Seeing this scene, everyone—including Thirteen—was completely stunned.
A villain that powerful… had actually fled without even attempting to fight, the moment he saw Shina Etsuha?
What on earth just happened?!
Even Thirteen stared at Etsuha in a daze. "Just… what was that?"
What they didn't realize was that the League of Villains had already gathered extensive data on Etsuha. His overwhelming offensive power and his vast range of abilities were no longer unknown to them. And Kurogiri understood one thing even more clearly—
If Etsuha truly intended to kill him, there was no escape.
As long as Etsuha used the same ability he had employed against the first Nomu, Kurogiri would be finished instantly.
That knowledge alone was enough to make him retreat in panic.
A purple vortex opened beside Shigaraki Tomura. Kurogiri's head emerged from it, his voice filled with frustration.
"My mission failed!"
"What happened?" Shigaraki frowned. "Weren't you supposed to scatter them and take them down one by one?"
"I was about to activate my quirk, but Shina Etsuha rushed straight at me—that wasn't part of the plan!" Kurogiri snapped. "I thought he'd be fighting Nomu alongside Aizawa! Damn it… he's already ridiculously strong, yet he still hides among the students instead of stepping forward!"
The moment Etsuha appeared, Kurogiri had seen those blood-red eyes.
And in that instant, he felt something he hadn't experienced in a long time—
Fear.
A suffocating sense of danger, as if no matter what he did, he would be crushed the moment their eyes met.
It was the first time he had felt such a threat.
So he ran. Without hesitation.
"Idiot," Shigaraki muttered, waving a hand impatiently. "Bring that Nomu over. With his abilities, he won't be able to handle this one. And don't look directly into his eyes—there's definitely something wrong with them. The boss wants to study that power too."
He clicked his tongue in irritation. The battle had already begun, yet All Might still hadn't appeared. The delay only made him more restless—more eager to kill.
Bang!
The black Nomu beside him stepped forward.
It wasn't particularly large—but its entire body radiated a golden heat. The air around it shimmered, the temperature rising the moment it appeared.
"Yes!"
Kurogiri's tone shifted instantly, excitement replacing frustration.
This was a special Nomu—custom-built for Etsuha.
After analyzing his abilities through multiple encounters, the doctor and All For One had finally completed this "perfect specimen," designed specifically to counter everything Etsuha could do.
Moments later—
Kurogiri reappeared before Etsuha and the others.
This time, he wasn't alone.
A blazing Nomu stepped out beside him.
"Hahaha! Shina Etsuha—come test it for yourself! This is the perfect creation prepared just for you!"
Though his voice was arrogant, Kurogiri himself stayed hidden within the mist, not daring to expose his body. His fear of Etsuha's unknown trump cards hadn't disappeared.
The Nomu took a single step forward.
With that step, the golden flames around its body intensified. The surrounding temperature surged upward, and the ground beneath its feet began to glow red, as if melting under the heat.
"This one's different from the others… and even more disgusting!"
Kirishima Eijiro instinctively stepped back.
"Hah. You've been targeting Shina this whole time—what, are we invisible?!"
Katsuki Bakugo scoffed coldly.
Explosions burst from his palms as he propelled himself forward, launching into the air straight toward Kurogiri.
"My task is to scatter you all!"
This time, Kurogiri didn't retreat.
He spread his quirk outward, dark mist surging beneath everyone's feet before erupting into a storm that swallowed them whole.
"Move!"
Tenya Iida reacted instantly, accelerating at full speed to pull several classmates out of the vortex. But even he couldn't save everyone—only a handful escaped, while the rest were engulfed.
"ROAR!!"
A deep, monstrous growl tore through the fog.
In the next instant—
The flame-wreathed Nomu exploded forward with terrifying speed, appearing directly in front of Etsuha.
"So you're using fire to counter my ice-based equipment?"
Etsuha's expression remained calm.
He could feel a pulling force beneath his feet, trying to drag him away through Kurogiri's spatial distortion—but he didn't resist. Instead, he calmly drew a short sword from his sleeve.
After his last encounter with a fire-type Nomu, he had already realized—
Ice alone couldn't solve everything.
A simple steel blade could be just as effective under the right circumstances.
Boom!
A towering icicle erupted from the ground, forming a massive barrier between him and the Nomu. The sheer force of its growth pierced through USJ's structure, exposing the battlefield to the outside.
But in the next moment—
The flames melted it.
The Nomu charged straight through, closing the distance instantly.
The tomoe in Etsuha's eyes spun slightly as he prepared to lock onto the creature—
And then—
He froze.
"…It has no eyes?!"
The Nomu's face was smooth—featureless where its eyes should have been.
"All For One really kept it simple…" Etsuha cursed under his breath. "If my ability relies on eye contact, then just remove the eyes altogether…!"
He had underestimated just how thoroughly his enemies had analyzed him.
At that moment—
Kurogiri's quirk fully activated.
Space twisted violently.
The surroundings blurred—and when Etsuha's vision cleared, the battlefield had already transformed into ruins.
And standing right in front of him—
Was that eyeless Nomu.