WARNING: The following contains spoilers for My Hero Academia Season 5, Episode 6, "Foresight," now streaming on Crunchyroll, Funimation and Hulu.
My Hero Academia's joint training exercises between Classes 1-A and 1-B are well underway. Hitoshi Shinso was the star of the first battle, using his tricky Brainwashing Quirk to disorient Class 1-B's team and defeat them. Now it's the second round, and Momo Yaoyorozu and Itsuka Kendo have assumed command of their respective squads.
Itsuka considers herself second-best to Momo in terms of academics and Quirks alike, but she won't back down. Facing the superior Momo only fuels Itsuka's drive, and Momo in turn must stay light on her toes or risk getting knocked off her pedestal. Both girls are ready to give it their all.
Itsuka's Plan To Corner Momo
Class 1-B has one important advantage: all the Class 1-A students' Quirks are well-known, so they're able to plan around them -- their opponents can't return the favor so easily. Class 1-B lost the first round but Itsuka is ready to strike back, and she uses Shihai Kuroiro's Quirk to try and turn Dark Shadow against its master, Fumikage Tokoyami.
That plan doesn't pan out, so Itsuka moves on to plan B. She uses Manga Fukidashi's ability to create a wall and separate Momo from Fumikage, Toru and Yuga Aoyama, while slowing everyone down with Kinoko's mushrooms. Itsuka knows Momo is better off as a strategist and support hero than a frontline fighter, and plans to take her out of her comfort zone.
Sure enough, Itsuka corners Momo and engages in combat with her Big Fist Quirk. It's all Momo can do to defend herself with a tungsten shield -- which is rapidly being beaten out of shape. Momo is reminded of her short and one-sided match against Fumikage in the U.A. sports festival, where Dark Shadow quickly pushed her out of bounds before she could formulate a winning strategy. The same scenario appears to be unfolding here and now, and Itsuka thinks she has Momo on the ropes.
But Momo was ready for this.
Momo Had A Backup Plan All Along
Momo knows that powerhouses like Fumikage and Itsuka can overwhelm her in single combat, but she isn't U.A.'s #1 support hero for nothing. She was prepared for Itsuka's team to take her out of her element, using her foresight to ensure she could contribute to her Class 1-A team regardless of whether they got separated. If Momo can't land the winning blow, she'll hand Fumikage the tools necessary to do it for her.
Momo's tungsten shield buys her crucial time to forge an entire cannon, and Itsuka thinks she's about to get shot. Instead, the cannon vaults Momo's Lucky Bag right over Manga's wall to give Fumikage some much-needed supplies. All that's left to do is make some cords to tie her and Itsuka together with the cannon, which slows Itsuka down a great deal. If it wasn't for Kinoko's last-minute mushroom trick, the plan would have worked. Alas, My Hero Academia has shown that Class 1-B's own abilities and ideas should never be underestimated.
Before a battle begins, Momo can envision an entire flowchart of how it may proceed and create a plan for each possible outcome. Whatever Itsuka tries, Momo remains one step ahead. Her incredible Creation Quirk can make any tool necessary for the job -- even if it means getting knocked out in the process.
