Driving the motorcycles left by the Hydra soldiers, Uchiha Kazuhiko and Steve raced towards the Red Skull's underground base.
Along the way, more and more Hydra soldiers on motorcycles arrived, launching interceptions from different directions. However, due to the disparity in strength, they could only watch helplessly as the two broke through their lines with ease.
Nearing the base's perimeter, the elite Hydra soldiers under the Red Skull's command, stationed here, were already prepared. They formed several layers of defensive lines, joining the encirclement against the two.
Not only that, over a dozen magical energy armored tanks drove out from the base onto the battlefield. The massive barrels of the tank cannons and the magical energy machine guns on top began to charge, their blue energy glow making the snow-covered Alps appear even colder.
"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh."
Dense energy beams and energy shells whistled past Uchiha Kazuhiko and Steve, vaporizing any rocks or vegetation they hit. The magical weapons, powered by the Tesseract's energy, posed a lethal threat to both of them.
Steve had the hardest metal shield in the Marvel universe, capable of blocking the magical energy attacks. Uchiha Kazuhiko wasn't as fortunate; he could only rely on high-speed movement to prevent the Hydra soldiers from locking onto him.
Uchiha Kazuhiko threw the submachine gun Peggy had given him into his system space and drew eight shuriken from his ninja tool pouch. He threw them in two waves towards the Hydra soldiers' positions.
"Clink, clink, clink, clink."
The second wave of projectiles, though thrown later, arrived first, colliding with the first wave mid-air. A series of clear and crisp clinking sounds rang out.
Their original flight paths changed completely, striking the throats of eight Hydra soldiers simultaneously from different angles.
The technique Uchiha Kazuhiko used was the Uchiha-style shurikenjutsu, which, alongside their world-famous Sharingan, held considerable renown.
Generally, projectiles cannot change direction mid-air. However, the Uchiha-style throwing technique broke this common rule.
Leveraging the superhuman dynamic visual acuity of the Sharingan, Uchiha clan ninjas performed calculations on trajectory, angle, and a series of changes.
They precisely used collisions between projectiles to cause sudden changes in direction, catching enemies who dodged based on the original path off guard.
Of course, these were just projectile throws, effective at most against enemies below jonin level.
Even some elite chunin with exceptional reaction speed and agility could dodge or block the kunai after they changed direction.
However, these elite Hydra soldiers weren't even genin-level and naturally couldn't avoid the projectiles. Under Uchiha Kazuhiko's assault, their numbers began to decrease at an alarming rate.
"Tap, tap, tap."
Seeing Uchiha Kazuhiko display such prowess sparked Steve's competitive spirit. Not to be outdone, he also brought out his weapon to counterattack.
Thanks to the marksmanship skills honed during his military training, every shot from Steve took the life of a Hydra soldier. However, his efficiency paled in comparison to Uchiha Kazuhiko's.
Firing another shot at a distant target, Steve grew anxious looking at the still numerous Hydra soldiers. If they didn't break through soon, it might be too late to stop the Red Skull's evil plan to destroy the world.
Like Steve, the Red Skull, Johann Schmidt, overseeing the battle from his base, was also growing impatient.
"Useless! Truly a bunch of useless fools!"
The Red Skull stomped in anger. An entire battalion of hundreds of elite Hydra troops, sent to deal with two Allied soldiers, had so many killed in return. If that wasn't useless, what was?
Although one of them was Captain America, injected with the Super-Soldier Serum, in the Red Skull's view, that was no excuse for their failure.
But how could the Red Skull know the despair his subordinates faced? It wasn't that they were too weak, but that the enemy was too strong, especially the monstrous Uchiha Kazuhiko, whose every move claimed several soldiers' lives. They were simply not on the same level.
"Order the 2nd Battalion to move out immediately. Capture Captain America and his teammate alive. If they resist fiercely, eliminate them."
Watching Captain America nearly break through the encirclement, the Red Skull issued another order, dispatching the other unit guarding the base.
"But Leader, what about your safety?"
His subordinate was worried. If the 2nd Battalion was sent out, only one battalion would remain in the base. If other Allied forces attacked, they might not be able to mount an effective defense.
"Do as I say, soldier!"
The Red Skull glared unpleasantly at the subordinate, who broke out in a cold sweat. He then turned to another subordinate and commanded,
"Immediately accelerate the Valkyrie's energy charge. It is time for the world to feel the power of Hydra."
"Hail Hydra!"
All the Red Skull's subordinates chorused loudly before swiftly rushing off to execute his orders.
With the addition of more Hydra soldiers and magical energy armored tanks, the incoming energy beams became as dense as raindrops in a heavy downpour.
The pressure on both men increased significantly. Even Uchiha Kazuhiko began to feel slightly strained.
"Buddy, I feel like the enemy is growing in number the more we fight. That's not a good sign."
Steve blocked an energy beam with his shield, rolled to Uchiha Kazuhiko's side, picked up a magical energy rifle from a fallen Hydra soldier, took aim, and shot a machine gunner operating a tank's machine gun.
Uchiha Kazuhiko threw his last few projectiles. He decided to use ninjutsu to deal with these Hydra soldiers and suggested to Steve,
"Steve, we can't be held up here by these soldiers. You break through and deal with the Red Skull. Leave them to me."
"Are you sure you can handle them alone?"
Steve rolled in front of Uchiha Kazuhiko again, blocking another energy beam for him, his voice doubtful.
"Leave it to me. Go, quickly. You must stop the Red Skull's plan."
Uchiha Kazuhiko picked up a magical energy rifle and began urging Steve to leave.
"Alright. Be careful."
After a moment's hesitation, Steve agreed to Uchiha Kazuhiko's plan. He offered a word of caution, knocked away a Hydra soldier, commandeered a motorcycle, and broke through the encirclement.
With Steve gone, Uchiha Kazuhiko could finally cut loose against these cannon fodder.
Tank cannons and magical energy machine guns glowed with dazzling blue light once more. Streams of blue energy beams swept towards Uchiha Kazuhiko's position.
"Replacement Technique! Shadow Clone Technique!"
Uchiha Kazuhiko dodged this wave of attacks, immediately drew his Xuantie Tachi from his storage space, created two shadow clones, and his main body activated the Eight Inner Gates, instantly appearing on top of a magical energy armored tank.
"Thud!"
The sound of a blade cutting through bone echoed. The machine gun that had been spewing energy beams fell silent.
The operators inside the tank, seeing the situation turn sour, tried to close the hatch on top, but it was too late. They were slain by two chakra blade slashes.
"Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu!"
"Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu!"
The two shadow clones used the low-consumption, area-of-effect fire-style ninjutsu several times in succession, igniting Hydra soldiers one after another into fiercely burning fireballs.
Faced with Uchiha Kazuhiko's supernatural abilities, the Hydra soldiers perished at an even faster rate. Before long, having suffered seventy percent casualties, the Hydra forces began to collapse. Disregarding the Red Skull's orders, they scattered like headless flies.
Uchiha Kazuhiko did not pursue the fleeing Hydra soldiers. He rested briefly and began scavenging the battlefield, storing loot and any reusable projectiles into his system space.
For the first time, Uchiha Kazuhiko felt his system space was too small, unable to hold much.
He could only choose the smaller magical energy rifles as loot, painfully leaving behind the obviously more valuable magical energy armored tanks.
Collecting and exchanging items as he went, Uchiha Kazuhiko quickly cleaned up the battlefield. He then righted a motorcycle and drove towards the Red Skull's final base.