Chapter 73

Himiko Toga complains about how her gear looks; Mustard tells her only function and purpose matter. Muscular is still itching for violence, so Dabi orders quiet and rules out any move until all ten of them are assembled. Three more arrive, Magne apologizing for the delay. Dabi credits their odds to the experience every one of them brings, and outlines a first strike meant to inform the heroes that peaceful living is finished.

The next afternoon, third day of the trip, Classes 1-A and 1-B work on Quirk enhancement. Shota Aizawa coaches the remedial group: Rikido Sato and Denki Kaminari must expand their capacity through constant use, Hanta Sero needs capacity plus strength and speed, Mina Ashido has to stretch how long she can sustain hers, and Eijiro Kirishima needs muscle and greater rigidity. He also gets on Ochaco Uraraka and Yuga Aoyama for barely scraping through their tests, and reminds the class that their fundamental drive is what carries improvement. Izuku Midoriya asks whether more teachers are coming; Shota says they brought the bare minimum required, so no. Ragdoll adds that All Might was kept away because he is a target. Pixie-Bob changes the subject to announce a test of courage for that night.

Over dinner, Shoto Todoroki asks what Izuku wanted from All Might, and hears it was about Kota. Kota is missing from the group, presumably back at his hideout. Izuku explains the boy's rejection of a Quirk-driven hero society and his own failure to reach him with words, and asks for advice. Shoto's read is that words will not do it, since a stranger's reasoning would only sound pretentious; better to show him what heroes do and what they give humanity. Action, he says, speaks louder. Izuku takes heart, knowing he is right.

That night both classes prepare, though Shota drags off his five remedial students for review lessons. Pixie-Bob and Ragdoll lay out the rules: the forest is the arena, Class 1-B does the scaring, Class 1-A goes in paired up and must retrieve name cards to prove they went. Class 1-B has to drive them out without their cards and without direct contact, and Quirks and tactics are fair game on both sides. After both sides take a turn, the win goes to whichever class scares more people with the most creativity.

Twelve minutes in, the fifth pair, Ochaco and Tsuyu Asui, enter. Deeper in, Juzo Honenuki and Itsuka Kendo are praising Yui Kodai's scare when smoke appears from nowhere and Juzo drops. Itsuka covers her mouth, shields Yui with her Big Fist, and warns her not to breathe it. The poison spreads until it blankets every tree, and those still outside, the remaining Class 1-A students and the Wild, Wild Pussycats, watch black smoke climb over the treeline. Somewhere inside, Dabi gives the League of Villains' Vanguard Action Squad the order to attack. Himiko closes on Ochaco and Tsuyu from behind. Spinner and Magne surface in front of the Pussycats and the remaining students, striking fast enough to put Pixie-Bob down. As Tiger and Mandalay ready themselves, Izuku realizes Kota is out there alone with nothing to protect him.

Kota sits at his secret base, a villain behind him, none the wiser.

The full League contingent, the Vanguard Action Squad, assembles and Dabi lays out an opening strike meant to end the public's peace of mind. The classes continue Quirk enhancement training, with Shota giving targeted instruction to the remedial students and confirming that no additional teachers will arrive and that All Might is being kept away as a target.

Shoto advises Izuku that showing Kota what heroes do will succeed where words fail. During the test of courage, Mustard's poison gas floods the forest, Spinner and Magne knock out Pixie-Bob, Himiko closes in on Ochaco and Tsuyu, and the invasion begins with Kota alone and unaware at his hideout.

Chapter seventy-three of Kohei Horikoshi's My Hero Academia runs twenty pages in volume nine, published January 4, 2016 in the combined 5-6, 2016 issue. It belongs to the Forest Training Camp arc, between chapters 72 and 74, with Izuku Midoriya and the four Wild, Wild Pussycats on the cover.

Moonfish and Magne debut. Episode 41 adapts the chapter. The Vanguard Action Squad Invasion begins here, including the opening of Tiger and Mandalay against Spinner and Magne. Horikoshi's author comment celebrates receiving a color page to open the year.