Volume 1: Taiyo no Mukara (Mukara of the Sun)
It is summer of 1990. All the Troopers but Shin are in their second year of high school, Shin is in his third. Nasuti is bicycling around the lake near her home. She comes home to find a letter from Jun telling her that he's gone stargazing with Touma. Shuu and Shin meanwhile are at the beach where Shin is teaching Shuu how to surf. A big wave comes and wipes both of them out. As they lie on their boards, Shin teases Shuu that he likes to fight. Shin is just glad that they, the Troopers, no longer have to wear their yoroi.
Jun and Touma are walking back from their overnight trip. They hear Byakuen running toward them and Jun leaps forward to hug the tiger. But Byakuen runs right by both of them. Jun angrily yells after the tiger, "Have you forgotten me?" Touma looks back up the road to see Nasuti in her jeep. She stops and Touma asks what's going on, looking very cute while doing so. Nasuti, in her sunglasses tells them to get in and she'll tell them. As she drives, she says that all she knows is that Byakuen suddenly got up and left. Jun asks if the youja are back. Nasuti only says that something has come.
Something strange however is happening in Shinjuku. Not only is it extraordinarily hot, the sun is surrounded by a halo resembling treetops. Mirages of trees and animals such as giraffe and elephant fade in and out of Tokyo's downtown. It begins to get worse as the ground shakes and the wind picks up. People panic and run out of Shinjuku. In the mob, Ryo is highlighted as he stares at the strange halo in the sky.
Shinjuku is abandoned and the police have closed it off. Ryo, standing in the deserted streets, looks at his glowing red yoroi crystal. Suddenly, the mirages explode into trees, bushes, and vines erupting from the street and entwining the buildings. Ryo tries to touch one of them only to find that it too is an illusion. His attention is drawn to the end of the street which now longer exists and is replaced by a savannah. Someone in the distance is coming (straight up and down like a kangeroo).
A blur strikes Ryo, destroying his white shirt and part of the purple shirt underneath. He coughs blood as he tries to sit up. Not knowing who struck him or why, Ryo runs into an alley. But the blur comes through the other side of the alley and Ryo gets hit back into the street, losing the rest of his shirt. Angrily, he calls his undergear, determined to give a fight to whoever wants it. With the undergear, he is able to match the speed of his attacker and sees him for who he is. A white-haired african no older than himself,matching Ryo's speed without any special enhancements.
The attacker wields a large black boomerang which he can throw through buildings. The attacker jumps to hit Ryo with the boomerang but Byakuen jumps into him. When the attacker sees Byakuen, he offers Byakuen his arm which Byakuen bites but the youth doesn't move. Byakuen lets go and backs out of the fight. Since the youth isn't a youja, Byakuen won't attack him. Ryo however doesn't understand and thinks that Byakuen is backing out.
Shin and Shuu are drinking java on the beach and listening to the radio on a boombox The reporter reports that Shinjuku has been closed off by the police because of the strange things happening in it. Shuu immediately gets up to go, sure that it Trooper business. Shin however hesitates.
As Nasuti drives into town, Touma wonders why it is so hot. Not much further on, they reach the police barricade. Nasuti tries to explain that they need to get through but the police are adamant. Touma gets out of the car, jumps on and over the police cars and the barricade and runs into Shinkuku with several officers behind him.
Ryo and the youth are running across the windows of a building when the youth knocks Ryo through the building. As he falls, Ryo is caught by Touma who is now in his undergear also. The youth jumps to attack but is knocked back by Seiji. (Who knows where he came from.) the youth gets his boomerang and slices another building onto the three. Barely escaping, they call on their yorois. (By the way, Touma's transformation sequence was redrawn. It's so cool.) Even with their yoroi though, the youth is easily fighting and beating the Troopers.
Shin and Shuu finally come and are shocked to find at least half of Shinjuku in pieces. The youth fights the other three one-on-one but none have been able to through his defenses yet. Shin and Shuu armor up and Shuu attacks, using his iron bow to catch the youth's boomerang. The strategy backfires when the youth swings boomerang and hence Shuu away.
The youth leaps to the top of one of the remaining buildings. Touma angrily draws an arrow and fires it at the youth. Shin yells at him for firing an arrow at an unarmored person. Touma tells Shin to open his eyes, this guy isn't any ordinary person. The youth proceeds to demonstrate that by catching Touma's arrow in it's energy form, holding it, and then throwing it away.
Then he starts going through motions and says something. Suddenly the air is filled with butterflies of light as they whirl around the youth, forming a yoroi. Forming Kikoutei, a black Kikoutei.
Everyone stares in shock. Then his yoroi begins to glow and Ryo's Rekka yoroi glows also. With a motion, the youth draws Rekka and hence Ryo toward him. Touma tells the others to give Ryo their power so he can call on their Kikoutei. Seiji, Shuu, and Touma do it without hesitation. But Shin just stands there.
The others call him and look at him. But Shin doesn't see them, their yorois have become much darker, much blacker and their voices very deep. Shin doesn't do anything as he stares in fear at what he believes he is seeing. By now, Ryo is as high as the youth on the building. Above the two is a large swirling blackness that seems to be drawing in both of them. Seiji jumps after Ryo, grabbing on to stop him from being pulled through. But all three go into the darkness and disappear, leaving the other three and Nasuti with Jun who finally came in the devasted ruins of Shinjuku.
