"I'd like to see how you plan to fight me now!"
The Steel Patriot unleashed everything it had. Missiles, lasers, heavy rounds—his entire arsenal lit the air like a Fourth of July meltdown, all of it pouring straight at Ryuuto like a metal tsunami.
"You'll find out soon enough."
Ryuuto's grin stretched wide.
Big Ball Rasengan.
He surged through the barrage without dodging, thrusting the massive spinning sphere of chakra straight into the Patriot's chest plate. The two crossed paths midair, crashing down to the ground back-to-back.
A heartbeat of silence.
Then—
"…Impossible—!"
Clang.
The Patriot staggered, looking down at his chest in disbelief. A massive crater had been punched straight through the armor.
He raised his arm to strike back, but—
His entire body gave out.
The suit collapsed in a dead heap.
"Tony," Ryuuto said, already dialing. "Come haul this junk heap away. Scrap it. Melt it. I don't want it terrorizing the planet again."
From the comm, Tony cheered loudly.
"You actually killed it? Atta boy! I knew you'd pull it off!"
Ryuuto didn't bother replying. He leapt upward, vanished in an instant—
And that was the end of the Steel Patriot.
[Ding! Hidden Mission Completed. Reward: New Character Puzzle Piece + 50,000 EXP.]
"Shion, how many pieces have I collected? Can I synthesize a data pack yet?"
[Host, you're one piece away. Just one more and you unlock a brand-new character module.]
"Great. Any new missions?"
[No updates yet. When there is, I'll let you know… eventually.]
"Lazy system."
[Tch. You love me.]
Ryuuto ignored her and immediately threw himself back into training, doubling down on ninjutsu drills. If one puzzle piece remained, he was going to earn it sooner rather than later.
Meanwhile…
Quicksilver and Nebula were losing their minds.
"Quicksilver," Nebula snapped, "didn't you swear you had a way to deal with that brat? Explain this outcome."
"Like it's my fault!?" Quicksilver tore at his hair. "Loki got steamrolled! I counted on him—useless trickster idiot!"
"Hmph. Don't be surprised if he's already plotting revenge on you," Nebula muttered. "And don't blame me if Ryuuto shows up here next. Can your Brotherhood survive that?"
Quicksilver's eyes twitched.
"Nebula… is that a threat?"
"I'm telling you I'm out of patience," she growled, electric baton buzzing in hand. "The brat must die. Immediately. Before our alliance falls apart."
Quicksilver took a long drag from a cigarette, then crushed it out with shaking fingers.
"Relax. My father's already mobilizing people. Experts. Real ones. Someone will bring that kid down soon enough. Even if Ryuuto had 'three heads and six arms,' he can't fight the whole world."
Nebula finally stopped pacing.
"…Fine. Then make it happen."
The two continued plotting in low, poisonous voices.
Far away, inside a sealed, high-tech government laboratory—
An explosion rocked the entire facility.
Glass shattered. Alarms blared.
"What happened!? Who screwed up!?"
"Experiment body! Something's wrong with the latest test subject—move!"
Researchers scrambled, sprinting toward the containment chamber—
But something burst out first.
A raccoon-like creature leapt from the smoke, snarling with razor teeth, muscles bulging unnaturally beneath its fur.
"ROOOAR!"
The force of the blast sent scientists flying like paper dolls. Instruments shattered against the walls. Flames licked the ceiling.
"The experiment… it worked—!"
"My God… what power!"
"Someone notify the director! And capture the 89P13 specimen alive!"
Their fear transformed into feverish excitement.
This wasn't a failure.
This was a breakthrough.
"Hah! Control me? You idiots?"
The raccoon spat on the floor.
"Name's Rocket, morons. And I'm not your damn lab pet."
He blasted through a cluster of scientists, knocking them unconscious one after another, bounding through the lab with ruthless ferocity.
"Use the tranquilizer guns! Don't hurt it—capture!"
Dozens of tranquilizer rounds fired at once.
puff—puff—puff—
"Finally! Direct hits! It's going down!"
Except…
Rocket didn't go down.
Dozens of needles stuck out of his fur, pumping sedatives meant to drop an elephant.
Instead of weakening—
His eyes went feral.
His breathing sharpened.
His muscles tensed like coiled steel.
And he roared again, even louder.