An IV fed a steady stream of raw materials down into her patient's torso, while iryou-ninjutsu pushed gently for cells to revert to pluripotent stem cells, divide, grow, differentiate and rearrange themselves into a healthy organ at what some would call an unnatural speed. Izanagi had kept her identity so carefully separate from Nono that few, if any, would realize that the medic-nin could use same miracle that repaired the stomach could as easily-no, with even greater ease-stop the heart, let alone that she would. But the most dangerous thing in the world was not the jutsu that could kill an individual, but the words that could change one.

Healing was an act of intimacy, and an act of trust. It also took up enough mental capacity to make lying-or telling a tacit truth difficult. All for One was familiar enough with such things to take advantage, so, as expected, the man broached, "I am curious, Yakushi-sensei. This Quirk of yours-any Hero school would have welcomed you with open arms, and sponsorships should have poured in like a tide. But instead, you chose the laborious path of co-founding Otogakure. Why did you do it?"

The Miko carefully kept her eyes on the bared, scarred skin that lay beneath her green-glowing hands. "A realization. Injustice wore the cloak of lawfulness, and unlike some, I had no talent for changing systems from the inside-they have a habit of changing me as well, you see. So I intended to become a doctor-it is expected for us to advocate for reform. That was when Orochimaru suggested a more direct path."

"That sounds quite inspiring." All for One agreed, "But it must be quite frustrating, to have to shout to be heard, only to be labeled as villains and easily dismissed when your cause is finally given attention."

"It is beyond disheartening." Nono conceded, moving up towards esophagus. "However, speaking of villainy, are you planning to attack the Sports Festival?"

"A curious question, Nono-sensei."

"I can hardly be ambiguous when my son is involved." She said delicately, ending the Mystic Palm technique and pulling on a virtual reality set. "And I could hardly miss that you are the ones responsible for the attack on my son's class-Kurogiri-san's form and abilities are quite distinctive."

"My apologies for endangering your son." Ichirou winced, "Yet my goals can not allow me to stop attacking your son's class."

"That, I understand." The Wandering Miko allowed in a clipped voice, "Kabuto chose to enter your world. All I can do is ask him to choose a different path, and support him if he refuses. However, as a mother, I must know, will you be attacking him at that event?"

"No." Ichirou admitted, "The Noumu have not yet developed to be usable. Besides, it would not be tactical to attack the Sports Festival."

"Why not?" She asked mildly, marking out the scar tissue her diagnostic jutsu had revealed. "So far as the internet is concerned, terrorists do not attack for strategic purposes so much as they do to have their message heard.-"

"-UA's doing a lot to increase security!" Izuku protested, "Besides, even if they didn't, the original measures, in addition to the off-duty heroes invited would be quite sufficient-Endeavour-san will be the highest ranked hero present, and even if you dislike him-with good reason!-he is the Number Two!"

Kabuto shrugged, "I still doubt it. Not even the people on the job will be as vigilant as they should-no one expects to be attacked at a festival, given that the atmosphere would be so positive. After that, the number of civilians present will mean record numbers of hostages, forcing heroes to focus on protecting them instead of apprehending villains. It's pretty much ideal, especially if the villains have a mass-effect weapon or quirk among them."

Speaking from experience, of course. Not that the invasion worked as well as we hoped.

"-then, when it comes to publicity, well, few events are as widely broadcast as our modern gladiatorial games."

"I take it that you are not at all appreciative of them, Nono-sensei."

The Miko shrugged, "Should I be? It is the cancer at the heart of the system, bared before the eyes of the adoring public and yet passing unseen." Her hands spasmed with deliberately-fanned fury, "They entertain themselves with the injury of children. I will not forgive them this."

"Bloodsport." All for One summarized, "But one may argue we need heroes in our society. Society needs to see their best. Needs to see how the good grow into the great. Needs to see children step into their defenders' shoes, if they are to support their heroes, and not faceless enforcers." He laughed a hollow laugh, "At the expense of those golden princes' reviled shadows, of course."

