That night, Momo Yaoyorozu's parents actually made time to come home for dinner, which almost never happened.
But to their surprise, Arthur wasn't there. Naturally, they asked their daughter about it.
"Arthur-kun said he had something to take care of. He might be gone for a few days."
Momo explained calmly.
"Gone for a few days?"
Her father frowned slightly.
A fifteen-year-old leaving home for several days… that didn't exactly sound reassuring.
Her mother, on the other hand, immediately caught something else in her wording. She leaned in from behind, wrapping her arms around Momo's shoulders with a teasing smile.
"Oh my, Momo, you're calling him by his name so naturally now. I know it's a bit early for romance, but as long as it doesn't affect your studies, I don't mind at all."
"M-Mom, what are you even saying? It's not like that!"
Momo's face instantly turned red, and she waved her hands in a panic.
Her father stroked his chin thoughtfully.
"If he's going to marry into the Yaoyorozu family, then even if he doesn't reach All Might's level, he should at least be comparable to Endeavor. Otherwise, he wouldn't qualify."
"Seriously! I'm going back to study!"
Momo's face was completely flushed now. She stomped her foot and rushed upstairs toward the study.
---
Japan really isn't that big.
With high-speed rail, you could probably cross the whole country in just a few hours.
Most of the time was wasted on getting tickets.
By that afternoon, Arthur had already arrived in Aichi Prefecture.
Standing inside the tallest luxury hotel suite in the area, Arthur looked down at the city below.
As night slowly took over, he grabbed the jacket he had tossed onto the bed earlier, put it on, and headed out.
---
In the mountains on the outskirts of Aichi Prefecture,
A car was flipped over in a field beside the road. The entire vehicle looked like it had been sliced apart, the cuts clean and smooth like someone had carved it up on purpose.
"Meat… give me meat… such pretty, fresh, cut-up meat…"
Not far from the wreckage, a creepy voice drifted through the air, almost humming with excitement.
"Finally found you. Moonfish, right? Weird name."
The sudden voice made Moonfish snap his head around.
Beneath him, a body had already been reduced to scattered chunks.
This was his thing. He liked cutting people apart, then staring at the cross-sections like it was art.
The remains on the ground belonged to a family of three he had ambushed earlier that night while they were heading into the city.
For a second, Arthur was reminded of a certain office worker obsessed with collecting women's hands and living a "quiet life."
"Y-you…!"
Moonfish's body twisted inside his restraint gear, moving like a snake.
His teeth extended rapidly, multiplying into blade-like shapes that spread outward like branches, lifting his body up into the air.
This was his Quirk. Blade Tooth.
"Flesh… more flesh… let me see it… let me see what you look like inside!!!"
In the next instant, the mass of blades shifted direction and shot straight at Arthur.
"Straight to attacking, huh? Honestly, that saves time."
Aichi wasn't exactly small. Arthur had spent several nights tracking this guy down.
In that moment, Arthur's eyes sharpened.
The World appeared.
Bang!
Clang!
Bang!
Bang!
Invisible punches slammed into the incoming blades.
The sound of metal snapping echoed as the tooth blades shattered into fragments, scattering across the ground.
"More! I need more!"
Moonfish roared, pushing his Quirk harder.
The blades multiplied even faster, becoming denser, sharper, and way more aggressive.
No wonder the wanted poster recommended at least a top 30 Pro Hero.
"Muda muda muda muda muda muda muda muda!!!"
Arthur shouted back, his expression turning intense.
The World, hovering in front of him, threw punches even faster, each strike hitting harder than the last.
Clang!
Bang!
Bang!
Clang!
More blades broke apart, piling up around Arthur's feet.
But then,
One blade slipped through and grazed The World's arm.
At the same time, a thin cut appeared on Arthur's cheek, about three centimeters long.
"Yeah… coming here was definitely worth it."
Arthur wiped the blood from his face without hesitation.
The World pulled back slightly and merged into his body.
Arthur slammed his foot into the ground.
With a loud rumble,
He launched himself more than twenty meters into the air.
"Flesh! Show me your flesh!!!"
Moonfish ramped up his Quirk again, growing more blades and chasing after him.
It was kind of similar to Todoroki's ability, but way more disturbing.
Under the moonlight, a massive wave of blades surged upward, covering Arthur's entire view.
He could feel it.
The pressure.
It had been a long time since he'd felt something like this after coming to this world.
Pressure like this could push him further. Break his limits.
Real combat.