Volume 2: Kuroi Kikoutei(Black Kikoutei)
Back at Nasuti's house, Nasuti is tending Shuu's arm while Jun asks where are Ryo and Seiji. Touma says they're probably wherever the youth came from. Shuu jumps up and ask/tells Nasuti to look in her data for the black Kikoutei. But Shin asks from where he leans against the wall, what's the use. Even if they find it, the three of them can't stand up to the guy. Shuu asks why didn't he join with them to create Kikoutei earlier. Shin, "I hate fighting! Watching my friends get hurt and defeated. Why are we the only ones that have to fight. Why only us, why!" Touma tells him it is their destiny as Troopers. Shin says it isn't fate or destiny but what they choose for themselves. Touma tries to reason with him but Shin doesn't like what Touma is telling him and punches him onto the dining table. Shuu grabs Shin and Shin punches him. They get into a fight which Jun stops by grabbing onto Shin, crying "You're friends, friends don't fight!" Shin, scared and shocked, runs out of the house.
Shin goes to the docks, the same place where Byakuen was recovering after taking the killing blow for Ryo from Kenbukyou (Saberstryke). He calls Suiko to appear before him. "Good bye Suiko" and disperses the yoroi into the lake.
Ryo and Seiji had found themselves in a strange place at night. It didn't become anymore welcoming during the day. Seiji was the first to see the youth standing on a rock in the distance. Behind him, is a girl with light blue hair. The youth begins to run, gaining speed to rival the Troopers and throws his boomerang, severing the tree Ryo and Seiji were on. The two call their yorois but still get trashed. Ryo gets hit by the spinning boomerang, it destroys his helmet and gouges a deep hole in the chestplate of his yoroi. Seiji's helmet is broken when the spinning boomerang erupts from underground.
It is nighttime in Japan. Shin is still sitting at the docks. Nasuti isn't having much luck with her research. Jun asks what's wrong with the guys. Nasuti reassures him that they'll be alright as she looks at a picture of all of them in New York. Shuu and Touma are on their beds in one of the bedrooms. Jun comes in, asking if they are still friends. Shuu says what a stupid thing to ask. Touma reassures Jun that they are friends, now and later. Jun then asks why aren't they helping Nasuti with her research. It isn't fair for her to work all alone with no support. The two go up with Jun to Nasuti's den.
Nasuti can't find any data on the black Kikoutei. Jun suggests they try to figure out what the youth said to summon the armor. Jun can't remember. Shuu says, "Babababababa...hambaagaa." Jun comments that Shuu can only think about food. Then Touma recites it perfectly from memory, "Noobezuuya, iijiizuurii, zuuamaumaa, muunmii." Nasuti doesn't have any knowledge of linguistics but Touma asks if any of her late grandfather's colleagues was a linguist. Nasuti remembers one and immediately places a call to Sengoku University.
The professor calls back, identifying the language as a variant of Swahili and used by the Tauragi village in Tanzania. It is said that that village is the root of all Africans.
The youth, having won, drags the unconscious Ryo and Seiji back to wherever. He is confronted by the girl who asks him if these are the two whom he brought from the eastern country. She asks why is he doing this, is this the will of the black yoroi. He doesn't answer, and walks right by her.
Back at the village, there is a dance around the fire. The girl walks past it to a prison cell. The guards let her in. She sprinkles water from the from the jar she brought with her on Ryo's face but he doesn't wake up. So she picks him up and slaps him twice. Now he wakes up and so does Seiji. The girl asks them to listen to her.
Her name is Naria and Ryo and Seiji are at her village, Tauragi. The person they've been fighting is Mukara, her fiance. He is the head warrior of the village and the wielder of the black yoroi which is their god. Naria is the priestess. She asks who is the one that bears the white yoroi and Seiji points to Ryo. Naria then begs him not to fight, the white and black yorois were never meant to ever meet. Ryo tries to explain to her that he can't call on the Kikoutei alone but never manages to convey the message. Naria doesn't want Mukara to fight.
The music stops outside and Naria tells them that they must hurry because the ceremony would soon start. She helps them escape from the jail and guides them away from the village. Outside, however, Mukara is already waiting for them. Ryo and Seiji call their yoroi, which they had removed before escaping. They combine their attacks, So En Zan and Rai Ko Zan, and hit Mukara with the full force.
When the dust clears, there is nothing left but a crater. Naria begins to cry softly. But something rises from the center of the crater. It is Mukara, surrounded by a greenish aura, without a scratch on him.
Volume 3: Hashiri Hajimeta Yoroi(Yoroi that begins to run)
Everyone is stunned that Mukara survived. He immediately starts attacking them again. When Seiji looks at Mukara through his blade, he sees the reflection of the black Kikoutei. Naria yells for them to stop. She asks him to stop this fight, there is no point to it and can only result in death. But he ignores her and fights against Ryo and Seiji. Her words come through to Ryo. He brings his swords together like a So En Zan but instead plants them into the ground. He won't fight Mukara anymore. Ryo "This battle will only create death and destruction." Mukara strikes Ryo as Naria and Seiji scream. Mukara throws his boomerang, aiming to decapitate Ryo but Seiji takes the hit for Ryo. Even so, Ryo falls unconscious. Seiji struggles to get up and is consumed with anger. He is preparing for his Rai Ko Zan when he realizes the urge to fight is not from himself but from the influence of the Kuroi Kikoutei. He has to pry his fingers open to drop his sword. Seiji "Do what you want. I follow my heart. I won't be controlled by you or anyone." Mukara quite obligingly knocks him out.
Nasuti and company are preparing to leave for Tanzania but Shin isn't going. Jun is calling for Byakuen who has been acting strangely since the incident. Shin is now sitting by another pond, throwing in rocks and wondering about what he say in volume 1. When he gets up to leave, Byakuen appears and nuzzles Shin in the leg. Shin looks at Byakuen with a half-scared, half-bewildered look.
Everyone else is on a plane to Tanzania. After paying for the safari tickets, there wasn't much money. Nasuti reassures Shuu that her family has a lot of money so there won't be a problem. Jun whispers to Shuu that Nasuti would make a good wife. Shuu replies it's too bad he wasn't born five years earlier.
