The Hyper Beam dragged All For One away across the battlefield, carving through the remains of the area with overwhelming force.
Almost all of the impact had been concentrated directly onto him.
His mask partially melted from the attack, smoke rising from the damaged surface while burns spread across parts of his body and arms. For the first time since his arrival, the villain no longer looked amused.
The playful tone in his voice disappeared completely.
"You…" muttered All For One slowly, his voice colder now. "You will be a nuisance in the future."
However, the moment those words left his mouth, he stopped briefly after hearing Mewtwo's answer.
"That's a nice way to say you're afraid of the future," replied Mewtwo calmly.
For a split second—
That distraction was enough.
All Might immediately took advantage of the opening.
BOOOOOM.
He appeared beside All For One almost instantly and landed a devastating punch directly against the villain's head, blowing him away across the battlefield once again.
"Don't forget about me!" roared All Might.
The sheer impact distorted the air itself.
At the exact moment of the hit, Mewtwo moved again.
He positioned himself ahead of All For One's trajectory and waited.
The instant the villain entered his range, Mewtwo extended both hands forward.
Then he fired.
Shadow Balls erupted from the tips of his fingers one after another, almost as if he were firing bullets from invisible guns.
Rapid fire.
BOOM. BOOM. BOOM. BOOM.
Each Shadow Ball exploded against All For One's body and forced him farther and farther away in the opposite direction, never giving him enough time to stabilize himself properly.
All Might wasted absolutely no time.
He rushed forward immediately and unleashed a blur of punches against All For One, each strike carrying monstrous force capable of leveling buildings.
Shockwaves exploded continuously across the battlefield.
However, All For One adapted rapidly.
Even while under pressure, he analyzed All Might's rhythm and counters almost instantly.
Soon, he began blocking and redirecting several of the attacks despite the relentless assault.
At this point, the villain looked genuinely annoyed.
And more importantly—
He was struggling.
Something that clearly had not been part of his plans.
Everything was beginning to spiral out of control for him.
Suddenly, one of his arms expanded grotesquely once more and pointed directly toward All Might.
The compressed pressure gathering around it was unmistakable.
Air Cannon.
All Might was about to receive the attack directly to the face—
When Mewtwo suddenly appeared above him.
A psychic Barrier materialized instantly.
BOOOOOOM.
The Air Cannon smashed against the Barrier violently, creating cracks across the psychic shield while hurricane-force winds exploded outward around them.
Still, the Barrier held long enough.
And Mewtwo counterattacked immediately.
A gigantic Shadow Ball nearly three meters in diameter formed above his hand and exploded directly toward All For One's face.
The villain blocked the attack with crossed arms, yet the explosion still forced him backward through the air.
However, All For One countered immediately afterward.
He pressed forward aggressively against Mewtwo's Barrier and unleashed another Air Cannon at point-blank range.
This time—
CRACK.
The Barrier shattered apart.
Not completely effortlessly.
But enough.
Mewtwo's eyes narrowed as the psychic shield shattered around him, forcing him to dodge away at high speed before the compressed blast could fully strike him.
He spun through the air gracefully, immediately regaining balance.
Meanwhile, All Might continued his assault without stopping for even a second.
The close combat between the Symbol of Peace and All For One intensified again.
Punches clashed like explosions.
Shockwaves distorted the battlefield with every collision.
The speed of their exchange had become so absurdly high that the other teachers could no longer properly interfere without risking hitting All Might himself.
And because All Might remained constantly at close range, most long-distance attacks had become too dangerous to use.
So Mewtwo opted for another strategy.
His eyes glowed brightly.
"Disable."
A psychic pulse struck All For One directly.
Immediately, one of the villain's Quirks failed.
Mewtwo did not know which one exactly—
But it was enough.
He felt the sudden nerf in All For One's energy and movement.
And All Might noticed it too.
BOOOOOOM.
All Might instantly took advantage of the opening and smashed another brutal punch directly against All For One's face, forcing the villain backward.
At the same time, Mewtwo used Life Dew on All Might once more.
A soft glow surrounded the hero's body, restoring part of his stamina and allowing him to continue the assault without slowing down.
All For One immediately realized he was no longer in a favorable position.
He too was far from his prime.
And fighting against two powerful opponents that continuously supported and healed each other was becoming increasingly problematic.
He was egotistical.
Megalomaniacal even.
But he was not stupid.
So he changed approaches instantly.
From his arms, multiple black spike-like tendrils suddenly emerged and extended toward Kurogiri.
They pierced directly into the warp villain's body.
At that moment, Kurogiri activated his Quirk at full capacity.
Dark portals exploded open across the battlefield.
The remaining villains began retreating immediately.
The surviving Nomus were also dragged away through the portals one after another.
Even behind All For One himself, a massive portal began to form.
