32 Chapter 32 gods among us: Legendary Battle of the Gods - Hymn of Darkness Yet To Come

Whatever I had expected this battle to be, this wasn't it. I had thought that All Might was joking when he told me about AFO's power, but if anything, his stories were watered down.

After I spat a fireball in his face, All For One used a combination of quirks to almost recreate Pain's attack on the village in the Narutoverse. I say almost because this one didn't sweep away most of the buildings in Kamino... yet. Though, it did send me flying along with All Might.

I right myself to control my flight before I smack into one of the many helicopters that are currently buzzing about, looking curiously at the fight below.

Fools, the lot of them. Despite the prevalence of quirks in the world, it's an inescapable fact that some are simply more capable than others. For journalists to even attempt to get close to such a fight, it's nothing short of suicidal.

With a simple burst of wind-style chakra from my hands, I am once again heading towards AFO. He saw me coming and prepared to swat me out of the sky. I instantly brought forth a torrent of wind natured chakra in my throat

Wind Style: Air Bullet

This had two effects. Firstly, it blew me off my previous course and secondly, it forced AFO to dodge or block it. At any rate, that means that he wasted valuable time dealing with it. Especially in a battle like his one, time is of the utmost essence. A single second, no, even a tenth of a second can spell the difference between victory and defeat.

The very second that my feet touched the ground, I was off. Cyan blue lightning flashed around me as the ground broke under the tremendous strain of my kickoff. Unlike any other time I might have used the Lighting Chakra Armor, I wasn't playing around today. The near same instant I landed, I once again accelerated, this time to well beyond Mach speeds. The air around me shattered with a massive boom as I raced towards my foe. AFO reacted just as fast and put a solid guard against my punch. The earth shattered under the force of our blows as we were both pushed back.

AFO didn't even have the time to properly land that he was on the receiving end of a particularly vicious smash from All Might. This sent him flying in the opposite direction. I once again came forth intending to land another supersonic punch on his face. Unlike last time, however, he was ready.

As soon as I came within striking distance, a third arm sprouted from his back and grabbed my wrist.

He would have broken it if I hadn't reinforced it in the same millisecond that I felt him touch me. As soon as he touched me, I felt a strange force pulling me upwards and back down into the ground again. It didn't come from my arm, so it wasn't his strength that was flipping me over but the very kinetic energy that had accumulated thus far in my run. This was clearly bad. I stretched out my chakra to a close and somewhat massive piece of rubble and replaced myself with it. That, fortunately, meant that whatever kinetic energy I had was instantly passed on to the massive slab of concrete and rebar and vice versa. I could almost feel AFO's surprise as he was smacked straight in the face with a piece of rock that weighed a few tons and was traveling at least 200 km/h.

I didn't let him get back to his senses.

Fire style: Fire Dragon Bullet

Three white hot balls of flame-shaped in a dragon's head, each as big as a car sped towards the pile of rubble where AFO was, blowing it up.

Before the dust had even settled, it was blown away by a clearly pissed AFO that had taken cover under some kind of golden shield.

It was then that All Might came and delivered another of his famous smashes to that shield. It buckled for a moment, but then it bounced back, throwing All Might into a still-standing building and causing it to collapse. This little distraction allowed me to complete the sequence of hand signs for my next Jutsu.

"Lightning Release: Wrath of Indra!" I yelled

This uncharacteristic shout startled All For One for a bit. From the corner of my eye, I could see that Izuku had activated the Ten Heavenly Pillar seal, so I didn't I really need to worry about them right now.

As I began this attack, AFO tried to charge at me, but All Might stopped him. I could sense it, the power gathering in the clouds above.

"All Might, get away!" I called out

Heading my advice, he instantly disengaged and bounded away at a safe distance. AFO tried to follow, but he was stuck. During their clash, All Might was careful to leave on the ground small fuinjutsu tags for me to use. Now, with a single pulse of my chakra, a hundred chains leaped out from those tags. The chains of heaven wrapped around him and pierced his limbs, preventing him from fleeing.

"What is this!" cried out AFO as he tried ineffectively to escape

"I'm ending this. Now then, this is a momentous occasion! You shall be the first to face this attack

ALL FOR ONE!"

