Chapter 47: U.A. Reinforcements Arrive
"No, All Might has to be weaker. That guy wouldn't have lied to me... But this show of strength doesn't seem like it at all..." Tomura Shigaraki scratched his neck in frustration. "If only Nomu were here..."
As Shigaraki muttered to himself, Kurogiri, who was beside him, reminded him, "Look closely, Tomura Shigaraki. The injuries Nomu inflicted are clearly visible on All Might."
"We probably only have a few minutes before their reinforcements arrive. But if the two of us work together, we still have a chance to take him down."
"Yeah... it has to be this way... we have to go for it..." Shigaraki slowly lowered his hand, the wrinkled eye peeking between the fingers of the hand on his face staring at All Might. "...We have to kill him here."
Seeing that the enemy still wanted to fight, and the villains Aizawa had taken down were slowly getting back up, Todoroki said gravely, "We'll handle these enemies. Leave the leader to All Might."
"It's frustrating, but that's not a fight we should be getting involved in! Although those two enemies are tough, there are still things we can do to help All Might!" Kirishima said, baring his shark-like teeth, which had been hardened, and getting into a fighting stance.
"Deku... what are you planning?" Bakugo didn't get into a fighting stance. Instead, he turned to look at Midoriya, who was standing there with his head bowed, lost in thought.
"..." Midoriya didn't answer. His eyes were flickering wildly, as if he were in the middle of a fierce internal struggle.
"That's right, this is a crisis only I know about!"
He looked up, his gaze fixed on the steaming All Might. He said with determination.
Kurogiri and Shigaraki charged forward at the same time. Kurogiri, with his formless advantage, flew low while expanding his body, trying to envelop All Might.
Midoriya got into a track runner's starting position, the blood in his calves going from calm to wild. Just as he was about to dash forward—
Suddenly, a piercing sound of over 100 decibels came from the outskirts of the Mountain Zone:
"All Might, close your eyes!"
Ojiro, dressed in his taekwondo uniform, had somehow climbed up to the rafters of the USJ's circular roof. Hearing this, he didn't hesitate to let out a loud roar and forcefully threw down a cylindrical object. It fell from a great height and landed vertically right between All Might and the enemies!
Then, the powerful gravitational potential energy was converted into kinetic energy, causing it to bounce back up, landing right in front of Kurogiri. It suddenly exploded in mid-air, releasing a blinding light!
All Might recognized the voice as his student, Yaoyorozu, and closed his eyes with complete trust. But Kurogiri didn't react as quickly, and it was a question whether he could even close his eyes. He was completely blinded by the sudden flash of light, losing his field of vision!
"Aaargh~!"
He let out a cry of agony and flew sideways, rolling to the side. He was quickly touched on his metal plate by Kaminari, who had appeared out of nowhere, and was shocked with a barrage of electricity, instantly weakening him.
"This time's MVP is definitely me, Kaminari!" Kaminari said, controlling Kurogiri's metal plate with both hands, a foolish grin on his face. He had just recovered from his short-circuited state, and his brain was still a little fried.
Shigaraki paid no attention to Kurogiri. Although he saw Kurogiri being captured again, he still charged at All Might!
Almost there, just a little further, a little bit!!
Just as Shigaraki's hand was about to touch the still-standing All Might, who was gritting his teeth and looking at him with a seemingly fearless expression—
"Filthy darkness, do not touch this Symbol of Peace!"
A ferocious, seemingly intangible black monster flew over quickly and intercepted his forward-reaching hand. Its head slammed into Shigaraki's palm, and the immense force made him stagger back. But he reacted quickly, planting one hand on the ground and flipping to a safe distance.
The back of the monster's body was a faint trail of smoke. After attacking Shigaraki, it let out a pained cry and returned to its master, floating above his head. A closer look revealed that a piece of its head was missing, and its body was weak.
"Who is it?! Who stopped me again?!"
The crow-headed boy, most of his body hidden in his cloak, trembled as he lowered his head and said seriously, "I am a man of darkness who pursues justice, Fumikage Tokoyami!"
—Class 1-A student, Fumikage Tokoyami, has arrived!
Izuku Midoriya saw his classmates gathering around, and tears welled up in his eyes.
"Everyone!!"
Shigaraki was furious. He was so close, but why did he keep getting interrupted?!
