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"Tony!" Captain America reached out, trying to stop him.
But John Wick raised a hand, blocking his way.
Tony paused for a moment, glancing at Cap. "Oh, right. If you plan to protect the man who killed my father, remember to return the shield he made for you. You don't deserve it anymore."
Steve's breath hitched. He didn't know what to say.
On one side was his best friend. On the other, the son of an old friend—now his current comrade.
In the end, he slowly took the shield from his back. "I'm sorry, Tony. I..."
John Wick took the shield on Tony's behalf, holding it in his hands.
Tony's expression didn't change. He had expected this outcome.
Turning to Bruce, he said, "Dr. Banner, I was the one who invited you to join the Avengers back then."
"Now, I'm inviting you again—to join my team."
"With you, me, and Ron, our combined research on genetics could help you solve the Hulk problem. Are you in?"
He didn't say much about Ron's secrets—those were too important. Not even Happy or Pepper knew.
Unlike the other Avengers, who were already tied to Nick Fury, Banner was different. Because of the Hulk, he remained independent of S.H.I.E.L.D.
And knowing Fury, if Tony really went after Bucky Barnes, he'd definitely try to manipulate Banner into stopping him.
Tony didn't want to lose their friendship to a fight.
Bruce looked conflicted. This kind of situation wasn't his strong suit.
Tony said calmly, "They value the Hulk. I value you. Think it over and contact me when you're ready."
Bruce clenched and unclenched his fists before taking a deep breath. "Wait, Tony—I'm coming with you!"
Nick Fury opened his mouth as if to say something but, in the end, just sighed.
He watched as the three of them walked away, then turned to look at the remaining Avengers.
His team was falling apart.
Everything was crumbling.
"Mr. Stark!"
Just as Tony and the others were about to leave the building, someone called out to him.
"Rumlow?"
Rumlow smiled and nodded. "Mr. Stark, Secretary Pierce would like to speak with you."
Tony raised an eyebrow. "Oh? About what?"
"He said Ron Stark has intelligence to share with you."
Ron?
Tony hesitated for a moment before nodding. He wouldn't refuse.
Rumlow glanced at Fury's office doors before leading the way.
As he turned around, his smirk deepened.
Just earlier, "Pierce" had suddenly called him over.
Then he sent him to fetch Tony Stark.
And now he was claiming Ron Stark had something to do with it?
This was insane.
First, they roped in Ron. Now they were pulling in Tony too?
At this rate, was Hydra going to take over S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Avengers?
Maybe they didn't even need Project Insight. Could world domination actually be this easy?
Rumlow could hardly imagine the possibilities if Tony joined them.
One man creating super-soldier serums.
The other building robotic war machines.
They'd be unstoppable—land, sea, and air.
Hydra could go interstellar at this point!
Soon, they arrived at "Pierce's" office.
As Tony stepped inside, Rumlow closed the door, staying outside with Banner and John Wick.
"Mr. Pierce, I have nothing to say to S.H.I.E.L.D. Unless, of course, you're here to hand over my parents' killer."
Tony didn't even sit down. His expression was cold.
But "Pierce" just chuckled. "Mr. Pierce? Tony, take a good look."
As soon as he finished speaking, "Pierce" instantly morphed into Ron.
Tony's eyes widened in shock. "You... You're not—? No way! Motherfu—!"
"What the hell, Ron?!" Tony shouted. "You've been hiding this deep?"
The "Pierce" Tony had been speaking to was, of course, one of Ron's wood clones.
The real Ron had teleported to S.H.I.E.L.D. earlier and replaced the original clone with a new one.
Naturally, Ron didn't need to explain anything. The clone already knew what to do.
If he was building his own team of extraordinary individuals, then his knowledge of the future should be put to good use.
The Avengers were one thing. S.H.I.E.L.D. was another.
Using "Pierce," he could strip parts of S.H.I.E.L.D. away from Fury's control.
More specifically—he could take over Hydra from within.
And then there were the other Hydra assets, like Wolfgang von Strucker, who was using the Mind Stone to create enhanced beings.
