Chapter 111: Turbulence in the Ninja World

The next morning, Kahn unusually woke up late. After a year of ascetic discipline, he had finally experienced a normal night. Last night, Betty had been the wildest Kahn had ever seen her—she seemed intent on using that way to forget her encounter with Bruce Banner at the restaurant, seizing control like a knight holding the initiative for a long time.

Yet, it was only a show of madness; it didn’t enhance her stamina. By the time they approached the climax, Betty was utterly spent, to the point where she herself lost count of how many times. Even her attempt to reduce Kahn’s strength by drinking milk halfway through was futile. After the final release, she simply fell asleep.

“Wonder if he’ll smash my company on purpose when he turns into the Hulk?” Kahn mused while preparing his magically conjured breakfast. But if Bruce Banner did such a thing, Kahn was certain he would capture him and hand him over to General Ross.

Bruce Banner was undoubtedly a genius, holding doctoral degrees in seven disciplines, though most of that was useless to Kahn. Betty Ross, however, was different. As the daughter of General Thaddeus Ross, her background alone was enough in Kahn’s eyes—let alone those long, slender legs that were quite the delight to embrace.

While Betty was still asleep, Kahn took the chance to experiment with magic. Apparition, a particularly practical spatial magic, allowed him to instantly travel to several familiar places. His vast magical power let him perform it swiftly, only slightly slower than the system’s teleportation.

“Magic in the world of Harry Potter is all about the mind. As long as you think it, most things can be accomplished with magic,” Kahn remarked, pointing to the ground. The hard surface rippled like mercury, transforming within two seconds into a towering iron-clad guard armed with a spear, standing four or five meters tall.

Kahn then cast a spell to shatter the guard into pieces and finally used a restoration charm to return the damaged ground to its original state before the magic.

However, Betty was roused by the noise and poked her head out of the third-floor window, loudly asking what was going on. Kahn quickly found an excuse to dismiss her inquiry.

Having been awakened, Betty had no mind to return to sleep. She ate a bit, then prepared to shower before heading to work. She had a lot on her plate; after Laura took over the biopharmaceutical company, Umbrella was entrusted to Betty Ross.

Because recruiting veterans was easier, Kahn wasn’t worried about General Ross planting personnel. The senior management at Umbrella all bore his chakra seals, and Kahn valued military security companies highly, planning to plant more seals over time to ensure loyalty among armed factions.

As Betty ate, she asked, “Are you coming to the company with me today? If so, I can arrange your schedule...”

“No thanks. The company doesn’t need me often. Later, I’ll have Umbrella assign you two bodyguards. After all, you’re the personal assistant to a billionaire; security is necessary,” Kahn replied.

He intended to practice magic at home or visit Carl to check on the stock company, realizing he hadn’t paid much attention to it, communicating little beyond emails.

When Betty finished eating and headed to the bathroom for a shower, Kahn tagged along under the pretense of saving water. Perhaps it was the high quality of the shower gel he bought that caused him to slip during the shower, resulting in the sound of splashing and collisions inside the bathroom.

Betty had planned to arrive at the company by noon but had to postpone until 2 p.m. due to Kahn’s unexpected accompaniment.

...

After spending more than a month in the Marvel world, Kahn had handled many matters. The most important was confirming a new collaboration with General Ross: research into the super soldier serum.

The emergence of the desperate virus serum led General Ross to believe Kahn’s team possessed extraordinarily powerful research capabilities and might perfect the super soldier serums that had side effects. After convincing others, Ross renewed cooperation with Kahn’s team on behalf of the military.

Ross could have secretly taken the super soldier serum himself, but that would deprive Kahn of recognition and Ross of political power and leverage. After discussion, they agreed to proceed as a military-company collaboration.

Kahn secretly retained two small vials of serum and copied the original experimental data. Though lacking the exact formula, he believed Orochimaru might be able to replicate it.

Unless there was no hope, Kahn wouldn’t invite Tsunade to join, as her current position was too delicate. Unlike Orochimaru, who shared inseparable mutual interests with Kahn.

Returning to the ninja world.

“We’re near Konoha now, and there are quite a few places to visit... I’ll use Shadow Clone Jutsu,” Kahn decided. There were matters to attend to in the Land of Waves, the Land of Tea, and the Fire Nation’s capital. Though none were urgent, Shadow Clones would suffice.

If an emergency arose, Kahn could Apparate instantly to the scene.

With his current magical power and skills, ordinary Jonin were no match for him. Ninja relying on intelligence and tactics had difficulty causing effective harm without understanding magic’s weaknesses.

Especially with the Flying Curse combined with Avada Kedavra, any ninja with a slightly slow reaction time could be eliminated midair.

Still, these were all speculations; he had yet to engage in actual combat.