Arthur's grin widened.
"The World!"
He raised his left thumb.
"Muda muda muda muda muda muda muda muda muda muda muda muda muda muda muda muda muda muda!!!"
....
Aichi Prefecture, early morning.
A farmer showed up to his land like usual, ready to start the day's work.
Except he found a car flipped over in his field.
And this wasn't just some normal accident.
The car looked like it had been sliced open by something, with pieces scattered everywhere.
The guy freaked out and ran over to check it out. That's when he saw all the blood and random body parts near the road.
He almost passed out on the spot and called the cops immediately.
Police and heroes from the local agencies in Aichi showed up fast.
One look and they could tell, some villain with a Quirk did this.
Judging by how the car and the body were messed up, it was probably some blade-type Quirk.
But then the police found a ton of signs that a fight had gone down.
The concrete, the farmland, the trees, all of it was wrecked.
That meant it was most likely a hero and a villain duking it out.
Or maybe two villains turned on each other.
Based on what the heroes on-site could tell, causing this much damage would take a hero ranked at least No. 30.
No, scratch that. Maybe even top 20.
Hearing that, the cops were shocked and started reaching out to heroes in the top 30.
And they all said the same thing
They weren't in any fights in Aichi last night.
They weren't even in the area.
So was it a villain-on-villain thing?
Or did some unlicensed powerhouse with a Quirk step in?
But who?
With no answers, the police and local heroes had no choice but to slowly start digging into it themselves.
Meanwhile, the two people behind all this:
One was barely alive, dumped in a forest about ten miles from the scene.
The other was on a train heading back to Shizuoka, hiding a bunch of injuries under his expensive clothes.
In the original story, that loser got instantly killed when Tokoyami's Quirk went out of control.
The range or basically the destructive power of [The World] still needed work.
Right now, Arthur Pendragon's overall ability with [The World], aside from not having time stop yet, was already pretty close to Dio Brando's level.
But he needed a bigger breakthrough.
One For All was out of reach, so Arthur was aiming to refine his combat skills using a style like Garp from One Piece as a blueprint.
"But the priority right now is still awakening my [The World's] ability."
Arthur clenched his fist, his eyes narrowing.
Pressure. He still needed more combat pressure.
And he needed to fight stronger, more dangerous enemies.
A few months later, U.A. High School.
"Naomasa Tsukauchi. What's this about?"
In the meeting room.
All Might, still in his skinny form, asked the detective who'd come to see him.
Tsukauchi was one of the few people who knew about All Might's condition and had been helping him investigate All For One.
In front of him, All Might didn't bother forcing himself into his muscle form.
Even though he was already training Izuku Midoriya to be his successor, he still spent most of his time working as a hero.
He'd just finished patrol that morning and came back to U.A.
He wasn't expecting Tsukauchi to track him down.
"All Might, you've heard about the mysterious combat incidents happening across the country, right?"
Tsukauchi sat down across from him.
"Yeah?"
All Might raised an eyebrow and nodded. "I've heard a bit. Seems like starting a few months ago, there've been these intense fights popping up here and there, but by the time the police and heroes arrive, everyone's already gone."
"Exactly."
Tsukauchi nodded, looking serious. "At first, it was hard for the police to get anywhere. Whoever's doing this clearly knows how police operate, they've been at this for a while."
"But after a few months of investigation, we've found some leads."
Tsukauchi pulled out a few crime scene photos.
Destroyed forests, trashed abandoned factories. The level of damage reminded All Might of when he was younger and first got One For All.
Tsukauchi pointed at one photo showing a large abandoned factory.
The iron walls and steel beams were completely twisted.
And there were several explosive holes blown clean through walls over a meter thick.
"Based on your experience, which current heroes could land an attack like this?"
All Might took the photo, studied it carefully for a moment, then slowly said, "Skill-based heroes like the Ninja Hero couldn't pull something like this off."
After a pause, he continued. "Besides me and Endeavor… the Armored Hero: Armored Warrior, the Dragon Hero: Ryukyu, and Gang Orca probably could. Mount Lady's still a bit short of this level."
"We already questioned all of them. They all said they didn't know anything."
Tsukauchi frowned deeply. "No one else? Any villains you've fought that could do this?"
All Might froze.
Villains he'd fought?
They were all in prison.
But then something clicked. A face. "Is it him?"
"No, no, no."
All Might shook his head, muttering to himself. "Arthur has a lot of potential, but there's no way he improved this much in just a few months."
...
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