All Might saw Mirko charge forward and decided to help her out. He dashed forward, trying to coordinate his movements with hers to finally land a clean hit on the suspect. But to the absolute disappointment of the entire hero vanguard, it still wasn't enough. Gray effortlessly dodged every single combined strike they threw at him.
Finding a clear opening in her aggressive stance, Gray countered and landed a quick strike on Mirko. He carefully held back a massive amount of his strength to ensure he wouldn't put her down instantly. The hit connected, sending saliva flying from her mouth as she was launched backward. She crashed straight through a tree trunk, quickly planted her feet, and slid across the dirt for a few feet before finally coming to a stop.
Her playful smile completely vanished. She glared at Gray and yelled, "Did you just hold back on me?!"
Gray calmly nodded his head. "If I don't hold back, I'm afraid you'd die on the spot. That would be a real shame."
Mirko's eyes flashed with anger. "Don't fuck with me!"
She dashed forward again, launching herself high into the air. "Luna Fall!" she roared, diving down with an incredibly aggressive, high-velocity kick.
Gray simply let out a short sigh. "Here, let me show you something."
He planted his feet firmly on the ground, braced his core, and muttered, "Tekkai."
Mirko slammed her powerful kick directly onto Gray's shoulder, but she instantly felt something go horribly wrong. Gray didn't move an inch from the colossal impact. Worst of all, it felt as though she had just violently kicked a solid block of reinforced steel. Her leg went completely numb from the kinetic feedback. She immediately dashed backward to check the damage, gritting her teeth as her heel rapidly began to bulge up. She couldn't put any weight on it at all.
Meanwhile, Gray stood in the exact same spot with zero damage. All that maximum-effort kick had done was get a little dirt on his shoulder. He casually brushed it off with his hand.
"You have some great potential, Mirko," Gray said, looking over at her. "But I'm just far too strong for this world."
Gray turned his head toward a distant mountain peak. He used Geppo a few times to step up into the air, snapped his leg forward, and threw a powerful kick. "Rankyaku!"
A massive, razor-sharp wind blade erupted from the motion of his leg, tearing through the sky and completely slashing the top of the distant mountain peak clean off.
"And before you all start thinking that was a quirk... it wasn't," Gray added, dropping his leg back down.
Mirko stared blankly at the destroyed mountain in the distance. She knew this person was strong, but cutting a mountain in half with a leg swing was entirely out of the norm.
Gray reached into his system inventory, pulled out another green Senzu Bean, and flipped it straight to her. "You're not done yet, are you?"
Mirko caught the bean out of the air and popped it into her mouth instantly. The severe swelling and internal bone bruising in her leg healed instantly. She stomped her foot on the ground, testing her completely restored leg, and her massive, wild smile broke out across her face once more.
"Not even close!" she cheered, immediately dashing forward to launch herself right back into the fray.
All Might stood to the side motionless. He stared at both Gray and Mirko and he felt something he hadn't felt in a while. 'Am I being ignored right now?' he thought.
He also noticed how Gray explicitly said he was holding back enough to not kill anyone, so the Symbol of Peace simply chose to stand back and observe for the moment. Taking advantage of the brief lull, Eraser Head used the time to get close to the edge of the battlefield. He planned on using his Erasure quirk to completely stop Gray's multiple quirks. He knew that if this stranger's abilities were a mutation type he wouldn't be able to do anything about it, but he was going to try anyway.
The communication device on All Might's ear crackled as Aizawa connected to his line. "All Might, be ready," Aizawa whispered through the intercom. "I'm about to use my quirk on him."
All Might got rid of his hesitation and gave a nod, keeping his body ready to strike.
Gray, meanwhile, continued having his fun trading strikes with Mirko. Since the entire situation had gotten so heavily out of hand already, he realized he needed to change his plans. He had originally wanted to continue looking for Giran to find Overhaul's location. But now that he was actively fighting the heroes, a new option presented itself. If he let them take him into custody, there would be nothing they could use to stop him from getting away whenever he felt like it. On the other hand, if he cooperated, got "caught," and actually secured the help of Nezu and the heroes' massive communication network, it would make his job significantly easier.
Even if they didn't want to help him, it didn't matter. All he needed to do was wait a week to save up 10,000 Gold to buy another one of his system's magical compasses to find Eri's exact location. At his current rate, it wouldn't take very long to hit that threshold.
