Amid the scattered ruins and the atmosphere charged with death, All For One turned toward his student and spoke in a quiet voice carrying the tone of dark guidance. "Keep thinking continuously, Tomura. You still have vast room to grow."
In that moment All Might surged forward with terrifying force, driving a crushing punch toward the tyrant. "I won't let you escape!"
On the other side, Mr. Compress moved quickly, exploiting the chaos to touch Dabi's unconscious body and compress him with a single press into a small blue marble that he caught with ease. Compress turned toward Shigaraki. "Let's go, Shigaraki. While the tube-masked one restrains All Might, grab that swordsman so we can flee."
Zoro heard their words clearly. And despite the blood covering his body and the pain consuming every muscle, a defiant, arrogant smile spread across his face that defied all logic. "Try that if you can."
Zoro's voice reached All Might's ears and the hero shouted in alarm, calling out to him. The symbol of peace tried to surge toward the young man to protect him, but All For One was ready. Every time All Might attempted to move toward the swordsman, the tyrant intercepted his path with devastating attacks that prevented him from advancing and forced him to hold his ground.
Behind the shattered concrete wall, Midoriya and Bakugo were peering through a small gap. The blood froze in their veins from what they were seeing.
"All For One is blocking All Might's path so he can't save Zoro." Midoriya said in a trembling voice. "And Zoro, despite his extremely difficult condition, won't retreat. He's completely surrounded."
Midoriya stepped back slightly to reveal the faces of Todoroki, Iida, Kirishima, and Yaoyorozu. Regret, confusion, and terror ruled their expressions, cold sweat pouring from their faces under the crushing weight of what was unfolding. "The League of Villains is trying to escape through that gate and take Zoro with them." Midoriya added with difficulty.
In the battlefield, Zoro rose. He could barely gather himself together. He drove Wado Ichimonji into the ground to use it as a support, and with tremendous difficulty managed to stand on his feet.
The villains had surrounded him from every side. Toga, Mr. Compress, Twice, Spinner, Magne, and Shigaraki. They formed a lethal ring around him, intending to descend on him all at once. Mr. Compress was waiting for his moment, searching for a single opening to touch Zoro and compress him into a small marble, ending this stubbornness once and for all.
But Zoro didn't surrender. He gathered every last drop of energy remaining in his body. He raised his hands slowly, placed Wado Ichimonji in his mouth and clamped his teeth around it firmly, then drew Sandai Kitetsu and Yubashiri in both hands. He stood in three-sword style with eyes blazing with ferocity. "Alright. I'm ready."
Toga launched forward with a mad laugh and dove at him trying to stab with her knives, but Zoro deflected her with a swift sword movement. In the same moment Twice attacked, throwing his metered ropes to restrain him, and Zoro deflected them again cutting their path. From the blind corner, Compress pounced trying to catch him off guard with a touch from behind, but Zoro sensed the danger instinctively and slipped away from his hand with a fluid motion despite his injuries.
Shigaraki stood watching this legendary resistance with completely stunned eyes and murmured to himself. "This isn't natural at all. When my teacher sets his eyes on something, it always carries something rare."
On the other side, All Might was fighting desperately to break free from All For One and find time to save Zoro, but the tyrant smiled coldly. "I won't allow that." All For One launched from his fingers red threads and sharp black cords that coiled around All Might's body and then hurled him with immense force across a great distance, the symbol of peace slamming into a building and shattering it completely.
Behind the wall, Bakugo could no longer contain himself. He ground his teeth with a fury that burned in his chest. "My patience is running out. Because of that moss-head's stubbornness, All Might keeps getting hurt."
"All Might and Zoro are in serious trouble." Midoriya said in terror, then stopped suddenly.
He remembered what had happened in Hosu with Hero Killer Stain. He remembered that their interference in this battle would cause catastrophic legal problems for them and the heroes, since it was a clear violation of the law because they were still only students and not licensed pro heroes.
Todoroki remembered the dog-faced inspector's warnings as well. Kirishima, Iida, and Yaoyorozu all remembered that moment. They all felt a killing frustration and complete paralysis. They whispered together in unison with despair. "We're not allowed to fight."
While everyone was drowning in hesitation, Bakugo was looking only at Zoro and at All Might. His fists were clenched so tight his knuckles had gone white. It was clear that if he found a single opening or the right moment, he would not hesitate to storm straight into hell regardless of the consequences.
In those seconds, Midoriya's mind was working at maximum speed. Analyzing, thinking, searching for any solution. He told himself: Zoro doesn't want to retreat on his own. What if we force him out? If we can save him without fighting the villains, then All Might can use his full power. He was watching Zoro struggle and defend himself, desperately searching for a way to make it happen.
In the arena, Zoro had reached his absolute limit. The strength he had gathered was nearly gone and he was beginning to lose control of his consciousness. Toga's knives broke through his defense and hit him. Twice managed to wrap his rope around Zoro's injured shoulder, multiplying his pain unbearably. Mr. Compress moved closer and Shigaraki stepped forward, extending his hand to seize the swordsman. "Your time has run out."
All Might saw this moment from a distance and screamed in terror as he tried to rise from the rubble. He understood that Zoro would be lost to them and that All For One had completed his plan.
Behind the wall, Midoriya and his companions froze. The shock silenced their tongues and hope vanished entirely from their hearts as they watched their swordsman fall.
And in that moment when everyone had surrendered to despair, pride exploded.
