Warning: Contains spoilers for My Hero Academia #343
After a long phase of planning and preparation, the final battle between the heroes and villains of My Hero Academia has finally begun. As the two forces ambush each other at the same time, the fate of the world hangs in the balance.
After almost 350 chapters, the My Hero Academia by Kohei Horikoshi is nearing its end. All for One, the most dangerous villain in the world, has plunged Japan into chaos, breaking the trust between the heroes and the people they are supposed to protect, all in order of reaching his ultimate goal: stealing the One for All quirk that has eluded him for generations and is now in possession of young hero Izuku Midoriya (Deku). After turning another villain, Shigaraki, into essentially another version of himself, All for One was waiting for his undercover agent inside U.A. High, Aoyama, to lure Deku out in the open, but his plan backfired and he is now the one who was lured out.
All for One did not care if Aoyama was discovered as a traitor because he has dozens of plans in motion at the same time, and the loss of a pawn is not a big concern. However, what he did not predict was that Class 1-a could not only find out about Aoyama but also genuinely forgive him and convince the young hero to betray his dark master. This was a controversial plan, as it exposes Aoyama to retaliation and drops a shadow of doubt over how honest Deku's forgiveness was, but it seems to have worked. In chapter #343, Aoyama sets up a meeting with All for One, promising to bring Deku along, and the villain shows up, bringing along his army of criminals, the League of Villains, and his High-End Nomu. However, All for One was deceived once again, as he did not expect the heroes to also show up in force, kicking off what will probably be the last battle of the manga.
The main issue for the heroes until this point was that they were unable to locate All for One and his allies. Time was also against them because society was on the verge of collapsing and Shigaraki was growing stronger and stronger every day, adapting to the new body given to him by All for One. This is why Deku decided to use the discovery of the traitor inside U.A. to flip the table and go on the offensive. The battle was inevitable, but the heroes could still choose to fight on their own terms, and they did just that. Somehow (but it's probably related to the recent appearance of the hero Ragdoll), they were able to trick All for One and Shigaraki's "Search" quirk, which allows them to track the position of the heroes they encountered in previous battles. All for One believed that Deku and Aoyama were alone and, blinded by the presence in front of him of the quirk he coveted for so much time, summoned his army, thus triggering a full-scale battle.
To understand why this was the heroes' plan, it's important to remember that, despite the incredible number of quirks he possesses, All for One's scariest power could very well be his cunning mind and masterful planning abilities. By forcing a confrontation now, the heroes have taken the initiative out of All for One's hands, and this could very well be the only way to defeat him. What is certain is that, with the complete forces of the heroes and the villains about to clash, the next chapters of My Hero Academia will be the most exciting that readers have seen in a while.