His eyes widened as I raised my hand that held lightning in its palm towards the heavens and spoke softly

"Kirin"

It was quiet for a moment before the heavens answered my call. Lightning flashed in the sky above and came crashing down on AFO. The light it gave off was so blinding that I could swear that night was turned into day. The ground upon which AFO stood had been turned into nothing more than ash and dust. As I looked down into the newly formed crater, I couldn't help but be shocked.

Despite the devastation that I inflicted upon him, All For One was still alive. His clothes were tattered and he was bleeding profusely, but I could see that he was still standing.

Suddenly his head snapped towards me and I could see the giant grin that was stretching across his face. I did not wait for him to move

Fire Style: Majestic Flame Destroyer

The plume of white-hot flames spread out across the crater and the surrounding area, turning it all to molten lava. Despite this, I could sense something coming from the crater.

Suddenly a hand clamped itself on my mouth and I instinctively cut off the jutsu as I was lifted by my chin. I struggled to get out of the vice grip that he had on me, but it was too strong. I turned my Sharingan back to glare at the grinning monster that came out of that inferno. Half his skull was missing its flesh and his eyes were all but cooked.

The rest of him was in a similar state, but I could see that whatever regeneration quirk he had was patching him up quite quickly. Seeing his flesh knitting back together was quite disgusting.

As I prepared a wind release jutsu to cut off his arm, he slammed me hard onto the ground an act that forced me to exhale. All Might tried to come to my rescue only to be bitch slapped away.

Thankfully he managed to not land in the field of lava had just created.

"I have to say, boy, that's quite the impressive quirk you have there. Even now, that I can feel you struggling to breathe, I can sense that power within you" he grinned "it's simply exhilarating. I haven't felt something like this since I tried to take back that quirk I loaned to my brother"

I glared at him. There was nothing I could say but tighten my hands hold over his wrist in a feeble attempt to make him let me go. His hand was over my mouth and nose and even with chakra, I could feel my strength draining as he suffocated me.

"Now, stay still and give me your quirk!" he yelled as he reached with his other hand for my forehead.

Just as he was about to touch me, my shadow clone burst from the ground and attacked him.

Well, it didn't really manage to attack as much as startle him, but it was enough for me to get a good gulp of air and let loose a wind-style attack that severed his hand. AFO roared at the wound, but I jumped back and set the severed hand alight with fire chakra. In the very next moment, I unleashed another attack

Wind Style: Breath of the Wind God

That sent AFO flying into a building on the other side of the crater and thus, he gave me some time to catch my breath. I looked around for All Might. I saw him managing to pick himself up. I wasn't going to lie, he was in a rough shape. His suit was in tatters and he was bleeding profusely. With my eyes, I could see him panting heavily. I could also see the embers of One For All in his body getting fainter. He was nearing his limit. He wasn't there yet, but close, very close.

"All Might" I called

He grunted in reply and swayed a bit. I flash stepped to his side and caught him. Scratch that, he was in really bad shape.

I heard an explosion from the place where AFO landed. I looked back at All Might and set him down

"All Might" I called to him

He looked at me

"I want you to get to safety"

"Young Madara, I can't-*cough*, *cough*"

I watched as All Might devolved in a coughing fit and began to spew blood. From AFO's side of the battlefield, a ten-story building came flying our way. With a simple application of Earth release I raised a wall the size of a skyscraper of pure granite that managed to deflect the thrown building and was summarily sent crashing to the ground.

"You've done enough, All Might. This is my turn"

All Might looked at me strangely at that but nodded. I stood up at took out my second sword, discarding its sheath.

I didn't need to look back to sense that All Might had begun moving towards one the sight of one of the crashed news helicopters that was closest to the barrier that Izuku had put up. Surprisingly enough, the barrier was still mostly intact, with only a few cracks to its name. Izuku has truly outdone himself this time.

Now, it's my turn!

Izuku cursed as he dodged another plume of blue flame headed towards him. After he managed to get his classmates and Katsuki away from the battlefield, he turned to engage the League. The first to attack him was Toga. Izuku didn't even take her seriously as he countered her knife and use his Gunbai to land a vicious attack on her. From the sound of the impact, he definitely cracked a few ribs there. As he was about to finish her off with a seal, Twice came to her rescue as he began to multiply himself.

