The dust hung heavy in the air, a thick, gray shroud covering the destroyed entrance of the Unforeseen Simulation Joint. From within that swirling nebula of debris, a towering silhouette emerged.
It was All Might.
But there was no trace of the bright, blinding smile that usually graced the television screens of Japan. There was no reassuring laughter, no catchphrase meant to put the civilians at ease.
His face was a mask of cold, silent, holy fury. It was a rage that didn't scream; instead, it pressurized the very atmosphere inside the dome, making the air heavy and difficult to breathe. It was the presence of a god who had descended to find his temple desecrated.
On the frozen surface of the lake, Madara Uchiha stood.
He did not fall. He did not kneel.
He stood upright, his back as straight as a steel rod, maintaining his dignity even as his chest heaved with rapid, shallow breaths. A thin trail of blood had dried at the corner of his lip, and his arms felt as heavy as lead, weighing him down. Yet, he refused to show a single tremor of weakness to the enemy—or to his allies.
Madara looked down at his own hands. They were shaking slightly.
(This trembling...) Madara thought, his Sharingan narrowing in self-disgust as he stared at his palms. (It is not fear. It is pure muscle fatigue.)
He clenched his fists tight, forcing the tremors to stop, his veins bulging against the skin.
(I, Madara Uchiha, am panting like a novice after a mere skirmish? I am exhausted after a few high-output jutsus? This vessel... this teenage body is weak. It is pathetically weak compared to my ambition and my will.)
On the shore, Shigaraki Tomura took a step back, daunted by the sheer pressure emanating from the entrance. But he quickly regained his manic composure, scratching at his neck with renewed, neurotic vigor.
"Oh... we've finally reached the game over screen," Shigaraki muttered, his voice raspy from behind the disembodied hand covering his face. "All Might... you're late. Look at what happened to your precious students. Look at that red-eyed brat over there; he can barely stand."
All Might did not answer.
He didn't waste a single second on words or justifications.
In one moment, he was standing at the destroyed gate.
In the very next moment... he was gone.
It wasn't a disappearance caused by a teleportation quirk or Space-Time Ninjutsu. It was pure, unadulterated physical speed. It was a velocity that shattered the laws of physics and bypassed the processing speed of the human eye.
Madara tried to track the movement. His Sharingan spun wildly, desperately trying to capture the missing frames of reality.
He saw a yellow flash. A spectrum of light moving like a lightning bolt.
"Wha—?"
Before Madara could even finish the thought, or blink, he felt a massive displacement of air. It felt as if a hurricane had gently picked him up and moved him.
The scenery changed in a fraction of a second.
Madara was no longer standing on the ice in the middle of the lake.
He found himself standing at the safety of the facility's entrance, right next to Midoriya, Todoroki, Tsuyu, and Mineta. Even the unconscious and battered Aizawa had been retrieved and laid down gently beside them.
And the three villains who had been blocking the path in the center plaza? They were lying on the ground, eyes rolled back into their heads, foaming at the mouth. All Might had struck them all down while retrieving the students, in a single, fluid motion.
"Everyone... back to the entrance!"
All Might's voice came from the center of the plaza. He was now standing where the villains had been a millisecond ago. His arms were crossed, and his broad back formed an impenetrable wall between the students and the League of Villains.
"That speed..." Midoriya whispered, tears streaming down his face, unable to comprehend what he had just witnessed. "He's on a completely different level!"
Madara leaned his shoulder against the wall, wiping the dust from his vest with a feigned indifference, trying to regulate his breathing without anyone noticing. He looked at the Number One Hero with a sharp, analytical gaze.
(He moved hundreds of meters, carried five people, and neutralized three hostiles, all in less than a second,) Madara analyzed bitterly, the feeling of jealousy boiling in his veins. (My eyes saw the blur... but my current body couldn't have moved a single finger in response. The gap in raw physical specs between him and me... is as vast as an ocean.)
All Might turned his head slightly toward the students, his blue eyes glowing fiercely amidst the shadows of his brow.
"I apologize for being late..." he said, his voice deep and resonant. Then, his gaze landed on Madara.
The Hero noticed the bruises on the student's arms, the traces of blood, and the proud stance despite the obvious exhaustion.
"Young Uchiha..." All Might said, his tone filled with genuine appreciation. "You stood your ground. You fought bravely to protect your classmates until I arrived. You did well."
