Chapter 129: War in the Marvel Universe (Bonus Chapter for Monthly Tickets)

"What is the situation?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi asked with a grim expression. The rescue operation had been going on for a day, consuming vast amounts of manpower and resources. The entire Konoha Hospital was packed with the wounded, and the medical ninjas and supplies originally intended for the front lines in the Land of Rivers had to be delayed.

"Seventy-three members of the Shimura clan are dead. All others have been sent to Konoha Hospital. The Root base has been completely cleared, with only thirteen survivors... Danzo-sama is among them, though he is being treated by Lady Tsunade personally."

After reporting the casualties, the Anbu member continued: "The explosion seems to have originated within the Anbu base. The Interrogation Division has examined the brains of all the dead, and the survivors have been questioned; there were no signs of any anomalous presence."

The Root base was highly classified; even within the Anbu, few knew of its location. Hiruzen pondered the explosion, initially suspecting that someone had leaked the intelligence. However, after investigating both the living and the dead, it seemed there were no leads.

If the intelligence hadn't been leaked from Root, could it have been his Anbu? Otherwise, how would the enemy have known about the base?

And then there was the mastermind. The familiar feeling, combined with Danzo's operation a few days ago—Hiruzen had been debating whether to publicly name the enemy and mobilize all of Konoha's strength to eliminate Kahn.

But he extinguished that thought as soon as it arose. If he were to do that, the first to oppose him would be Kushina, who could wield the power of the Nine-Tails, and the Daimyo of the Land of Fire. The opponent was too slippery; without concrete evidence, relying solely on his own suspicions would convince no one.

"It has nothing to do with Kahn. I already went to ask him yesterday."

Tsunade walked in, looking displeased. She said to Hiruzen, "Kushina was with him all day yesterday. He never left her sight. Besides, even I didn't know the location of the Root base. Are you trying to say an outsider could have figured it out in such a short time?"

"The surgery is over, Tsunade. How is he?"

"He won't die. But aren't you going to restrict the power of that damned old man? It's wartime! How much more medical material meant for the front lines do you intend to waste?"

Tsunade was in a foul mood and began berating Danzo directly. When she was unhappy, even Hiruzen was not spared. The village was already busy enough, and that old geezer Danzo was still creating trouble.

Though Hiruzen's face remained grim, he did not answer her question directly, instead asking again, "You said Kushina was with Kahn all day? Are you certain?"

"What, are you planning to interrogate Kushina, too?"

"Of course I don't mean that, Tsunade. Your prejudice against your teacher is too deep!"

"If you want me to reduce my prejudice, then do something good for Konoha! Why did Sakumo-senpai go to serve as a Guardian Shinobi? And what exactly happened with yesterday's explosion?"

Tsunade shouted in anger, but before she could continue venting, an Anbu ninja entered the room to report.

"Hokage-sama, this is an urgent message from the border of the Land of Hot Springs."

Hiruzen took the scroll from the Anbu, and his expression darkened visibly. After a while, he looked up at Tsunade and said, "Now is not the time to dwell on those matters. Tsunade, get ready; I am calling a meeting of the Jonin."

Tsunade felt that something was wrong. The Land of Hot Springs and the Land of Fields had always been contested by Konoha and the Cloud Village. If urgent intelligence had come from there, it could only mean that the Cloud Village had declared war on Konoha.

Was the Cloud Village going to fight a two-front war? They were already in an intensifying conflict with the Mist Village, yet they still wanted to wage war on Konoha... Tsunade felt there was definitely something she didn't know.

...................

These matters no longer concerned Kahn. After obtaining the ingredient data for the Super Soldier Serum, he prepared to return to the Marvel world. Although he had stayed a few extra days because of the tempting "little tomato" Kushina, Kahn was eager to manufacture the Super Soldier Serum.

Upon returning to the Marvel world, Kahn took stock of his gains.

Besides the Super Soldier Serum and the Six Paths ninja tools, he had further developed his influence in the ninja world.

However, he had brought back some flesh and blood from the three Snake Princesses and the White Snake Sage—the result of his agreement with Ryuchi Cave—as well as some chakra metal.

"I can't contact Thaddeus Ross just yet. I need to replicate a few vials of the Super Soldier Serum first. As for test subjects, I can select a few from Umbrella, but I must choose loyal subordinates..."

Influenced by the chakra cursed seals, the loyalty and identification of the researchers at both Umbrella and the Bio-Research Center toward Kahn would steadily increase. Their minds were affected by the Yin-style chakra contained within the seals; this was an immutable fact. Unless someone could cleanse their souls, they would remain bound to him.