Izuku knew that he was a high priority target in his brother's war effort against AFO's forces, and yet every time he went to strike a lethal blow to one of the clones he would inevitably have a flashback to the time at the training camp where he ended Muscular's life. It was enough for him to falter in his resolve. He managed to dispel the clone either way, but it seemed that he was incapable of actually killing anyone there. A noble quality for a hero, to be sure, but the longer Izuku fought, the less like a hero he felt.

It reminded him of something his brother once told him. To see the world in its full splendor means to be equally awed and disgusted by it. To win a war means to sacrifice your innocence, to have blood on your hands. This battle was the opening salvo in a much greater conflict, and Izuku wasn't sure that at the end of it all he would care enough about the world and the people in it to do as All Might once did and become the pillar upon which the world rests. It seemed that, in the end, his brother was right, as he always is.

Izuku flash stepped away as Shigaraki's hand came through a mist portal of Kurogiri's making. This, however, sent him right into a pack of Nomu, which were easily dispatched. It seemed that AFO decided to ditch quality in exchange for quantity when creating his Nomu. These could barely manage to survive a blow or two from Izuku before dying, though they were plenty powerful to deal with the rank and file pro-heroes on the scene.

As he looked around, he came face to face with a terrible scene. The ground was covered in the blood and guts of multiple pro-heroes and many more villains and Nomu. It was a gruesome sight and it seemed like most of the heroes that were left were going for the kill, instead of trying to subdue the villains. It was an acceptable compromise, after all, this is war.

Further away, one could see the battle taking place between the top ten and Gigantomachia. It was a sobering sight to Izuku to see the combined power of Endeavour, Mirko, Best Jeanist and Edgeshot be tanked and matched by the monstrous calamity known as Gigantomachia.

It was obvious that the strategy they had employed thus far was not working. As he finished off the last of the Nomu in his vicinity and readied himself for another run at Kurogiri, Izuku felt someone land next to him. Looking back, he saw Gran Torino, who despite breathing heavily, was stil going strong.

"Gran Torino!" called out Izuku

He looked up at the call.

"Heh, I see that you're not dead yet brat" said the old man

"Gran Torino, sir, I don't think that this is working.

We need to regroup and switch targets"

Gran nodded "What's your plan, kid?"

Izuku looked back at the battlefield. Now that he was gone for a bit, the league managed to regroup itself. Izuku could see them gathering their injured close to Kurogiri. Toga was out. The blow Izuku dealt her in the beginning was more than enough to put her out of commission. Strangely enough, Twice seemed to stay by her side quite closely. He too looked a bit ragged and it seemed that he may have somehow hit the original in all the chaos. It wasn't enough to kill or cripple him, but it seemed to have stopped the onslaught of clones so that was at the very least a plus.

Now that the league was out of commission, it was the best time to strike.

"I need you to get the other pro-heroes to stop fighting Gigantomachia. Tell them to focus on the League and especially Kurogiri. It will take some time for me to prepare my next attack and after that, I will be useless for anything except close range combat"

"Are you sure that's wise?" asked Gran Torino

"We don't have a choice. A barrage of smaller attacks hasn't made a dent in that thing and if I'm right we may just be able to get rid of it in a single attack"

Gran Torino was silent for a moment as he considered his possibilities. Izuku allowed this time to rest for a bit. While he wouldn't let it show, supporting such a great barrier, even if it drew mostly from One For All was taxing. Fortunately, the other heroes made sure that not too many villains had the chance to attack it. Still, some attacks slipped through the cracks and have made more than a few dents in the barrier. Not enough to break it, but certainly enough to weaken certain sections of it. The Jutsu he was thinking about attempting was, in a sense, a continuation of the Rasengan that his brother taught him. Although even thinking about using the technique brought forth a wellspring of feelings he didn't know how to deal with, Izuku could not deny that this was their only shot at victory. Even with fuinjutsu aiding him with adding a nature transformation to the Rasengan, and one that he was unfamiliar with at that, it would still extremely difficult and taxing.

Still, it was necessary.

