Chapter 45: All Might vs. Nomu
Central Plaza.
Seeing that his students were alright, All Might let out a silent sigh of relief, which was immediately followed by an unstoppable rage. He reached up, took off his suit jacket, and tore off his tie. The next moment—All Might vanished before everyone's eyes!
There were only a few heavy thuds, and the few enemies who had been surrounding Aizawa to prevent anyone from rescuing him were sent flying at almost the same time!
When All Might reappeared, he was holding Aizawa in his arms. He said gravely, "Aizawa-kun, I'm sorry. I'm late."
He turned, his eyes narrowed, and his figure vanished again. He shot across the plaza like a whirlwind. The next moment, he was back in his original position, as if he had never left. But... he was now holding Asui, Kira, Midoriya, and Mineta in his arms!
All Might set them down and took a step forward. Without looking back, he said to Midoriya, "Take Aizawa-kun and Young Kira and go. I'll take care of this."
"But...!" Midoriya was about to say something, but he was met with a thumbs-up from All Might.
He turned his head to look at Midoriya, a fearless smile on his face. "Don't worry, Young Midoriya! I am All Might!"
"Right!" Midoriya nodded vigorously, helped Aizawa-sensei up, and put him on his back. He spoke quickly, "The man with the hand on his face has a Quirk that seems to be 'Disintegration.' The black mist's Quirk is 'Warp Gate.' And that bird-beaked giant is their special weapon against you. He has super strength and regeneration. Even when I used my power, he was able to recover quickly..."
"Haha, thanks to you, Young Midoriya, I have a good understanding of the enemy..." All Might broke out in a cold sweat hearing Midoriya's rapid-fire intel. He smiled at Tomura Shigaraki. "So you're the leader of this USJ invasion. Repent!"
"All Might... that's right. Now's not the time to worry. I need to remember our goal..." Shigaraki muttered to himself, oblivious to those around him. He suddenly looked up, his gaze fixed on Kira, who was being carried on Asui's back toward the entrance.
I'll remember you, the guy who can ignore my Quirk!
"CAROLINA SMASH!"
All Might stomped on the ground and charged at Shigaraki with incredible speed. He crossed his arms in front of his chest and unleashed a cross-shaped slash!
"Nomu!" "THUD—!"
The attack that should have hit Shigaraki was blocked by Nomu. The fountain behind him was instantly shattered by the aftershock, and broken stones and splashing water were scattered everywhere.
"Just as Midoriya said..."
All Might leaned his body far back, dodging Nomu's grab, then struck at its side. His fist slammed into Nomu's waist, but it continued to attack All Might as if it hadn't been injured.
After another punch to Nomu's exposed head had no obvious effect, All Might retreated a step, dodging another of Nomu's attacks, and gritted his teeth. "Damn it, still no effect..."
Shigaraki laughed triumphantly. "Nomu's Quirk is 'Shock Absorption.' You can't hurt him like this. It might have worked if you were your old self, but you've gotten weaker... All Might—he was made specifically to defeat you!"
No wonder he didn't go all out on the children... So I was the real target!
"Thanks for the explanation... I've really been underestimated!!"
All Might circled behind Nomu, wrapped his arms around its waist, and with a powerful backward arch, lifted it up and slammed it into the ground! Even such a simple suplex from All Might kicked up a cloud of dust!
"So this was your plan..."
When the dust cleared, All Might's current position was revealed. He was in a yoga-like pose, his lower leg and body forming a right angle, his hands holding Nomu's lower half. But Nomu's other half had gone deep into the ground, passing through a hole, and had reappeared under All Might, its hands digging into his waist!
Kurogiri's Quirk—Warp Gate!
"Did you think you could seal him in the concrete and immobilize him? That's impossible, you know?" Shigaraki's sickly laugh rang out. "Because... we already anticipated your move! Kurogiri, good job!"
Ha... ha... I was careless... All Might forced his hands off Nomu's waist and straightened up, trying to pry Nomu's hands off. There was no point in holding on now. He had to get out of this situation...
Nomu's hands were like steel, digging into All Might's waist. Blood slowly seeped through his white shirt...
"All Might!!"
Midoriya's joyful expression instantly turned to one of tension. He looked ready to charge in at any moment.
Because Asui was still carrying Kira on her back, Midoriya looked at Mineta and lowered Aizawa from his own shoulders. "Mineta-kun, help me carry Aizawa-sensei. I'm going to help All Might."
Mineta, who was holding Aizawa's legs, immediately protested, "First of all, what can you do to help All Might? And second, have you seen my height? Can I even carry him?!"
It was true. With Mineta's elementary-school-student height, he was willing but unable...
Midoriya was at a loss, looking anxiously at All Might, but he couldn't just leave Aizawa-sensei behind.
Just as Midoriya was struggling, Uraraka floated down from the stands several meters high, made a hand gesture to cancel her Quirk, and said with a panting smile, "Midoriya-kun, go do what you want to do. Leave Aizawa-sensei to me!"
"Uraraka..." After taking Aizawa-sensei from the stunned Midoriya, Midoriya snapped out of it, gave Uraraka a deep look, and then turned and ran toward All Might.
This is something only I know. All Might is nearing his limit!
Izuku Midoriya clenched his right fist, preparing to use his Quirk to hit Nomu on the head and create an opening for All Might.
Just as he was about to throw his punch, a black, misty warp gate appeared in front of him. Just as Midoriya was about to be unable to stop his momentum and punch into it—
"Deku, get out of the way!"
Bakugo suddenly jumped down from the rock behind Midoriya, rushed in front of Kurogiri before him, and shot a blast of fire from his right hand at the metal plate on his neck.
"What!!?"
Caught off guard, Kurogiri was hit. After a sharp pain, he had no choice but to cancel the warp gate. He was pinned to the ground by Bakugo, who took off the grenade-like gauntlet from his left hand and pressed his hand on the metal plate.
Katsuki Bakugo created a small explosion in his hand as a show of force, a villainous smile on his face.
"Don't move. I don't know what I might do."