"The master… is dead?"
Tomura Shigaraki's eyes were bloodshot, veins standing out as if ready to burst. A trace of silver liquid lingered beside him, but he paid it no attention. His hand clawed relentlessly at his neck, scratching until fresh streaks of blood appeared.
Moments earlier, his body had been forcibly summoned by All For One. For just an instant, he had glimpsed another scene through the silver liquid—
All For One, pierced through by a blade.
Yet even then, his hands had reached out toward Shigaraki, muttering something about "inheriting my will…"
After that, Shigaraki felt something being pulled from his body—followed by a strange new power entering it.
But he hadn't cared.
All he had seen was All For One being swallowed by that bizarre blade—his form torn away like a soul and sealed into a gourd.
And beneath that gourd… stood a familiar figure.
Shina Etsuha.
In that moment, Shigaraki understood everything.
All For One was dead.
And the one who killed him—
Was Shina Etsuha.
The realization struck like a hammer.
His emotions surged violently, his expression twisting into something feral. His chest rose and fell erratically, as if he might explode at any second.
Bang!
Shigaraki slammed his fist into the wall, rage boiling over as he instinctively tried to activate his Quirk—to destroy, to decay, to reduce everything to dust.
But—
Nothing happened.
His hand didn't respond.
No matter how desperately he willed it, the familiar sensation of disintegration never came. It was as if the ability had vanished entirely.
"…Impossible…"
He stared at his own hands in disbelief.
Then, slowly, a memory surfaced.
The moment All For One had grabbed him.
At the time, he had felt something being extracted—but had dismissed it as irrelevant.
Now, the truth became clear.
"What does All For One's Quirk do…?" Shigaraki murmured hoarsely. "It takes… and it gives…"
His pupils shrank.
"Then that means… my Quirk was taken?"
His gaze darkened, emotions twisting into something complicated.
Had his master really stripped him of his power in the final moment?
No.
Something didn't add up.
"If that's all he wanted, there'd be no need to say those last words…"
A realization struck him like lightning.
"…He was planning something else."
Shigaraki's eyes sharpened.
"…The Nomu facility."
Kurogiri was in terrible condition—barely able to function, let alone open portals. Shigaraki himself wasn't in great shape either, his head throbbing painfully, but physically, he could still move.
After changing into casual clothes, he set off.
The Nomu factory they had used before was only one of many—a mass-production site. But deeper within the network, hidden dozens of kilometers away, was the true laboratory. That was where All For One had once operated.
And where a certain doctor resided.
That was Shigaraki's destination.
…
Not long after, he arrived by taxi.
Stepping into the facility, the sharp smell of chemicals hit him immediately. His expression twisted slightly in discomfort, but he didn't stop.
He walked forward calmly.
"Oh? If it isn't you… here to see your master?"
A voice echoed from the shadows.
The figure that emerged was indistinct—only a glimpse of a beard and a heavyset frame visible in the dim light.
"The master is dead," Shigaraki said flatly.
"…What?"
The doctor's eyes widened in disbelief.
"The master is dead," Shigaraki repeated. "I came here to confirm something."
"That's impossible!"
The doctor roared, his composure shattering.
He understood All For One's strength better than anyone.
If there was anyone in the world capable of defeating him, perhaps it would be All Might.
But killing him?
That should have been impossible.
At his peak, All For One stood at the very pinnacle of power in Japan. How could someone like that be brought down so easily?
"Who did it?! How did he die?!" the doctor demanded, eyes wide with shock.
Shigaraki ignored him.
Instead, he walked up to a nearby Nomu and raised his hand.
The creature's eyes trembled.
"…This is—"
The doctor's voice suddenly dropped, filled with astonishment.
In the next instant—
A strange suction force erupted from Shigaraki's palm.
A faint, unfamiliar ability flowed into his body.
And then, the doctor spoke—his voice trembling with excitement.
"All For One…!"
Yes.
This was the true meaning behind "inheriting the will."
At the very end, All For One had taken Shigaraki's Decay Quirk—
And in return, had given him his own.
"I see…" the doctor murmured, awe creeping into his tone. "So this was the move he prepared all along… truly remarkable."
Was All For One dead?
Perhaps.
But his power—and his will—lived on.
Just like One For All had been passed down through generations, All For One had chosen his successor at the end of his reign.
And that successor—
Was Tomura Shigaraki.