Izuku knew that reusing Varuna was out of the question and he could not support enough Chains of Heaven to bind Gigantomachia, though to be frank, considering how Best Jeanist struggled to bind the giant with his carbon fiber fibers, Izuku wouldn't be surprised to see a similar attack fail.

All that was left was to try and bootleg a recreation of the Wind Style: Rasenshuriken. It may not work and it might even kill him, but that was the only option that he had. In this place, he was the only one strong enough to deal with Gigantomachia and he didn't fancy crippling himself to use 100 % One For All if such a blow would even work at taking Gigantomachia down.

"Right then, that's enough of a break. I'll get the word out, you focus on what you have to do. Leave the rest to us" said Gran Torino as he blasted off towards the fight

Izuku put the Gunbai on his back, locking it in place over the green and slightly tattered haori.

Reaching back he brought out a slightly smaller

'book' made of metal engraved in golden fuinjutsu circles. This was a tool Izuku designed for himself if this exact situation happened to occur.

Opening it, the book began to levitate as two green multistage circles appeared on top of the two sheets of metal. Izuku put his hands through them, and the green lines rearranged to form gauntlets around his hands. With a slight pulse of his chakra, Izuku brought up a complex circle betWeen his hands and began his work.

Endeavour grunted as he was thrown away once again. His retaliation was swift though, and the Nom that dared touch him found himself with the charred remains of a head.

As he continued to fight, he couldn't help but notice his colleagues' struggle against the villains.

This was supposed to be a rescue mission with All Might and Rikudou dealing with the big bad.

Originally he had chaffed at the thought that a 15-year-old was a better match for the 'big bad' than him, the number 2 hero. Endeavor knew who All For One was. Every hero worth his salt knew of him, or at the very least of his legend. Once upon a time, he thought that if push came to shove, he, Endeavour, could defeat All For One. Looking out over the wasteland that was once a vibrant city outside the great barrier that was created by Rikudou's younger brother, Endeavour now understood where he stood. He was a man. He stood at the peak of human potential. Rikudou... was something else.

The rest of the top ten pro heroes involved in this operation were all here, and almost all were trying to deal with the horde of villains that came out of the woodwork. And it wasn't only small-time villains coming to the surface here, but monsters like the living calamity known as Gigantomachia.

Endeavor and Mirko had both tried to attack the giant only to be repelled. Edgeshot either couldn't manage to find something that he could mess with inside of it, or it healed so fast that it didn't matter what he did. At any rate, he was useless.

Best Jeanist was the only one slightly successful in his actions. He managed to restrain the monster, but it was not enough. The other villains were fresh, and they were pouring in like a never-ending stream. In the end, it fell onto Endeavour and the others to defend leanist as he restrained what could be the villains biggest piece this had the unfortunate repercussion of foisting the responsibility of taking care of the other Nomu and villains onto the other pro heroes.

Just as he was about to attack another foolish villain, Endeavour felt something land next to him.

Looking back, he saw an old hero in a yellow cape

"Endeavour, you and the others need to be ready to withdraw!" yelled Gran Torino

"What! Are you crazy old man?" yelled Mirko as she smacked yet another villain away

"Heh, that's debatable. At any rate, that brat over there said that he had a plan to deal with this thing" said Gran Torino

"You believe that he'll succeed?" grunted out

Endeavour

"I believe that it's our best shot at taking this thing down" replied the old man

Endeavor looked at the spot where Izuku Midoriya, brother of Madara stood completely focused with what looked like a book floating in front of him and green circles of strange symbols around his arms and between his palms. Loath as he is to admit it, Izuku was, like his brother an incredible warrior. He had singlehandedly led the charge against the league of villains and has maintained a containment field that Endeavour suspected was as much for their own sake as it was for the civilians outside.

Suddenly and out of nowhere, a bright light shown from the heavens. The heroes looked on in awe as they witnessed Rikudou call down lightning from the heavens and hit AFO in full. That awe soon turned to horror as even after bathing the area in flame so hot that even Endeavour knew that he had no hope of surviving, All For One still got up and nearly killed Rikudou.

Endeavor looked back at his fellow heroes.

"When the brat gives the signal we withdraw!" he thundered

There were hesitant nods from the top pro heroes and very enthusiastic nods from the lower-level heroes.

