The following contains spoilers for My Hero Academia Season 6, Episode 9, "Katsuki Bakugo: Rising", now streaming on Crunchyroll, Funimation, and Hulu.
My Hero Academia is currently facing a huge crisis with Tomura Shigaraki on the loose. The heroes' current power is far from enough to manage the villain. If they want to incapacitate and capture the series' main antagonist, they must realize their motto -- Plus Ultra. They have to go beyond their limits and reach further heights in terms of power, Quirk, or ability. Young Midoriya Izuku has slightly achieved that in Episode 9.
Deku's Quirk, One For All, is a Quirk like no other. It's been passed down from a user to an inheritor, usually by consuming the former's DNA in some way. This grants the inheritor an incredible amount of physical power. However, it has another ability. Midoriya discovers that One For All also passes down the previous users' Quirks to new wielders. As such, Midoriya not only gets great strength, but is able to wield the abilities from past heroes. He has already harnessed Blackwhip. Now, he unveils another one.
Deku Uses Float When It's Needed Most
When Shigaraki shot Eraser Head with a Quirk-killing drug, Ryukyu managed to inform the heroes a few seconds before it landed. This allowed Aizawa to make a quick decision. He amputated his leg to prevent the drug from spreading throughout his body. While he was successful in doing so, it remained unknown whether his Quirk remained intact. However, he was certainly out of commission with such a severe injury. With Aizawa officially out of the way, Shigaraki's Quirks also returned to him. He could freely use Decay and his other transplanted Quirks again. Aizawa's situation also angered Midoriya and the other students.
To make matters worse, Endeavor and the other professional heroes had hit their limit. Todoroki arrived, allowing Endeavor to cool down for a bit. Still, the current No. 1 Hero was far from his peak condition. Shigaraki was also prepared to unleash havoc, but just then, his body began to collapse. His regeneration couldn't keep up with the damage he was accruing. Midoriya perceived this; and so, he took Shigaraki to the air before the villain could use Decay. He used Nana Shimura's Float, while also using Blackwhip to contain the villain.
Izuku Midoriya Proves How Far He Has Come
Knowing that Shigaraki's regeneration was collapsing, Midoriya made a simple, effective plan. He would continuously attack the villain so that his regeneration wouldn't be able to keep up with the damage he was accumulating. Midoriya wasn't alone. Todoroki cooled down Endeavor, while Bakugo brought them into the air. Midoriya then used Blackwhip to bring Shigaraki closer to him, hitting him with One For All's full power. He repeated it numerous times until reinforcement arrived. Endeavor then went behind Shigaraki and unleashed every bit of firepower he had. Even so, Shigaraki survived and retaliated against Midoriya. Bakugo's hero instincts activated, making him subconsciously save Midoriya.
Even though Midoriya's new Quirk helps a lot with having Shigaraki in check -- albeit momentarily -- it is still far from enough to match the villain's power. However, that doesn't mean Midoriya is just being left in the dust. His mastery over Float and his ability to use it with One For All and Blackwhip are proof that he is swiftly catching up to Shigaraki. While Shigaraki remains unparalleled at present, that may soon change in future episodes of My Hero Academia.