Over the next months, with the support of a group of heroes and the police, a search of the transport ship JAP0455 in a neighboring prefecture was conducted, the result showed only one solid piece of evidence - they decided to check the planned cargo containers on the ship's captain's on-board computer. They had to recheck many containers, check suppliers and interrogate. In the process, they happened to find several shipments of illegal firearms, and the heroes and special forces had to intervene. Eraser Head, Best Jeanist and several other heroes quickly defeated them and an arrest took place, where they found out that they were just a failed gang that decided to make some money and resell to the Yakuza. Smuggling firearms in Japan is under strict control, even the control over the use of quirks is not so strict.
AFO planned to transport dozens of experimental Nomu on this ship so that their colleagues from abroad could receive prototypes and report the results. Of course, as soon as they are created. Creating a fuss in Japan now was a very bad decision. Once he learned that the ship was under surveillance, it would not be a problem for him to bribe a few more people, the captain, and get a few places on the new ship at his disposal. However, it would be fun for him to see how the first Nomu would face the heroes, they were nothing more than toys. Japan had not yet encountered these poly-quirk mutants from Dr. Ujiko and AFO was sure that the heroes would be helpless and suffer losses.
Giran quit his job in some stuffy office and moved to work in an underground bar, which was located under the roof of the Himura. AFO knows Giran and has contact with him, of course he knew about his relocation to this bar, so he thought about temporarily starting to cooperate with this family, since the Yakuza did not show any interest yet, having influence on par with Otoru Himura. Being friends with each other was quite beneficial for both sides. The underground bar of Otoroi hosted illegal gambling, had a connection to mercenaries, and sold imported booze. It was a good place to dig in again in Musutafu and start recruiting people. AFO had lost its former influence in Tokyo due to a series of defeats, then it moved to Musutafu, where Nana Shimura was located, and began to increase its influence there, but after her murder, the police were under great pressure and they carried out a purge of property, and the heroes, including Toshinori, simply defeated the AFO henchmen.
***
While the archipelago was playing chess, Nobu was surviving in the jungles of Myanmar. Once he arrived at a stunning grove in the middle of the rolling highlands, he began to set up a shelter on one of the rocky outcrops. Nobu continued to feel pain from these deep and piercing bites, but over time they healed with a little care. The monkey meat was enough for a good week, just enough to recover and rest. Gutting them with barely a sharp stone was quite a challenge. However, it is difficult to eat just tasteless meat, so for weeks he scoured the forest in an attempt to find something edible and train his Frost Breath. Nobu came up with the idea of increasing the capacity of his lungs by holding his breath underwater, since this can affect the strength of the quirk.
Nobu found a nearly destroyed village, abandoned for many years and uninhabited. It stood in the middle of the forest, all overgrown, some wooden buildings began to deteriorate and fall apart. Nobu carefully checked it for wild animals and found a couple of snakes lying under the rocks. "This way my dears, dinner is today." Being hungry is now a normal thing for him. In the middle of the village stood a table, slightly bloody. The blood had long since dried, but the rains had not washed it away. "The last rain was a week ago. So someone was here a week ago. Maybe the animals were fighting?"
Strange symbols were engraved on the table; he did not know which language group to classify them in. Nobu found a pocket knife, there was blood on it. "What nonsense. Was there a person here? I should watch the place, I'll do it tomorrow." Nobu took the knife with him, and in the houses he found a long old sheet, he hurried to make something like a tunic out of them and put it on himself. "Excellent. When I want to sleep, I can take it off and cover myself or make a hammock." So far the nights were not too cold, dry leaves and grass helped somehow. "I hope it won't be too cold here in the winter, otherwise I'll just freeze to death." - Nobu's skin crawled at the thought. He moved back to the waterfall before it got dark and the predators came out for the night hunt.
After several months of survival near the waterfall, where there is access to water, and the forest is full of animals, Nobu began to notice how he began to become embittered and feel more confident, the previously fearful child felt oppressed and worthless in the endless forests. But he also began to quickly feel the approach of an animal's unbridled anger, gradually the boundaries between human logic and the animal world were erased, but he prevented this with meditation, controlling his own mind. Wild behavior must be left behind, in this forest, the best version of Nobu will rise from the ashes, he will not become an animal.
Nobu also began to notice how there was not enough food around the waterfall, because of this he began to go to that distant territory, where he first saw abandoned houses and strange symbols. On the way back, he was inadvertently bitten again by a similar snake, his heart began to beat in fear, because there was no more Rollback. Nobu was already saying goodbye, but after a while he realized that nothing was happening. "It's strange, maybe it's another snake or some kind of grass snake?" Nobu killed the creature and looked closely at its teeth and muzzle; he had seen a biology book a long time ago about the difference between grass snakes and vipers. This one was poisonous. "What are they called there... it's definitely not a cobra. In any case, for some reason their toxin doesn't affect me."
At first, he was wary of this abandoned place, but after a while he noticed a certain change. Barely distinguishable human tracks appeared in the mud, someone was walking here. Initially, he was glad that he would finally be able to meet people, because dense jungle and rocks stretched for tens of kilometers around. But one day he changed his mind and approach to new acquaintances, having followed strangers. He waited, hiding for several weeks near that place and not in vain. The damn rain had not stopped during this time, and he had built a small platform with a canopy on a tree. Finally, in the middle of the night, seeing the flickering lights of torches and a certain hum of the crowd, Nobu came out of his meditation. They were singing some songs and dressed in strange occult outfits. The crowd was approaching some kind of sacrificial altar, Nobu had previously seen symbols on it and a ritual knife, which he now had. The crowd was singing and dragging several people tied up and blindfolded, among them children.
Nobu held his breath and continued to watch, unable to do anything about the trembling. The magical lights shimmered and the oppressive chant created an unforgettable atmosphere, calling on Nobu's animal instincts. Concentrating, he took control of himself and continued to watch. He forbade himself to interfere. "If they are strong enough to capture several people, then they will capture me too. But still, I can do something." Nobu carefully climbed down from the tree, getting closer to the circle of people who were sacrificing the first adult male. They pierced his heart with a similar ritual knife with an engraving. There was a muffled sob and silence.
The law of the jungle reigns everywhere and Nobu knew it, he stopped feeling any pity for anyone. Pity is a disgusting feeling. He simply accepts the situation as a given, people were taken into captivity by stronger ones. Nature has always been like this, but sometimes intelligence overcomes any force.
Nobu approached the captives, who were guarded by several members of the cult. One of them suddenly felt someone climb on him and sharply slit his throat. He froze another and quickly cut the paths of the people, they opened their bandages and began to run in all directions, because the occultists noticed the fuss and began to pursue. Nobu ran to his territory, turning and zigzagging. It seemed that he had escaped, but one particularly fast one continued to follow him on his heels, shouting various angry comments. The local simultaneously used his Underground Thorns quirk, several times Nobu almost pierced his leg on these damn thorn-like thorns from under the ground, only slightly cutting his thigh. Nobu hid when a man in a robe passed by him, shouting various nonsense in an unknown language. "Got away." - he exhaled.
This is his territory, during the long time he spent here, Nobu resigned himself and began to get used to the local environment, he began to be afraid to go too far from the waterfall, because he did not want to meet a tiger, he knew that his territory was nearby and did not want a direct confrontation. Nobu returned to the waterfall and spent a week healing a rather large scratch on his thigh. He did not expect that the occultists would return again, only not to an abandoned place, but directly to the waterfall.