Their destination is Nairobi and Shuu complains about the exchange values. Nasuti rents a jeep to drive them to the village with Touma as navigator. Shuu is still angry at Shin and is periodically calling Shin a fool or worse. Jun yells at him for that and makes Shuu promise to not call Shin anymore names. While they're crossing a body water, Touma is talking about how they can't work only as four people. (This scene is like a gondola. Touma in front, Shuu poling, Jun and Nasuti in the back with a parasol.) Shuu starts calling Shin names again, Jun yells at him to stop.
They manage to get to Tanzania by following a map to the location of Mukara's tribe. Nasuti is translating the summoning for black Kikoutei. "Evil light, Beautiful symbol, Sun and Mother Earth, Power to me." She has this very compact computer notebook that Touma made. Touma and Shuu who were checking a rope bridge pronounced it safe and they start across. As they crossed a rope bridge, the wind picks up and they're attacked by natives who cut the bridge. Shu and Touma change into their undergear to save Jun and Nasuti. Shu catches Jun and the end of the bridge but Nasuti and Touma fall into the river below. Then Shu and Jun fake their fall into the river to get the natives the leave. They travel through the jungle when Jun spies Naria. The two quietly sneak up near the girl to see her disappear through a tree.
Nasuti and Touma have gotten out of the river and encounter a cave which is under the Tauragi village. Inside the cave, Nasuti finds the drawings depicting the legend black Kikoutei.
Jun and Shuu followed Naria through the tree which is the secret entrance to the village. There is another ceremony, Seiji and Ryo are laid out and the black Kikoutei is carried by the villagers and place near them. However, the interaction between the black crystals, black Kikoutei, and Ryo and Seiji cause their respective kanjis to appear much to Naria's and Mukara's astonishment.
Touma and Nasuti come to the other end of the cave which opens to a valley or crevice of black crystal clusters similar to the ones that appear when black Kikoutei is summoned. In a cluster of white crystals, Nasuti sees the reflection of the white Kikoutei. It was in this valley that both the white and black Kikouteis were born. The crystals begin to resonate, just like when the yoroi crystals are near youja. The energy tries to entrap Touma but he breaks out.
In Japan, Shin is lead back to the dock by Byakuen. Shin looks into the water and sees the reflection of Kokuen-Oh. When he looks back up, Byakuen has transformed and teleports away.
Back at the village, Shuu jumps into the middle of the ceremony, challenging Mukara. He calls on Kongo and knocks away Mukara's first attack. Confident, he doesn't flinch when the boomerang comes around again. This time he does get knock down. Shuu gets up to fight and Jun cries out to him "Something's strange! Your yoroi, it's scary!" What Jun can see but Shuu not see is the darkening of his yoroi.
Touma fires an arrow right at Mukara's feet. Touma "You are a warrior that has a reason for this that we don't know. I expect you're not the type that wishes for battle. If it's purely battle, can you parry without limit? But this fight other than the power of our volition will intervene." Naria talks directly to Mukara, "They have hearts that the yorois who want a battle cannot influence. Mukara, you don't have that heart."
Mukara knocks away Touma's arrow which flies away and implants itself betwen Ryo and Seiji. Mukara calls on black Kikoutei, its energy subtle influencing Tenku and Kongo. Jun runs up, yelling at them to stop. Darker versions of Touma and Shuu look back at him with blank eyes. Jun "Touma ni-chan, Shuu ni-chan, there's something strange, your yorois!"
Touma and Shuu realize the urge to fight is coming from the yoroi and the black Kikoutei. Shuu "This blasted yoroi, you think I'm easy meat?!?" Touma "Shuu! Undo the yoroi!" Shuu and Touma release their yoroi but not without a lot of pain. They both collapses but the yorois simply float instead of disappearing. Rain starts to fall. Nasuti runs up and Jun runs to hug her and cry. Mukara falls to his knees and begins laughing rather hysterically.
Nasuti comforts Jun, saying, "The yorois want the power to fight, and a righteous heart must not fight, the first time they've had this breach."
Nighttime in Japan, Shin stands on the docks above the choppy waters. "The yoroi, separated from the human heart, at battle raising the tides to do what. You want me to do something! ...Yoroi, yoroi that toys with my friends' lives, your will, now I'll fight it!" Then he dives into the water, down to the glowing yoroi crystal.
Volume 4: Kanoshimi o Koeru Mono o Motomete(Go beyond the sorrow)
Nasuti and Jun are helping Naria collect red flowers. She uses them to make a medicine to help Ryo and Seiji. When Jun tries to feed it to Ryo, he coughs it back up. Touma and Shuu are asleep against a wall, Ryo and Seiji are in hammocks. Jun begins to cry, afraid that the four are dying. Nasuti comforts him and asks him to believe in them.
Later, vultures are cawing outside. Angrily Jun runs outside with a burning stick, telling them to shut up. He throws the stick and the birds fly off. But he is still crying. In the dark forest, something shines. It comes closer and Jun watches it in fear. As it comes closer, Shin appears, completely wet but with the yoroi crystal glowing in his hand.
Jun runs up and hugs him, trying to tell him about Ryo and the others. Shin calls on 'Shin', lighting the entire village with its power momentarily, scaring off the vultures, and drying the water on him. Stepping inside, Shin sheds a tear when he sees the other. Shin appears on his brow and as everyone else's kanji appears, they slip into a peaceful slumber.
In the main room of Naria's home, Jun asks why the kanji doesn't appear in the crystal. Shin replies it is because a different battle of the yorois and Troopers has begun. Naria proceeds to tell how her family and Mukara's family have been the village's priestess and yoroi protector respectively. Mukara was never to have worn the yoroi. It was when he went to the valley that he discovered the yoroi. Because the black Kikoutei wanted to fight the white, it used Mukara to bring the white Kikoutei here. The yorois are now running wildly, of their own will. Jun "The yorois running wild? Ni-chan tachi (Troopers)'s yoroi won't do anything evil. Isn't it the black one that started it all?" Naria "He knew. The yoroi without god is only evil for people. Mukara never controlled the yoroi!!" With that, Naria ran out of the house.
