Chapter 161

A Bright Future (明るい未来) is the one hundred and sixty-first chapter of Kohei Horikoshi's My Hero Academia.

Summary
Nejire Hado surveys the damage in the area caused by the battle between the Heroes and the Eight Precepts of Death; more than half of the Police Force were taken down by Rikiya Katsukame's Quirk while anyone else who could still move teamed up with the local Heroes to help the injured. The local Heroes on the ground survey that only three houses were destroyed due to Chisaki's Quirk and only three people were injured, albeit minor injuries which they consider impressive. Nejire comes down and explains to the local Heroes that it was thanks to Deku who blasted Kai Chisaki's monster form into the air and fought him in mid air which minimized the damage to the area; Nejire complains that fighting huge enemies are not her forte.

Meanwhile, those who were injured during the fight were taken to the nearest university hospital. Izuku has undergone a full physical examination with the doctor commenting that he found nothing wrong with him besides his arms which leaves the doctor puzzled; Izuku replies that his arms are fine and asks about the other Heroes. Shota Aizawa arrives to tell Izuku about the injured Heroes. While walking through the hallway, Shota apologizes to Izuku for not being with him during the critical moments of the battle before going on to explain the conditions of the Heroes; Eijiro Kirishima has bruising and lacerations all over his bandaged body but it is not life threatening, Tamaki Amajiki has a large fissure-like wound on his face but that will heal up in no time; Taishiro Toyomitsu, although suffering bone fractures, is doing fine and Ken Takagi was fortunate that Himiko Toga's blade missed his internal organs and is fine as well. Izuku is glad that his fellow Heroes are doing well. However, Shota explains that Eri still has not woken up and her fever is not going down; Eri is currently in quarantine, which saddens Izuku. Shota replies that the decision to quarantine Eri was based on Izuku's information he obtained about her such as being unable to control her Quirk, therefore the the most rational decision was to quarantine her for her sake as well as everybody else's. Shota comments that Eri's Quirk does not work on inorganic materials and only works on people, meaning it is a Quirk that cannot be easily trained. Shota tells Izuku that they cannot rely on Eri's Quirk.

Shota and Izuku see Toshinori Yagi and Chiyo Shuzenji who are with Kaoruko Awata and Jyuso Moashi.Kaoruko invited them for a reason but breaks down in tears before explaining as Jyuso consoles her. The surgeon explains that there is nothing they can do for Sir Nighteye, and Chiyo explains that her Quirk will not help either, much to Izuku's shock. The surgeon apologizes and states that Sir Nighteye will not live long enough to see tomorrow. Everyone goes to Sir Nighteye's room.

Sir Nighteye opens his eyes and sees Toshinori, finding it humorous that he finally came to see him only on his deathbed. Toshinori does not know how to reply and is full of remorse for what he put him through. Izuku begs Sir Nighteye to live as Sir Nighteye claims that he does not blame Toshinori and only wanted him to be happy and is fine with Toshinori fighting against fate. Toshinori begs his former sidekick to fight against fate as well and wants to make amends for everything he has done. Sir Nighteye has wanted to change Toshinori's future where he is murdered but could not find any answers. However, Izuku showed him a way. Sir Nighteye hypothesizes that everyone's wishes for a better future changed the outcome. Toshinori and Izuku grieve as Sir Nighteye is satisfied with his changed views of the future never being certain.

As Sir Nighteye states his one regret, Mirio Togata barges in the room to see his teacher. A bawling Mirio begs his teacher not to die; Sir Nighteye is apologetic for making Mirio experience much hardship but a weeping Mirio still begs Sir Nighteye to live because thanks to him he is the man he is now today. Sir Nighteye ponders about only taking Mirio as a vessel for One For All but overtime Mirio held such admiration for him and believed in him, eventually with Mirio becoming his most treasured student and is guilty for once thinking of Mirio as nothing more than a vessel. As Mirio weeps, Sir Nighteye raises his arm, touches Mirio's face and uses his Quirk for the last time to see Mirio's future, a future where Mirio becomes an outstanding Hero. Sir Nighteye closes his eyes and smiles, telling everyone to keep smiling as society needs smiles and laughs to bring about a brighter future as Toshinori, Izuku, and Mirio weep.

Sir Nighteye passes away peacefully, with a smile on his face.

Characters In Orders of Appearance

 * Nejire Hado
 * Ryuko Tatsuma (flashback)
 * Ochaco Uraraka (flashback)
 * Izuku Midoriya
 * Shota Aizawa
 * Eijiro Kirishima
 * Tamaki Amajiki
 * Taishiro Toyomitsu
 * Ken Takagi
 * Eri
 * Toshinori Yagi
 * Chiyo Shuzenji
 * Kaoruko Awata
 * Juso Moashi
 * Sir Nighteye
 * Tsuyu Asui (flashback)
 * Mirio Togata