Just then, a stray attack hit one of the nearby helicopters and sent it careening towards the ground. Before anyone could do anything, All Might appeared and saved them. He deposited them near Izuku and came forth to deliver a devastating punch, blowing back Gigantomachia and most of the villains along with it. Endeavor didn't waste this chance

"Withdraw!" he shouted

The remaining heroes all congregated around the place Izuku was at along with the camera crew and news reporter.

No matter what happened, this is where they would make their last stand. Win or lose, this was it.

After their admittedly daring escape, Katsuki and the rest of the students of class 1-A managed to arrive at a population center. They could still hear and feel the attacks that were launched between combatants.

Luckily they managed to arrive at an area of the city that was relatively protected from the fight that was going on out there. The streets were crowded and since they were far enough away from the actual fight, police and first responders decided that there was no further need to push the population back.

Seeing as there was no police or hero in the vicinity, or at least not one that they could see, the students decided to follow the lead of the other people and sat down.

It was then that Kirishima noticed that one of the large screens usually used for ads was showing a live news report from the battle.

"Guys, look!"

Katsuki turned to look at the screen. On it, it showed something truly unbelievable. Madara was going all out against the villain boss. He could hear the people around him praying for All Might to come to his rescue. They were all disappointed, after the admittedly badass scene of Madara calling down lightning from the sky and spewing fire hot enough to turn the ground to lava, to see All Might be swept aside and disregarded by the villain boss. Madara's subsequent act of freeing himself and jumping to All Might's side as the man coughed what seemed to be blood only dishearten them further. What came next did surprise them though

"Holy Shit!" came a few cries from the audience.

Katsuki agreed. Parring a building being thrown at you by raising another building to repel it with was both an awesome flex and a testament to Madara's power. This being said, no one could have predicted what happened next.

As shocked whispers came from the crowd, Katsuki, Kirishima, Shoto, and lida couldn't be more shocked.

'Why is All Might fleeing?' was the thought on everyone's mind

It was an unthinkable action. All Might never fled, it was known. It was this that Katsuki admired about the man ever since he was young. All Might always won, no matter what the odds were, but seeing him like this, fleeing from a villain and injured, it just didn't sit right with him.

Suddenly the camera shifted as screams came through. It seemed the helicopter had been hit and by the terrified screams of the people around them, it was obvious that there was no chance for them, Katsuki idly noted. Then, as sudden as their unplanned fall began, they were picked up mid-air and landed next to Izuku.

"Are you all right?" came a familiar voice

"All Might?" said the reporter

Somehow the cameraman found his sense and brought the camera to bear on All Might.

Katsuki nearly recoiled from the sight. He was covered in blood from numerous injuries and was somehow smoking. Though that wasn't the most unsettling thing about him. No, that would be the gaunt form he took. It reminded Katsuki of that sickly stick man that was All Might's secretary. 'Not so much a secretary'through Katsuki idly

The camera moved from All Might to Izuku. Katsuki would admit that he had never seen the nerd this way. The way he stood there in absolute confidence on the battlefield with green circles that held what appeared to be runes spinning fast before him, it was a sight that Katsuki doubted that few would forget. As if summoned from thin air, the rest of the heroes congregated around them

"Hey kid, that thing better be ready!" called out the hero that Izuku had interned with, Gran Torino

"A few seconds longer and it should be done" replied Izuku

As he said that, the spinning green rings stopped and locked. Complex patterns of green lines formed and Izuku grinned. As he pulled his hands apart, Katsuki could see the formation of something ball-like inside the green circles

"Are you all done now?" came a nasally voice

The camera swiveled to show the league of villains, and more specifically their leader, Tomura Shigaraki

"You bastard villain!" called out a pro hero from the mass of them that had survived their melee with the Nomu.

In fact, it seemed like the heroes had actually won that engagement but at a terrible cost.

Shigaraki laughed

"Oh, that's rich coming from you! Can you not see how happy I am? After all, my master has finally returned to his former glory and your precious Symbol of Peace is reduced to nothing but a mere shadow of his former self. Look at him, cowering behind a child"

At that moment, Katsuki became acutely aware of the people around him and their whispering. They weren't wrong. Footage from other helicopters did show that All Might was standing behind Izuku

"After my master is done with that brat Rikudou, he will end your feeble society and then I will turn you all to dust!"

