VUUUUUUM—!!
A burst of chakra erupted across the crimson wasteland.
Hood, inches away was blasted back by the force as a pillar of orange chakra erupted from Yuta's body like a volcanic eruption in every direction.
The pressure alone tore apart the dried earth in a forty meter radius, ripping chunks of debris from the ground and hurling them across the horizon and only expanded further and further.
The High-End instinctively crossed his arms.
"...What..."
CRACK... CRACK...
CRAAAAACK...
A colossal skeletal frame began rising behind Yuta. Vertebrae stacked one atop another. Towering ribs expanded outward. An enormous spine stretched toward the blood-red heavens as layer after layer of gigantic armored bones appeared in place with deafening impacts.
Despite all this, the skeleton refused to stop growing.
With the giant skeleton taking form, it was quickly followed by armor covering the bones. Massive shoulder plates, gigantic gauntlets and leg armor thicker than skyscrapers slammed into place beneath it.
The earth shattered underneath the weight, as the massive energy construct completed its formation.
"... What is .."
Hood's eyes widened in disbelief as he crashed into the earth. Watching as a monstrous Tengu mask covered the face of the creature before it.
CLICK.
Flames erupted from the eye sockets. Behind its back, colossal chakra thrusters unfolded. Mounted along both forearms rested enormous cylindrical cannons glowing with compressed orange energy. Wrapped around the giant's entire body coiled a monstrous serrated bone chain thicker than buildings, winding across its armor from shoulder to waist. The aesthetic was .... Bizarre to say the least. A terrifying fusion of a traditional, six armed mythological Japanese god of war cross-engineered with the design of a Western mech straight out of Pacific Rim.
Hood's aggressive stance completely froze.
The High-End stood perfectly still in the dirt, and for the first time since his creation.. looked up.
And up.
And up.
Throughly experiencing the feeling of a dwarf before a skyscrapper.
"So..." Inside the armored giant, Yuta slowly looked around. "This is what my Perfect Susanoo looks like."
Honestly, he had never done this before. Prior to understanding his second pupil Technique, he had come up with countless applications and even tested some.
But for this particular scenario, he wasn't even sure it would work. Whatever thoughts he had concerning his current battle briefly disappeared as his lips curved up beneath his mask. Seconds later, he was practically grinning like a maniac.
Having nearly achieved the goal he set for himself when he chose his hero name nearly two months ago, he examined the massive frame surrounding him before letting out a disappointed sigh.
"...Smaller than I expected." Apparently the covenant still wasn't enough. Either the sacrifice hadn't been sufficient... Or his chakra simply hadn't reached the level required to draw out its complete form.
Still...
His visible eye settled upon Hood.
"It'll do."
Under his will, the Perfect Susanoo raised one of its gigantic six hands and reached across its own body. Fingers wrapped around the enormous serrated bone chain. Across the battlefield, Hood's breathing quickened.
"Strong .." His muscles trembled with exhilaration as a manic grin spread across his face, revealing rows of razor sharp teeth.
This was what he was built for.
"...Strong..." His wings spread wide.
"...Finally..." ... Following which, the jets shot out from his back, propelling him forward.
"...LET ME TEST..." With a guttural roar, a storm of dust followed as he blasted straight up into the sky, rocketing directly toward the Susanoo's masked face.
"...MY NEW POWER ON ...'
The words were severed halfway through his throat. Without a shred of hesitation or cinematic delay, the Perfect Susanoo fluidly lashed out.
The sound of the energy whip braking through the sound barrier fell echoed throughout the wasteland.
SHRRRRRKKKKK—!!
The earth split apart in an instant from the sheer kinetic force. The resulting shockwave tore across the land. The spire Yuta had stood on, the cracked valleys, and the rocky plateaus within a three-mile radius were destroyed in a single stroke.
Silence.
Several moments passed. As far as the eye could see, dust rose to the skies across the newly wrecked plains. Yuta stood silently within the armored crown, his eyes watching the gray clouds settle.
"...Did that do it?"
Meanwhile, buried beneath countless tons of shattered earth lay what remained of Hood. Nothing. Nothing except his head. At the last second, it had managed to rip off its own head and toss it aside to escape what would have been certain death. It has still been blown away into the dirt by the shockwave regardless. The rest of his body had simply ceased to exist.
At the same time, fresh flesh slowly crawled from the severed neck. Muscle, bone and organs began the usual regeneration process. Yet the excitement that had filled Hood's yellow eyes moments earlier had vanished.
Replaced by a blank, frozen expression of pure, unadulterated confusion.
"...Why..." His primitive brain couldn't compute the sheer disparity in scale. Had it sought strong opponents ... Only to find one this strong?
CRACK.
Hood instinctively looked upward. High above, one of the enormous cannons mounted upon the Perfect Susanoo's arm had rotated downward. Its glowing barrel pointed directly at him.
'Shit! This thing has ridiculous vitality.' Yuta thought upon locating Hood. Orange light rapidly condensed inside.
For the second time in a row, every instinct inside the High-End screamed the same word.
Death.
"...No..."
The confusion instantly shattered, drifting into a wild, frantic panic. His cellular regeneration scrambled erratically, abandoning the torso entirely as hundreds of black fibers tried to force a pair of flight wings from his temples to drag his head away from the target line. He unfortunately didn't even get an inch off the ground.
BOOOOOOOOOOM—!!