“Summoning Technique.” Kahn called forth a small white snake that communicated with Orochimaru, wrote some information and intentions regarding the super soldier serum on a scroll, and roughly stuffed it into the snake’s mouth.

“Deliver this to Orochimaru.”

The snake nodded weakly and vanished back to the Ryuchi Cave.

Not long after, Kahn received a reply from Orochimaru, stating he was currently busy and unable to visit Ryuchi Cave but hoped Kahn would come to Konoha to meet when he was free.

“Going to Konoha... could a war be brewing in the ninja world?” Kahn wondered.

At that moment, a Shadow Clone sent to gather intelligence returned with memories. It was around the 43rd year of Konoha’s timeline. Numerous reports of war were circulating in the ninja world, even civilians had noticed.

“War is arriving sooner than I expected. Whatever preparations I made before leaving must have been effective. I wonder what Orochimaru’s plan is—does he intend to become the Fourth Hokage using this war?”

After some thought, Kahn headed toward Konoha. He intended to speak with Orochimaru, and if Orochimaru sought to be Hokage, Kahn would fully support him.

He could have cooperated well with Konoha, but several corrupt elders had pushed him away. If Orochimaru became Hokage, Konoha’s power would be maximized, and Kahn would gain greater benefits.

...

When Kahn arrived at Konoha, the atmosphere of war was palpable.

As before, the gates were heavily guarded, with ninja patrolling atop the high walls and eaves.

Even with his Konoha-issued pass, Kahn underwent thorough inspection before being allowed entry.

He also noticed that the gate guards seemed to recognize him, apparently having received special orders regarding him.

Upon reaching his commercial street, only the pharmacy and sweets shop had customers; all other stores were deserted.

“Boss!?” Nanami greeted Kahn, immediately handing over cash register duties to other clerks and following him into the back room.

The room was kept clean by frequent cleaning. After Nanami sat, Kahn inquired about recent conditions.

As a non-ninja employee, Nanami could only report on the income and expenses of a few shops. Business had been decent the past months, with some surplus; but recently, the village’s tense atmosphere had sharply reduced visitors and leisure customers. Meanwhile, sales of medicine and sweets had doubled, mostly bought by ninja.

Expenses remained steady, but Nanami sensed that more war orphans would appear. Although the heads of several orphanages hadn’t explicitly expressed it, Nanami noticed changes in orphan numbers when delivering funds, yet none had requested additional funding.

Finally, Nanami smiled and said, “Boss, Hisuna comes by almost every other day. Unless something happens, she’ll be here again tonight.”

She smiled as if to say the boss had such charm even young Hisuna was drawn in. But it was understandable; if she weren’t already a mother, she’d likely be as captivated as Hisuna.

“I understand, Nanami,” Kahn responded, brushing off the increasingly gossipy Nanami. He sent a Shadow Clone to check the surveillance and contacted the medic Nonou.

Nonou was already a medical Jonin and Tsunade’s student before Kahn left. She probably wouldn’t go to the battlefield, but with the village’s current mood, Kahn wasn’t sure how busy she was.

After a while, Nonou replied, briefly outlining recent events.

Konoha had recently clashed with Iwa (the Rock) ninja, followed shortly by conflict with Suna (the Sand) ninja. Both incidents involved Konoha’s White Fang and had yet to spread widely, but as Tsunade’s student, Nonou already knew some details.

The White Fang was in trouble; emissaries from the daimyo of both nations had already departed for the Fire Nation daimyo’s residence, putting Konoha in a difficult position.

This news would soon be public. When the Fire Nation daimyo’s emissaries arrived in Konoha, the villagers and ninja clans would all know.

Orochimaru was currently not in the village, having been sent recently to the border of the Land of Grass to deal with Iwa ninja. However, after the emissaries’ arrival, the border tensions eased somewhat, and Orochimaru was likely to return soon.

“So Orochimaru isn’t in Konoha, and the White Fang is embroiled in petty troubles... But with his strength, how could he make such big mistakes twice?” Kahn pondered.

The three legendary Sannin were around thirty, at their ninja peak—though they lacked the forbidden techniques they’d develop years later, they far surpassed ordinary Jonin.

The White Fang was even stronger than the Sannin, renowned enough that the Fire Nation daimyo had heard his name. Two such blunders were unthinkable.

“Maybe I should ask Orochimaru...” Kahn muttered.

At that moment, familiar footsteps echoed down the hallway. Hearing the sound, a vivid image flashed in Kahn’s mind—a red-haired girl wearing black thigh-high socks briskly walking the corridor.

When the footsteps stopped, a voice called outside the door.

“Boss, may I come in?”

Before Kahn could answer, the door was pulled open. The red-haired girl peeked in and, upon seeing Kahn, lit up with a rare, joyous smile.