Highlights
- In My Hero Academia chapter 396, it is revealed that All Might's fate of a gruesome death by a powerful villain was predicted by Sir Nighteye, signaling the ultimate battle that will end All Might's life for good.
- All Might surprises everyone by transforming into Armored All Might, equipped with a full-body suit and powerful weapons, showcasing his incredible knowledge and memorization of All For One's weaknesses.
- The battle between All Might and All For One is a win-or-die situation, with All Might determined to put an end to All For One and protect Midoriya, but knowing that he cannot keep up a high intensity without a Quirk. The end of the war seems closer than ever before.
Warning: The following contains spoilers for My Hero Academia Chapter 396, "A Quirkless Fight," by Kohei Horikoshi, translated by Caleb Cook, and Lettered by John Hunt, available in English from Viz Media.
My Hero Academia chapter 396 dropped this week after a break and it is safe to say that this was the perfect follow-up to what fans saw in the previous chapter. As expected, the fight between Toga and Ochako is finally over now and, as such, fans expected all the attention to switch to the fight between All Might and All For One.
Thankfully, that is precisely what happened in My Hero Academia chapter 396 as Horikoshi took all his attention to the final clash of the Titans. These two characters have a very deep history and have fought quite a few battles against each other. Now, it is time to drop the curtains on the legendary rivalry for good as the story is now edging closer to its end.
The Prophecy Of All Might's Death
Yagi Toshinori is a person whose fate has always been marked by a gruesome death. This was confirmed to the fans long ago in the story when Sir Nighteye revealed that if All Might continued to be a Hero, he would meet a very gruesome end and die. This came directly after he fought All For One and was brutally injured, compromising his power as a Hero for good. With the power of his foresight, Nighteye could see that All Might will eventually cross paths with a powerful villain and then end up dying. Curiously, Nighteye never mentioned that this villain was going to be All For One, however, there is a pretty good reason for that and it was explained to the fans in My Hero Academia chapter 396.
According to All Might, it is no coincidence that Nighteye didn't mention the villain who he will face in the future will be All For One. This is because All For One is currently in his prime form and looks completely different from what he did back then. No one would be able to recognize him in his current state and thus, this is indication enough that the prophecy that Nighteye spoke of is here. This is the ultimate battle where Sir Nighteye predicted that All Might would end up losing his life for good and die a gruesome death. However, at his heart, All Might is still a Hero and he still wants to do his part to save Japan and, consequently, the entire world.
Armored All Might
My Hero Academia chapter 396 began with All Might taking the role of a Hero against all odds. Although everyone saw he had joined the battle, nobody believed in him, simply because he is Quirkless and a shell of his former self. Even All For One himself believed that what made All Might strong was his One For All power. Now, the power does not belong to him anymore and this means that he has basically signed up for his death by taking All For One on here in combat. Much to the surprise of the watchers, however, All Might did have a few tricks up his sleeve. With his new Hero Equipment, which was shown to the fans quite a long time ago, All Might decided to get fully ready for battle. The new hero equipment turned out to be a full-body suit, as was predicted, and this new version of All Might is called Armored All Might. Covered in heavy armor from top to bottom, armored All Might has several powerful weapons in his body.
In fact, he also has a powerful shield which he goes on to use in the fight later on. Despite him taking this very unique-looking appearance, Tsukauchi, and all the others watching believe that All Might would be gruesomely murdered at the hands of All For One because he does not possess enough powers to put up a fight against him. Much to the surprise of everyone, however, All Might rose to the occasion and surprised everyone with his incredible knowledge that has stuck with him and, with every weakness of All For One that he has memorized over the years. All Might also revealed to the fans that this form was developed with the help of Dave Shield and Melissa Shield, who he met in the United States of America.
As fans might know, these two characters were also heavily involved in My Hero Academia: Two Heroes. With everyone's help, All Might still believes that it is his job to put an end to All For One for good and help out in the war in his own way.
My Hero Academia chapter 396 also gave fans a glimpse of Armored All Might as soon as the transformation was complete. Needless to say, this form is quite powerful and has several incredible mechanics packed into it. While the armor might look big and heavy, All Might is more than capable of donning it and using it to the best of its abilities. As soon as the battle began, All For One charged recklessly and used a long-range attack to kill All Might in a single blow. However, All Might's item, Hercules, which was a car, jumped in and created a powerful shield, which ended up taking the brunt of the force, losing 66% of its integrity in the process.
All Might then charged through and attacked with chords from all over his body, jamming themselves into All For One's body. All Might called this power Blackwhip, and it was quite clear to see that he's taking inspiration from his students here. He then decided to use electricity to charge the Blackwhip and interrupt All For One's healing.
He then proceeded to use the Cellophane ability, once again, inspired by one of his students, to reel himself in towards All For One and with a support item, charged a powerful Shoot Style: Smash. All Might went on to explain that ever since All For One killed Nana, he always followed a pattern where he attacked from long range and then decided to steal the Quirk of his opponents. Now that All Might does not have a Quirk, his tactics are simply ineffective. With nowhere left to go, All For One was wide open for a powerful blow from All Might to kick the battle off and that is precisely what ended up happening.
Moments before landing this powerful attack, All Might sent out a message to Tsukauchi, telling him that he is his best friend and he should know, more than anyone else, that when he heads into battle, he never goes in with the expectation of losing or getting killed. With that, All Might delivered the powerful Shoot Style Smash to All For One, shaking him to his very core and shocking the world in the process. For one last time, All Might is here.
This fight will surely not last too long and fans should know that All Might cannot keep up a very high intensity, given that he does not have a Quirk anymore. However, at the same time, All Might does have a plan and if he follows it perfectly, he should be able to deal with All For One for good. This fight is a win-or-die. If All For One makes it through, then All Might will most certainly die and if All Might survives then All For One will never get to Midoriya. Surely, the battle will wrap up in the next few chapters, which means the end of the war is now closer than ever before.