Chapter 39: Nomu
Yoshikage Kira crouched low, making his way along the edge of the plaza toward the Flood Zone. Seeing the numerous figures in the plaza, he silently prayed they wouldn't notice him.
"I'll just touch the edge, I won't go all the way in..."
Shota Aizawa was in the very center of the plaza, surrounded by a large group of people. Although he was panting heavily, no one dared to make a move. They were likely suppressed by his Quirk-erasing ability, and were just cautiously circling him.
"Aaargh! Die!"
A few men in front of him exchanged glances and charged forward together, swinging their machetes and clubs at Aizawa!
Aizawa ducked under a slash, wrapped his capture weapon around a baseball bat, and with an upward kick, sent the bat-wielding thug flying. He then yanked on his capture weapon and slammed the man into another attacker with a powerful shoulder throw, taking them both down.
Another man with knuckle dusters swung at him. Aizawa tried to retract his capture weapon, but the fat thug held on tight. He had no choice but to leap back to temporarily dodge the attack and forcefully yanked his scarf free.
A tall, inhumanly strong man saw his chance and suddenly appeared behind him, wrapping him in a tight bear hug. Aizawa jabbed him several times with his elbow. Although the man cried out in pain, he didn't let go.
Just then, the man with the knuckle dusters charged forward with a savage grin. Aizawa could only watch as the knuckle duster slammed into his abdomen. Blood instantly gushed from his mouth, but he gritted his teeth against the intense pain, grabbed the tall man's arms, and with a roar, lifted his entire body and used him to perform a shoulder throw on the man in front of him!
"How could this be?!" The man with the knuckle dusters only had time to let out a cry of agony before he was crushed under the large man, instantly knocked unconscious.
Now, all the enemies around Aizawa were lying on the ground!
"So cool~ As expected of the feared underground hero..."
A figure clapped his hands, his words a mix of admiration and mockery. He walked over from the side of the pool. What was most striking were the hands hanging from his face, shoulders, and arms, exuding an aura of decay.
He walked toward Aizawa, breaking into a run halfway there, his voice filled with madness. "But, before All Might gets here, I'll have you as an appetizer!"
This guy is the leader... His target is All Might!
Aizawa panted, wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth. His hair stood on end as he activated his Quirk again and charged at the man before him.
Aizawa's capture weapon shot out preemptively like it had a mind of its own, trying to bind the enemy. But his opponent reacted quickly, grabbing it with his backhand and closing the distance between them. Just as they were about to make contact, Aizawa ducked low and slammed his elbow into the man's unguarded chest!
"Tch."
Aizawa felt that his opponent hadn't taken much damage. Instead, at the last moment, the man had grabbed his elbow. Aizawa's hair fell, and just as he was about to get out of range, the man's low voice sounded.
"You've been running around the field this whole time, but... the moment your hair falls is when you blink, right? That means, for that one second, your Quirk isn't active. And the interval is getting shorter and shorter..."
Aizawa's heart sank. As the man's low voice continued, he felt the skin on the elbow he was holding begin to crumble and disintegrate under an external force, like a wall... Pain, intense pain!
"Don't push yourself too hard, Eraser Head."
Aizawa punched him hard in the chin with his free left hand and leaped back to create distance, realizing his elbow was now useless.
But even so, he had no time to cry out in pain. Enemies were constantly rushing at him. He skillfully dodged their attacks, using his capture weapon and his shoulder to strike them, and rolled to a temporarily safe spot, clutching his elbow.
The enemy leader, who had been knocked down earlier, slowly got up and carefully adjusted the hand on his face.
"Your Quirk... isn't really suited for long, multi-person battles, is it? This is completely different from your usual work, isn't it? What you excel at, in the end, is short-term combat in a surprise attack, right? And yet, you still charged in. Was it to reassure your students?"
As he spoke, a few more enemies rushed at Aizawa. Although he fought them off, he was forced into a disadvantageous corner.
"By the way, hero...?" the man with the hand on his face said slowly. "Did you misunderstand something? I'm not the final boss, you know?"
Aizawa whipped his head around and saw an enemy with a bird's head and a man's body, several times larger than himself, standing behind him without him noticing. He was about to use his Quirk when his vision narrowed, and a hand slammed down on him!
"Aizawa-sensei!" Izuku Midoriya was at the edge of the pool in the Flood Zone. He watched in horror as Aizawa was instantly taken down like a tattered rag doll, a giant hand covering his face, followed by a pair of blood-soaked goggles flying into the air...
I have to go help him!
Midoriya couldn't hold back any longer. Seeing his teacher, who had been protecting them, taken down and helplessly pinned to the ground, how could he just stand by and watch?!
Even so, he didn't lose his cool. He knew that rushing in like this would be reckless. He said to Tsuyu Asui beside him, "Asui-san, in a moment, I'll charge out first to draw the enemy's attention. When I lead that enemy away, you use your tongue to grab Aizawa-sensei. Mineta, you use your Quirk to stick the enemies coming toward us..."
"Midoriya-chan, don't be reckless. Now is not a good time," Asui analyzed calmly. "We didn't see how that monster got to Aizawa-sensei's side at all. If we rashly show ourselves, we could be discovered and wiped out."
"But how can we!" Midoriya knew Asui was right. They had no idea of the monster's strength... But, Midoriya clenched the fingers on his right hand and said with frustration, "If I use my whole arm...!"
"Midoriya-kun, you can't," a familiar voice suddenly said from behind them. "I saw the whole thing from up there. Even with your Quirk, you might not be able to defeat it."
"Eh, eh, eh?! Kira-kun?!" Midoriya and the others were startled by the voice and immediately turned around. They saw Yoshikage Kira behind them, his whole body submerged in the water with only his head showing, still blowing bubbles...
"Kira-kun, it's so good to see you're alright!" Midoriya breathed a sigh of relief, but his joy was quickly replaced by worry. "I don't know how our other classmates are doing, and Aizawa-sensei, he..."
"Aizawa-sensei will be fine," Kira said, swimming over to them and propping himself up next to Asui. He stared intently at the young man with the hand on his face. "The most important thing for us to do now is to contact the other students. I've already thought of a way, I just need your cooperation."
Aizawa's head was pinned firmly to the ground. Even when he used his Quirk, he couldn't erase the enemy's ability.
The enemy with the hand on his face seemed extremely pleased. He laughed, spreading his arms wide, and said to the nearly crippled Aizawa:
"Let me tell you, Eraser Head. This thing is the anti-Symbol of Peace, the artificially modified human, 'Nomu.' And I am his master, Tomura Shigaraki."