So that was his angle. Turn Yakushi Nono's distaste for Heroics, well-known innate empathy and resultant protectiveness of the disadvantaged against the system that created them. Yet his greatest obstacle and ally was Otogakure. It was well-formed, steadily growing change, with fewer infernos of hate, but far more steady candle-lights of compassion. Yakushi Nono, co-founder of Otogakure, was neither the ilk of the dissatisfied and angry under his banner, nor the like of the uncertain recent convert; possessed of hard-won confidence, absent a leash of secret shame or new-found guilt; no confederate due to convenience, even less a devotee out of faith. She could only be dealt with as an ally, if not an equal, if not because of her command over an equally devout following (with far more diverse antecedents and skills at that), then because she had no reason to allow herself to be treated as anything else.

"It is at some times quite difficult to remember, that the masses that benefit are more than mindless faces, but storied people too." Nono admitted, biting out each word, "A physician could hardly sacrifice the majority for a few, even if no one should choose happily the sacrifice of a minority for the sake of the many." She colored her speech with the emptiness of rote repetition, "The system in place has settled too well. The role Heroes play in stabilizing social order is too great."

"But then," All for One pressed, seeing the opening she had left, "If a society is built upon suffering, shouldn't it be torn down?"

Kabuto snorted as he and Izuku walked down the corridor, "Our school is obviously making a gamble, and with more than it has to boot. The best case scenario is that everything goes smoothly, and no villains appear-the public is reassured that heroes are an effective villain deterrent, we go about none the worse for wear, and morale rises. If there's a need to repel an attack, then they'd better make the defense a good show, and make sure there aren't any casualties, otherwise we lose the gamble and shake the public's faith in Heroes." The spy shrugged, "Similar things happen with the police, or with disgraced politicians, but with Heroes, it's worse. That's what happens when you let the media run away with their image and turn them into a symbol. Add in that Yuuei is second only to All Might when it comes to symbols, the only thing that would rival our defeat when it comes to raising crime rates and such would be if he got injured."

Izuku didn't quite manage to hide his wince. And since Kabuto was Kabuto and extraordinarily observant either because it was one of the adaptations of his Quirk which allowed him to better diagnose and monitor organics or because he had trained to be; both were possible but with Kabuto it was most likely the latter, especially in light of USJ when his friend had leapt into battle to save their sensei, leaving a trail of corpses in his wake, showing skills that had no relation to his Quirk apart from what Kabuto had told him about the value of healing at his level and how much the skill was in demand in the underworld and therefore how much Kabuto needed to protect himself, which also led to Kabuto's disturbingly cynical and perceptive personality. Oh. They were in an empty classroom. Kabuto was locking the door.

"All Might is injured?" Kabuto asked, staring at him intently, "He is, I saw the flinch. You need to learn how to lie, by the way, our school is compromised and while the informant is definitely less capable than I, you still should learn to keep tells under control. All Might's performance hasn't suffered any unusual dips or spikes recently-the injury is not recent-of course. You're panicked, this injury is debilitating and classified, and according to nii-san, as far as he can tell, All Might hasn't appeared for more than three hours a day for at least half a decade, but he hasn't shown signs of weakening otherwise-the injury has been around for that long and it affects his duration of quirk use, but not the quality of the same. What is it, Izuku-san? If it's not a brain injury, then I can help."

Izuku hesitated. He trusted Kabuto, but. White amongst sprays of red. A knife-sharp grin. A row of covered bodies, while their killer shed a stained coat for a fresh one, and exchanged with healing the making of the dead. A monster snatched from villains' hands, then called a pet. Kabuto was…Kabuto. Besides, it wasn't his secret to tell.

"I don't think you can help, Kabuto." He deflected instead, "The wound's old, and not really your area of expertise-you usually apply your Quirk for preventative purposes or for fresh injuries, and it isn't anything like that. Not to mention, All Might's definitely gotten the best treatment possible already."

The silver-haired boy laughed, waving off his attempt, "No they didn't. Mother wasn't approached. Probably because they didn't trust her with national security, but that does not change the fact that there is only one thing mother can not cure, and that is death."

Izuku really winced at that. There went his best argument.

"It isn't just my secret, Kabuto."

Kabuto blinked. "Just that?" He tapped his chin, "Would it be Nedzu-sensei's secret then? Or would I need to have it straight from the horse's mouth?"

The boy thought swiftly. Compared to Yagi-san, Nedzu-sensei was the better choice. He could warn Yagi-san when he got home, "I think that you should ask Nedzu-sensei first."

Kabuto nodded agreeably, "I'll do that tomorrow."

Crisis averted, for now.