Match 3

With round two settled, Kinoko Komori offers Fumikage Tokoyami a lozenge for his ruined throat and, when he waves her off, urges him to at least visit Recovery Girl. Robots haul an unconscious Momo Yaoyorozu away on a chair while Itsuka Kendo walks alongside. In the stands, Hitoshi Shinso notes how much rougher the wreckage is this time, and Eraser Head calls it typical of the hero course while conceding it ran hot. Vlad King radios Manga Fukidashi and Itsuka to rein in the destruction, and since Kinoko's caps need another two hours to fade, Shota calls a break.

Neito Monoma seizes the moment to gloat at Izuku Midoriya's team until Itsuka silences him with a chop and drags him off apologizing. The rest of the students unwind and trade compliments; Izuku scribbles in his notebook about how mental growth has sharpened everyone's Quirks, and Ochaco Uraraka reminds him he has improved too. All Might pulls Izuku aside to ask whether One For All has stirred again. It has not, but the retired hero notes that Nana never mentioned spontaneous activation, so he intends to ask Gran Torino. He also warns Izuku to stay guarded during the fifth match against Hitoshi, whose Brainwashing triggered the vestiges once before. Katsuki Bakugo appears behind them, scolding the pair for being transparent enough that someone will eventually pry, then demanding Izuku master the power outright.

Recovery Girl patches Momo up as Vlad King readies another arena. Before heading out, Fumikage stops Shoto Todoroki to apologize for his showing and hand the burden forward, saying the two of them shoulder the legacies of Endeavor and Hawks. That sends Shoto back to a punishing childhood session where Enji screamed at him to stop feigning weakness, explaining that Toya burned hotter than his father but inherited Rei's fragile constitution, leaving Shoto as the vessel for his ambitions. Tenya Ida notices his classmate's expression and checks on him, invoking his duty as class representative; Mezo Shoji observes that Tenya seems buoyant, which Tenya credits to Tensei's recovery.

On the other side, Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu insists he does think things through, then proves nothing of the sort by ripping through structures to force a head-on brawl, ignoring Vlad King entirely and broadcasting his own position. Sen Kaibara calls the plan idiotic and Pony Tsunotori objects, but Juzo Honenuki judges it a decent fit for their strengths. Meanwhile Endeavor and his sidekicks run a wheeler villain off a highway toward a harbor, where he lunges for a child as a hostage and is intercepted and burned into surrender. Afterward Kido and Onima note the containment plan worked, though Endeavor cares far more about his messaging app, silently thanking Fuyumi for setting up Shoto's account and stewing over months of ignored messages about a technique he once tried to teach.

Back at Ground Gamma, Shoto buries all four 1-B students under a wall of ice. Juzo, who has been reading the terrain by touch, had expected exactly that and softens the ice to free his team. Mashirao Ojiro slips on a pipe Juzo had already loosened and exposes himself to Sen's spinning limbs; Tenya sinks into the slush and gets left there. Pony's horns pluck Mezo away from Shoto's guard, then help Tetsutetsu crash through and knock Shoto down. With every member of 1-A pinned, Juzo mocks Tenya for burning Recipro Burst so early given its short window. Tenya answers with an upgrade, Recipro Turbo, tearing free of the ice. He recalls Tensei describing the Ida family's method of stripping out their mufflers and training until stronger ones grow, and declares that at maximum horsepower and minimum fuel draw, nothing will outrun him for ten minutes.

All Might learns nothing conclusive about One For All's spontaneous activation and resolves to consult Gran Torino, while warning Izuku about facing Hitoshi. Katsuki confronts both about how poorly they hide the secret.

Shoto's childhood training under Enji is revisited, including Enji's account of Toya's superior firepower and weak constitution. Endeavor apprehends a wheeler villain and fixates on Shoto's unanswered messages.

Round three begins. Tetsutetsu forces an open confrontation, Juzo's Softening dismantles Shoto's opening ice wall, and Tenya debuts Recipro Turbo.

The episode adapts Chapter 202, Chapter 203, and the first three pages of Chapter 204, using No.1 and Footprints as its theme songs.

Adaptation changes include extended banter among Izuku's teammates, with Mina needling Minoru's height and teasing Ochaco about how much she knows regarding Izuku and All Might, which causes Ochaco to accidentally float her. Tetsutetsu's Steel is reintroduced, and extra spectator commentary is added. Endeavor's conversation about team-up requests happens in his office in the manga; the anime relocates it to the street and prefaces it with an original villain pursuit.

In the Japanese audio Pony switches to English when Tetsutetsu angers her. The English dub replaces this with near-gibberish built largely from Southern American slang, a quirk Sen remarks on.