The moment Reiji Garaki fully took control of Kurotsuki's body, the battlefield stopped feeling real.
The sky above Kurogane Atoll twisted unnaturally as black fractures spread across the storm clouds like cracks through shattered glass. Rain evaporated before touching the ground while violent tremors surged through the collapsing island beneath everyone's feet.
Heroes across the battlefield froze instinctively.
Not because of fear alone.
Because their bodies reacted before their minds could process the danger.
Several pro heroes collapsed immediately from the pressure radiating outward. Even experienced veterans struggled to breathe as darkness spread across the atmosphere like living corruption.
At the center of the shattered battlefield, Kurotsuki's body continued mutating violently.
Black veins pulsed beneath pale skin while unstable distortions bent reality around him in uneven waves. His silver eyes glowed brighter than before, but the expression behind them no longer belonged entirely to Kurotsuki.
Garaki smiled through him.
At first, the smile looked human.
Then it widened too far.
"I understand now," the creature whispered.
Its voice echoed unnaturally across the battlefield, layered between Garaki and Kurotsuki simultaneously.
"The singularity was never the destination."
The pressure around him exploded outward again.
Entire sections of Kurogane Atoll collapsed into the ocean instantly while tsunami waves formed around the island.
Several hundred meters away, Izuku struggled to remain standing.
Blood ran down the side of his face while black-green lightning flickered violently beneath his skin. The strange power awakened during Shibuya surged uncontrollably around One For All like something alive.
But for the first time since the battle began—
Izuku felt uncertainty.
Not because Garaki was stronger.
Because he genuinely did not understand what was happening to himself anymore.
Garaki slowly turned toward him.
"And you," he said softly, "are more important than I imagined."
Danger Sense screamed violently.
Garaki disappeared.
The battlefield exploded.
Izuku barely reacted in time before a monstrous force slammed into him and launched him across the island hard enough to vaporize the remains of multiple steel fortresses behind him.
Pain detonated through his entire body.
Before he could recover, Garaki appeared again.
Too fast.
His hand wrapped around Izuku's throat before smashing him downward through layers of underground structures. Steel and concrete collapsed around them while seawater erupted upward through shattered foundations.
Garaki lifted him effortlessly.
"You feel it now, don't you?" he whispered.
Black distortions pulsed around his body.
"Your body is waking up."
Izuku grabbed Garaki's wrist desperately while One For All surged violently through his damaged limbs.
"I don't know what you're talking about…"
Garaki's smile widened.
"That is because he hid the truth from you."
Then darkness erupted.
A massive shockwave tore through the underground chamber as another force collided directly against Garaki.
All For One.
The former Demon King drove Garaki backward through sheer force before landing beside Izuku silently.
His coat was torn.
Blood stained one side of his face.
One arm showed damage from the earlier battle against Kyodai Garaki.
Yet the pressure around him remained overwhelming.
Garaki observed him calmly.
"My old friend," he said softly. "Still protecting him?"
All For One's expression darkened slightly.
"You've gone insane, Reiji."
Garaki laughed.
"No."
Darkness expanded around him violently.
"I evolved."
The next second, the battlefield descended into chaos again.
Gravity distortions collided against black singularities while kinetic shockwaves shattered entire underground sectors of Kurogane Atoll. All For One unleashed dozens of stolen quirks simultaneously while Garaki countered with horrifying precision.
The island trembled continuously beneath them.
Izuku forced himself upright despite the agony tearing through his body.
He tried activating One For All again—
and pain exploded through his nervous system instantly.
His body froze.
Black-green energy surged uncontrollably beneath his skin while violent tremors spread through his muscles.
Garaki noticed immediately.
"There it is," he whispered.
All For One's eyes widened slightly.
"…Damn it."
Garaki laughed louder.
"You can't suppress it anymore."
Another collision between them shattered the underground chamber completely, launching everyone back onto the surface battlefield above. Rain and storm winds exploded around them while the remains of Kurogane Atoll continued sinking slowly into the ocean.
Heroes looked upward in horror as Garaki emerged from the destruction untouched.
Behind him, darkness spread endlessly across the sky.
Star and Stripe attacked first.
"The atmosphere around Garaki will reject energy distortion!"
Reality bent briefly around him.
Then shattered instantly.
Garaki simply walked through the effect.
Arjun Dev descended beside Bakugo and Shoto while divine energy erupted around his body.
"He's adapting too quickly," Arjun warned.
"He's not adapting," All For One said quietly.
Everyone turned toward him.
For the first time since arriving at Kurogane Atoll—
he looked genuinely troubled.
Garaki smiled knowingly.
"Tell them."
Silence spread across the battlefield.
Rain continued falling while distant explosions echoed across the collapsing island.
Izuku slowly looked toward his father.
"…Tell us what?"
All For One remained silent for several long seconds.
Then he exhaled quietly.
"When you were born," he said, "you had a quirk."
The battlefield froze.
Izuku's eyes widened instantly.
"What…?"
Garaki spread his arms theatrically.
"Finally."
All For One continued speaking calmly despite the chaos around them.
"Your body couldn't handle it. Even as an infant, the quirk was destroying your nervous system from the inside."
Fragments of memory flashed through Izuku's mind.
Hospitals.
Machines.
His mother crying.
Doctors speaking in frightened voices.
