Chapter 40: Emancipation

Shoto Todoroki's flames are finally lit, and Endeavor comes down from the stands in delight to watch from closer range, urging his son to eclipse him and complete the ambition he has carried for years. Both fighters commit everything to one last exchange. Shoto sends a mountain of ice forward while Izuku Midoriya closes the gap with One For All and fires off a blast of wind pressure. Cementoss throws up a barrier of concrete to stop the collision, and neither boy relents. Shoto thanks his opponent, then ignites the chilled air his own ice created, and the resulting firestorm meets Izuku's attack. The blast levels the concrete wall, hurls both students backward, and rattles the arena from end to end.

Once the dust settles, Shoto is upright inside the ring with a torn shirt and no wounds worth mentioning. Izuku has landed beyond the boundary, and his injuries drop him to the ground the moment the adrenaline fades. The win goes to Shoto, and Izuku's run in the tournament ends there.

Endeavor intercepts his son in the corridor to congratulate him on embracing fire and to call him the improved version of himself, promising a sidekick position once he graduates. Shoto refuses the reconciliation outright. Nothing has been forgiven, he says, and the flames appeared only because his father slipped his mind for a moment. He walks off saying he has thinking to do about that side of his power.

Izuku wakes up under Recovery Girl's care, where she works on his wounds while lecturing All Might for pushing the boy past what his body can survive, and warns him against praising such recklessness. Ochaco, Tenya, Tsuyu and Minoru arrive to check on their classmate and are ushered straight out ahead of surgery. Barely able to speak, Izuku apologizes for falling short of expectations and asks forgiveness, explaining that Shoto's sadness was all he had been trying to reach. All Might calls the loss nothing more than bad luck and praises him instead, telling him that stepping into someone else's private struggle uninvited is the mark of a real hero.

Cementoss and Midnight step in to blunt the final clash and spare both students further damage.

Shoto takes the match, eliminating Izuku from the Sports Festival tournament.

Endeavor's offer of reconciliation and a sidekick post is rejected, with Shoto insisting the use of his fire meant nothing.

Several classmates get a look at the deflated All Might without realizing who is standing in front of them.

All Might defines heroism for his successor as offering help nobody asked for.

Horikoshi's fortieth installment fills 19 pages and sits in the fifth collected volume of My Hero Academia, inside the U.A. Sports Festival arc.

It ran in issue 22-23 of 2015, published on April 27 of that year. The anime splits it between Episode 23, covering the first eleven pages, and Episode 24 for the remainder.

Flashfreeze Heatwave is the super move on display, and the chapter concludes the Izuku Midoriya versus Shoto Todoroki bout.