However—
To Bakugo Katsuki's surprise, after he closed his eyes, the agonizing impact of being smashed into bloody paste never arrived.
Instead—
His rapidly falling body suddenly stopped, as though something had caught him midair.
At the same time, a familiar voice rang out beside his ear.
"You've worked hard, kid."
"Leave the rest to me."
Hearing that voice and sensing the strange change around him, Bakugo instinctively opened his eyes.
Then—
He saw that the one who had saved him was none other than the No. 5 Hero—
Edge Shot.
At this moment, Edge Shot had transformed himself into a paper airplane shape, carrying Bakugo on his back while gliding toward the direction of the female reporter.
Seeing Bakugo successfully escape danger, everyone outside finally let out a sigh of relief.
But at the same time—
Their curiosity exploded.
What exactly had happened inside the shopping mall?
Who were the enemies?
And more importantly—
What kind of information would Bakugo Katsuki and Edge Shot, the only two people who had escaped alive, bring back with them?
What they did not realize was—
The information those two carried would soon shake the entire country.
Not only would it affect the hostages, villains, and heroes inside the building—
It would also affect everyone outside.
Even society itself.
…
Soon, Edge Shot carried Bakugo safely to the ground.
The moment his feet finally touched solid earth again, Bakugo finally snapped out of the life-and-death tension from moments earlier.
Safe…
They were finally safe.
Only now did Bakugo realize that his back had already been completely soaked in cold sweat.
Clearly—
Despite how calm he had acted earlier, he had never truly been fearless.
But before he could even mock himself—
He suddenly noticed Edge Shot staggering beside him, his body swaying as though he might collapse at any moment.
Seeing this, Bakugo hurriedly supported him.
Then he noticed—
Edge Shot's face was deathly pale.
The wounds that Bakugo had barely managed to bandage earlier were bleeding again.
Obviously—
Forcing himself to use his Quirk to save Bakugo had worsened his injuries.
Seeing this, Bakugo immediately wanted to take him to a hospital.
After all—
Edge Shot had been injured because he had tried to save him.
No matter what, Bakugo could not allow something to happen to him because treatment was delayed.
Otherwise—
He would feel guilty for the rest of his life.
Unfortunately, Edge Shot firmly rejected the suggestion.
In his opinion, they no longer had time to waste.
The information inside the shopping mall had to be delivered to the other heroes immediately.
Seeing how determined he was, Bakugo could only grit his teeth and help him head toward the location where the heroes and law enforcement officers were currently gathered.
…
Meanwhile—
Time rewound slightly.
Back to the moment after Shigaraki Tomura used Bakugo to lure Edge Shot out and successfully captured him before heading off with Muscular Bloodthirsty Man to deal with Best Jeanist.
The instant Shigaraki and Muscular arrived near Best Jeanist's location—
They were immediately ambushed.
Fortunately, Shigaraki had long known that Best Jeanist's fibers could detect spatial distortions.
Because of that, he had already anticipated the sneak attack and prepared countermeasures in advance.
His preparation was simple.
First—
He had Mud Monster buff him with an illusionary clone.
Second—
He instructed Ketsubyou Kuukai to open two portals simultaneously.
Then—
Both he and the illusion clone entered different portals.
The clone entered first.
And just as expected—
Best Jeanist mistook the illusion for the real Shigaraki and launched his attack immediately.
Unfortunately for him—
He attacked the wrong target.
In the end—
The ambusher himself was counter-ambushed by Shigaraki and Muscular instead.
After successfully crippling Best Jeanist and removing his ability to resist—
Only then did Shigaraki finally reveal his true objective.
Yes.
Using the alternate dimension to trap All Might and the heroes…
Using civilians as leverage to wear All Might down…
And broadcasting everything to society afterward—
Those were never Shigaraki Tomura's true goals.
Or rather—
They were merely one part of the plan.
Because from the very beginning, Shigaraki knew something very clearly.
Even if he released such footage to the public—
At most, it would only damage All Might's reputation slightly.
It would never truly destroy society itself.
After all—
All Might had spent decades protecting the people.
He was the Symbol of Peace.
As long as he remained alive—
Society would never truly collapse.
Even if his power had weakened.
Of course—
Shigaraki had considered simply using this rare opportunity to kill All Might outright.
If All Might died, the entire social order would undoubtedly descend into chaos.
But after thinking it through carefully—
He ultimately rejected that temptation.
And there were two reasons.
The first—
All Might was Nana Shimura's disciple.
Which meant he was technically one of the only elders left connected to this body's past.
Killing one of his own elders…
Did not sit well with him.
The second reason—
Killing All Might right now would actually create more disadvantages than benefits.
Because the moment All Might died—
Not only would every villain hiding in the shadows begin rampaging without restraint—
But All For One himself would also completely lose all restraint.
After all—
All Might still had not passed One ForAll to Midoriya Izuku yet.
At that point, society would instantly fall into total chaos.
And building a new order atop that kind of uncontrollable madness would be far more difficult.
More importantly—
Once All Might disappeared, would All For One still value him, the "disciple" specifically raised to oppose All Might?
The answer was uncertain.
And Shigaraki had absolutely no intention of gambling his own safety on whether All For One might feel sentimental.
Therefore—
He decisively chose to let All Might live.
All Might could not die yet.
At the very least—
Not before he either defeated All For One himself…
Or obtained the Quirk-stealing ability from him.
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