Kamino was drowning in total chaos. The streets that had been pulsing with life had turned into arenas of pure terror. Cars abandoned at random, people running in every direction, their panicked screams filling the air alongside the roar of explosions. Police and ambulance sirens were tearing through the night from every direction, trying to carve paths through the terrified crowds.
Amid this destruction, five people were making their way forward with caution. Midoriya, Todoroki, Iida, Kirishima, and Yaoyorozu, moving at a quick pace through the crowds, completely hidden beneath their loose cloaks.
Todoroki quickly pulled his phone from under his cloak and brought it to his ear amid the noise, waiting for an answer.
"Bakugo." Todoroki said in a low but tense voice. "Are you and Zoro alright? Did you make it to the meeting point we agreed on?"
Bakugo's voice came from the other end carrying his usual sharp tone despite the exhaustion. "Yes, I've been here for a while waiting for you, Half and Half! Do you think I have trouble with directions like that idiot I'm carrying?!"
Midoriya whispered anxiously while watching their surroundings. "Todoroki, ask him about Zoro's condition!"
"What about Zoro?" Todoroki relayed the question immediately. "Did he wake up or is he still unconscious?"
Bakugo exhaled with irritation mixed with hidden tension. "Still completely unconscious. That moss-headed idiot is way too stubborn. Even after losing all that blood, he's still alive." A beat of silence before he asked sharply. "What about the rest of you? Is everything fine? Do you have the swords?!"
"Yes, the swords are with us and everything is fine." Todoroki replied in a calm tone. "We're close to you. Stay where you are."
At the same time, in the arena of the shattered factory.
"Detroit..."
All Might grabbed Gran Torino with his left hand and pulled him out of the danger zone in a fraction of a second, and in the same motion drove a devastating punch toward All For One with his right hand.
"SMAAAASH!"
The mighty fist collided with All For One's open palm. Their hands interlocked and terrifying red and black sparks exploded from the tyrant's body. The intense pressure born from the collision generated fierce storm winds that tore through the air around them. From the force of the friction and the power being released, the sleeves of both arms tore completely and turned to shreds flying in the storm.
All Might stepped back, coughing hot blood from his mouth, while All For One remained standing like a mountain, his arm raised without shifting even an inch.
"Blocked it with raw power, did you?" All For One said in a quiet voice. He tilted his head slightly and added. "You're fighting at full capacity now that you've helped your students escape." He laughed softly with menace. "But I won't allow that."
All Might stood directly before him, gasping heavily, while Gran Torino lay on the ground beside him.
All For One slowly turned his head and looked at the other side of the destroyed factory. The surrounding buildings had been leveled, flames consuming what remained of the rubble, and defenseless civilians lying injured and groaning in pain.
He brought his gaze back to his adversary. "If that swordsman and your other students escaped with him, there are still many things here that heroes need to protect. Isn't that right?"
All Might ground his teeth hard, the veins of anger standing out on his forehead and neck.
"Shut up!" He roared with a voice that shook the entire space.
He tightened his fists until they nearly bled, and screamed with a bitterness that squeezed his heart. "You manipulate people like this always! You crush them! You steal from them! You exploit them and control them!"
In the background, the scenes were heartbreaking. People suffering under rubble amid raging fires while the remaining pro heroes desperately tried to provide help and preserve lives.
All Might continued his shout, his eyes burning with pure blue fury. "You mock in the most irrational way anyone who simply tries to live their life!"
All For One replied with a cold, simple tone completely empty of any trace of empathy. "And why should anyone do otherwise?"
Those words were the drop that overflowed the glass. All Might roared with absolute fury and in an eye-blink that exceeded the speed of sound appeared directly in front of All For One's face.
All Might expanded his right arm to an enormous size and seized All For One's left arm with a crushing grip, driving his fingers into it to prevent him from escaping or using the reversal ability.
"I cannot forgive this!"
With a roar that split the sky, All Might drove a left hook with every ounce of his strength directly into the tyrant's face. All For One's mask shattered with a horrifying crack but All Might didn't stop. He kept his fist buried in his enemy's face and surged downward with his full weight, driving All For One's head into the concrete with a violence that sent a quake through all of Kamino, scattering dust and rubble like a volcanic eruption.
Gran Torino awoke at the impact of that terrifying blow. He raised his head with difficulty to look at All Might's back.
"Toshinori." The old man whispered.
Then his eyes widened in shock. Thick smoke had begun rising from All Might's entire body, and his massive muscular form had begun to dissolve, approaching his true thin and frail shape.
"You've reached your absolute limit." Gran Torino said with a trembling heart.
And from inside the deep crater, from beneath All Might's fist, All For One's voice rose cold and provocative despite his shattered mask.
"What's the matter? You seem very angry about something, All Might. I heard the same thing before."
All For One began laughing with an unhinged intensity, his laughter echoing in All Might's ears like venom.
The symbol of peace gasped, and his pupils widened in a shock that completely paralyzed him.
The tyrant continued with a voice dripping with gloating. "From the previous holder of One For All. Shimura Nana."
In one of the dark back streets completely empty of any passersby, where Bakugo had landed with Zoro, the students finally assembled. Midoriya, Todoroki, Iida, Kirishima, and Yaoyorozu arrived gasping beneath their cloaks.
They gathered quickly around Zoro and the state of his body hit them like a blow. He bore the marks of a lethal battle. A deep, frightening wound tore through his left shoulder with blood flowing heavily from it to stain the cold ground beneath his back. His right forearm carried another sharp cut, along with countless wounds and bruises scattered across every part of his body, testifying to the hell he had just come out of.
