouts given the most additional material are Denki against Ibara, Tenya against Mei, Yuga against Mina, and Fumikage against Momo.

The episode also plants groundwork rather than resolving it: the Kirishima and Tetsutetsu tiebreaker and the Uraraka and Bakugo match are both set up here and paid off in the following episode.