This 'Naruto' and 'My Hero Academia' Crossover Hits Too Close To Home

Warning! Spoilers for the My Hero Academia manga below!

The ending of the recent "Internship" arc in the My Hero Academia has really struck a nerve with fans and they're still reeling after its depressing conclusion.

But after seeing how Mirio responded to his permanent loss of quirk, this one fan was reminded of how Rock Lee in Naruto and created an impressive piece of crossover fanart.

After the last chapter, this is what I'm waiting for! from BokuNoHeroAcademia

This fanart from Reddit user Vasquezz10 depicts Mirio Togata in Rock Lee's famous outfit and stance from Naruto. Fans have already made the connection between Mirio's situation and Rock Lee's, so this art makes the connection all the more surreal.

After the battle with Overhaul and the Eight Precepts of Death, Midoriya felt guilty over the fact that Mirio has permanently lost his quirk. Visiting Mirio in the hospital, Midoriya asks Mirio if he'd be willing to take his quirk as a replacement. Mirio utterly denies it, however.

Vowing to smile and still be a big hero someday despite his new disability, Mirio declines Midoriya's offer because he doesn't want anyone else to deal with his current hardship. Rock Lee in shares a base similarity to Mirio, as they both stand out for their simplified face design, but it also carries through their character arcs.

Rock Lee vows to become a strong shinobi despite learning early on that he would never truly grasp ninja techniques. Instead to focus on strengthening his body and emphasizing taijutsu techniques, Lee's positivity shined through and he became a strong character in the series nonetheless. Fans are definitely hoping for the same for Mirio.

For those unfamiliar with Naruto, it has quite a storied history. Originally created by Masashi Kishimoto, the series ran in Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump for 700 chapters. The story follows Naruto, a young ninja with a sealed demon within him that wishes to become the leader of his home village. The sequel, Boruto: Naruto Next Generations is set several years after the events of the original Naruto story and featuring the children of many of its key characters such as Naruto and Hinata.

For those unfamiliar with My Hero Academia, the series was created by Kohei Horikoshi and has been running in Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump since July 2014. The story follows Izuku Midoriya, who lives in a world where everyone has super powers but he was born without them. Dreaming to become a superhero anyway, he's eventually scouted by the world's best hero All Might and enrolls in a school for professional heroes. The series has been collected into 15 volumes so far, and has been licensed by Viz Media for an English language release since 2015.

What do you think of this emotional crossover? Talk to me @Valdezology.