The green rings shattered and a ball the size of a baseball of spinning energy with four blade-like protrusion came into existence in Izuku's hand.

Looking closely, Katsuki could see that his hair was matted with sweat and he was clearly exhausted.

"Endeavour, Best Jeanist, Edgeshot, clear the way!"

The three heroes leaped into action, disabling Kurogiri and the other league members

As soon as most of the league was captured by the other heroes he was gone in a streak of green light. He climbed up the side of the barrier and when he reached the top he jumped. The camera showed him tossing the shuriken-like sphere with a shout.

"Wind Style: RASENSHURIKEN!"

The white orb slammed against the back of the giant villain named Gigantomachia and exploded in a giant sphere of twisting wind that buffeted the camera crew and the other heroes. Screams of pain were heard from the villain, and as Izuku landed the gigantic villain collapsed to the ground unconscious. The crowd cheered for the victory.

With the villain gone and the rest of the league in similar states of unconsciousness and restrained victory was all but assured.

However, that was not to be as mere moments later, the great barrier that had protected them so far shattered and All For One landed in front of them.

Our fight was exhausting. I can see why it took 8 generations of One For All to do a significant dame to All For One. Even throwing everything I have at this guy, he just gets up. Even a Rasenshuriken did nothing to him. Well, it did something. It allowed me to inflict more damage, but every time I hit him, he just regenerated. However, I could see that he was beginning to tire. His fighting was getting sloppy at times and the rate at which he was regenerating was steadily decreasing.

The problem is that I simply can't keep up. My chakra reserve is dwindling and I'm getting tired. I tried narrowing my attacks, trying to use more taijutsu, but it seemed like All For One had been expecting a close-range fight. My use of Ninjutsu at least threw him off for a while.

Genjutsu was useless. All it achieved was making him happy and angry that I have so many powers.

Heck, he even began monologuing about me stealing his thing.

'It doesn't matter what I do to him. I need a plan, I can't keep this up'

Truth be told, I had a plan. A mad, suicidal plan, but a plan nonetheless. Though I was low on power, the power boost granted by the Eight Gates was nothing to scoff at. I believed that even only using the seventh gate might be too much for me and it wasn't a guaranteed killing move. Even so, it was the only move I had left.

Suddenly a commotion was heard from inside the barrier. AFO and I both looked and I was both impressed and horrified. Izuku had launched a Rasenshuriken at Gigantomachia and fell the giant in one strike. It shames me to admit, but I was slow at that moment. As soon as he saw the attack fly, All For One was already speeding towards the barrier. He broke through in a single punch.

By the time I managed to arrive, he had managed to free the League and throw off the top ten heroes that tried to capture them, severely wounding Best Jeanist in the process. landed in front of the heroes

"Rikudou!"

"Young Madara!"

"Nii-san!"

I looked back at the people who shouted and saw their horrified looks. And why wouldn't they be?

My armor was broken. The armor that had designed to help me beat All For One only helped to soften his blows. I was cut scaped and bruised.

Blood was flowing out of me along with the silvery liquid of the liquid crystal inner layer. The mixing of the two substances gave the blood I spilled somewhat of an ethereal quality. The remaining tatters of my red over armor fabric were dangling in the wind, held only by a few supports. It was utterly destroyed.

Looking back, I saw All For One ensuring the league's escape, as well as sending Gigantomachia away with his own warp quirk. I stood at the ready.

This would be my one final effort. Once he was done, he turned to us with a big smile on his face and began to clap.

"Bravo, bravo! You truly have surpassed my every expectation Rikudou. Not since All Might have I had the opportunity to fight such a powerful opponent"

He was buying time, I know this. Most of his clothes had already been shredded by our confrontation and all he had on him right now were the tattered remains of a once full-sleeved shirt and pants. With my Sharingan, I could see many small cuts on his person that were only now beginning to heal. Interesting, so his healing ability can be focused. That was good to know, but could it repair damaged vital organs, like the Nomu could?