The energy cannon discharged a solid, blinding beam of concentrated chakra fire. The pillar of light slammed directly into the crater, completely engulfing the High-End's head and incinerating every single cell down to the molecular level before drilling a bottomless void into the wasteland.
In the outside world, less than a single second had passed. To the naked eye, Hood had simply condensed his black tendrils, preparing to hammer his massive fists down onto the stationary ribcage of Yuta's early-stage Susanoo.
But the exact millisecond the Mugen Kōya snapped shut and the illusory world collapsed, the lethal damage was instantly and perfectly transplanted into reality.
VUM.
Hood's entire physical body violently stiffened mid-air. His yellow eyes went completely dull as a brilliant, blinding orange light suddenly fractured outward through his skin, bleeding from his pores, his chest, and his eyes.
BOOOOOOOOOOM!!
The apex Nomu detonated from the inside out, triggering a massive explosion that filled the morning sky with an expanding ring of fire. The shockwave ripped across the abandoned industrial district, shattering the remaining windows of the surrounding factories.
Perched high on the watchtower, Setsuna's floating head blinked rapidly, her dark hair whipping wildly in the heat of the blast. Her jaw remained slightly slack as she stared at the massive fireball dissipating into drifting black soot.
Static violently buzzed through her earpiece. "Lizardy! Lizardy, report!" Majestic's voice barked through the comms line, laced with urgent panic. "We felt the shockwave from blocks away. What just happened over there?!"
"I..." Setsuna swallowed hard, her floating hand reaching up to touch her own cheek as if to confirm she was still in one piece. "I don't... Sensei, the Nomu just... it just blew up. It's completely gone."
The live footage from the news helicopters circling the perimeter caught the entire flash, broadcasting the sudden, spectacular elimination of the nation's newest nightmare to every emergency channel across Japan.
Down below, the dense cloud of smoke and ash slowly parted.
Yuta stepped calmly out of the haze, his boots making soundless thuds against the cracked concrete where Hood had hoovered above only seconds prior. He felt a heavy, dull ache throbbing behind his temples.
The massive structural strain of forcing a Perfect Susanoo took its toll on his nervous system.
He reached up, placing a gloved hand over his face. He gently traced the skin around his left eye. Sealed away by the absolute terms of the Keiyaku, completely unresponsive. Well, he definitely wasn't using it again anytime soon. Not that he had to anyway. Anything that required this move would need the same absurd regeneration that thing had.
Plus, he absolutely refused to believe another threat would show up today that required an MS to solve. Even if he didn't have to worry about going blind anymore, the thing was still burdening to use.
He pulled his fingers away, noting the absence of moisture while looking out over the empty, smoking crater. "Well... that was as easy as I expected."
"Hey Kid." Just then ... A voice called out from behind him. Yuta turned around only to see Nakime who he had shielded from the explosion earlier, looking at him now with intense suspicion in her eyes.
"Huh?"
The scene of Hood's destruction was captured by the cameras. Hundreds of kilometers away in Jaku city, it was still the same as silence filled the laboratory.
Dozens of monitors flickered across the dark room.
One screen replayed the live news broadcast. Another displayed seismic readings and another showed thermal output. Every graph ended the same way. A sudden massive spike, followed by Hood's explosion.
".."
The doctor's hands rapidly went over the keys, searching for an explanation of what had happened. An answer never presented itself to him.
Kyudai Garaki stared quietly at the frozen image of the industrial district. His wrinkled fingers tightened around his cane.
"...Destroyed?" The transmission had failed before his instruments could properly identify what had happened. The only thing his sensors had managed to record ...was an energy output so violent that several monitoring devices had burned themselves out trying to measure it.
He slowly removed his glasses.
"...Impossible."
High-Ends were masterpieces, living weapons refined over years of hard work and research. Even All For One had acknowledged Hood's potential. He had expected a spectacular battle leading to Half the city's destruction, or Hood being surrounded by multiple heroes before his death, if he died that is. Yet the High End had just... Ceased to exist without any explanation whatsoever.
'Him again?' Garaki's eyes fell on the image of the boy. He had been far from Hood and yet ... Was the only cause he could think of for his destruction.
He still couldn't explain it. Whatever method had been used, Hood had been erased so completely that there wasn't even enough biological matter left for analysis. Years of research... gone in an instant.
"...How troublesome."
Just then—
"Hey doctor?"
Garaki blinked once before turning away from the monitors.
Toga was still restrained inside one of the containment chairs where Hood had deposited the League after the retrieval. The others occupied similar restraints throughout the laboratory, unconscious from their injuries and the strain of the emergency extraction.
The old man adjusted his spectacles.
"...Ah."
He walked towards Toga, then proceeded to walk past her without another word, stopping beside the nearest examination table.
Tomura Shigaraki lay motionless upon it. Bandages wrapped around most of his torso, fresh medical tubing disappearing beneath the sheets.
Garaki placed two fingers against the side of his neck.
"...Hm."
A second later, the doctor withdrew his hand with a quiet sigh.
"You are remarkably fortunate, Tomura." He glanced over the extensive trauma reports displayed beside the bed.
"Several fractured ribs. Internal hemorrhaging. Severe muscular damage... and a concussion significant enough to leave you unconscious for quite some time."
His expression remained unreadable. "It will take weeks before your body recovers."
Silence lingered for a moment. "...Though," Garaki murmured, adjusting his glasses once more, "I cannot say I expect very much from you anymore."