"My god. This is worse than I imagined." Kirishima said in a trembling voice as he stared at the bleeding.
They began speaking quickly in tense whispers, trying to find a solution.
"Do we take him to the hospital ourselves? Or call an ambulance and leave him here?" Iida asked with intense worry. "We can't let anyone see us or our identities will be exposed."
Yaoyorozu intervened with firmness, placing her hands on the ground to activate her ability. "First we need immediate first aid. I'll make medical bandages to stop the deep bleeding in his left shoulder before he loses whatever blood he has left. After that we can decide our next step."
And while they were discussing around him with tension consuming their nerves, they all froze in their places suddenly.
A wave of suffocating, sudden heat swept through the narrow alley to the degree that the cold drops of sweat on their faces evaporated.
From among the shadows of rising smoke at the end of the street, a massive figure emerged surrounded by blazing flames. His footsteps were heavy and measured, the ground trembling lightly with each one. The flame hero Endeavor stood at the entrance of the alley, his eyes burning with a sweeping fury.
Because of the pitch darkness and the loose cloaks that covered the students' features and bodies, Endeavor couldn't identify them. All the pro hero saw was a group of suspicious disguised figures gathered around the missing boy they were searching for. Zoro, who lay on the ground soaked in his own blood.
"You filth." Endeavor growled in a voice boiling like lava, believing without a shred of doubt that they were a group of villains trying to flee with the victim. "Did you actually think you could run away with him?!"
The temperature of the space rose to an unbearable degree. Endeavor raised his massive fist and flames gathered around it densely. He surged toward them at a terrifying speed that didn't match his enormous frame, intending to burn them where they stood.
The students' eyes widened in terror and they froze in their places. And in the moment when the flames were about to consume them:
"Stop!" Todoroki screamed at the top of his voice.
With a desperate, rapid motion he yanked the cloak from his head and body and threw it to the ground, revealing his scarred half-face and distinctive hair.
Endeavor stopped where he stood with a violent brake as if lightning had struck him. The flames dissolved from around his fist in a fraction of a second and sparks flew through the air as he stared in absolute shock at the young man standing before him.
Quickly the rest of the students rushed to remove their cloaks. Midoriya appeared, and Iida, and Kirishima, and Yaoyorozu, and Bakugo who stood with caution while his eyes watched Endeavor with sharpness and his hands ready.
Endeavor absorbed the scene in a single moment. He approached them at slower steps this time, his gaze shifting from lethal fury to cold, calculated sternness. His harsh eyes met the terrified eyes of the students, and he broke the silence with his deep, resonant voice.
"I know exactly what you've done."
The words fell on them like a hammer. Iida stepped forward and bowed his head quickly. "We apologize! We acted with tremendous recklessness and..."
"Not now." Endeavor cut him off with a firm, decisive voice that silenced Iida immediately.
The hero moved his gaze directly toward Zoro lying on the ground. He stared at the deep wound in his left shoulder and the blood flowing from it without pause. Endeavor's features tightened and he spoke with the seriousness of a professional who doesn't mix duty with personal anger.
"Our priority is saving this boy."
Endeavor stepped toward them and despite his terrifying presence and the heat radiating from his body, he bent down and lifted Zoro's body with extreme care to avoid worsening the bleeding of his wounds. He looked toward the end of the street where several pro hero ambulances were stationed.
He then turned slowly to direct his gaze toward the six students. The flames of his mustache dimmed slightly but his expression was heavier than mountains. "If anyone sees you here, you'll go from reckless students to an official problem." He paused to make sure his message had penetrated their trembling minds, then added with a finality that accepted no argument. "Go back to your homes. We'll talk about this later."
Endeavor turned his back on them, carrying Zoro with care, and walked away into the darkness to hand him over to the medics.
The students exhaled with difficulty, as if an entire mountain had been lifted from their chests. Midoriya nodded to Bakugo and the others, and they began withdrawing quickly into the dark alley, moving away from the site of events as fast as they could before anyone other than Endeavor could spot them.
But at that exact moment, on the other side of the city, the breath of the entire world stopped.
While the students were running through the alleys moving away, the sky suddenly lit up with a terrifying white flash, followed by a catastrophic explosion that shook the ground beneath their feet as if it would swallow them. They all stopped running and turned to look at one of the massive screens hanging on the facade of a distant building, which was broadcasting the live direct feed from news helicopters circling above the real battlefield.
Midoriya's and Bakugo's eyes went wide with terror, and the blood froze in everyone's veins as they stared at the screen.
Under the eyes of millions of people frozen in front of their televisions, the thick smoke cleared from the center of the destruction in Kamino. The mighty symbol they knew was no longer there. The powerful muscles had vanished, and the confident smile that used to plant reassurance had disappeared entirely.
All Might stood amid the rubble in his true body. Thin. Frail. Gasping with difficulty, and blood covering his face. His secret had been exposed to the entire world and there was no longer any possibility of hiding it.
And above him, All For One was floating in the air, hovering like a devil savoring his victory, preparing a terrifying black attack, ready to deliver the finishing blow that would end the era of the symbol of peace forever.
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For Advanced Chapters:
Chapter 99 is Available Now
Alliance A-1 Life and Whispers of the Night
Zoro got a room on the fifth floor, and after tidying up his room, he went to sleep, leaving Midoriya and the others on the lower floor.
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