WARNING: The following contains spoilers for My Hero Academia Chapter #295 “Tenacious,” by Kohei Horikoshi, Caleb Cook and John Hunt, available now in English from Viz Media.
At the pinnacle of Tomura Shigaraki’s rise to power in the My Hero Academia manga, the League of Villains pays the ultimate sacrifice to escape from the heroes in Chapter #295 -- a move that also leads to a startling revelation about Shigaraki and All For One's relationship. Shigaraki has surrounded himself with loyal companions that could even be considered family, and they are the reason for his growing domination.
In the last chapter, Mr. Compress’s final act completely disemboweled about half his body to allow time for his comrades to escape. Luckily, Lemillion is there to cut off their escape, but not before All For One makes a surprising visit.
In Shigaraki’s state of unconsciousness, All For One is able to capitalize on the unison they share to momentarily control his actions. Spinner tries his best to awaken Shigaraki so that he may command the Nomu to create a diversion, but All For One emerges through Shigaraki and uses radio waves to control the Nomu. As All For One, still acting through Shigaraki’s body, activates his Quirk, Decay, targeting the surrounding area, which seems like a good idea, but Spinner points out that the majority of their team is still amongst the rubble.
All For One’s demeanor is completely different from his past appearances here because he is more hostile towards the League for their failure -- Shigaraki especially. He claims that members of the League being eradicated by Decay are a necessary punishment for Shigaraki’s failure. All For One’s malcontent is indicative of his relationship with the young vessel, establishing the relationship between master and pupil going forward; especially since Chapter #295 ends with Deku reciting his legendary words, “You looked like you needed saving!” to Shigaraki.
In a brief moment during the battle against the League, Deku and Shigaraki share a vision in which All For One tries to consume Tomura’s consciousness. Shigaraki tries to use his own will but All For One’s persona holds him back, trying to get control of him. That is when Deku sees the expression on Shigaraki’s face and realizes that the villainous pupil was only a victim of his superior’s dream.
Shigaraki now has access to a greater source of power, but All For One’s leash on him is also getting tighter. Shigaraki’s failures have tainted All For One’s name, and he is not going to allow the defeat of the new vessel to be taken lightly. All For One claims that Shigaraki will face the heroes once his body is perfected, meaning that Tomura is going to forcefully become even more enhanced. This has to lead to a clash between the two major villains, and the outcome is looking promising for Shigaraki.
At this point, Shigrarki is unconscious, but he also holds the power for All For One. The former vessel is not going to be able to defeat him, and the villains that do survive will be more in tune with their leader and willing to risk it all to make sure their shared dreams are achieved.
Shigaraki has no trouble with handling issues his own way and defeating the former All For One will be the ultimate obstacle in the way of him reaching ultimate superiority in the villain world. All For One is forcing his legacy on Shigaraki, but the leader of the League of Villains is only just beginning his personal reign of terror.