The next morning, the four Troopers found Shin sitting outside. They're all glad that Shin came. Shin says that even though the yoroi is for battle, it let him meet everyone again. When Byakuen suddenly appears, Shin says he has decided. He calls his undergear and faces the tiger. Byakuen roars, and Kokuen-Oh separates from him. The roar causes Shin's undergear to glow and the Suiko yoroi is pulled out of him. Kokuen-Oh leads it away.
Shin looks to the others, "The two Kikouteis must be destroyed."
Seiji "We've seen a yoroi that needs no heart and runs wild with evil power."
Touma "As we are Samurai Troopers, we can't avoid our destiny."
Shuu "I don't get what's going on but let's do it!"
Ryo "Fighting only produces sadness. Still we must face it, we want to go beyond the sadness."
Naria tries again to persuade Mukara to stop this madness. But he doesn't listen and motions for her to be put in the prison. Nasuti and Jun return after getting water. Naria isn't there and neither are the Troopers. They are suddenly shot at but Byakuen appears and shields them from the arrows. The Tauragi fighters shoot more arrows into Byakuen until he collapses. Nasuti holds Jun protectively before the arrows sharp points.
In the valley of black crystals, Mukara is confronted by Kokuen-Oh who drops the Suiko crystal and vanishes. Mukara picks it up. The light it shines causes the other four trapped Trooper yorois to appear in their crystal prison. Finally, Mukara throws Suiko into a prison. He then summons black Kikoutei which appears, venting out mist.
What he doesn't notice is that the five yorois are glowing and forming the white Kikoutei in the white crystal bunch. The Troopers arrive, jumping down into the valley but the white Kikoutei is already free. It summons the Gou Retsu Ken and leaps to a high mountain of crystal. Before their eyes, the sun and moon come together creating a solar eclipse. Pillars of flame erupt around the valley. They've been pulled into the world of the yoroi.
As the Troopers stare at Kikoutei, their most precious memories are being burned up.
Shuu: The time he went mountain climbing when he was 13.
Shin: Going on a cruiser with his parents and meeting an orca when he was 10.
Seiji: Winning the Kansei Circuit Racecart when he was 16.
Touma: Sleeping leaning on a Saint Bernard under a tree when he was 5.
Ryo: The time of the youja battle when he first met his friends (he was 14).
The last picture is of the five in their undergear clasping hands.
Shin: Above this, you want to continue this connection for your own purposes!
Ryo: Still, the heart, you don't want people's hearts.
Shuu: Well then, get a good look at it, the power of the heart!
The Troopers call on their yoroi, breaking them out of their crystal prisons. None of them have their helmets as a symbol that they are in control with their hearts. The power Kikoutei wields in infinite. Shin's Cho Ryu Ha was absorbed, corrupted, and shot right back at Shin. Touma's arrows simply glance off of the white yoroi. Shuu breaks the blade on the naginata side of his iron bo. Seiji and Ryo both attack at once, trapping Kikoutei's two swords under their own. Touma then strikes from above with his bow (metal bow acting as a katana). Kikoutei simply blows them away with an discharge of energy.
Ryo says they can't win by force. The power of their hearts is indestructible, not even Kikoutei can destroy it. They join hearts, sending it to white Kikoutei and purifying it. Mukara watches, shocked. Naria's words earlier come back to him. But black Kikoutei rises up behind him. (If yorois could smile, I'd swear this one was doing exactly that.)
Mukara is possessed by the black yoroi. The Troopers reform Kikoutei and Ryo and Mukara face off.
Meanwhile, back at the village, Byakuen has finally broken the prison door. He bursts out with Naria on his back. Naria tells the worshipping Tauragi that they've been wrong to worship the black yoroi.
On the first pass, with weapons locked, Ryo calls for Mukara to open his eyes. (The other four Troopers's heads also flash briefly.) Mukara, who has no eyes, simply smiles, pulls back his boomerang and strikes again. This time both weapons are smashed to pieces. The two continue their fight in the sky, Mukara purple and Ryo red. The two lights clash and swirl.
Resorting to hand combat, Ryo punches Mukara's face mask, breaking it. Mukara returns the punch and adds another.
Naria on Byakuen and Nasuti and Jun are running toward the battle. Naria pleads with Mukara to stop this before everything is destroyed. The two lights go straight for one another. They hit and cause a huge explosion. Naria and Byakuen are caught in the blast and vaporized.
The energy backlash clears and Ryo and Mukara are standing on the ground in battered and broken Kikoutei yoroi. The valley of crystal is nothing but a large flat area within a crater. Ryo wonders how is he going to end this without destroying the world in the process. Mukara is holding part of Naria's yellow scarf. He screams in anguish. Ryo,seeing the chance to save Mukara, calls to the other Troopers to send their hearts to Mukara, to help him fight off the black Kikoutei. The hearts of the six join, undoing the eclipse. The white and black Kikoutei (who have mirror-image damage) are purified and when joined explode into pieces.
Kokuen-Oh turns and walks away in a flurry of sakura petals.
The Kikouteis are gone, along with the Troopers' yoroi. The five stand back as Mukara struggles to control himself. Nasuti and Jun walk up near the Troopers. First one shaft of light, and then others, pierce the dark cloudy sky. Where the shafts of light touch the ground, more light solidifies, forming the five yoroi. The Troopers are startled (their faces are a riot). But the yorois dissipate into light motes, revealing Byakuen. Byakuen rises and moves away from Naria.
Mukara stands and staggers toward her. He holds out a hand to her and calls her name, "Naria."
