Chapter 237:
"Soft Step Twin Lion Fists!"
This was a jutsu originally created by Hinata, Hanabi's elder sister, where chakra gathers in both hands, forming fierce, lion-shaped heads.
The twin lion fists alternated between her left and right hands as Hanabi launched a relentless assault on the Imperial Armor before her. Although each strike produced a deep, thunderous boom, they seemed to have little to no effect on the armor itself.
The Imperial Armor silently gathered energy into both its fists, then suddenly launched a heavy punch at Hanabi—its signature technique: Charged Strike.
"Big Sis Hanabi!" Watching Hanabi get blown away, Chōchō Akimichi rushed forward to catch her and turned to face the steadily advancing Imperial Armor. "I don't care who you are! I'll never let you hurt Big Sis Hanabi! Ninja Art: Partial Expansion Jutsu!"
Unlike the full-body version, this jutsu enlarged only the body parts needed for combat, significantly reducing chakra consumption.
Standing protectively in front of the fallen Hanabi, Chōchō enlarged her right arm and charged at the Imperial Armor, but it simply leapt into the air, easily avoiding her strike.
"Such incredible jumping power!"
Shikadai's cousin Inojin, supporting him as he stood, instinctively looked up. In the sky above, the Imperial Armor seemed to stand shoulder to shoulder with the sun.
Now airborne, the Imperial Armor began charging energy in both hands. As the energy gathered, a phantom Taiji symbol materialized before it.
This was Taiji Ray, one of the Imperial Armor's most powerful offensive techniques.
Its main targets: Hanabi, and the Chōchō standing protectively in front of her.
Chōchō could have dodged the attack, but Hanabi—wounded and unable to move freely—was very likely to die if struck. In fact, unless something unexpected happened, the far more probable outcome was that both of them would be killed by the Taiji Ray.
"Chōchō, get out of here!" Hanabi rasped, her voice hoarse, as she looked at the girl shielding her.
"I already said, I'm going to protect you, Big Sis Hanabi! And besides—I haven't eaten enough chips yet! There's no way I'm dying now!" Chōchō grinned confidently. "Even though I'm not fond of this jutsu, I've got no choice. Ninja Art: Human Bullet Tank!!"
Using her Expansion Jutsu, she enlarged her body and retracted her head and limbs into it, spinning at high speed while hardening the fat reserves within her.
"Do you think Chōchō can withstand it?"
Facing such an unusual attack for the first time, Inojin asked with concern.
"I don't know." Now somewhat recovered, Shikadai was helped to his feet and shook his head. Then he looked at Inojin with a serious expression. "Inojin, if Chōchō fails too, you must run immediately!"
"Huh? Are you telling me to be a coward?"
"It's not cowardice, it's a tactical retreat. Inojin, this enemy isn't someone we can handle. Rather than be wiped out, it's better to preserve our chance for revenge," Shikadai continued. "When the time comes, I'll use Shadow Possession Jutsu one more time to buy you time. Don't hesitate—just run."
As Shikadai finished speaking, the Imperial Armor's Taiji Ray collided with Chōchō's Human Bullet Tank.
Everyone was desperate to know the outcome, but the blinding light from the impact was too intense—they couldn't open their eyes.
When the light finally began to fade, they slowly squinted and looked toward the source of the explosion. There, between the grounded Imperial Armor and the now-decompressed Chōchō, stood a man emanating golden chakra waves, his hair standing on end.
Returning from her Human Bullet Tank form, Chōchō sat heavily on the ground, staring at the man's back. "Was it him who saved me…? He looks kinda cool…"
She wasn't sitting there because she had run out of chakra or was injured—but because she had been overwhelmed. As one of the people directly targeted, she had clearly felt the terrifying destructive power of the Taiji Ray. At that moment, she'd truly feared for her life—and had even regretted her decision.
"I sensed the battle here and came ahead of the others. Good thing I made it in time. I'm glad you're okay."
Future Boruto glanced sideways at Chōchō, then looked past her to Hanabi as he spoke.
"Mmm…"
Hanabi let out a sound no louder than a mosquito buzz.
To be saved at the last moment from certain death by a man who radiated overwhelming strength—and who wasn't bad-looking to boot. Even if he was technically her nephew, how could she not be a little moved… right?
At that thought, Hanabi quickly slapped her own cheeks with both hands.
"Was he talking about me…?"
Chōchō looked down, flustered, her face tinted with a shy blush as her imagination ran wild.
"Who is that guy?"
Inojin turned to Shikadai, looking at the man who had just saved Hanabi and Chōchō.
Given that Shikadai was the son of Shikamaru, it stood to reason he'd know more than the rest of them.
"I don't know."
Shikadai shook his head.
Future Boruto's existence was one of the Hidden Leaf's highest-level secrets—there was no way Shikamaru would have shared it with his son.
The Imperial Armor and Future Boruto slowly began walking toward each other.
As they drew closer, the golden chakra waves around Future Boruto flared even more intensely.
He struck first—several chakra arms formed from Nine-Tails chakra sprouted from his back.
"That's Lord Hokage's move!"
Seeing the familiar chakra arms, Inojin cried out in shock. Shikadai only nodded. After all, it wasn't just the Seventh Hokage who could use this move—his son Boruto could, too.
This man may have resembled Naruto, but his voice was undeniably different.
"Rasengan Barrage!"
The chakra arms grouped into pairs, each pair forming Rasengans that were hurled at the Imperial Armor. But it simply raised its right hand, stopping every Rasengan mid-air. Then, after a brief charge, it thrust its hand forward—sending all of Future Boruto's Rasengans back at him.
One of the Imperial Armor's techniques: Stellar Reversal, which could reflect an enemy's attacks.
The Rasengans struck Future Boruto mid-charge, creating a thick cloud of smoke and dust. Hanabi instinctively clenched her fists, her face filled with worry.
"Vajra Mode: Susanoo!"
A massive golden fox burst from the smoke, clad in the Susanoo's armor.
Ordinarily, without Uchiha blood, even possessing the Sharingan wouldn't be enough to summon Susanoo. But in this case, the natural energy granted by Sage Mode seemed to make up for that genetic gap.
Now fully emerged from the smoke, the golden fox wrapped in Susanoo's armor charged directly at the Imperial Armor.