Revenge of the Power of Friendship: I’ve connected two dots...or actually a whole lot more than two, because it turns out that’s the whole fucking point
Hello.
We need to talk.
Still freaking out over chapter 362 even though the official hasn’t dropped yet?
Good. That’s good.
I’m obviously enjoying this immensely.
What? Do you find that weird? Giant Katsuki Bakugou stan relishing in the current manga events? How could this possibly be?
This ain’t my first rodeo, kids. I’m well-versed in the tropes of shounen anime. I knew shit was going down the moment Toga yanked Izuku to Octo Island.
I’m just surprised we got to this point in the story so quickly, if I’m being honest.
Anyways, I have a meta for you. It’s a good one. Probably correct, too.
We’ll be touching on many things today, including but not limited to:
The heroes’ battle strategy
The Second OFA User’s quirk
All Might’s OFA vestige
AFO’s weakness
Saving Tenko Shimura
How the fuck a certain beloved character could still survive
Consider yourself warned.
Anyways, who wants to know what the fuck is going on in this arc?
Introduction
I don’t have a lot of time, so I’m not gonna do my normal meta weave for you. Some of you are probably wondering if Switch Theory or Possession Theory will come into play, so let me just say up front: this theory is separate but NOT mutually exclusive from them. I noticed a big thing which could ultimately play out many different ways, and the ways it can play out could still include either of those theories. What I’m about to explain is meant to be taken as a general observation. It likely has holes that will need to be melded into whatever new information we get in the future.
It’s just...this is too glaringly obvious now. SOMETHING along these lines is definitely happening right now in the MHA story.
Instead of laying this out for you dramatically, I’m just gonna get to it. Here are my observations.
The heroes are in on saving Tenko
There are two important people who were involved in drafting the heroes’ battle strategy: All Might and Ragdoll.
I know there were plenty of people out there who expected Shouto to kill Dabi or whatever. Plenty more still think that the heroes are trying to kill TomurAFO.
What happened with Dabi should prove that they’re not.
Heroes save. Heroes are explicitly forbidden from killing. But you don’t need to have faith in them for that either, because we’re talking about All Might.
All Might knows who Tenko Shimura is, and it was foreshadowed a long time ago that he would do something to try to save him.
We know Izuku wants to rescue that little boy crying inside TomurAFO, and there’s no reason for him to have kept that a secret from anybody when the heroes were planning their attack. Everyone he’s working with are heroes. You can say what you will about each individual character, but it’s not even necessary that everyone wants to save Tenko. Given how strong TomurAFO is, anyone would be able to see that it could be much easier to save Tenko than kill the monster he has become. The goal is to stop Tenko from wanting to destroy everything, and there are ways other than killing him to achieve that.
The evidence is there on the stage of their battle.
The goal is to separate AFO and Tomura. They don’t mention killing Tomura in planning.
Additionally, OFA is part of the plan to fight Tomura, but no one ever says anything about how OFA would be used.
If they just needed firepower, they wouldn’t have needed to include other people in the team fighting Tomura. And they included a LOT of firepower otherwise in that team. So...it must be something else OFA is supposed to do.
Probably the Second User’s quirk.
And above all, Katsuki doesn’t smile at all during the fight, which is kind of a tell. Katsuki distinctly always fails to smile when he’s in the mindset to perform a rescue.
The Second User’s quirk creates connections
Like I said, Switch Theory is not required for this meta, but it does contain some important elements I need to mention now.
I’ve never been more certain it relates to: touching a person (holding hands?) and saying their name.
Note that I didn’t say that was an activation requirement. I mean, it probably is, but it’s really more about something else.
"This is the story of how we all became the greatest hero.” I’m making this singular on purpose.
The full potential of One For All must rely on the connections Izuku has made with other people. The more connections he makes, the stronger he becomes.
I didn’t mention the significance of Ragdoll yet. Why is she important?
Because her quirk exists inside AFO.
She could be a window into AFO. Her quirk could actually end up being his weakness. She just has to be connected to another person on the outside.
Each fight has shown a person “thinking” of their friends as “one”
What have we seen in this war so far?
We’ve seen Shouto think of his friends just before hitting Dabi with his ultimate move.
We’ve seen Jirou attack AFO out of love for her friends.
And what’s interesting about both of those moments is that...they were extremely effective.
In Jirou’s case, she even reached and empowered the stolen quirks inside AFO.
What if all of these events are actually the result of OFA? What if they’re all connected?
What if everyone is affected by the Second User’s quirk already?
All they would need to do is “think of everyone together as one.” One For All, if you will.
And this accomplishes...what?
Katsuki’s gonna live
What was Katsuki doing right before he went all-out against TomurAFO?