It is summer of 1990. All the Troopers but Shin are in their second year of high school, Shin is in his third. Nasuti is bicycling around the lake near her home. She comes home to find a letter from Jun telling her that he's gone stargazing with Touma. Shuu and Shin meanwhile are at the beach where Shin is teaching Shuu how to surf. A big wave comes and wipes both of them out. As they lie on their boards, Shin teases Shuu that he likes to fight. Shin is just glad that they, the Troopers, no longer have to wear their yoroi.
Jun and Touma are walking back from their overnight trip. They hear Byakuen running toward them and Jun leaps forward to hug the tiger. But Byakuen runs right by both of them. Jun angrily yells after the tiger, "Have you forgotten me?" Touma looks back up the road to see Nasuti in her jeep. She stops and Touma asks what's going on, looking very cute while doing so. Nasuti, in her sunglasses tells them to get in and she'll tell them. As she drives, she says that all she knows is that Byakuen suddenly got up and left. Jun asks if the youja are back. Nasuti only says that something has come.
Something strange however is happening in Shinjuku. Not only is it extraordinarily hot, the sun is surrounded by a halo resembling treetops. Mirages of trees and animals such as giraffe and elephant fade in and out of Tokyo's downtown. It begins to get worse as the ground shakes and the wind picks up. People panic and run out of Shinjuku. In the mob, Ryo is highlighted as he stares at the strange halo in the sky.
Shinjuku is abandoned and the police have closed it off. Ryo, standing in the deserted streets, looks at his glowing red yoroi crystal. Suddenly, the mirages explode into trees, bushes, and vines erupting from the street and entwining the buildings. Ryo tries to touch one of them only to find that it too is an illusion. His attention is drawn to the end of the street which now longer exists and is replaced by a savannah. Someone in the distance is coming (straight up and down like a kangeroo).
A blur strikes Ryo, destroying his white shirt and part of the purple shirt underneath. He coughs blood as he tries to sit up. Not knowing who struck him or why, Ryo runs into an alley. But the blur comes through the other side of the alley and Ryo gets hit back into the street, losing the rest of his shirt. Angrily, he calls his undergear, determined to give a fight to whoever wants it. With the undergear, he is able to match the speed of his attacker and sees him for who he is. A white-haired african no older than himself,matching Ryo's speed without any special enhancements.
The attacker wields a large black boomerang which he can throw through buildings. The attacker jumps to hit Ryo with the boomerang but Byakuen jumps into him. When the attacker sees Byakuen, he offers Byakuen his arm which Byakuen bites but the youth doesn't move. Byakuen lets go and backs out of the fight. Since the youth isn't a youja, Byakuen won't attack him. Ryo however doesn't understand and thinks that Byakuen is backing out.
Shin and Shuu are drinking java on the beach and listening to the radio on a boombox The reporter reports that Shinjuku has been closed off by the police because of the strange things happening in it. Shuu immediately gets up to go, sure that it Trooper business. Shin however hesitates.
As Nasuti drives into town, Touma wonders why it is so hot. Not much further on, they reach the police barricade. Nasuti tries to explain that they need to get through but the police are adamant. Touma gets out of the car, jumps on and over the police cars and the barricade and runs into Shinkuku with several officers behind him.
Ryo and the youth are running across the windows of a building when the youth knocks Ryo through the building. As he falls, Ryo is caught by Touma who is now in his undergear also. The youth jumps to attack but is knocked back by Seiji. (Who knows where he came from.) the youth gets his boomerang and slices another building onto the three. Barely escaping, they call on their yorois. (By the way, Touma's transformation sequence was redrawn. It's so cool.) Even with their yoroi though, the youth is easily fighting and beating the Troopers.
Shin and Shuu finally come and are shocked to find at least half of Shinjuku in pieces. The youth fights the other three one-on-one but none have been able to through his defenses yet. Shin and Shuu armor up and Shuu attacks, using his iron bow to catch the youth's boomerang. The strategy backfires when the youth swings boomerang and hence Shuu away.
The youth leaps to the top of one of the remaining buildings. Touma angrily draws an arrow and fires it at the youth. Shin yells at him for firing an arrow at an unarmored person. Touma tells Shin to open his eyes, this guy isn't any ordinary person. The youth proceeds to demonstrate that by catching Touma's arrow in it's energy form, holding it, and then throwing it away.
Then he starts going through motions and says something. Suddenly the air is filled with butterflies of light as they whirl around the youth, forming a yoroi. Forming Kikoutei, a black Kikoutei.
Everyone stares in shock. Then his yoroi begins to glow and Ryo's Rekka yoroi glows also. With a motion, the youth draws Rekka and hence Ryo toward him. Touma tells the others to give Ryo their power so he can call on their Kikoutei. Seiji, Shuu, and Touma do it without hesitation. But Shin just stands there.
The others call him and look at him. But Shin doesn't see them, their yorois have become much darker, much blacker and their voices very deep. Shin doesn't do anything as he stares in fear at what he believes he is seeing. By now, Ryo is as high as the youth on the building. Above the two is a large swirling blackness that seems to be drawing in both of them. Seiji jumps after Ryo, grabbing on to stop him from being pulled through. But all three go into the darkness and disappear, leaving the other three and Nasuti with Jun who finally came in the devasted ruins of Shinjuku.