Besides, if he went with them willingly, he could talk to Nezu directly and offer his training services to the academy. If he was actually able to join UA as a sort of conditional guest teacher, he would probably have a lot more time to get to know Mirko. His Saiyan physiology had apparently shifted his taste in women, and he found Mirko's wild, fierce personality to be the perfect fit for a partner. He was genuinely curious to see just how much stronger she could become if he brought her inside his Training Dimension.
Gray noticed Eraser Head approaching and felt that was the perfect time to pretend his "Quirks" had suddenly disappeared. He dodged another high-speed kick from Mirko and saw Aizawa's hair start rising as his eyes glowed red. Gray didn't feel anything wrong with his body or his Ki, but they didn't need to know that.
All Might dashed forward instantly, taking advantage of the perceived opening, and attempted to grab both of Gray's hands. Gray decided to play along. He put a confused expression on his face and stared down at his palms as if his powers had suddenly failed him. All Might appeared behind him in a blur, safely grabbing his arms and securing his grip.
Mirko, looking at the sudden capture and how easy it all looked, snapped her head around. She quickly spotted Eraser Head standing in the tree line using his quirk.
"What the hell did you do?!" she yelled at the heroes, but she got no answer from the underground hero.
The other pro heroes on the perimeter saw that All Might successfully had a hold of the target. They dashed forward in a wave, immediately slapping heavy, reinforced metal restraints all over Gray. Gray meanwhile continued faking his shock, acting as though he had completely lost his powers. Once they finished locking the restraints around his wrists and torso, Gray stopped fighting against them entirely, going completely limp.
Finally, thanks to all the flattened trees and cleared space from All Might's punches, the news helicopters had enough room to safely touch down on the mountain. A few no-name pro heroes immediately used the opportunity to brag and puff out their chests in front of the live cameras.
All Might, however, felt that something was wrong. His instincts told him this victory was too easy. Since he had traded serious punches with Gray for over thirty minutes, he knew the kid's true physical capabilities didn't just vanish. Not wanting to voice his suspicions out loud on live television, he kept his mouth shut and calmly gave a standard reassuring interview to the press.
Gray meanwhile kept getting snide remarks and insults from a few of the no-name heroes who hadn't done a single thing during the entire fight. They roughly loaded him into a heavy-duty transport helicopter to take him to a secure police station for questioning before his official judgment. Aizawa climbed into the cabin right across from him, keeping his eyes wide open to continue erasing Gray's supposed quirks during the flight. Gray felt his Saiyan blood hum with irritation; he briefly wanted to snap the metal restraints, punch the arrogant heroes making fun of him, and injure them badly enough to force their retirement. But he chose to keep his temper under control. He carefully memorized every single one of their faces, making a mental note to pay them a private visit later.
Hawks, Endeavor, and the remaining injured heroes were loaded onto separate medical transports and flown straight to the hospital to be checked out. All Might finished his public interview, stepped away from the cameras, and joined Gray inside the transport cabin.
The helicopter lifted off, the heavy rotors thumping as they flew toward Musutafu. Gray simply closed his eyes, leaning back against the metal wall and waiting until they arrived at the interrogation room so he could finally lay his cards on the table.
After an hour, Gray was taken into a secure questioning room. The police left the heavy metal restraints on him for their own protection. They left Gray alone in the closed-off room for a while until someone finally opened the door. Gray recognized the man instantly but kept a completely neutral face to avoid giving anything away.
The man sat down opposite of Gray and threw a vanilla envelope onto the table. "I'm Detective Naomasa Tsukauchi, and I'll be conducting this interview," he said.
Gray simply nodded.
Tsukauchi placed a recording device in the middle of the table. "For the record, can you state your name?"
"Gray Ashwood."
"Gray... Can you help me out here?" Tsukauchi continued, leaning forward. "You see, we searched your face and fingerprints in every database we have, and it came back completely empty. You technically don't exist. Care to shine a light on that?"
Gray kept quiet for a few seconds. Finally, he spoke up, his voice calm. "I'm done answering questions. I will only speak with Nezu from now on. You can bring All Might with him if you want."
"And what makes you think you can demand those things?" Tsukauchi asked, narrowing his eyes.