Mumbling like Izuku, taking note of TomurAFO’s battle habits, fighting through the pain...
He was thinking of Izuku.
...maybe even talking to Izuku.
TomurAFO freaks out about losing his cool against a non-OFA user. He thinks of the Second...which implies the Second gave him a lot of trouble before he ever had OFA either.
(That’s a yin-yang image if I ever saw one.)
Perhaps the Second’s quirk gives a compounding power boost of some kind depending on how many connections have been forged, or maybe it’s based on how “united” the connections are in heart and mind. I say power boost, but I don’t know if it’s actually something so straightforward as a strength increase. I’m just saying whatever it is, it seems to...empower people.
At this point, I’m inclined to name his quirk “Rally.”
It gave Shouto the strength to reach Touya’s heart, as represented by their childhood selves.
It allowed Jirou to reach out to the vestiges trapped inside AFO.
It allowed Katsuki to...see All Might’s vestige?
I’ll come back to this.
I just want to round this point out first by pointing out...this bit?
Maybe this is OFA, actually.
Or maybe it’s not, but...
...maybe it’ll allow a connection between Shouto and someone else despite a large distance between them. Maybe Shouto is healing Touya’s chest (whether he realizes it or not). And maybe OFA will allow Shouto to use it on someone else who needs it.
Just look at that X over Shouto’s chest in the above panel, and...
...look at Katsuki’s uniform design. Look where his heart wound is.
All For One versus All Might
Okay, let’s get back to All Might’s vestige.
As I pointed out in my literal translation of chapter 358, AFO’s stated goal here is to define the world by “things that are me” versus “things that are not me.” He’s placed a piece of himself in Tomura and taken him over. He’s kidnapped and raised kids as potential vessels for him. He’s created noumu of the dead to obediently follow his orders, and he communicates to them via radio waves like they’re all some kind of hive mind.
So what if the “not AFO” pieces of the world could do something similar?
What if they could unite via the power of OFA? What if the Second’s quirk IS Switch, or else something else that allows him to create vestiges in everyone?
What would they place in everyone that they could resonate with?
There is a lot of weirdness happening in this scene. A) They must be in the vestige plane, but whose vestige plane? It certainly doesn’t look like Tomura’s or Izuku’s. It’s a blank white space. B) Katsuki is wearing his school uniform...with a tie??? He’s only done that once before...
I genuinely cannot tell if Katsuki’s meeting with All Might’s vestige is actually happening in the moment or a flashback. Izuku as OFA’s holder doesn’t appear wearing clothes in the vestige world, so...is this not Katsuki’s vestige world either? Is this a piece of his soul as manifested by the Second’s quirk, and it takes on the form of what he looked like when it was forged--say when he united Class 1-A together to go save Izuku? a.k.a when he was able to “think of everyone as united, as one”?
Is this actually happening in the moment, and All Might’s vestige is doing something to save Katsuki? Perhaps Switching with him? Was his vestige already there and empowering him? Was it part of the plan? Is Katsuki trying to somehow inject All Might’s vestige into TomurAFO so it can save Tenko?
Remember: All Might’s vestige is not a quirk. It’s a piece of his consciousness. It’s basically a fragment of his soul.
Things that are AFO versus Things that are All Might
Talk about a brand-new Possession Theory! And a new Fusion Theory!
How can Tenko Shimura be a hero?
Thanks @class1akids for helping me realize Tomura’s growing an extra face.
I suppose if Katsuki’s heart or body craps out on him, we can always grow him a new one to put his soul back in.
Maybe we can grow bodies for all the other stolen quirks’ vestiges, too.
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Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Naruto
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Relationships: Senju Tobirama/Uchiha Izuna
Characters: Uchiha Izuna, Senju Tobirama, Uchiha Madara, Minor Characters
Additional Tags: Warring States Period (Naruto), Uchiha Izuna Lives, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Dark, Unhappy Ending, Bad Ending, Dubious Consent, (but on whose end), Brainwashing, Brainwashing that backfires, Manipulation, (but who's manipulating who), Minor Character Death, Maiming, Eye Trauma, (mentioned), Possessive Behavior, Jealousy, Gaslighting, I mean all those tags okay, Tobirama really goes gaslight girlboss gatekeep your man in your basement
Summary:
Izuna has only one chance to get this right.
The Kotoamatsukami doesn't allow for second chances.
Fortunately, he has the perfect target. And the perfect genjutsu.
He needs to get the timing right, too, but the almost dance-like quality of any battles between him and Senju Tobirama is well practiced by now, and each step falls as if choreographed.
...Kotoamatsukami!
For @writhingbeneathyou, inspired by their fabulous Naruto Founders horror anthology. ❤️
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