"Last chance, kid—are you surrendering or not?"
Ryuuto's eyes sharpened, sand tightening around Daken like a vice.
"I…" Daken's voice faltered. His pupils rolled back, foam gathering at his lips before he slumped unconscious.
Ryuuto sighed, brushing the dust off his hands. "Man, why do you people always make me go full villain before giving up?"
He released the jutsu. The sand slithered back into the ground as Shion's smug voice chimed in his head.
[Ding! Mission Complete! Host gains 80,000 System XP and 40 Integration Points!]
"Good. Dump them all into Gaara's data pack," Ryuuto ordered. "That should max it out."
[Mm-hmm~ Executing your totally tyrannical command, Master.]
[Drop! Character: Gaara — Fully Integrated! Ninjutsu available for direct use!]
Ryuuto grinned. "Finally. Full access. This is gonna be fun."
He patched up Daken just enough to keep him breathing and was about to call it a night when his phone buzzed violently in his pocket.
"Tony? What's up?"
"Ryuuto—emergency!" Tony's voice was unusually strained. "Banner and Logan are both out. You're the only one available. Natasha's been ambushed during a mission overseas. She's surrounded—communications jammed."
"What?!" Ryuuto's expression snapped into focus. "Give me coordinates. Now."
"She was last tracked near a dense jungle outside Kuala Lumpur. We think a mutant cell set her up. It's likely part of a larger plot. Be careful out there."
"I'll bring her back alive," Ryuuto said flatly, pocketing the phone.
The air around him rippled. Chakra flared.
Body Flicker—Full Acceleration!
In the next instant, he vanished into the night sky, tearing through the clouds like a crimson comet.
Meanwhile, deep in a rain-soaked jungle—
Gunfire shattered the silence.
"Drop your weapon, Black Widow!" a woman's mocking voice echoed through the trees. "You've got no way out. Be smart for once."
Diamond Lil—tall, smirking, her skin shimmering like crystal—advanced with a squad of mutants, arrogance oozing from every step.
Natasha Romanoff crouched behind a rock, reloading calmly despite the chaos. "You really talk too much."
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Her shots cut through the air like precision blades, striking two mutants cleanly before they even realized she'd moved. The others scattered in panic, tripping over roots as bullets whizzed past.
"Heroes don't kneel to trash like you," Natasha said, retreating deeper into the trees. "And you'll have to do better than shiny skin to stop me."
Fury glinted in her eyes as she glanced back at the fallen S.H.I.E.L.D. operatives. "You picked the wrong day to piss me off."
With a sudden leap, she unloaded both pistols mid-air, raining bullets like a storm. Sparks burst off Diamond Lil's unflinching body.
Lil laughed, brushing a bullet off her diamond cheek. "Cute. But I'm not even scratched."
She reached up, plucked the last bullet from the air, and flicked it back at Natasha with terrifying force.
"You really thought a few toys could hurt me? Sweetheart, I am your worst matchup."
The ground shook as Lil lunged, her diamond-coated fists shattering trees like glass.
Natasha dove aside, rolling through mud, her voice cold and steady. "Overconfidence. Classic villain mistake."
Her guns clicked empty. She dropped them, disappearing into the underbrush.
Lil snarled. "What are you idiots waiting for? Find her!"
"Yes, ma'am!" the surviving mutants shouted, spreading out through the forest.
But a heavy metallic step echoed behind them.
"No need," came a deep, distorted voice. "She won't get far."
Lil froze. Then she smirked and turned.
A hulking man in a reinforced exosuit stepped from the shadows, his alloy mask gleaming.
"Doctor Scourge," Lil said with visible relief. "Didn't expect you to show up yourself."