Volume 2: Kuroi Kikoutei(Black Kikoutei)
Back at Nasuti's house, Nasuti is tending Shuu's arm while Jun asks where are Ryo and Seiji. Touma says they're probably wherever the youth came from. Shuu jumps up and ask/tells Nasuti to look in her data for the black Kikoutei. But Shin asks from where he leans against the wall, what's the use. Even if they find it, the three of them can't stand up to the guy. Shuu asks why didn't he join with them to create Kikoutei earlier. Shin, "I hate fighting! Watching my friends get hurt and defeated. Why are we the only ones that have to fight. Why only us, why!" Touma tells him it is their destiny as Troopers. Shin says it isn't fate or destiny but what they choose for themselves. Touma tries to reason with him but Shin doesn't like what Touma is telling him and punches him onto the dining table. Shuu grabs Shin and Shin punches him. They get into a fight which Jun stops by grabbing onto Shin, crying "You're friends, friends don't fight!" Shin, scared and shocked, runs out of the house.
Shin goes to the docks, the same place where Byakuen was recovering after taking the killing blow for Ryo from Kenbukyou (Saberstryke). He calls Suiko to appear before him. "Good bye Suiko" and disperses the yoroi into the lake.
Ryo and Seiji had found themselves in a strange place at night. It didn't become anymore welcoming during the day. Seiji was the first to see the youth standing on a rock in the distance. Behind him, is a girl with light blue hair. The youth begins to run, gaining speed to rival the Troopers and throws his boomerang, severing the tree Ryo and Seiji were on. The two call their yorois but still get trashed. Ryo gets hit by the spinning boomerang, it destroys his helmet and gouges a deep hole in the chestplate of his yoroi. Seiji's helmet is broken when the spinning boomerang erupts from underground.
It is nighttime in Japan. Shin is still sitting at the docks. Nasuti isn't having much luck with her research. Jun asks what's wrong with the guys. Nasuti reassures him that they'll be alright as she looks at a picture of all of them in New York. Shuu and Touma are on their beds in one of the bedrooms. Jun comes in, asking if they are still friends. Shuu says what a stupid thing to ask. Touma reassures Jun that they are friends, now and later. Jun then asks why aren't they helping Nasuti with her research. It isn't fair for her to work all alone with no support. The two go up with Jun to Nasuti's den.
Nasuti can't find any data on the black Kikoutei. Jun suggests they try to figure out what the youth said to summon the armor. Jun can't remember. Shuu says, "Babababababa...hambaagaa." Jun comments that Shuu can only think about food. Then Touma recites it perfectly from memory, "Noobezuuya, iijiizuurii, zuuamaumaa, muunmii." Nasuti doesn't have any knowledge of linguistics but Touma asks if any of her late grandfather's colleagues was a linguist. Nasuti remembers one and immediately places a call to Sengoku University.
The professor calls back, identifying the language as a variant of Swahili and used by the Tauragi village in Tanzania. It is said that that village is the root of all Africans.
The youth, having won, drags the unconscious Ryo and Seiji back to wherever. He is confronted by the girl who asks him if these are the two whom he brought from the eastern country. She asks why is he doing this, is this the will of the black yoroi. He doesn't answer, and walks right by her.
Back at the village, there is a dance around the fire. The girl walks past it to a prison cell. The guards let her in. She sprinkles water from the from the jar she brought with her on Ryo's face but he doesn't wake up. So she picks him up and slaps him twice. Now he wakes up and so does Seiji. The girl asks them to listen to her.
Her name is Naria and Ryo and Seiji are at her village, Tauragi. The person they've been fighting is Mukara, her fiance. He is the head warrior of the village and the wielder of the black yoroi which is their god. Naria is the priestess. She asks who is the one that bears the white yoroi and Seiji points to Ryo. Naria then begs him not to fight, the white and black yorois were never meant to ever meet. Ryo tries to explain to her that he can't call on the Kikoutei alone but never manages to convey the message. Naria doesn't want Mukara to fight.
The music stops outside and Naria tells them that they must hurry because the ceremony would soon start. She helps them escape from the jail and guides them away from the village. Outside, however, Mukara is already waiting for them. Ryo and Seiji call their yoroi, which they had removed before escaping. They combine their attacks, So En Zan and Rai Ko Zan, and hit Mukara with the full force.
When the dust clears, there is nothing left but a crater. Naria begins to cry softly. But something rises from the center of the crater. It is Mukara, surrounded by a greenish aura, without a scratch on him.
Volume 3: Hashiri Hajimeta Yoroi(Yoroi that begins to run)
Everyone is stunned that Mukara survived. He immediately starts attacking them again. When Seiji looks at Mukara through his blade, he sees the reflection of the black Kikoutei. Naria yells for them to stop. She asks him to stop this fight, there is no point to it and can only result in death. But he ignores her and fights against Ryo and Seiji. Her words come through to Ryo. He brings his swords together like a So En Zan but instead plants them into the ground. He won't fight Mukara anymore. Ryo "This battle will only create death and destruction." Mukara strikes Ryo as Naria and Seiji scream. Mukara throws his boomerang, aiming to decapitate Ryo but Seiji takes the hit for Ryo. Even so, Ryo falls unconscious. Seiji struggles to get up and is consumed with anger. He is preparing for his Rai Ko Zan when he realizes the urge to fight is not from himself but from the influence of the Kuroi Kikoutei. He has to pry his fingers open to drop his sword. Seiji "Do what you want. I follow my heart. I won't be controlled by you or anyone." Mukara quite obligingly knocks him out.
Nasuti and company are preparing to leave for Tanzania but Shin isn't going. Jun is calling for Byakuen who has been acting strangely since the incident. Shin is now sitting by another pond, throwing in rocks and wondering about what he say in volume 1. When he gets up to leave, Byakuen appears and nuzzles Shin in the leg. Shin looks at Byakuen with a half-scared, half-bewildered look.
Everyone else is on a plane to Tanzania. After paying for the safari tickets, there wasn't much money. Nasuti reassures Shuu that her family has a lot of money so there won't be a problem. Jun whispers to Shuu that Nasuti would make a good wife. Shuu replies it's too bad he wasn't born five years earlier.