A short silence followed. Midoriya and Todoroki looked at Madara with admiration. To receive direct praise from All Might was the dream of every student at U.A.
But Madara didn't smile.
He looked away, clicking his tongue in irritation. "Tch."
('You did well'?) Madara repeated the words in his mind with disdain. (Does he think I am a little soldier who needs a pat on the head? I nearly died fighting that mindless puppet, and he thanks me for 'surviving'? This isn't an achievement... it's a reminder of my inadequacy.)
"CAROLINA... SMASH!"
All Might's voice boomed, cutting through Madara's dark thoughts.
The Symbol of Peace launched himself toward "Nomu" with blinding speed, his hands crossed in a chop formation, aiming directly for the beast's chest.
VROOOOOM!
The strike didn't just hit Nomu; the air pressure generated by the chop acted like a gigantic, invisible blade.
Behind Nomu, the water of the lake split apart. The sheer force carved a trench through the liquid, revealing the concrete bottom of the pool for several seconds before the water crashed back together violently.
But Nomu didn't move.
It took the "Carolina Smash" directly to its exposed chest, and it didn't budge an inch.
"Hoh?" Shigaraki laughed mockingly. "Direct attacks don't work, didn't your students tell you? Nomu has 'Shock Absorption'. To hurt him, you'd have to slowly gouge out his flesh... but will he let you?"
Nomu moved.
It punched All Might in the face.
All Might was forced backward, his boots carving two deep trenches into the concrete floor as he skid to a halt. Blood trickled from the corner of the hero's mouth.
"He's strong..." All Might muttered, wiping the blood away with the back of his hand. He forced a smile, but it was tight, heavy with pressure. "So, if he absorbs shock... that means he has a limit, doesn't it?"
"What is he doing?" Todoroki asked, watching from the entrance with a cold, calculative expression. "He knows physical attacks are being nullified. Why is he engaging it head-on?"
"Because he has no choice," Madara answered, his voice steady, his eyes never leaving the battle. "His time is limited, and the enemy doesn't tire. He is trying to break the absorption ability with raw power. He is trying to saturate the sponge with water until it bursts."
Madara narrowed his eyes. (A primitive fighting style... relying entirely on brute force. But when the force is of this magnitude, complex strategies become unnecessary. This man... he is a human tank that runs over everything in his path.)
The real exchange began.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The Central Plaza turned into a hurricane of fists. All Might and Nomu traded blows at a speed that defied belief. Every collision between their knuckles created a circular shockwave that shook the entire facility. The reinforced glass in the ceiling began to crack and rain down like diamonds.
The students at the entrance had to shield their eyes and faces from the gale-force winds generated solely by the punches.
"This is insane!" Mineta screamed, clinging to Midoriya's costume. "Just the wind pressure from their fists is hurting my skin! Is this really a fight between living creatures?!"
Madara watched in silence, absorbing every movement.
(Nomu feels no pain. It does not tire. All Might is bleeding, his energy is dropping, and time is against him. This war of attrition favors the beast.)
Suddenly, the tide of battle shifted.
While All Might was focusing every ounce of his strength on pushing Nomu back, a purple mist materialized beneath his feet and behind his back.
"Your weak point," Kurogiri whispered coldly.
A warp gate opened behind All Might's waist, and another gate opened directly in front of Nomu's razor-sharp claws.
Nomu's fingers dug deep into All Might's left side—the exact location of his old, fatal injury.
"GAAAH!" All Might cried out, blood splattering onto the concrete.
"All Might!" Midoriya screamed.
Midoriya's body moved on its own. He sprinted toward the battle, One For All lighting up his legs.
"Stop, you fool!" Madara called out, but he didn't run. He stayed in place, clutching his injured arm. (Interfering blindly now is suicide... wait for the opening.)
But before Midoriya could reach them... the real reinforcements arrived.
"GET OUT OF MY WAY, DEKU!"
A massive explosion blasted the metal neck brace of Kurogiri.
Katsuki Bakugo.
With a single leap and terrifying precision, Bakugo pinned the mist villain's physical body to the ground, preventing him from opening any more gates.
"I figured out your secret, you smoky bastard!" Bakugo shouted with a feral grin. "You're solid somewhere, aren't you?!"
In the same instant, ice shot across the floor like a striking viper.
Shoto Todoroki.
The ice flash-froze the entire right side of Nomu's body, climbing up to cover its arm and leg, disrupting its balance and causing its grip on All Might to loosen.