"Because I could do this since the beginning," Gray replied. He flexed his upper body, and with a loud snap, the reinforced metal restraints shattered into pieces, clattering onto the floor.
A few guarding heroes instantly burst through the door with their weapons and quirks drawn, ready to fight. Gray didn't move to attack. He simply grabbed the broken pieces, slid them off his wrists, pulled out the second chair in the room, and sat back down comfortably.
"Bring me Nezu, or I will just leave if he doesn't show up," Gray stated, looking directly at the detective.
Tsukauchi looked back toward the two-way mirror, his face pale. He got up and stepped completely out of the interrogation room, sweating heavily underneath his suit. Eraser Head was standing right on the other side of the glass with his hair floating, actively using his Erasure quirk on Gray the entire time. It didn't matter... Gray had faked them all out and could clearly still use his powers.
Tsukauchi hurried down the hallway to a secure phone line and dialed his superiors. After getting immediate affirmation from the higher-ups to avoid a massive breakout, the detective dialed Nezu's private number. They spoke for a few minutes about the situation, and the hyper-intelligent principal calmly stated he would be arriving at the precinct very soon.
Gray calmly reached into his system inventory and pulled out a few fresh fruits from his Home Garden, casually eating them while he waited. He asked the officers through the door for some water, and they quickly brought him a full glass jar and a few cups. Gray continued snacking and drinking, completely relaxed, while the minutes ticked away.
After about 30 minutes, the door opened. Principal Nezu strolled into the interrogation room, and right behind him came Toshinori Yagi in his frail, skinny form. Nezu hopped up onto the metal desk and sat down comfortably.
"I heard you asked for me, and only me," the principal said, a polite smile on his face.
"Yes, I did," Gray replied, setting down a glass of water. "I feel you have enough government pull to make all of this go away."
"Indeed I do," Nezu agreed, tilting his head. "The question is, why would I do it? As far as I know, you are an unregistered individual who just beat up several of Japan's top heroes. Why would I use my connections for someone like you?"
Gray turned his gaze over to skinny All Might. "Are there people watching on the other side of that glass?"
"Yes, there are," Toshinori replied, his voice raspy.
"You better tell them to leave," Gray warned, leaning back in his chair. "Unless you guys are perfectly fine with them learning a few highly classified secrets."
Nezu and All Might exchanged a quick, knowing look, and both nodded. Toshinori stepped out of the room to clear the observation deck. A minute later, the door clicked open again and the skinny hero walked back in, sitting down. "Detective Tsukauchi is the only one left on the other side of the mirror now. I trust him with my life."
"Okay," Gray said, standing up from his chair. He looked straight at both of them. "I know about All For One."
Nezu and All Might's eyes widened in absolute shock.
"Are you working for him?!" All Might demanded, his posture tightening instantly.
"No, I just know about him," Gray said. "But that's not all. I know about a lot of future events that could save thousands of lives if we act early."
"Things like what?" Nezu asked, though his polite smile never left his face.
"About his quirk," Gray said, pointing a finger directly at Toshinori. "One For All, and the successor he just chose."
Toshinori bolted out of his chair, his instincts flaring so violently that he involuntarily puffed up into his towering, muscular All Might form for a split second before coughing up a bit of blood and deflating back down.
Gray ignored the sudden burst of smoke and continued, "I'm willing to help you all bring down All For One and his entire underground association, but only if you help me out with something first."
"Help you with what, Gray-shonen?" All Might asked.
"I need help finding someone," Gray explained. "Her name is Eri. She is a little girl currently being held and experimented on by the Shie Hassaikai Yakuza. If you guys use your network to help me locate her and rescue her safely, I will officially offer you my services. Not only will I help you crush All For One, but I can personally train your successor so he adapts to and handles the physical recoil of One For All much faster."
Nezu and All Might exchanged a long, heavy look, silently communicating through their eyes.
"So you are trying to save this child?" All Might asked softly. "Is she a relative of yours?"
"No," Gray replied, his face turning serious. "But I want to save her as soon as possible. Her quirk is extremely strong, dangerous, and unstable right now."
"I see," Nezu said, tapping his paws together on the desk. "If what you are saying is true, then yes, I can absolutely help you out with this arrangement. I do have one question for you, though... How exactly are you with children?"