Early Bird!

Round four opens with Class 1-B unnerved by how evenly built their opposition is, so they resolve to close the distance fast. In the stands Vlad King again talks up his students, crediting Class 1-A's first-round win largely to Hitoshi Shinso and arguing 1-B performed better overall. His class objects, Midnight agrees the boasting has gone too far, and Eraser Head tells his own students to quiet down since 1-B genuinely prepared better countermeasures and whining is unprofessional. Itsuka Kendo chops Neito Monoma for laughing at the scolding. Asked whether he favors a class, All Might claims neutrality while privately watching only for Katsuki.

Katsuki rockets ahead and orders his team to keep pace. Rikido Sato and Hanta Sero note he is the same as he was at the Sports Festival, while Kyoka Jiro is simply glad he is cooperating; his plan is to spearhead while the rest support him, and he waves away suggestions to scout and wait, preferring to manufacture an opening himself. He had handed each teammate one of his improvised grenades before the start. When something flashes past, he halts and tells Kyoka to listen, but scattered fragments crawling across the pipes drown out any clear reading. The culprit is Setsuna Tokage, whose Lizard Tail Splitter has her strewn across the field with a detached eye scouting; she hurls pieces of herself at Katsuki while Hanta throws up a barricade for the others. Kojiro Bondo drowns the area in adhesive to seal off escape, and Togaru Kamakiri drops in slicing pipes loose to bury 1-A in sticky rubble. Rikido braces to shield Kyoka and Hanta, but Katsuki blows the falling pipe aside, then launches Togaru away before he can reach Kyoka. He tells her to resume scouting and promises a 4-0 sweep without a single injury.

Neito is dumbfounded that Katsuki is covering for people, and Eijiro Kirishima says it is the first time he has watched his friend put himself at risk. As 1-B falls back with Setsuna staying fragmented to jam Kyoka's hearing, Kyoka concentrates anyway, tracks the retreat, and notices fewer of Setsuna's pieces in play. Katsuki charges on the report and is instantly welded down by a structure Yosetsu Awase throws up. Rikido tears the metal apart with his Sugar Rush ultimate move, freeing Katsuki to hunt Yosetsu, who raises a welding shield only to be blindsided by Hanta swinging in with Kyoka. Heartbeat Surround shatters the shield and leaves Yosetsu immobile while Katsuki, sweat glands now fully open, buries Kojiro under explosions. Both are captured.

Katsuki catches Togaru and puts him away using Explode-A-Pult, and Hanta tapes him down, but notices Setsuna's fragments drifting the wrong direction. Working out that her detached parts die off and regenerate on her body, and suspecting exhaustion limits that regrowth, he sticks one of Katsuki's grenades to a returning piece. The guess lands, the grenade detonates on her, and as Setsuna barely twists clear Katsuki meets her face-first with a point-blank Stun Grenade. Class 1-A sweeps the round. Eraser Head praises their support work, speed of capture, and restraint with collateral damage, while Vlad King tells his side their plan needed Juzo's flexibility. Setsuna apologizes and Togaru rallies them. Katsuki brushes off congratulations from All Might and Izuku, telling Izuku he intends to stay ahead; Izuku answers that he will push harder to pass him. Planning the fifth match, Reiko Yanagi warns her team that Izuku has grown into Katsuki's equal or better, and Hitoshi agrees to concentrate on him, counting on Neito copying Brainwashing even though Neito cautions it may not work. As the last teams take position, Izuku offers to play bait.

Katsuki leads round four from the front and, for the first time, actively shields and supports his teammates, distributing homemade grenades beforehand and stepping in to save Kyoka and Rikido.

Kyoka pierces Setsuna's interference and locates the retreating 1-B team. Rikido's Sugar Rush frees Katsuki from Yosetsu's Weld, Kyoka's Heartbeat Surround disables Yosetsu, and Katsuki takes down Kojiro and Togaru.

Hanta deduces the limits of Setsuna's regeneration and plants a grenade on a returning fragment, setting up Katsuki's point-blank Stun Grenade finish. Class 1-A wins 4-0, and Class 1-B resolves to target Izuku in the final round.

Chapters 207 and 208 plus the first thirteen pages of Chapter 209 supply this episode's material, with No.1 and Footprints as the themes.

Setsuna's assessment of how evenly built her opposition is shifts in the anime to before the bout rather than partway through, and additional student commentary is added throughout.

Yosetsu's Weld receives its Quirk description later here than in the manga, where it was first explained back in Chapter 81.