Chapter 403: The End of an Era, and... the Beginning

All Might's mind drifts backward, to childhood and to books shared with his mother. The road he walked, he thinks, was open to anybody, and his earliest memories are far too gentle to pass for a proper origin story. Only by turning around to look at what he has done does any of it seem to amount to something. In the present, All For One mocks the plan to exit the world in suitably heroic fashion and puts Spearlike Bones through the gauntlet built to kill them both. With every trick now burned, he applies Bloodcurdle to lock his enemy in place, aware of how dangerous a cornered hero can be. The despair blooming across All Might's face is exactly what he has been waiting to see, and he grins at it.

La Brava warns Gentle that it is starting again, and he moves to help now that U.A. is stable, only for All For One to fire a heavy blast at the structure and force him to hold on instead. The villain complains that the school spoiled his aim and tells Gentle to be flattened under his own righteousness. American forces close in with lasers but hesitate over the risk of hitting All Might. All For One identifies the X-66 jets that once supported Star and Stripe against Tomura, dismantles them before a shot is fired, and notes that Star is not around anymore.

Still pinning Tomura, Deku watches in horror as All For One raises All Might's body overhead, ready to rip it open in full view. Around the world, audiences watch the live feed in dread, certain that losing him now would close an era. With Deku silently begging for anyone to intervene, a barely conscious Dynamight rises out of the smoke above the floating U.A., and the two catch sight of each other.

All Might's childhood, alongside his mother, is depicted for the first time.

The gauntlet built for All Might's self-sacrifice is wrecked before he can use it, and Bloodcurdle then locks his body down.

Gentle and the American jets both try to intervene and are repelled.

With the world watching the broadcast in fear, All For One moves to tear All Might apart publicly.

Dynamight appears above U.A., revealing that he is alive.

Horikoshi's four hundred and third installment fills 17 pages of the fortieth collected volume, placed within the Final War arc.

It ran in issue 46 of 2023, published on October 16, and was adapted as Episode 161 of the anime.

Fandom trivia notes that All For One's cheek-splitting grin resembles the DC Comics villain the Joker. Toshie Yagi debuts in the flashback.