Warning: spoilers ahead for My Hero Academia chapter 352!

Shoto Todoroki has officially proved in My Hero Academia that he's using his parents' powers in his own way, refusing the legacy of his father Endeavor. Even though he's benefiting from both aspects of his parents' quirks as Endeavor hoped, Shoto is making sure that he's in control of his own destiny.

Shoto has always struggled with how Endeavor manipulated and hurt his own family just so he could sire a child with powers that would help him achieve his dreams. The reason why Endeavor married his wife was because of her icy quirk. He couldn't handle the full extent of his Hellflame's heat and knew that his children would likely not be able to either when they inevitably inherited it. Because his wife had an icy quirk, he hoped that one of their children would inherit both his Hellflame and her icy powers so that they could quell the raging inferno of his flames. Shoto, whose Half-Hot Half-Cold quirk could do just what his father hoped, originally hated how much his family suffered, especially his older brother Toya who eventually became Dabi, that he rejected the portion of his power that came from Endeavor, even at the detriment of his own dreams of becoming a hero. Even though Shoto eventually embraced Endeavor's Hellflame when his father finally apologized, there was still a part of Shoto that could never truly forgive him.

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Chapter 352 of My Hero Academia by mangaka Kohei Horikoshi reveals how Shoto managed to accomplish and benefit from Endeavor's strategy by doing the opposite. Rather than using his mother's power to cool his body temperature so that he could handle Endeavor's Hellflame, Shoto learns how to cool a portion of his flames. Readers discover this bombshell in a flashback during Shoto's battle against his brother Dabi where the Half-Hot Half-Cold user explains how he accomplished creating what he refers to as "Cold Fire" in more detail.

dabi powers My-Hero-Academia-chapter-352.

Besides this strategy seemingly leading him to victory against Dabi at the end of chapter 352, it helps Shoto disprove what Dabi has been accusing his younger brother of during their battle. Dabi clearly holds quite a grudge against Shoto even though his main grievance is against their father. Numerous times during their altercation, Dabi refers to Shoto as a worthless puppet who allows himself to be easily manipulated by their father.Dabi bases his first accusation on the fact that he believes Shoto is only fighting him because Endeavor made him do so. The second is that Shoto is no more than a product of their father's experiment.

However, this final reveal is the perfect answer to these charges. Shoto has already proved that he's chosen to battle Dabi himself rather than Endeavor giving him no other choice. Now, the latest chapter serves as Shoto's way of proving that he's so much more than just a product of their father's experiment. Shoto has leveraged his power in a way of his own invention, rather than following Endeavor's path precisely as he intended.

This not only disproves the many false accusations that Dabi has made about Shoto in past My Hero Academia chapters, but also allows Shoto to stay true to himself. Even though Shoto eventually forgave his father, there was never a chance that he would ever forget all of the strong negative emotions he's felt for Endeavor. During that dark time, Shoto completely refused to use his father's Hellflame. And although he eventually relented, it doesn't mean that Shoto would go about using his own powers as his father intended. As Shoto divulges to Dabi during their battle, he might be on their father's side, but that doesn't mean that everything is suddenly okay. He even agrees with Dabi that their family is a mess. However, rather than choosing to embrace evil like Dabi, Shoto has chosen individuality and heroism in the latest chapter of My Hero Academia.

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