The following contains spoilers for My Hero Academia Chapter 360, "Despite It All..." by Horikoshi Kohei, Caleb Cook and John Hunt, available now in English from Viz Media.

Bakugo Katsuki from My Hero Academia is one of animanga's most recalcitrant characters. Whether through normal interactions with his peers or combat situations, he's made a name for himself with his bullheadedness -- and for overcoming superior opponents or overwhelming odds through sheer unbridled grit. In the ongoing war, he's faced Shigaraki Tomura head-on and has endured extreme abuse at the villain's hands, yet even forced submission to the most powerful Quirk-wielding creature that's ever lived hasn't been enough to break Bakugo's spirit.

So far, Bakugo is the only character to successfully land an attack on Shigaraki that the villain wasn't able to immediately shake off. The cyclone of explosions his Howitzer Impact: Cluster created -- as well as the gigantic final blast -- seared the right side of Shigaraki's face off, blinding him in the process. Since his regeneration hasn't negated the injury yet, it's safe to assume Bakugo's explosion was hot enough to carbonize the villain's skin. This injury forced Shigaraki to acknowledge the strength of Bakugo's Quirk and prioritize taking the young man down, which he promptly accomplished by simply crushing the boy's forearm in his fist.

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 Shigaraki ripping out Bakugo's hair with his feet and choking him.

Given his sociopathic nature in MHA, Shigaraki wasn't content with merely leaving Bakugo to suffer -- he was intent on making him die in the most disrespectful way possible. He questioned why Midoriya Izuku wasn't present yet and poked fun at how upset Deku had become when he stabbed Bakugo during the Paranormal Liberation War. He promised to leave Bakugo's corpse intact as a present for Deku and continued to taunt him for not being able to match up to Simple Growth or even One For All.

Luckily, Bakugo was spared further injury in Chapter 360 by the Big Three's intervention. With lightning-fast subterfuge organized by Nejire Hado, Tamaki Amajiki and Mirio Togata, he was deftly plucked from Shigaraki's clutches and passed on to Best Jeanist to secure him. The whole operation was completed in a matter of seconds and Shigaraki was forced into actual combat once again.

Once he'd secured his protégé, Best Jeanist immediately asked for Bakugo's shattered arm, to splint it with his fibers. For a moment Bakugo was unresponsive, leading Jeanist to assume he felt humiliated after Shigaraki's attack. He immediately began to comfort his student, reminding him that Shigaraki had become a threat far too dangerous for any one of them to handle alone, but his well-meaning words were cut short when Bakugo muttered "Right side. Finger feint..."

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Bakugo looking intently forward with faint sparks dancing across his face

As ambiguous as those words were, their only possible meaning could be that Bakugo was slowly getting accustomed to Shigaraki's attack patterns. Impressively, he had kept his presence of mind while Shigaraki committed extreme bodily harm to him. As a result, Bakugo was again the first person to achieve a breakthrough in learning how to combat Simple Growth, and has become one of the greatest weapons against Shigaraki and All For One.

Although the ability to read through Shigaraki's movements is quite enviable, it might not have been the greatest prize Bakugo won from his encounter with the villain. As he sat sweating profusely by Best Jeanist's side, there were tiny specks of light flickering all across his face. It may have been an artistic choice on Horikoshi's part, but the possibility of it foreshadowing a Quirk Awakening cannot be denied.

Bakugo's Quirk may have powered up, allowing him to set off explosions from any part of his body -- or it may have been a simple power boost. Either way, should he re-enter the battle when My Hero Academia continues, he'll certainly be a transformed fighter and even more of a threat for Shigaraki to contend with.