Chapter 342

The Extreme Quiet Before the Storm (ののけさ) is the three hundred and forty-second chapter of Kohei Horikoshi's My Hero Academia.

Summary
Late at night, in U.A.’s Evacuee Residential Area, undercover operatives sent in by All For One speak to each other. One of them mentions their new orders how, due to being unable to act freely, to instead fan the flames of discourse amongst the general public, as U.A. is aware Tomura will be operational in less than a week, so that eventually Izuku will once again be driven out.

Back at Heights Alliance, Class 1-A return for a break from their search efforts, all feeling incredibly tired. Tenya tells them to get to bed early, with Izuku lamenting that he wishes they could have some more free time to talk, especially with how he wasn’t able to thank Ochaco properly yet. Just then, All Might, alongside Naomasa Tsukauchi and Nezu, bust into the dorm, to inform them all about their secret finalized plans for the upcoming second War. Elsewhere in the city, Hawks and Ragdoll inform Endeavor and Best Jeanist of the plans, and Shota Aizawa continues to watch over Kurogiri.

The next day, Nezu announces to the civilians that Tomura will make his big move in 4 days, with Class 1-A giving their thanks to everyone at the entrance, and Izuku saying he’s had more than enough time to clean himself up, with them all ready to head back out. One of All For One’s subordinates laughs at Izuku for making things easy for them by leaving on his own, and now their mission is guaranteed to “succeed”. Class 1-A each say goodbye to their family members and the civilians before heading out.

30km away from U.A., Class 1-A reconvenes at the Makeshift Fortress: “Troy”, a fortified structure created by Cementoss, Power Loader, and Ectoplasm, that they can stay at for now. The classmates move their bags into their temporary dorms, when Izuku spots Ochaco reflecting outside. He jumps down to see her, as the two say they didn’t have much to unpack anyway.

After a moment of silnce, Izuku thanks Ochaco for what she did earlier, which she simply brushes off, before saying she’s just watching the city. She proceeds to tell him she feels weird, as back when she was shouting from the top of the building, Himiko Toga popped into her head. She tells him during their fight during the War, even after she told her what she believed is right, she saw how sad it made her. Even after all the lives that have been lost and the city destroyed, and being way past the point of forgiveness, she’s still a person, and thinks about how she doesn’t know anything about her at all.

Ochaco continues that she’s gazing out of the city so she won’t forget the destruction they caused and won’t think stupid things like that again. However, Izuku replies that he understands her, having seen a little boy crying inside Tomura, and that even though there’s no way to avoid the battle, he can’t ignore that side of him. Ochaco says that it makes them both weird.

Inside the dorms, Shoto thanks his friends for being there, thinking about Toya and how he doesn’t even know his favorite food, which Katsuki quips is probably udon, leaving Shoto to respond he wouldn’t mind making him sit down to eat with him sometime. Back outside, Ochaco confidently states they’ll put a stop to them for sure. Sometime later, on the day of the operation, All For One prepares to get started.

Chapter Notes

 * Spies for All For One are revealed to be within U.A.'s walls, with the intention of spurring discourse amongst the public to drive Izuku out.
 * All Might, Naomasa, and Nezu inform Class 1-A of their plans for the second War.
 * At the same time, Hawks and Ragdoll inform Endeavor and Best Jeanist of said plans.
 * Nezu announces to the evacuees of Tomura's upcoming completion in 4 days.
 * Class 1-A move into a make-shift fortress "Troy" to prepare.
 * Izuku thanks Ochaco for her speech to the public.
 * The two of them trade their thoughts about wanting to understand Himiko and Tomura.
 * Shoto also talks about wanting to understand Toya.
 * The day of the operation is finally reached.