It was like you had a huge advantage in the early game, but for some reason, your team's main carry was taken out by the enemy. You see an enemy with low health and want to go in for the kill, but the minions you completely looked down on keep getting in your way... Who could tolerate that?!
But seeing that the crow-kid's monster looked like it was on its last legs and probably couldn't attack again, just as Shigaraki was about to attack All Might again, getting into a stance to charge forward—
Swish, swish, swish—
Several bullets hit Shigaraki's limbs at the same time, making his knees buckle and forcing him to the ground.
"Aargh, are we too late..."
Shigaraki looked up and saw a line of people standing at the entrance of the USJ training facility. They were wearing all sorts of strange costumes. Though they were standing still, the anger in their eyes was unconcealed. One of them, holding a revolver and dressed like a cowboy, blew on the smoking barrel of his gun.
"Students, I'm sorry we're late. I've gathered everyone who could move immediately."
A refined voice came from a white, mole-like animal, strangely carrying a reassuring power.
Standing among the teachers, Iida shouted, "Class 1-A Vice President, reporting for duty!"
The enemies in the central plaza saw the U.A. reinforcements and, instead of retreating, used their various ranged attacks on the teachers.
Present Mic walked to the center of the stage, turned on the directional megaphone hanging from his neck, and took a deep breath—
"AAAAAAAH—!"
A huge blast of noise, at a completely unbearable decibel level, erupted. The resulting sound wave was powerful enough to damage eardrums. Fortunately, Mic-sensei's sound wave was directed at the enemy. Otherwise, the heavily injured Aizawa might have been inexplicably deafened.
Wearing a brown trench coat, his head completely bald as if made of metal, a teacher spat out a white foam from his mouth, purposefully blowing it at the enemy. Like clones, several people with his appearance materialized from the smoke and began to engage the enemy in close combat.
The other teachers also went to help the students fight, under the principal's direction. Soon, the situation was brought under control.
"Ah, so it's game over. Damn it, Kurogiri got caught again..."
A group of people surrounded Shigaraki, shielding him. Someone asked in a panic, "Boss, what do we do now?!"
"You haven't done anything the whole time. Shouldn't you be doing something now?" Shigaraki looked at the ground and started talking to himself. "If you don't make a move, we're going to have to declare bankruptcy. And when I get caught, your situation might be revealed too."
"Tomura Shigaraki, your only option now is to surrender!"
White steam was constantly rising from All Might's body, blurring his form, but he still wore a reassuring smile.
Just as All Might relaxed, and all the U.A. students thought the situation was settled, a bullet suddenly shot out from somewhere and flew toward Kaminari, who was holding Kurogiri!
Kaminari's electricity had weakened after the long battle, and he was a little dizzy and off-guard. He didn't react at all to the sudden shot. Fortunately, Bakugo, who was beside him, noticed. He grabbed him by the hair, pulled him back, and rolled on the ground to dodge the bullet.
"Tch, there are still enemies..." Bakugo looked up to where the bullet had been fired, but there was no one there.
Taking this opportunity, Kurogiri's figure instantly vanished. For the second time, he had escaped from the hands of the Class 1-A students in the same way, appearing beside Shigaraki and enveloping him completely.
Snipe's bullet arrived instantly, but it only hit the surrounding thugs, hitting them in the legs and making them fall to their knees, crying out in pain.
Only a few hit Kurogiri, and one or two hit his metal plate. He let out a muffled grunt and forced the warp gate open.
Snipe should have pursued, but he hesitated. Looking at the writhing thugs, he was afraid of hitting a vital spot. In the end, he sighed and lowered his gun.
"Snipe, let me!"
A voice from a voice-changer came from Thirteen. He aimed his hand at Kurogiri and, despite being heavily injured, activated his "Black Hole" Quirk, trying to suck Kurogiri in. But because he was too weak, Kurogiri still managed to break free.
He was powerless to stop the enemy's escape.
"Symbol of Peace, All Might! I'll kill you next time!"
Kurogiri gradually disappeared, leaving only Shigaraki's hateful voice echoing in the space.
Is it finally over... It seems I'm not needed anymore.
Yoshikage Kira's eyes were still closed. Unnoticed by anyone, the skull-shaped watch on his wrist, which had appeared at some point, clamped down and then fell silent.