"Now, All Might!" Todoroki shouted calmly.
All Might seized the opportunity. He grabbed Nomu's frozen arm, and with a swift judo throw, slammed the beast into the ground, breaking free from the deadly grip.
The fighting paused for a heartbeat.
Bakugo, Todoroki, and Midoriya (who had arrived late) stood beside the Symbol of Peace, forming a defensive line.
Madara walked slowly to join them. He didn't run. He showed no urgency. He walked with a deliberate, regal gait despite his pain. He stopped beside Todoroki, his Sharingan glowing coldly, fixed on the monster.
"You kids..." All Might looked at them, a mixture of worry and swelling pride in his blue eyes. "I told you to stay back."
"We weren't going to let you die while protecting us," Bakugo snapped.
"You're bleeding heavily," Todoroki added.
"We're here to help!" Midoriya cried.
Madara turned his head toward Nomu. The ice covering the beast's body began to crack with a sickening sound. Nomu snapped its own frozen limbs off—literally amputating itself—to get free. Then, the severed limbs regenerated instantly before their eyes.
"It's coming back..." Madara said in a low voice, nodding toward the beast. "Infinite regeneration. That thing doesn't tire and it doesn't stop."
"Nomu," Shigaraki said, sounding extremely annoyed by the interference of the "NPCs." "Ignore the brats. Kill All Might. The others... dispose of them."
Nomu roared and lunged toward them.
Madara prepared to raise his hands for combat once more, even though every fiber of his being screamed for rest.
But a large arm extended to stop them.
All Might stepped forward, shielding the students behind his broad back. Blood stained his white shirt, and steam rose from his body, but his aura was larger than ever before.
"Don't worry," he said, his voice dropping an octave. A palpable pressure began to build around him. "You helped me out of a tight spot. Now... it is my turn to return the favor."
All Might looked at Shigaraki, and the look in his eyes changed. It was no longer a defensive gaze. It was the look of pure offense.
"You said this thing was made to withstand 100% of my power, correct?"
The air began to swirl around All Might's right fist. The atmospheric pressure in the dome dropped suddenly, and Madara felt static electricity fill the air, making the hair on his arms stand up.
All Might clenched his fist so hard that the remains of his glove disintegrated.
"If it can withstand 100%..."
All Might smiled. It wasn't a hero's smile. It was a terrifying smile, the smile of a monster deciding to devour its predator.
"...Then all I have to do is force it to surrender with power BEYOND 100%!"
Nomu rushed at All Might at the speed of sound.
All Might rushed at Nomu at the speed of light.
The two titans collided in the center of the arena.
Fist against Fist.
KAAAAA-BOOOOOOM!
The explosion resulting from the impact was not normal. It was like a vacuum bomb going off in everyone's face.
Madara stepped back, raising his arm to shield his eyes from the dust and flying debris. The concrete floor beneath them disintegrated into powder. The wind howled with a terrifying shriek.
Madara opened his eyes with difficulty amidst the storm.
What he saw transfixed him.
All Might didn't retreat. He didn't dodge.
He was throwing punch after punch.
"ORA! ORA! ORA! ORA!"
Every punch was faster, heavier, and more violent than the last. Nomu was trying to absorb the impact, but the speed of the strikes was outpacing its regeneration and its absorption. All Might was destroying the beast's cells faster than they could heal.
Madara watched in awe.
For the first time since arriving in this strange world, he felt that shiver down his spine. It wasn't fear. It was recognition.
(This...) Madara thought, the wind whipping his long hair around his face. (This is not just a fight. This is the imposition of absolute will. He is bending reality with his fists. He isn't fighting to defeat an opponent... he is fighting to crush despair itself.)
All Might increased his speed, until he appeared to have a hundred arms.
"A hero... is someone who smashes through every obstacle...!!"
A punch to Nomu's face sent the beast flying backward, but All Might didn't let him go. He grabbed the monster by the arm and pulled him back in for another strike to the gut.
"GO BEYOND... PLUS ULTRA!!"
Madara looked at All Might's back. That broad back that carried the burden of an entire society.
For a moment, Madara forgot his frustration with his weak body. He forgot his Uchiha pride.
All that remained was pure, unadulterated respect for the absolute power being displayed before him.
(Show me...) Madara whispered unconsciously, his red eyes shining through the dust. (Show me the peak of this world, All Might!)