Their destination is Nairobi and Shuu complains about the exchange values. Nasuti rents a jeep to drive them to the village with Touma as navigator. Shuu is still angry at Shin and is periodically calling Shin a fool or worse. Jun yells at him for that and makes Shuu promise to not call Shin anymore names. While they're crossing a body water, Touma is talking about how they can't work only as four people. (This scene is like a gondola. Touma in front, Shuu poling, Jun and Nasuti in the back with a parasol.) Shuu starts calling Shin names again, Jun yells at him to stop.
They manage to get to Tanzania by following a map to the location of Mukara's tribe. Nasuti is translating the summoning for black Kikoutei. "Evil light, Beautiful symbol, Sun and Mother Earth, Power to me." She has this very compact computer notebook that Touma made. Touma and Shuu who were checking a rope bridge pronounced it safe and they start across. As they crossed a rope bridge, the wind picks up and they're attacked by natives who cut the bridge. Shu and Touma change into their undergear to save Jun and Nasuti. Shu catches Jun and the end of the bridge but Nasuti and Touma fall into the river below. Then Shu and Jun fake their fall into the river to get the natives the leave. They travel through the jungle when Jun spies Naria. The two quietly sneak up near the girl to see her disappear through a tree.
Nasuti and Touma have gotten out of the river and encounter a cave which is under the Tauragi village. Inside the cave, Nasuti finds the drawings depicting the legend black Kikoutei.
Jun and Shuu followed Naria through the tree which is the secret entrance to the village. There is another ceremony, Seiji and Ryo are laid out and the black Kikoutei is carried by the villagers and place near them. However, the interaction between the black crystals, black Kikoutei, and Ryo and Seiji cause their respective kanjis to appear much to Naria's and Mukara's astonishment.
Touma and Nasuti come to the other end of the cave which opens to a valley or crevice of black crystal clusters similar to the ones that appear when black Kikoutei is summoned. In a cluster of white crystals, Nasuti sees the reflection of the white Kikoutei. It was in this valley that both the white and black Kikouteis were born. The crystals begin to resonate, just like when the yoroi crystals are near youja. The energy tries to entrap Touma but he breaks out.
In Japan, Shin is lead back to the dock by Byakuen. Shin looks into the water and sees the reflection of Kokuen-Oh. When he looks back up, Byakuen has transformed and teleports away.
Back at the village, Shuu jumps into the middle of the ceremony, challenging Mukara. He calls on Kongo and knocks away Mukara's first attack. Confident, he doesn't flinch when the boomerang comes around again. This time he does get knock down. Shuu gets up to fight and Jun cries out to him "Something's strange! Your yoroi, it's scary!" What Jun can see but Shuu not see is the darkening of his yoroi.
Touma fires an arrow right at Mukara's feet. Touma "You are a warrior that has a reason for this that we don't know. I expect you're not the type that wishes for battle. If it's purely battle, can you parry without limit? But this fight other than the power of our volition will intervene." Naria talks directly to Mukara, "They have hearts that the yorois who want a battle cannot influence. Mukara, you don't have that heart."
Mukara knocks away Touma's arrow which flies away and implants itself betwen Ryo and Seiji. Mukara calls on black Kikoutei, its energy subtle influencing Tenku and Kongo. Jun runs up, yelling at them to stop. Darker versions of Touma and Shuu look back at him with blank eyes. Jun "Touma ni-chan, Shuu ni-chan, there's something strange, your yorois!"
Touma and Shuu realize the urge to fight is coming from the yoroi and the black Kikoutei. Shuu "This blasted yoroi, you think I'm easy meat?!?" Touma "Shuu! Undo the yoroi!" Shuu and Touma release their yoroi but not without a lot of pain. They both collapses but the yorois simply float instead of disappearing. Rain starts to fall. Nasuti runs up and Jun runs to hug her and cry. Mukara falls to his knees and begins laughing rather hysterically.
Nasuti comforts Jun, saying, "The yorois want the power to fight, and a righteous heart must not fight, the first time they've had this breach."
Nighttime in Japan, Shin stands on the docks above the choppy waters. "The yoroi, separated from the human heart, at battle raising the tides to do what. You want me to do something! ...Yoroi, yoroi that toys with my friends' lives, your will, now I'll fight it!" Then he dives into the water, down to the glowing yoroi crystal.
Volume 4: Kanoshimi o Koeru Mono o Motomete(Go beyond the sorrow)
Nasuti and Jun are helping Naria collect red flowers. She uses them to make a medicine to help Ryo and Seiji. When Jun tries to feed it to Ryo, he coughs it back up. Touma and Shuu are asleep against a wall, Ryo and Seiji are in hammocks. Jun begins to cry, afraid that the four are dying. Nasuti comforts him and asks him to believe in them.
Later, vultures are cawing outside. Angrily Jun runs outside with a burning stick, telling them to shut up. He throws the stick and the birds fly off. But he is still crying. In the dark forest, something shines. It comes closer and Jun watches it in fear. As it comes closer, Shin appears, completely wet but with the yoroi crystal glowing in his hand.
Jun runs up and hugs him, trying to tell him about Ryo and the others. Shin calls on 'Shin', lighting the entire village with its power momentarily, scaring off the vultures, and drying the water on him. Stepping inside, Shin sheds a tear when he sees the other. Shin appears on his brow and as everyone else's kanji appears, they slip into a peaceful slumber.
In the main room of Naria's home, Jun asks why the kanji doesn't appear in the crystal. Shin replies it is because a different battle of the yorois and Troopers has begun. Naria proceeds to tell how her family and Mukara's family have been the village's priestess and yoroi protector respectively. Mukara was never to have worn the yoroi. It was when he went to the valley that he discovered the yoroi. Because the black Kikoutei wanted to fight the white, it used Mukara to bring the white Kikoutei here. The yorois are now running wildly, of their own will. Jun "The yorois running wild? Ni-chan tachi (Troopers)'s yoroi won't do anything evil. Isn't it the black one that started it all?" Naria "He knew. The yoroi without god is only evil for people. Mukara never controlled the yoroi!!" With that, Naria ran out of the house.
