Chapter 32: A New Ability — Soul Furnace
"Director, the mission has failed. Although they did admit that they helped cover up the recent mutant incident, they rejected our proposal for further cooperation." Coulson was reporting the mission details in Nick Fury's office.
"They refused? Not surprising. After all, both sides still know nothing about each other. Did you manage to confirm their identities?" The one-eyed Nick didn't seem too concerned. In his eyes, this suddenly-appearing Uchiha clan were nothing more than another group of mutants.
"From my observations, they appear to be a large family bound by blood relations. All of them have black hair and black eyes. Some wore uniform clothing, some did not, but almost all bore a red-and-white emblem on their attire, which we assume is their clan crest."
"And their clan leader is a boy named Uchiha Akira. He's very young, but I could clearly tell that his clansmen treat him with genuine respect. He's certainly not a puppet."
"But the most critical part is that their identities are rather… vague. We checked thoroughly, and their documents were all only recently created. In fact, there's no trace of them in S.H.I.E.L.D.'s database at all. It's as if—" Coulson hesitated, not finishing the sentence.
"As if they just appeared out of nowhere?" Nick Fury finished for him.
"Yes. As if they appeared out of nowhere."
"Coulson, keep close watch on them. I can't shake the feeling they're hiding a big secret. And remember, maintain the necessary respect. We still don't understand their abilities, or even if they're mutants at all, so caution is the best policy."
In reality, every word of Coulson's report had already reached Uchiha Akira's ears. When Coulson left earlier, Akira had created a shadow clone, transformed it into something in Coulson's pocket, and used that to infiltrate S.H.I.E.L.D.'s headquarters.
Later, he simply dispelled the clone, and all the intel flowed back into his mind.
As expected of the Second Hokage's ninjutsu invented specifically for espionage—the Shadow Clone Jutsu was extremely effective. Once dispelled, all the clone's memories returned to the original body.
"So S.H.I.E.L.D. really has latched onto us like a leech." Akira shook his head, but he wasn't particularly concerned. Out in the open he might not be a match for them, but in the shadows? That was another story.
As an official organization, at least they had to maintain appearances of 'respect.' When Thanos eventually invaded Earth, official institutions would be little more than hollow shells anyway.
Thus, the "Dark Phoenix" incident passed with much noise but little real consequence. Not too surprising—Jean Grey was still far too young. Her psychic powers hadn't even matured yet, let alone the world-destroying Phoenix Force, which remained dormant.
System Notification:Side Quest: The Phoenix Force is within reach—why not attempt contact with its host?
Quest complete. Calculating rewards… Reward issued: Sealed Phoenix Force (Dormant). Due to insufficient mental and physical strength of host, Phoenix Force cannot be fully integrated. Host must strengthen personal abilities.
Akira glanced at the message, already expecting the system to spit out something unpleasant. "Figures. You never have anything nice to say…" Compared to the Phoenix Force, he was indeed weak, but this feeling of being constantly looked down upon was seriously irritating.
System Notification:Additional reward: Growth-Type Skill — Soul Furnace.
Soul Furnace:By killing an intelligent lifeform, you may absorb its soul to break through both life and soul limits. Growth varies based on the strength of the target.
Special Trait — Ascension Path:Slow and steady growth that shatters the limits of body, soul, and life itself.
Note: Growth-type traits can be inherited by descendants through reproduction. Stability and strength of inheritance cannot be guaranteed.
"Well played, system! I misjudged you!" Akira's attitude instantly shifted. If he had known the system could just hand him such outrageous powers, how could he ever have called it trash?
If memory served, both Soul Furnace and Ascension Path were abilities from the world of League of Legends—classic growth-based skills.
But he was a ninja, not Sion. Was he supposed to farm minions for EXP?
The immediate effects weren't clear either, and the system's explanation was vague. He would have to experiment to understand it better.
As a ninja, Akira had always been acutely aware of his biggest weakness—his physical body. Harsh truth: even a chunin's kunai could kill a jonin if it hit the right spot. Ninjas often had destructive jutsu but lacked durability to match.
Akira had even suspected the system could only grant him rewards derived from ninja world resources—like Hashirama's cells from Danzo's body, or Asura's chakra—always conditional on having the right material.
But today's surprise proved he had underestimated the system. This reward had crossed cosmic barriers. After all, Soul Furnace belonged to Sion of Runeterra.
And compared to the Marvel Universe, Runeterra was arguably even more chaotic and powerful—full of demigods, true gods, and beings like Aurelion Sol who played with stars as toys. That was true power.
Akira considered himself extremely lucky to gain Soul Furnace, especially since it could even be inherited by future generations.
"So if I have ten kids or so, and they all grow up with this ability… wouldn't that be like forming an army?" Akira muttered to himself.
"But right now I don't know its strength or limits. No point wasting time—best test it tonight. I'll wear a mask though, in case cameras catch me. And I'll take Inabi with me."
Though Uchiha Inabi had no idea why the clan leader would summon him in the middle of the night, the fact that Akira thought of him first showed just how much trust he placed in him. Naturally, Inabi followed happily.
New York at night was dazzlingly bright. Having lived in Shanghai in his previous life, Akira didn't find it all that different—both were among the world's greatest cities. Still, this was Marvel's New York, and that made all the difference.
He led Inabi to the Hell's Kitchen district—a true lawless zone, a breeding ground for crime.
Akira still had a moral bottom line. He wouldn't test Soul Furnace on innocent people. Hell's Kitchen was the perfect hunting ground.
The two Uchihas perched atop a streetlight, overlooking the streets below. Why streetlights? Simple—higher ground meant better view.
In an alley, two gangs were in the middle of a drug deal. And why were they so blatant? Because this was Hell's Kitchen. The cops rarely bothered. Unless there was a full-blown shootout, no one cared what scum here got up to.
In Akira's simple moral code, drug dealers were worthless trash, each and every one deserving death. To avoid accidents, he told Inabi to stand aside and observe—if Akira himself didn't land the killing blow, the ability might not trigger, which would be embarrassing.
Pulling out a handful of shuriken, he unleashed a Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique. In an instant, a storm of steel cut down a dozen men before they even realized what was happening. Ordinary humans stood no chance—not even against a genin. Against Uchiha Akira? They had no hope at all.