"You were dying," All For One admitted quietly. "Slowly. Painfully."
Izuku stared at him speechlessly.
"That's impossible…"
"I removed it myself," All For One said.
Silence followed.
Even Bakugo looked stunned.
"You… took his quirk?"
All For One looked directly at Izuku.
"I lied to everyone. The doctors. Your mother. Even you."
Garaki laughed softly.
"The successor to One For All was never truly quirkless. Isn't that beautiful?"
Fragments suddenly connected inside Izuku's mind.
Shibuya.
The blackout.
The unknown power against Virex.
Kurotsuki calling him a vessel.
The reason his body survived impossible damage repeatedly.
All For One's voice lowered slightly.
"I did not take your quirk because I feared you."
For the first time—
regret appeared clearly in his expression.
"I took it because I was afraid of losing my son."
The battlefield fell silent.
Even Garaki stopped smiling briefly.
Izuku stood motionless beneath the storm while his mind struggled to process everything at once.
"You… kept it all this time?"
All For One nodded once.
"I intended to return it someday when your body became strong enough to survive it."
Garaki laughed again.
"And One For All stabilized him beautifully."
Darkness spread violently around Garaki's body as his pressure intensified further.
"You delayed the inevitable, old friend. Nothing more."
Then he attacked again.
The battlefield exploded into chaos instantly.
Heroes surged forward desperately while Garaki overwhelmed them with terrifying ease. Bakugo and Shoto attacked together while Arjun unleashed divine energy powerful enough to fracture sections of Garaki's defenses.
None of it lasted.
Garaki kept evolving.
Kept adapting.
Every second made him stronger.
Izuku watched silently while the war unfolded around him.
Then All For One stepped beside him.
In his hand rested a small black sphere of compressed energy.
A quirk factor.
Izuku stared at it silently.
"That's…"
"Yes," All For One said quietly.
The pressure around the sphere felt ancient.
Wild.
Violent.
Like a heartbeat.
"I sealed it inside myself for years," All For One admitted. "Even I could barely contain it."
Garaki noticed immediately.
For the first time—
fear crossed his expression.
"No…"
All For One looked toward Izuku.
"You are strong enough now."
Izuku's hands trembled slightly.
"If I take that…"
"You may surpass both One For All and me."
The battlefield shook violently as Garaki tore through another group of heroes nearby.
"Hurry up!" Bakugo roared through bloodied teeth.
All For One held the sphere toward his son.
Not as a king.
Not as a monster.
As a father.
And for the first time in his life—
Izuku fully understood how much this man had changed.
Slowly, he reached forward.
The moment his fingers touched the sphere—
the world exploded in green-black light.
Lightning erupted violently across the battlefield while reality itself trembled around Izuku's body. The pressure radiating outward forced even powerful heroes backward.
"That feeling inside you…" All For One said quietly.
"The tremors. The instability. The power that awakened during Shibuya."
Izuku stared at the sphere while green-black lightning flickered uncontrollably around his arms.
"…What about it?"
All For One's expression darkened slightly.
"A small fragment of your original quirk never fully disappeared."
Even Garaki stopped moving briefly.
Izuku's eyes narrowed.
"What do you mean?"
"When I removed your quirk as a child, I believed I had taken all of it," All For One admitted. "But quirks are tied to the body more deeply than even I understood."
Fragments surfaced again inside Izuku's mind.
The tremors after intense battles.
The strange pressure inside his chest whenever One For All surged too violently.
The blackout during Shibuya.
The unknown force that destroyed Virex.
All For One continued quietly.
"A small presence remained dormant inside your nervous system. Less than five percent of the original factor."
Garaki smiled slowly.
"And then One For All nurtured it."
Nana Shimura's voice echoed inside One For All.
"So that's why…"
The vestiges finally understood.
Why Izuku's body evolved unnaturally fast.
Why his recovery surpassed logic.
Why Danger Sense reacted strangely around him.
Why Kurotsuki kept referring to him as something beyond human.
All For One looked directly at Izuku.
"The power that awakened during Shibuya was not new."
His voice lowered slightly.
"It was yours."
Lightning exploded around Izuku violently.
His heart pounded harder.
"…Only five percent caused all of that?"
Garaki laughed softly.
"Your father underestimated what you inherited."
The pressure radiating from the black sphere intensified further.
Even holding it appeared difficult for All For One now.
"When One For All manifested your dormant quirk factor again," he explained carefully, "your body began trying to restore itself completely. But without the missing core…"
He looked toward the sphere.
"…the regeneration remained incomplete."
Izuku finally understood.
The tremors.
The instability.
The feeling that something inside him was trying to wake up.
It had never been random.
His original quirk was calling itself back together.
Garaki spread his arms slowly while darkness consumed more of the battlefield.
"Do you understand now, Izuku?" he asked softly.
"You were never meant to be ordinary."
The ocean around Kurogane Atoll surged violently while Garaki's power continued mutating the environment itself.
"You are the singularity humanity was always moving toward."
Izuku clenched his fists.
"No."
Garaki tilted his head slightly.
"I'm not becoming a monster like you."
For the first time—
Garaki's smile faded.
All For One glanced toward his son quietly.
Then he spoke again.
"Your quirk's name…"
Izuku looked toward him.
"…I called it Genesis."
The moment he said the name—
the black sphere pulsed violently in response.