The Law of Ueki, Volume 13

The Law of Ueki is a shonen manga by Tsubasa Fukuchi, serialized in Shogakukan's Weekly Shonen Sunday since 2001, complete in 16 volumes. In the story, one hundred candidate gods each choose a middle school student as their proxy and grant that student one unique ability, setting these youths against one another in a battle royale; the candidate god represented by the final victor becomes the next god, while the winning student receives the Blank Talent—the power to possess any talent at all. The protagonist, Kosuke Ueki, gains the ability to turn palm-sized objects he regards as trash into trees, but every time he uses his power to hurt someone, one of his own talents is stripped away. This is Volume 13 of the series. The battle against the formidable Marilyn squad begins in earnest: Ueki defeats one of its members but is separated from his companions on the battlefield; meanwhile, Sano, Komori, and Hideyoshi are cornered by three enemy members. Amid their individual struggles and mutual concern, the bonds between friends deepen, and some among them touch the threshold of the abilities' second stage. This volume remains driven by ensemble-style combat, with its focus on teamwork and steadfast conviction.