"You know, Rikudou. Even as you stand here, half defeated, I can't help but notice all the heroes that are cowering behind you. Why even the once-mighty All Might has taken to hiding behind the backs of children. When I came here to kill you I admit that I wanted you to suffer. After all, you are All Might's heir. What a shame that you aren't his successor, that would have made this victory even sweeter. But no matter, your brother clearly isn't at your level, so it should be quite easy to kill him and end his line of heroes"

Oh, this was bad. If All For One leaked the secret of One For All there will be chaos.

"Really now, you're deduced to mocking a child?

Oh, how the mighty have fallen" quipped back All Might as he came forward, power beginning to fill his body once more, but it was just an ember, a pittance of the once vast inferno that resided inside of him.

"Ah, All Might, my most hated nemesis. How quaint that you are here. Are you seeking to recreate your master's death at my hands? To splay yourself before me to save your precious heir and successor, as Shimura Nana did before you?"

"Shut your god damned mouth! Don't you dare speak my master's name from your filthy mouth!"

All For One Laughed

"You know, All Might, out of all those who have held One For All, you are certainly the one l've hated most. I may have killed your master, but you destroyed my life's work. Can you even see the ground from the mountain of my associates that you have crushed under your fists? Still, it matters not. Before I kill you, I'm going to crush you, starting with that false image you put up"

As he said this, All For One's hand started to swell with power

"Doge!" I shouted

There was no way for me to tank this or anyone for that matter. Izuku jumped into action and removed the camera crew while the rest of the top ten heroes dispersed.

What we all failed to notice was the two people hobbling out of a collapsed building behind us. All Might did not fail to notice them.

All Might stood his ground as All For One took his shot.

I watched in horror as the power he had managed to scrounge up was used all at once to block and redirect the wave of high-pressure air away from the building behind his back, leaving All Might with nothing but the withered old husk of his usual self

"See this, people of Japan! This is your idol, your hero! This withered reck is the so-called Symbol of Peace"

It was then that I noticed the camera crew and Izuku standing in front of them with his Gunbai at the ready to deflect another shot

A slight cough came from All Might as he looked at his enemy

"Even if you strip away my flesh, my heart will never stop being that of a hero! I am the Symbol Of Peace, that you can never take away!"

All For One shrugged and looked on slightly exasperated

"I should have known that it would not be this easy. All right, fine, I give up. Oh, I should mention, Shigaraki Tomura, my successor, is actually

Shimura Nana's grandson"

There was silence on the field. looked at All Might and saw realization dawning on his face and then, horror. Izuku was much the same.

"That's not true, he can't be" All Might whispered

"Come now, do you really believe that? This is something that I would totally do. Do you want to know more? I actually found him under a bridge after he had activated his quirk. The poor thing was starving and yet not a single hero came to his aid. I should find it ironic that I was the only one who rescued poor boy, don't you agree?"

All Might fell to his knees and All For One laughed.

"Now then that the Eight is broken, what say you we should do, Ninth" said All For One as he turned to Izuku "Or should I call you by your hero name, nut you don't have one, do you? Well, no matter, how about I give you one, what do you say... One For All?"

This was it. The secret was out. Or some of it at least.

This is bad. This is very bad. If I let this continue it will end in disaster. All For One is still too powerful and without dust release I don't think that I could one-shot him. Even so, there is one thing that could try. It's risky, but it's my only choice.

Hopefully, Izuku can buy me some time.

"What do you want All For One" came Izuku's voife, holding strong.

"What do I want? Oh, you poor boy, I want what I've always wanted, but we're not here to discuss that. You know what, I'll make you an offer. Give me One For All and I'II let you and your family live.

I'll even let All Might live, he's no threat to me in this state" said All For One

"And if I refuse" countered Izuku as he clutched his

Gunbai harder

All For One's eye shown with malicious intent " think you already know the answer to that"

"Then you know my answer All For One" replied Izuku as green sparks begun running over his suit

"So be it"

At that moment, I erupted. The chakra that I had been gathering released at once in one single direct and piercing attack concentrated around my hand and aimed at All For One's head. A single Chidori that would make or break this fight. Being so close, there was no way I could miss.

CRI-CRI-CRI-CRI

SPLAT

DRIP

Cri

DRIP

Cri

DRIP

"Madara?" a weak and surprised voice called out

"MOTHER!"