Chapter 424: Kawaki Awakens, the Imperial Armor Appears!
Land of Fire.
Konoha Village, now fully under the control of Skynet.
The prison cell door opened, and Kawaki was thrown in like a pile of mud.
"Kawaki, are you okay? Kawaki!" Hinata caught him and immediately turned to the side, calling out, "Shizune, quick, take a look at him!"
"Mm, leave it to me."
As she spoke, Shizune knelt beside Kawaki and began examining his body using her chakra.
After Skynet had taken complete control of Konoha, they immediately captured the still-unconscious Kawaki for research.
"Phew... Don't worry, Hinata. Kawaki's okay."
After finishing her examination, Shizune let out a sigh of relief and looked at Hinata.
No matter what, Kawaki was the summoner of the Imperial Armor—the ultimate force against the Abnormal Beasts in the future.
"Kawaki!"
"Kawaki!"
"Wake up!"
As if he could hear people calling his name, Kawaki struggled to open his eyes. The intense light made him instinctively shield them with his hand.
"Where is this...?"
After a moment of adjustment, Kawaki looked around and realized he was in a pitch-black space resembling the universe, with stars flickering nearby.
"This is your consciousness space."
A massive ball of light before him spoke.
"Who are you?!"
Kawaki instantly took a defensive stance, warily staring at the glowing sphere.
"I am the Sun."
The Sun answered plainly.
"The Sun?"
Kawaki furrowed his brows, staring at the light.
"Kawaki, your comrades are in trouble. Go support them—quickly."
"My comrades...?"
"That's right. And it's time for you to wake up!"
Back in reality, Kawaki, who was lying flat on the ground, suddenly opened his eyes.
"Kawaki?!"
Shizune exclaimed in joy. Ever since the liquid robot incident, Kawaki had fallen into a coma, remaining in a vegetative state that even Lady Tsunade couldn't remedy.
"Kawaki, you're awake!"
Hearing Shizune's voice, Hinata turned to him with delight.
"Hinata... Auntie..."
Kawaki turned his head toward Hinata, and a pained expression suddenly appeared on his face.
"Kawaki, are you alright?! Kawaki!"
Shizune asked in concern as she quickly began using her medical ninjutsu to ease his pain.
A brilliant light burst from Kawaki's body, forcing both Shizune and Hinata to instinctively close their eyes.
When the intense light finally subsided, the two slowly opened their eyes—standing before them was Kawaki, now fully transformed in the Imperial Armor.
"Kawaki..."
Shizune gently called out his name, but the Imperial Armor only turned slightly to glance at her. Then, crouching slightly, it leapt upward, crashing through the prison roof and blasting out.
The sudden commotion naturally attracted the attention of the liquid robots patrolling Konoha.
"Emperor Steed!"
A white-and-gold light beam shot from the Sun toward the Imperial Armor. The Emperor Steed fired light projectiles along the way, destroying the scientific ninja tool puppets chasing the Imperial Armor.
The Emperor Steed caught Kawaki mid-air and charged straight toward the Land of Earth.
Land of Earth.
Iwagakure.
The scientific ninja tool puppets had locked onto the Black Rhino Armor, grabbing its arms and pinning it in place. Akuto then punched it in the stomach, sending the armored warrior flying.
The same scene played out with the Flame Dragon Armor, Wind Eagle Armor, and Snow Mastiff Armor—each one under siege.
Meanwhile, Rin was still in the air, constantly dodging and countering the endless wave of attacking scientific ninja tool puppets.
"Damn it!"
Omoi struggled to stand, glaring at the approaching wave of puppets.
Evil Flame, Evil Earth, Evil Water, and Evil Gold stepped forward again. As for the severely injured Evilmoku, he stayed behind to recover.
"Today, we're going to destroy your armors and clear the way for Lord Black Emperor!"
Evil Earth raised his massive shadow blade and swung it at the Black Rhino Armor as he spoke.
A beam of radiant light descended from the sky, blocking the shadow axe in an instant.
"What?!"
Evil Earth's eyes widened in shock. Emerging from the beam was the Imperial Armor, its left hand tightly gripping Evil Earth's shadow blade.
"It's the Imperial Armor!"
Evil Flame cried out in alarm.
After all, this was the strongest armor that had defeated the Shadow Emperor thousands of years ago.
As the Imperial Armor suddenly appeared, the four other armors behind him breathed a sigh of relief and staggered back to their feet.
"Let go—now!"
Evil Earth tried to yank back his weapon, but the Imperial Armor's grip didn't budge an inch.
Then, the armor abruptly released its grip, causing Evil Earth to stumble backward from the momentum.
"Energy Fist!"
Gathering power in both fists, the Imperial Armor struck Evil Earth directly in the abdomen, launching the defense-specialized warrior far back with a miserable scream.
"Damn it!"
Evil Flame took a step back, clearly looking for a chance to retreat.
"If we join forces, we can definitely crush this armor!"
Evil Gold stepped forward as he spoke.
Evil Flame glanced at him with a "You can't be serious" expression.
"With Skynet's help, this is the best chance we have to defeat the Imperial Armor."
Evil Water also stepped forward.
Never heard of brainwashing making people stupid, but that was exactly the look on Evil Flame's face.
"Damn it...!"
If he tried to escape now and left Evil Gold and Evil Water to fight alone, he'd have no way to explain himself to the Shadow Emperor.
After a moment of hesitation, Evil Flame turned to look at Evilmoku, who had long since recovered and had been slacking off the whole time.
They exchanged a knowing glance—clearly thinking the same thing.
Evilmoku gave a confirming nod.
The five Shadow Guardians now faced the Imperial Armor for the first time.
But facing all five together, the Imperial Armor didn't even bother summoning the Taiji Sword.
"Telekinetic Control!"
The armor extended its right hand toward the charging Evil Gold, telekinetically hurling him into Evil Water behind him—knocking them both out of the fight with a single move.
"Evil Gold! Evil Water!"
Evil Flame looked at the two as they were thrown aside—but when he turned his head back, the Imperial Armor was already gone.
"Where is he?!"
"Evil Flame! Above you!"
Evilmoku shouted from the side.
At his warning, Evil Flame looked up—only to be met by the Imperial Armor's clenched right fist.
One direct blow, and Evil Flame was smashed to the ground.
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