The next morning, the four Troopers found Shin sitting outside. They're all glad that Shin came. Shin says that even though the yoroi is for battle, it let him meet everyone again. When Byakuen suddenly appears, Shin says he has decided. He calls his undergear and faces the tiger. Byakuen roars, and Kokuen-Oh separates from him. The roar causes Shin's undergear to glow and the Suiko yoroi is pulled out of him. Kokuen-Oh leads it away.
Shin looks to the others, "The two Kikouteis must be destroyed."
Seiji "We've seen a yoroi that needs no heart and runs wild with evil power."
Touma "As we are Samurai Troopers, we can't avoid our destiny."
Shuu "I don't get what's going on but let's do it!"
Ryo "Fighting only produces sadness. Still we must face it, we want to go beyond the sadness."
Naria tries again to persuade Mukara to stop this madness. But he doesn't listen and motions for her to be put in the prison. Nasuti and Jun return after getting water. Naria isn't there and neither are the Troopers. They are suddenly shot at but Byakuen appears and shields them from the arrows. The Tauragi fighters shoot more arrows into Byakuen until he collapses. Nasuti holds Jun protectively before the arrows sharp points.
In the valley of black crystals, Mukara is confronted by Kokuen-Oh who drops the Suiko crystal and vanishes. Mukara picks it up. The light it shines causes the other four trapped Trooper yorois to appear in their crystal prison. Finally, Mukara throws Suiko into a prison. He then summons black Kikoutei which appears, venting out mist.
What he doesn't notice is that the five yorois are glowing and forming the white Kikoutei in the white crystal bunch. The Troopers arrive, jumping down into the valley but the white Kikoutei is already free. It summons the Gou Retsu Ken and leaps to a high mountain of crystal. Before their eyes, the sun and moon come together creating a solar eclipse. Pillars of flame erupt around the valley. They've been pulled into the world of the yoroi.
As the Troopers stare at Kikoutei, their most precious memories are being burned up.
Shuu: The time he went mountain climbing when he was 13.
Shin: Going on a cruiser with his parents and meeting an orca when he was 10.
Seiji: Winning the Kansei Circuit Racecart when he was 16.
Touma: Sleeping leaning on a Saint Bernard under a tree when he was 5.
Ryo: The time of the youja battle when he first met his friends (he was 14).
The last picture is of the five in their undergear clasping hands.
Shin: Above this, you want to continue this connection for your own purposes!
Ryo: Still, the heart, you don't want people's hearts.
Shuu: Well then, get a good look at it, the power of the heart!
The Troopers call on their yoroi, breaking them out of their crystal prisons. None of them have their helmets as a symbol that they are in control with their hearts. The power Kikoutei wields in infinite. Shin's Cho Ryu Ha was absorbed, corrupted, and shot right back at Shin. Touma's arrows simply glance off of the white yoroi. Shuu breaks the blade on the naginata side of his iron bo. Seiji and Ryo both attack at once, trapping Kikoutei's two swords under their own. Touma then strikes from above with his bow (metal bow acting as a katana). Kikoutei simply blows them away with an discharge of energy.
Ryo says they can't win by force. The power of their hearts is indestructible, not even Kikoutei can destroy it. They join hearts, sending it to white Kikoutei and purifying it. Mukara watches, shocked. Naria's words earlier come back to him. But black Kikoutei rises up behind him. (If yorois could smile, I'd swear this one was doing exactly that.)
Mukara is possessed by the black yoroi. The Troopers reform Kikoutei and Ryo and Mukara face off.
Meanwhile, back at the village, Byakuen has finally broken the prison door. He bursts out with Naria on his back. Naria tells the worshipping Tauragi that they've been wrong to worship the black yoroi.
On the first pass, with weapons locked, Ryo calls for Mukara to open his eyes. (The other four Troopers's heads also flash briefly.) Mukara, who has no eyes, simply smiles, pulls back his boomerang and strikes again. This time both weapons are smashed to pieces. The two continue their fight in the sky, Mukara purple and Ryo red. The two lights clash and swirl.
Resorting to hand combat, Ryo punches Mukara's face mask, breaking it. Mukara returns the punch and adds another.
Naria on Byakuen and Nasuti and Jun are running toward the battle. Naria pleads with Mukara to stop this before everything is destroyed. The two lights go straight for one another. They hit and cause a huge explosion. Naria and Byakuen are caught in the blast and vaporized.
The energy backlash clears and Ryo and Mukara are standing on the ground in battered and broken Kikoutei yoroi. The valley of crystal is nothing but a large flat area within a crater. Ryo wonders how is he going to end this without destroying the world in the process. Mukara is holding part of Naria's yellow scarf. He screams in anguish. Ryo,seeing the chance to save Mukara, calls to the other Troopers to send their hearts to Mukara, to help him fight off the black Kikoutei. The hearts of the six join, undoing the eclipse. The white and black Kikoutei (who have mirror-image damage) are purified and when joined explode into pieces.
Kokuen-Oh turns and walks away in a flurry of sakura petals.
The Kikouteis are gone, along with the Troopers' yoroi. The five stand back as Mukara struggles to control himself. Nasuti and Jun walk up near the Troopers. First one shaft of light, and then others, pierce the dark cloudy sky. Where the shafts of light touch the ground, more light solidifies, forming the five yoroi. The Troopers are startled (their faces are a riot). But the yorois dissipate into light motes, revealing Byakuen. Byakuen rises and moves away from Naria.
Mukara stands and staggers toward her. He holds out a hand to her and calls her name, "Naria."