Sure, Strucker hadn't had much success yet.
But eventually, he would create two of the most powerful beings ever.
Scarlet Witch—Wanda Maximoff.
And Quicksilver—Pietro Maximoff.
.
.
As for their hatred toward Stark, well, that was pretty straightforward.
They didn't know who the direct culprit was, so they blamed the one who sold the weapon that tore their family apart.
No—actually, to be precise, Stark was just the blacksmith.
The one who sold the weapons? That was Obadiah Stane, who had already been dealt with.
The ones who actually wielded those weapons? The terrorists.
Their family had been caught in the crossfire, injured by terrorists using blades forged by Tony.
It wasn't like he had no connection to the tragedy, but at the same time, it wasn't entirely his fault either.
He felt sympathy for them—guilt, even. And he was willing to make amends.
Once this brother and sister duo was dealt with, the rest didn't really matter.
With his duplicates around, Tony had Happy on his left, John Wick on his right—more than enough to handle most situations in the Marvel world.
Seeing this, Ron felt reassured and returned to the Shinobi world.
The moment he arrived—BAM!—a small, white fist flew straight at his face.
Ron caught it effortlessly, spun around, and flipped his attacker over, pinning them against his thigh.
Then, without hesitation—"SMACK! SMACK! SMACK!"—he delivered a solid spanking.
"You bastard!"
"Ahhh! Let me go! Let me go, you jerk!"
The woman screamed, struggling to fight back, but it was as if she had been hit with a numbing agent.
She barely managed to push herself up, only to slip down again, unable to muster any real strength.
Ron glanced at her face and instantly recognized who she was.
"Still acting up?" Another two smacks. "You done yet?"
Kushina Uzumaki lifted her head, gritting her teeth. "You damn bastard! I'm gonna kill you!"
Her words were fierce, but there wasn't a trace of real resistance behind them.
Her body was limp, her head hung low, and beneath her humiliated expression was an incredibly complex mix of emotions.
Especially when she recalled last night… and that embarrassing "smack smack" sound.
Ron let out a small sigh and helped her up. "Alright, time to eat. We'll talk after we eat."
Hearing this, Shizune's eyes instantly lit up.
Ever since the last time she ate Ron's food, she had been craving it non-stop.
Compared to his cooking, everything else in the Shinobi world tasted like garbage.
In her words, "Lord Ron's food is an experience. Everything else? That's just survival."
"Yes, yes, Lady Tsunade, Kushina, let's eat first! I'm telling you, Lord Ron's food is AMAZING!"
Shizune's enthusiasm snapped Kushina back to reality.
And then she realized—Tsunade was right there.
Tsunade, her comrade from last night's "battlefield."
Her face immediately turned red like a ruby.
But growing up under Tsunade's influence, Kushina had naturally inherited some of her boldness.
She quickly shook it off and pretended like nothing had happened—at least, on the surface.
"Hmph! Good food? How good could it possibly be?"
She picked up her chopsticks, took her first bite—
And then she froze.
For a few seconds, she was completely silent. Then, she started eating faster.
Feeling Ron's gaze on her, Kushina's movements faltered for a moment. But instead of slowing down, she only ate even quicker.
Her thoughts were racing: "What… what are you staring at? S-So what if it's delicious? I… I'm gonna eat it every day! I'll eat so much you go broke, you bastard!!!"
She didn't even realize that, at this moment, she had completely forgotten about Tsunade and Shizune. Her attention was entirely on Ron.
She talked to herself ""I miss the warmth of your smile and the sound of your laughter that fills my heart with joy. Every moment without you feels like an eternity."
Tsunade, however, quietly glanced at her, then turned to Ron, sighing inwardly.
Even though the food was made by a top-tier chef, to her, it tasted like nothing.
After a few bites, she casually grabbed the bottle of sake on the table and downed half of it in one go.
Shizune, who seemed to be focused on eating, secretly peeked at the three of them through her hair.
Her big, bright eyes flickered between them, full of curiosity and excitement.
By the end of the meal, her cheeks were completely flushed, as if she were drunk.
"....."