WARNING: The following contains spoilers for My Hero Academia Chapter #316, "You Turn,” by Kohei Horikoshi, Caleb Cook and John Hunt, available now in English from Viz Media.
Chapter #316, “Your Turn,” of the My Hero Academia manga proves just how well-prepared All For One is for any eventuality. Up to this point, All For One has been solemnly working on his own without Shigaraki’s help, acquiring assistance from other powerful villains to capture Deku. This included Lady Nagant, who All For One used to test Deku’s resolve by sending her to hunt him down.
Now, All For One prepares to make the necessary moves to eliminate the remaining Pro Heroes while figuring out how to steal One For All. At each step, Deku seems to escape certain defeat, but somehow, One For All is always one step ahead of him. This whole time, My Hero Accademia has been dropping details pinpointing All For One’s intellectuality as a villain, making it seem like Deku is on a wild goose chase when in reality, it will be up to All For One who decides when it’s time to meet face to face.
All For One has proven to be a master tactician, and Chapter #316 shows that Lady Nagant was only the beginning of the coming onslaught. Not only did All For One predict Lady Nagant still had the will of a hero, but he also made sure to put a safety measure in place to eliminate her the moment she turned on him. All For One did give her another chance to prove herself as a villain but in the end, her possible death is used to create the necessary groundwork for his next trap.
In Lady Nagant’s last moments, she reveals that if she was to capture Deku, the rendezvous point is a mansion in Haibori Woods, two months from then. All For One knew that the heroes would try to acquire this information from Lady Nagant, and instead of making sure the news didn’t get out, he used it to his advantage.
The heroes show up at the mansion, only to find it abandoned. A hologram recording of All For One startles them and conveys a direct challenge to Deku, “Now It’s… Your Turn!!,” meant to let him know All For One is coming for him. Before anyone can process the message, the entire mansion explodes, kicking off All For One’s plot to eliminate the heroes. It’s safe to assume that Deku survived the blast, but some of the others might have suffered a worse fate.
Prior to hunting down Deku, All For One told Lady Nagant to strike during the rain. At first, this sounded like an odd request, but after connecting a few details of the battle, it’s clear that All For One was trying to increase his chances of success. First of all, the range of Deku's smokescreen is limited because the rain affects the spread of the smoke. Using his smokescreen against Lady Nagant was advantageous, but at the mansion, it allowed Lady Nagant to lock on to Deku’s positioning. The rain also slowed down any aid provided by Endeavour, who admits as such to Deku. So, not only did All For One plan for potential failures, he made sure to provide his agents with intel that gave them key advantages.
Lastly, All For One is completely aware of the impact Deku has on other heroes. All For One makes it clear to Deku that he is his primary target now, and the whole time All For One was locked up, he thought of nothing else but Deku and One For All. The Demon Lord has also made sure to recruit more muscle to complete the job Lady Nagant failed to carry out. It’s unclear how many villains are hunting Deku currently, but based on the flashback in Chapter #316, there are going to be quite a few. It will be interesting to see how these new villains interact with the League of Villains. There might even be a battle between these villains for the privilege to kill Deku, or even All Might.
One For All is not done with his ultimate plan in My Hero Academia, and the heroes are continuing to find themselves two steps behind him. The road ahead is still long for Deku, but his perseverance will prevail... hopefully. Only time will tell on how many more heroes will pay the price to preserve Hero Society, and if all the pain is worth the sacrifice.