Without any will of his own, as a final instinctive response from a soul that refused to break, Zoro unleashed a terrifying aura. It was not a physical attack but a crushing spiritual pressure. Conqueror's Haki. Zoro himself didn't understand what had happened or how this power had emerged from him in that moment when his mind had gone dark.
Suddenly the arena turned on its head. The air became heavy as mountains. Breathing seized. Toga collapsed unconscious on the spot. Twice followed, then Spinner, and the rest of the weaker villains, their bodies crumpling as if their souls had been pulled from them.
Shigaraki, who had been just steps away, froze in place like a statue. Terror seized his heart and his eyes widened in shock at this suffocating atmosphere and the terrifying shift in pressure.
From a distance All Might stopped, stunned. He didn't understand what was happening but he felt that majestic sensation that shook hearts to their foundations. As for All For One, he was completely struck. Not fear or terror, but absolute astonishment. His terrible experience told him precisely what this power was. He knew that what Zoro possessed was not ordinary Haki but the supreme Haki, the power held only by a select few destined to be kings. Behind his masked face, expressions of amazement and intense greed formed.
Behind the wall, the students froze. Kirishima trembled from the force of the pressure. "Is this what that reporter was describing at the press conference where Sensei Aizawa defended Zoro?"
"This is connected to Haki." Midoriya understood immediately. He said to himself in awe: Zoro really possesses terrifying power. I understand now exactly why All For One targeted him. Yaoyorozu was trembling and covering her mouth with both hands, while Todoroki's eyes went wide with complete bewilderment and Iida stood paralyzed, unable to believe what he was seeing.
And the moment Zoro released this Conqueror's Haki, he exhausted the last atom of his consciousness. The sword fell from his mouth and his body crumpled, falling onto his knees and going completely unconscious.
Here, amid this shock and the complete distraction of everyone present, the surprise occurred.
A massive explosion split the air. Bakugo launched into the factory's sky using his rocket explosions. And with a speed that left no room for anyone to react, he dove into the arena, grabbed Zoro's unconscious body, and continued his charging flight toward the sky to escape.
The students' eyes went wide. Iida erupted in fury at Bakugo's reckless, law-violating action while Kirishima was shocked but a wide smile appeared on his face in admiration of his courage. Midoriya shouted immediately seeing the opening. "Iida! Everyone move now to make sure Kacchan's plan succeeds!"
In the arena All For One's fury ignited and he directed an attack straight toward Bakugo in the air to bring him down, but All Might appeared at lightning speed, intercepted the attack, and then drove a powerful blow against the tyrant that sent him flying to slam into another building and destroy it.
All Might raised his eyes toward the sky, stunned by his student's presence there. "Bakugo?! When did...?!" Then he roared at full volume. "Get him out of here now!"
Below, Shigaraki snapped out of the Haki shock. He began scratching his neck with violent intensity until it nearly bled. "The swordsman got away from us." He raised his eyes to see Bakugo flying away carrying Zoro's unconscious body. He screamed with blind hatred in a voice that tore his own throat. "The second target saved the first target! Don't let them escape!"
The villains who had held against the Haki pressure moved with lethal speed. Magne surged forward brandishing her weapon and used her magnetic ability to pull Mr. Compress toward her then launch him with tremendous repulsive force. Compress shot through the air like a cannonball directly toward Bakugo, readying his hand to compress both of them into two small marbles and end this.
But the students were no longer merely spectators. The wall of fear had broken and they had decided to intervene without direct combat.
"We start now!" Yaoyorozu shouted as she threw blindingly intense flash grenades she had just produced from her body. A terrifying flash blinded the villains for one second. That single second was all Iida needed.
Iida launched forward, activating his Recipro Burst at maximum engine speed. He didn't head toward the sky but dove toward the ground where Zoro had left behind the very essence of his soul, his three swords. Before Shigaraki's destroying hand could reach the weapons, Iida slid forward at blinding speed, snatched up Wado Ichimonji and Sandai Kitetsu and Yubashiri, and bolted in retreat. And when one of the villains tried to cut off Iida's path, Kirishima stepped in with his hardened body as an impenetrable human shield, shattering the falling debris and securing his teammate's withdrawal route with the swords.
In the sky, Compress was approaching Bakugo's back at a dangerously close range and nearly touched him. Here Todoroki and Midoriya intervened in perfect synchrony.
Todoroki struck the ground with his foot, launching a massive glacial formation that swallowed the factory's open space. The ice didn't only block the villains' path and freeze their feet, it also formed a barrier preventing Magne from launching any further projectiles.
Simultaneously Midoriya leapt high and activated his power. He didn't aim toward the villains but directed his arm toward the sky where Compress and Bakugo were positioned, and released a sweeping pressure blast. The explosive winds struck Compress with force and sent him tumbling through the air, completely losing his balance, while at the same time forming a propulsive current for Bakugo that increased his flight speed and lifted him higher toward safety.
The plan worked. They had operated as a single body to save their teammate and his swords without landing a single blow against the enemy.
And as the chaos reached its peak and the villains struggled to process what had happened, a swift shadow appeared from nowhere and descended with a sudden strike that threw the remaining arena into confusion. It was the old hero, Gran Torino.
All Might smiled despite the blood on his face and directed his words to his old teacher. "What took you this long, old man?"
And in the sky, flying over the sea of ice and the light of explosions, Bakugo looked down to see his companions had secured the path and protected Zoro's swords. He tightened his grip around the unconscious swordsman's body and continued his flight into the night sky, leaving behind the arena of hell as it prepared for the awaited clash of giants.
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