Nagato's eyes fell on the figure lying broken across the shattered ground.It was the Nomu.
The monster's screech echoed faintly, more pained than feral, its frame reduced to something almost pitiful. The left half of its head was gone, the chest blasted open, its right arm shrivelled and useless.
Where Bakugo's explosion had hit, the wound was cauterised shut, charred black.
From the hulking beast that once stood ten feet tall, only a twisted two-foot husk remained, twitching against the dirt.
Bakugo hovered for a moment, his chest heaving, sweat dripping, before slowly descending. His boots scraped the ground as he walked up, smirking-"That's how you do it."
He glanced at Midoriya, then at Nagato But Nagato's eyes didn't leave the broken Nomu.
Bakugo frowned and followed his gaze.
The sound of tearing flesh filled the silence. Nomu's remaining arm reached across its body, fingers clawing into the cauterised wound, ripping it open.
Blood hissed against the still-seared flesh and then, unbelievably, new tissue began to form. Muscle fibres crawled over bone.
Skin knitted itself back together.
"The hell?!" Bakugo's voice cracked, disbelief plain on his face. "This thing's still alive?!"
From the rubble nearby, a warped portal shimmered.
Out stepped Shigaraki, his frame scorched and blistered, smoke rising from his clothes. He stumbled, his body damaged but his grin still wide.
"Heh… you thought you could kill this monster? The one made to slaughter the Symbol of Peace?" His laugh broke into a rasping cough, then swelled again into a shrill cackle.
"Dream on!"
Sparks filled the air.Bakugo's aura ignited in light orange arcs of crackling electricity.Midoriya's body lit up in streaks of lime green energy.
Both were ready to charge again.
But then Nagato lifted his hand."Let me handle it."
The air itself seemed to hush at his words.Midoriya blinked.
Bakugo looked at him with wide eyes.
Then, with a grin, He stepped back anyway."Tch. Fine."
Then looked at Shigaraki, "You guys are cooked now."
Nagato raised his hand toward the Nomu.
The monster was already half-way healed, its body stretching back to its former size, legs knitting together with unnatural speed.
Then, from thin air, a black rod materialised.
Sleek.
Sharp.
It shot forward like a bullet and impaled Nomu through the torso, pinning it to the ground.
The battlefield stilled.
Even the wind seemed to stop moving.
Seconds passed.
Nothing happened.
Shigaraki tilted his head.
Then a strangled laugh tore from his throat."Haha… what's this? Throwing little rods now? Bwahaha! Pathetic! Puny tricks like that won't stop my Nomu! NOMU! Kill them!"
The Nomu didn't move.
"NOMU!" Shigaraki screeched again, voice cracking. Still nothing.
He stumbled forward, confusion painting his face for the first time.
"N-nomu?"
The Nomu lay completely still.
Its body frozen, no regeneration, no twitch, no sound.
As if something inside it had been switched off.
"What the hell?"- Shigaraki.
Midoriya's eyes widened, voice excited. "Nagato?! What… what is this? You haven't shown us anything like this before!"
Bakugo snarled, pointing a finger at him. "Yeah! We said no secrets, damn it!"
Nagato exhaled, lowering his hand slowly. His voice was calm, almost apologetic."Wait, guys. I only figured it out a couple of weeks ago. So chill. I'll tell you what it is soon."
Bakugo's jaw tightened but he stayed quiet.
Midoriya still looked stunned.
On the other side, Shigaraki stood trembling, his burnt hand scratching furiously at his neck until blood seeped down.
Anger boiled in his voice, yet under it a different edge crept through.
Fear.
-----------
Just when Shigaraki's mind twisted through rage and fear, scratching his burned neck until streaks of blood ran, a voice cut across the burning air, a voice that made the walls themselves tremble and even the smoke hesitate in its climb.
"WATASHIGA… KITAAA!!"
A colossal blast ripped through the entrance of USJ, the front wall exploding into fragments of steel and concrete, fire and dust spiralling outward, and through that storm a figure emerged with the force of a hurricane.
His white shirt clung to his broad frame, his tie whipped like a banner, his light beige pants shredded at the edges from the sheer impact of his arrival.
The Symbol of Peace had arrived.
His usual smile was there, stretched across his jaw, dazzling and unyielding, but it flickered for the briefest instant, rising and falling in a heartbeat, the mask of endless strength cracking in tiny glimpses that only those watching carefully could notice, yet to the world it still shone like the morning sun.
His eyes swept the battlefield.
The training ground was gone, transformed into a wasteland of fire and ash.
Steel beams twisted like broken bones, Some still red due to blast, floors ripped into jagged craters, the air choked with thick black smoke that seared the lungs. It hurt simply to breathe.
All Might's gaze darted right.
Todoroki and Aizawa were huddled within an ice chamber, frost cracking along its surface, keeping them barely shielded from the inferno.
Relief flickered in his chest, but it was cut short as his eyes roamed further.
Bodies of villains littered the ground, groaning or unconscious, some twisted in unnatural shapes from brutal impacts.
The stench of scorched flesh hung heavy.
And then his eyes caught the group on the other side.
Nagato , cloak fluttering against the hot winds.
Beside him stood both , Midoriya and Bakugo.
"It's All Might!" Midoriya's voice cracked, relief and awe mixing into one.
Bakugo's gaze landed on All Might- "Tch. Took him long enough."
Even Nagato, who had not flinched through the chaos, allowed the corners of his lips to curve upward. "So finally he's here."
And like an afterimage cutting through reality, the figure of All Might blurred forward, his massive frame appearing before the students in a single step.
The oppressive smoke cleared around him as if bowing.
"Young heroes," his voice rang steady and warm, the sound alone carrying weight that made hearts ease, "it's okay now. "
"Why? Because I am here."
Bakugo clicked his tongue, folding his arms. "Heh. You came when the work's already done."
All Might blinked, caught off guard, then broke into his booming laugh, patting Bakugo's back so hard the boy stumbled forward with a curse. "HAAHAAHAAH! You all did good. Very good. But now leave it to us pros."
On the other side of the battlefield, Shigaraki froze in place.
His wide, cracked grin twitched, "Alll Miiiightttt…"
His body trembled, rage boiling, eyes locked on the man who embodied everything he despised.
Behind him, Kurogiri's dark form shifted, whispering low, calm, urgent. "Young master… we must go. They are here."
Shigaraki snarled, but his pupils flickered.
He gritted his teeth so hard his jaw popped, his hand flexing with murderous desire, yet finally he snapped his gaze toward the Nomu's lifeless husk, still impaled by the black rod.
Slowly, he lifted his hands, and a portal blossomed behind him, dark mist swirling.
He fell backwards deliberately, his frame sinking into the black.
But before he completely vanished, his eyes snapped to Nagato,
"You… we will meet again."
Nagato tilted his head,
"Leaving so soon?"
A flick of his wrist.
Another black rod streaked like lightning, piercing the air, slamming into Shigaraki's shoulder before he could fully vanish.
The villain coughed, blood spilling from his lips, his body jolting with shock.
Then the portal closed, swallowing him whole.