Chapter 99 (Vigilantes)

The O'Clock illusion talks Number 6 through Operation Anonymous stage by stage. Stage one has already landed: an electromagnetic pulse that killed power and communications across Naruhata and left everyone groping in the dark. Stage two is choking the roads, and the instruction is restraint, minor collisions rather than spectacular pileups, which the mindless drones deliver by interfering with cars and trucks. Ingenium passes through the resulting gridlock and refuses to accept that the jams, the blackout, and the dead phones are unrelated.

Stage three is low-grade harassment throughout the district. The drones smash windows and deface property, never enough to constitute a disaster, always enough to breed unease. A frightened public turns suspicious of itself, and a suspicious public cannot cooperate. Musing on a society coming apart at the seams, 6 thinks of the squabble between Eraser Head and Koichi and counts himself lucky to have them both occupied.

Eraser Head, still chasing, calls out that something is badly wrong. Koichi agrees and keeps running anyway. Then a man on a scooter gawks at the pursuit above him and crashes, and both of them break off instantly, stopping the runaway machine before it strikes anyone and pulling the rider to safety. Number 6 is irritated to see the two aligning, but O'Clock assures him nothing can derail the plan. Civilians press Koichi for answers about the outage and he has none; they turn to Eraser Head instead, who reminds them Koichi is no Hero and advises them to keep their heads down, which earns him a wave of resentment.

Best Jeanist, Edgeshot, and Ingenium reach the area, and the first two rig a makeshift string telephone to address the crowd. They admit the cause is still unknown, but promise they are present and working, and the public rallies behind them. O'Clock observes that All Might has not shown, and 6 dismisses the rest as lesser figures whose efforts amount to nothing beside the only genuine Hero. Elsewhere, Naomasa recognizes the night for what it is, a coordinated strike, and tries to work out how to reach headquarters while an officer questions him about the hospital wing. The faceless drones wait in the shadows, and 6 notes with satisfaction that a threat nobody can see will never bring All Might out.

Number 6 sets Operation Anonymous in motion, a phased plan of blackouts, traffic obstruction, and petty vandalism meant to fracture trust among Heroes, police, and civilians long enough for him to move on the hospital.

The damage is deliberately kept minor, since the entire scheme depends on never provoking an appearance by All Might.

Koichi and Eraser Head suspend their pursuit to rescue a crashed scooter rider, and the arriving Pro Heroes work to calm the frightened public.

This is the ninety-ninth chapter of My Hero Academia: Vigilantes, written by Hideyuki Furuhashi and drawn by Betten Court. It runs nineteen pages, was published on April 10, 2021, sits within the Naruhata Lockdown Arc, and is collected in Volume 13.

Number 6 appears on the cover.

The chapter was originally titled Phases during serialization and renamed for the volume edition.

The O'Clock guiding Number 6 is an illusion produced by All For One's disguise, and the All Might who appears is only imagined.