Deep beneath the wasteland that had once been Japan, Bakugo and Izuku, led by Heiji and Saguru, arrived at this underground palace.
The passage was not narrow, but the atmosphere was extremely oppressive. Dim lights stretched and shortened the shadows of the few people.
The walls were rough rock, cold and damp to the touch. Occasionally, water droplets seeping from the cracks in the stone could be seen flowing down the wall.
Izuku stayed close behind Bakugo, occasionally looking back at the path that had been swallowed by the darkness.
"Um... how much longer do we have to walk?"
Izuku summoned his courage and asked.
They had been walking for nearly half an hour since being led in, but the front was still endless.
"Almost there."
Saguru said calmly.
To accommodate Anomalies of varying sizes, this underground palace belonging to the Anomaly Association was extremely vast.
Heiji, walking at the front, turned his head and said with interest, "No one would ever think that something like this is hidden beneath the nuclear-bombed ruins of Japan."
"Even if other countries wanted to seize this land, considering the nuclear radiation here, they wouldn't touch it for at least ten years."
With that, Heiji snorted. "But this amount of radiation doesn't bother Anomalies at all. That Gyoro-Gyoro was pretty clever to build the base here."
He wasn't wrong. Hadn't the Anomalized Shinichi survived the nuclear bombing?
Bakugo didn't speak. His eyes showed only a mad yearning for power.
Izuku's lips trembled. He wanted to ask 'won't something happen to us non-Anomalies', but seeing Bakugo's twisted face, he swallowed the words.
Light finally appeared ahead.
It wasn't natural light. It was more like some kind of superpower, illuminating the entire underground plaza as bright as day.
The exit grew larger and larger. When they stepped out, the sight before them made the two stop in their tracks.
It was a huge underground plaza. Dense floors from top to bottom formed a giant ring, layer upon layer, dozens of layers at least.
On the outer edge of each floor stood Anomalies of varying appearances... some had animal heads, some were covered in scales, some kept squirming and deforming, some were so large they needed two or three floors' worth of height.
The moment Bakugo and Izuku stepped out, those Anomalies seemed to sense their presence and all looked over at once.
Hundreds of eyes fixed on the two boys simultaneously.
Izuku was so frightened he fell on his butt, his flesh hitting the stone floor. He braced himself on the ground and scooted back two steps, his teeth chattering uncontrollably.
Bakugo swallowed his saliva, his Adam's apple bobbing. He handled it better than Izuku.
He quickly surveyed his surroundings and saw many familiar faces.
Otsutsuki Momoshiki, Otsutsuki Kinshiki, Ryomen Sukuna, Kibutsuji Muzan...
All super-criminals who had been imprisoned in Impel Down's Level 5 or even Level 6.
Besides these people, there were also many unfamiliar monster faces he hadn't seen before: a giant centipede as big as a building, a small pitch-black creature with an antenna on its head and an uncle face, a meatball whose body was fat like a ball and whose only feature was a giant mouth...
But the most eye-catching was still Gyoro-Gyoro, the Anomaly Association's chief of staff, sitting in the center of the plaza.
The enormous eyeball that was its head had a diameter of at least several meters. Its pupil reflected the entire underground palace.
Its bloated body extended countless tiny tentacles, like a jellyfish's tendrils.
"Oh, you're back." Gyoro-Gyoro looked up, glancing at Heiji and his group on the middle floor. Its enormous pupil reflected the figures of Bakugo and Izuku.
Heiji pointed at Bakugo with some dissatisfaction. "We had to make a special trip to Nishikawa Makoto's territory for this kid. Is he really that important?"
Gyoro-Gyoro's pupil slightly rotated. "I can see a target's potential. This kid has the potential to become a top-tier Anomaly. Against Nishikawa Makoto and his Hero Association, a bit more combat power is always good."
Momoshiki, standing on a higher level of the base, sneered. "Against that man, with just you people?"
He and his clansmen Kinshiki, Urashiki, and others had been encountered last year when Makoto returned to the Naruto World to unclog Temari's sewer.
At that time, Makoto had easily dealt with them. In the few days since arriving at the Anomaly Association, he had seen the strength of most of its members. He didn't think these people could do anything to Makoto.
After all, even their clan's strongest, Otsutsuki Isshiki, had been thoroughly humiliated by Makoto in the Naruto World.
Momoshiki didn't think that simply gathering a bunch of trash together could deal with Makoto.
Gyoro-Gyoro's giant eyeball glanced indifferently at Momoshiki. "Indeed, with our current power alone, it is very difficult to defeat that man. But we still have one more ace. With it, combined with everyone's power, it is very possible to defeat him and create a new era. I am confident in this."
Its tone remained calm, but its voice carried a new note of unshakable certainty.
After a slight pause, Gyoro-Gyoro's gaze took on a hint of threat. "Also, Momoshiki-kun, although you are one of the strongest members of the Anomaly Association, please be more polite in your speech. If multiple executives were to attack you, you would probably find it quite troublesome, wouldn't you? What's more, if our location is exposed, do you want to be caught by Nishikawa Makoto again?"
Momoshiki clicked his tongue. His Byakugan narrowed slightly. He didn't look at Gyoro-Gyoro again, but his clenched fist betrayed his emotions.
"Then, could you show us? That so-called ace of yours."
An Anomaly stepped forward. He looked like a giant cockroach, with human facial features and limbs, as if wearing a cockroach suit... Anomaly Association's Demon-level monster, Awakened Cockroach.
Hearing Awakened Cockroach's words, the other Anomalies present also responded one after another.
"Yeah, yeah, hiding it all the time isn't right."
"We're going to fight that man. We should at least see our own trump card, shouldn't we?"
"It's not just bluffing, and you don't actually have anything, right?"
Gyoro-Gyoro had maintained its calm, but upon hearing the last sentence, it glanced coldly at the monster who had spoken.
Its hand moved slightly... that monster seemed to be squeezed and pulled by an invisible giant hand, like a towel being wrung out.
With a 'pop', flesh and blood sprayed everywhere. Internal organs and shattered bones scattered across the ground. The surrounding Anomalies retreated a few steps, afraid of being splattered.
Sukuna, Muzan, and the others, who had escaped from Impel Down only a few days ago, had their expressions changed slightly.
Their gazes fell on the pile of flesh, then shifted to Gyoro-Gyoro, 'Telekinesis?'
'So that's its ability... definitely Dragon-level.'
Awakened Cockroach thought to himself.
But to intimidate people like Momoshiki and Sukuna, just Dragon-level strength wasn't enough.