However—
Mewtwo noticed something else.
Beneath Tomura's unconscious body, another portal had appeared as well.
If Tomura escaped now, then despite everything—
This could still become a victory for All For One.
And that was something Mewtwo had no intention of allowing.
Especially not while in this Mega form.
At this point, he no longer even needed hand movements to use many of his psychic abilities.
Mewtwo simply looked toward Tomura.
"Psycho Cut."
Invisible psychic blades instantly flew forward.
SLASH.
Both of Tomura's hands were sliced cleanly from his arms before the portal could fully consume him.
Immediately afterward, Mewtwo used telekinesis to violently push the severed hands far away from the battlefield.
Tomura's scream echoed through the U.S.J.
And for the first time since the battle began—
All For One's expression visibly distorted with rage.
Right after that, Mewtwo turned his gaze toward him and repeated the process.
Psychic blades slashed across All For One's body.
This time, however, they failed to fully sever his limbs.
Still—
The attacks carved multiple deep cuts across his body and damaged him badly only moments before the villain finally disappeared into the portal.
The gateways closed rapidly afterward.
Silence slowly returned to the ruined battlefield.
And at the end of the encounter—
Only the students, the heroes, and a single pair of severed hands remained inside the destroyed U.S.J building.
After everything settled down a little and silence finally reigned over the ruined U.S.J once again, All Might slowly walked toward Mewtwo.
Debris still burned in several parts of the building, smoke rising toward the broken ceiling while the remaining heroes secured the area and helped the injured students.
All Might stopped in front of Mewtwo and spoke with a serious expression.
"Young Raiden… that last attack, it was a little—"
However, before he could even question Mewtwo's severe decision—
Mewtwo suddenly collapsed.
His Mega form disappeared instantly.
The psychic aura around him faded violently, and his body dropped toward the ground while panting heavily.
At that same moment, the transformation completely undid itself, returning him to his human form before he fainted entirely.
Yet—
Something different happened this time.
Not only were the horn-like structures still visible on his head…
But now a tail extended behind him as well.
And not only that, the back of his hands had gained a much darker gray coloration, completely different from his usual pale skin.
It looked as though he had become stuck halfway through a transformation.
As if the line between Raiden and Mewtwo had blurred.
All Might immediately narrowed his eyes at the sight.
In that same instant, Raiden was carried toward the infirmary together with the rest of the wounded.
Ironically, he did not look physically injured.
No blood.
No broken bones.
Nothing obvious.
Yet he simply would not wake up.
Seeing him like that, and noticing how little time he himself had left before returning to his weakened state, All Might quickly moved away under the excuse that he needed to speak with the principal.
Which was not a lie.
He truly needed to speak with Nezu immediately.
And almost as if thinking the same thing, Principal Nezu was already waiting for him when he entered the office.
The small animal calmly looked at him before speaking first.
"We have little time," said the principal seriously. "I already have a huge mess to solve. So tell me, what worries you more? The last actions of young Raiden… or the appearance of All For One?"
"Both," muttered All Might heavily. "His actions at the end were…"
He was about to continue—
But Nezu interrupted him immediately.
Without a word, he activated one of the monitors inside the office and showed footage of Tomura's Quirk in action.
The screen displayed how Tomura had destroyed the entrance gate within seconds during the invasion.
Then another recording showed him attempting to use the same ability against actual people inside the U.S.J.
"A necessary and difficult decision," said Nezu calmly.
The images continued to play.
"If he touches someone, it is instant death," continued the principal. "I agree that his decision was ruthless. Cutting off someone's hands is indeed an extremely severe act. However… he incapacitated a highly dangerous individual that was moments away from escaping."
Nezu adjusted his posture slightly before continuing.
"And judging by All For One's reaction… it hurt him quite badly."
All Might remained silent for a moment.
"So you agree with his decision?" he muttered eventually.
"Well…" replied Nezu thoughtfully. "He is under Lady Nagant's tutelage. I suppose his methods are a little more extreme than those of most heroes."
The principal slowly began walking toward the other side of the office.
"The problem is not the action itself," he continued. "The problem is the impression it may leave on the others."
He paused briefly.
"I can understand why he made that decision. But I do not know if the rest of the students will be able to understand it so easily."
Nezu looked back at All Might with a more serious expression.
"This was likely the first time many of them have faced a true moral dilemma during combat. The line between heroism and cruelty is not always clean in real battles."
All Might lowered his gaze slightly.
Then Nezu spoke one final time while walking away from the room.
"Still… that final action probably bought us more time."
The principal's eyes narrowed thoughtfully.
"It is obvious that All For One is planning something. And that includes the boy Mewtwo injured."
He adjusted his tie calmly.
"This may give us valuable time to prepare."
And with that, Principal Nezu left the office, leaving All Might alone with his thoughts.