Kahn then created a shadow clone to check his emails and the latest news; he didn't want to miss too much of what was happening in this world.

Additionally, Kahn went to the beach by his villa. He used a summoning technique to call the Basilisk and then used Legilimency to examine its memories.

This creature was a sentient being with the same intelligence as a human. Without Kahn's constraints on its behavior, it could easily cause some unpleasant trouble.

"Thankfully, it's been well-behaved. Tomorrow, I'll let you have a feast, and after you're full, you can sleep on the seabed for a while."

Kahn ordered the Basilisk. The nearby area was private waters, and since the Basilisk had dug its own cave on the seabed, there was no need to worry about being discovered.

Betty Ross was busy with other things. It seemed she had a lot on her plate lately; she had flown to South Korea a while ago to negotiate the acquisition of the laboratory behind Eugene Biological Laboratories.

Because Betty was away, Kahn had to call Paul to accompany him to the Bio-Research Center. He had missed Betty quite a bit; during his time in the ninja world, he had been left quite frustrated by the "little tomato."

.............

Upon arriving at the Bio-Research Center, Kahn went straight to Dr. Rice.

"Dr. Rice, stop your current research on the Super Soldier Serum. Follow the data and materials in my possession to restart the project. Strive to replicate the Super Soldier Serum in the shortest possible time."

He had handed the research over to Rice before he left last time, but Kahn had not placed his hopes on him; the team he assembled was merely for show. Given that the military's powerful scientific research team had spent so long without results, it was unlikely that Rice would have made any progress.

However, with nearly finished data placed in front of him, Rice was capable of replicating it. He wasn't completely useless, and the number of researchers on the team had been increasing periodically.

"I understand, sir. We will do our best to recreate this serum in the shortest possible time. Ms. Betty has already helped us hire many researchers..."

After receiving the data, Rice spoke to Kahn with great confidence. Even if he couldn't produce results, if he couldn't manage to copy it, he might as well go sell hot dogs.

He also introduced several new faces to Kahn, all professionals in human evolutionary research, including a doctor poached from Oscorp.

Kahn greeted them, gave Rice some final instructions, and then left. After checking on the progress of two other projects nearby, he departed.

Before leaving, Kahn took his summoning snake, Xiao Qing, and the research materials with him. Because it was growing too fast, it was no longer suitable to stay at the research center. Taking it back and placing it with the Basilisk would be a good choice.

As Kahn stepped into his car after leaving the center, he received a call from General Ross.

"Mr. Kahn, the President is holding a banquet in three days. If you have the time, I hope you can attend."

Kahn asked with some confusion, "A banquet? What is it regarding, General Ross?"

Ross, on the other side of the line, took a deep breath and countered, "Mr. Kahn, you replied to my email half an hour ago... well, it has something to do with the war two months ago. The Super Soldier squad was deployed to the Middle Eastern battlefield for the first time... and achieved excellent results. As our partner, you are on the guest list."

Hearing Ross's explanation, Kahn realized what was going on. It probably had to do with the Second Gulf War; he had even instructed Kaldo to buy some defense contractor stocks and oil futures back then.

However, he had no idea the Super Soldier squad had participated in the war, nor did he know about the banquet. It must have been his shadow clone who replied, and he hadn't received the clone's memories yet. Also, why was Thaddeus Ross being so vague?

A Super Soldier squad created with Extremis virus serum would be an unstoppable force on the Middle Eastern battlefield. But he couldn't be too sure; if that war wasn't exactly as he remembered, things might have changed.

After all, organizations like SHIELD and Hydra were deeply hidden. For such organizations, inciting a local war was a trivial matter.

"Mr. Kahn?"

Seeing that Kahn didn't reply, General Ross spoke again: "If you don't have the time, I suggest you let Betty attend on your behalf. The Super Soldier squad injected with the Extremis virus serum is the first superhuman team the military has deployed to the battlefield. Your presence would be of great benefit to our development."

Kahn couldn't help but retort, "General Ross, the Super Soldier Serum was the first superhuman squad deployed to the battlefield, wasn't it?" He didn't like General Ross's arrogant tone.

Although it was just a phone call, Kahn could already imagine Thaddeus Ross smiling while puffing on a cigar.

"....That was an individual, Mr. Kahn."

"No, that was a squad, General Ross." Kahn emphasized again, then moved on from the topic, saying to the General, "I'll check with Betty. If she has time to return, I'll bring her along."